Oregon, Arizona State softball players sound off on implications of realignment

Conference realignment, at its core, is about one thing: Money.

It’s a talking point that has made its way to the forefront of college football discussions recently. With the exodus of Pac-12 programs from the conference comes the reality that the B1G is now a nationwide conference rather than a midwestern clump. The logistics alone will be tough to tackle, but what about the student athletes themselves?

After all, “student” is still a part of their title. The longest commute in the B1G has doubled in size over the past year since the west coast was introduced into the conference, which is fine for football but presents some serious issues with smaller revenue sports such as softball, tennis, soccer and so on.

Oregon and Arizona State softball players sounded off on social media about realignment’s implications on themselves and their sport Friday evening. Check out some of their comments below:

Anyone going to talk about all the other sports that play multiple games in a weekend? What happened to mental health of student athletes being important? The balance of practice, travel, school, and having a social life is already hard enough. Why add even more stress? https://t.co/utnAu7lt8k

— Morgan 🙂 (@Morgan_Scotty11) August 4, 2023

Has anybody thought about the repercussions that conference realignments have on student athletes quality of life? You’re asking them to travel across the country every other weekend while balancing school and a social life??? This needs to be talked about more.

— terra mcgowan (@terramcgowan11) August 4, 2023

I picked to play in a high level softball conference where being close to home would allow my parents to come watch my games. It’s unfortunate to hear that my senior year I’ll be playing as far as New Jersey-Rutgers as well as other east coast schools.

— Paige Sinicki (@paige_sinicki) August 4, 2023

I chose to play in the PAC-12 because of the ability to play close to home and in front of family. I chose the PAC so my family didn’t have to worry about far travel or giving up all their vacation time just to come see me. This affects athletes in every sport + academics.

— Shannon Cunningham (@shancunnningham) August 5, 2023

tired of being an overlooked sport

— kk🧚🏼 (@_kaykayy13) August 4, 2023