for the SEC in particular, one of the the things i loved about being the SEC was that no matter who was contending or going to bowl games back in the day, it always felt like anyone from the SEC was the automatic underdog, cause we're from the south, and were more or less perceived as 'low rent', compared to programs like OSU, Mich, ND, USC, UCLA, Miami, FSU--the so called "national" programs...etc...so anytime one of our teams beat one of those teams, it brought out that regional pride southerners have always shared, regardless of your program affiliation. it's where the "it just means more" comes from.
that's gone. and it was the one thing we always had over any/all other conferences regardless of how good/dominant we were, or weren't. it's why they all hated us. the "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us" mentality. we simply didn't/don't care about their version of football, our version is the only one that mattered. So what we lost to Purdue, we still be Auburn!! they don't understand that in Jersey or California or Chicago. they still don't.
so to me, i get it, i understand all the reasons why this is happening, and i can't necessarily argue with it, except to say, this just isn't what college football is..er...was...when i fell in love with it, and the reason i fell in love with college football and Tennessee had very little to do with winning championships, and it definitely didn't have anything to do with how much money was made . it's where i'm from. my family culture, in large part, is built around it. Saturdays were an event, even if we didn't go to a game. thinking about all the friends and extended family that are fans of other SEC teams...we didn't have to be no. 1 or playing a top 10 program for it to matter...i wanted to beat Miss St because my buddy down the street growing up was a huge bulldog fan, and i didn't want to hear it. i wanted to talk it. for other conferences, there's just a sense of pride in proving others wrong. Tennessee can't go to ND and beat Lou Holtz...'hold my beer'. Alabama can't beat Jimmy Johnson and Miami...anyway, you get the idea.
sorry for the TLDR post. i'll still watch every saturday, and while i really don't like the direction this is headed, it won't derail me as a fan. but it really won't 'mean more', definitely not as much as it used to. and that sucks.