A Student Voting Take On College Athletic Conference Realignment

In the past year, college sports have experienced seismic changes that will reverberate for decades, impacting athletics, academics, funding, television rights, and athletic conference voting challenges.

Experts expect more athletic conference realignment changes in the wake of Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 for the SEC and UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. We at the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which supports 12 athletic conference voting challenges, have some insights to offer conference leaders on what athletic conferences can do to emerge from this cosmic realignment. What if athletic conferences prioritized positioning themselves to have the highest average voter turnout and voter registration rates instead of the largest media markets?

For example, what if more attention was given to the student voting powerhouse athletic conferences of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), which had 2020 conference voter turnout rates of 90.6% and 89.8%, respectively.

These data are based on campus voting data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) at the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University. NSLVE data will serve as the basis for our unsolicited recommendations to athletic directors, college and university presidents, and television executives across the country.

Let’s take a look at ALL IN’s proposed athletic conference realignment. All of the proposed campuses had 2020 voter turnout rates between 75-87% and voter registration rates between 90-99%. For reference, in 2020 the national average student voter turnout rate was 66% and the student voter registration rate was 83%.

Big 12 Votes

We’ll start with the Big 12 which has faced the brunt of the new wave of conference realignment changes with the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin preparing to leave for the Southeastern Conference in 2024. The Big 12 was quick to add Brigham Young University, the University of Central Florida, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Houston to join in 2024 expanding the number of states with student voters in the conference.

The Big 12 has a great opportunity to add perennial voting champions and more states with student voters to the conference with these campuses: Colorado College, Denison University (OH), Grinnell College (IA), and St. Olaf’s College (MN).

Big Ten Voting Challenge

The Big Ten shocked the college sports world at the end of June by agreeing to add the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles in 2024. We can’t wait for these California football teams to promote voting in November when playing at chilly Kinnick Stadium at the University of Iowa or Camp Randall at the University of Wisconsin.

The Big Ten is clearly trying to have student voters in as many voting districts across the greatest geography as possible. With that goal in mind, the Big Ten should add: Georgia College & State University, New College Florida, Trinity University (TX), and University of Puget Sound (WA).

Pac-12 Voting Challenge

Like the earthquakes that shake the West Coast, the Big Ten caught the Pac-12 by surprise. The Pac-12 has options with many states with pro-voter policies in its traditional footprint. While the they could easily reload with campuses in California, Colorado, Oregon, or Washington, the Pac-12 can continue to be the “Conference of Champions” and send a message to the Big Ten by poaching campus voting champions from the Big Ten’s expansive backyard. We suggest that the Pac-12 adds: Dickinson College (PA), Gustavus Adolphus University (MN), Kalamazoo College (MI), and Simpson College (IA).

DemocrACCy

The Atlantic Coast Conference has a whole coast of states to choose from to expand the ACC. Before the SEC vacuums up some of the top remaining colleges and universities east of the Mississippi River, the ACC should add the most Atlantic campus out there, the College of the Atlantic, as well as The College of New Jersey, William & Mary (VA), and Wofford College (SC).

As the more than 900 colleges and universities participating in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge are preparing for the 2022 Midterm Elections, we hope as much attention will be given to college students as voters - including to the voting rates of college student-athletes engaging in the NCAA’s #ALLVOTENOPLAY - as is given to college athletic prowess and major changes wrought by conference realignment.

Coaches have an important role to play in supporting their student athletes to develop voting habits in addition to their skills on the field, court, or pool. Since 2020, more than 1,200 college coaches have signed ALL IN’s Coaches Voter Engagement Pledge to support their student athletes in becoming confident and informed voters.

During the 2020 election, campuses engaged in ALL IN on average had a 3.7 percentage point higher turnout. ALL IN looks forward to recognizing the continued impressive student voting results from the Athletic Conference Voting Challenges and from all institutions participating in ALL IN.

We’ll be ready to realign the Athletic Conference Voting Challenges as more institutions join new conferences and to support colleges and universities to institutionalize nonpartisan democratic engagement. While we wait on future conference realignments, coaches can take our nonpartisan Coaches Voter Engagement Pledge and you can register to vote, check your voter registration, and pledge to vote at ALLINtoVote.org.

More than 915 colleges and universities currently participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. Learn more about ALL IN and donate to advance our work here.