I'm already somewhat of an old man. My attire is mostly polo shirts and khakis. I sincerely love Murder, She Wrote. Teenagers are foreign to me and, frankly, too loud. Actually, loud noises have always bothered me, but the limit I can bear is dwindling.

For those reasons, I might be a 75-year-old man living in The Villages. But I do like change. I support a majority of changes college athletics is undergoing right now. Knowing players are getting paid without going through the old facade of acting like it was the best of amateur sports? Relieving.

So, with the news that USC and UCLA are joining the Big Ten, you would think I didn't mind. And while it makes absolutely no sense geographically or logistically for this to happen, I was okay with it. Yeah, okay with it until I started thinking of how this might affect the SEC, and then I got a little angry.

It made sense when Arkansas and South Carolina joined in 1991 as both are located in the Southeast. Then, in 2012, when Texas A&M and Missouri were brought in, things started to feel different for me. Now, with Texas and Oklahoma coming – no, not a fan of either joining – in a couple of years, if not sooner, the identity that I know and grew up with of the SEC is almost gone.

It's already been happening, but the ruining of long rivalries will have a more significant impact. Games we grew up looking forward to each season will be played every five years. Auburn's matchups against Florida were legendary, but now the Tigers and Gators are strangers to each other.

The Big Ten's big move, basically in response to the SEC adding the Longhorns and Sooners, seems like a giant ball that just started rolling downhill and is gathering momentum, only stopping when only two conferences exist in college football.

That would be a sad day, wouldn't it? As someone who grew up in SEC territory and has a degree from an SEC school, there's always a bit of pride and ego that might think, "Sure, you have college football. We have SEC football, which is better." It certainly helped living in different northern big cities, in a land where the Southeastern Conference is becoming a bucket list for those who have never experienced it. Everyone wanted to know what LSU, Auburn, the Iron Bowl, Rocky Top, the Swamp and many other locations were like. In many job interviews, I found out that many people think Auburn is a private school. I went along with it because, of course.

The SEC. I'm confident everyone reading this has great memories of conference battles, championships and tournaments. Hearing the SEC on CBS theme song is your favorite weekend moment. There is a history, a pride felt in the heart. It's a big part of who you are.

I mean, I know it is for me. From the Jefferson-Pilot early battle to the last ESPN game, I would sit on my couch while growing up, hardly moving except for food and the bathroom, and watch SEC football. Sure, I would wander over to some other conferences' games if they were big enough, but for 12 or so hours every Saturday, I took in every possible moment of this great conference. In one of many examples of me being a nerd, I learned every school's fight song so that I could hum it at any moment. (Well, except Mizzou. Sorry, Tigers.)

Going to Kentucky football games, back when the Wildcats ran the option with Billy Jack Haskins, was fantastic for me only because of the atmosphere around me. Attending away games as a student and learning their traditions was a must. My first time in Jordan-Hare for the 1997 Iron Bowl? I can remember every moment.

That feeling of being an SEC fan, alumni, supporter or whatever is possibly in danger. With the introduction of megaconferences and the more geographical territory that the SEC consists of, we lose a part of our fandom and, importantly, what makes the conference so unique.

That's not something I want to give up. That's the older man coming out in me.