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Comments
Man this is tough. I see the need for a change whether 4 team pods or single division, but I also see how divisions could still work just as well most years. Always can be a fluky one and just because a stronger team than the other div champ is not in the title game, I mean come on, with 12 TEAMS making it in, that team and ANY others in the same boat, would also make the playoffs.
I mean if it is to get the most teams possible from the conference into the playoffs first and foremost, with 12 teams getting in, that is zero problem, no matter the conference format. I am sure there are other issues I have forgotten because I work a lot, family etc. but if we add 1 team to each division, the SEC will still be very strongly represented in a 12 team playoff.
I like the divisional aspect I must admit. I was around for the single division and I 100% prefer 2 divisions. Gives teams a tremendously better shot of winning the conference if you are not in the current beasts division. With a single division, dang the current beast or 2 is going to be impossible for mediocre or lower level programs to EVER have a chance to win...anything. While some will rotate in and out of the top and bottom half of from year-to-year, basically take half of the conference yearly once the 2 newbies join and throw them all away basically. They will all have HALF the chance or worse even, of EVER winning ANYTHING, than they do NOW. Just a fact.
Too many top programs to match, or do better than, to make it happen. I mean wow, if you are in the East currently, in the future you will have TWICE as many teams to be better than and that includes the likes of Bama, A & M, Ole Miss, AU, LSU, etc on top of UGA, TN, FL, etc.
Going to be a tough road to hoe, probably 5x as hard and for many of the mid-to-lower tier SEC teams, this is a greek tragedy for them. I mean still great for their bank accounts, but devastating for their chances of their schools or programs EVER winning anything or even coming close. I mean, its hard enough for them now. So yeah, throw them in there with all of the big boys and watch them fade to near obscurity and lose what little chance and respect they have now.
I can remember several times, over the years, that UGA was in the same position Tennessee is in.
Before the SEC went to a division model, you could have a perfect record and still be the runner-up. Head-to-head matchups weren't a guarantee, so, other criteria was taken into account. I don't remember the entire formula, but, it started at win/loss records...then head-to-head...then...
The point is...there's no scenario that I can think of, that would guarantee the SEC puts forth it's "best team" EVERY year.
You can't guarantee that the actual Conference Winner is the best team, absent a head-to-head matchup with, what is presumed to be, the "2nd best team". That happened through natural course, this year, with TENN vs UGA under the "2 division system"....It may not happen in the "zero division system".
Without a Conference Championship game, there's no way to ensure the Conference is well represented. Besides, the CFP hasn't presented any fast and hard rules, criteria or standards, for Conferences and Coaches to follow.
How can they possibly tailor Conference Champion criteria to match CFP criteria...when the CFP can't even tell you what they are looking at, without contradiction. LOL
IMO....Drop 1 game and have a 4 team playoff at the end of the year...then a Championship game between the 2 winners. A Conference Championship Playoff (CCP) would generate tons of money and interest. Not just in the CCP, but, during the season, as well.
Right now, UGA and TENN would represent the EAST. LSU owns 1 spot in the West, but, the 3rd position would still be battled over, with BAMA holding the edge.
It could be...
UGA vs LSU. & BAMA vs UT
Then....the winners of those 2 games meet in ATL for the Championship game. As you can see, there would probably be a rematch or 2. The rematches can take place in a CCP or in the CFP, but, not both...maybe. Lol
So now that it is tennessee that could get left out, this matters? It hasn't mattered in the past.
I don’t see how the B1G is the winner. They also have Rutgers in the NY market and who cares. LA is no more a college football market than NY. Also, it is going to be an expensive logistics nightmare getting the Rutgers volleyball team across the country for a Friday night match and back home by Monday for class. No winners there!
A lot of the opinions here see the problem accurately - money as the driver of these changes. Tradition and quality matter and should be sacrosanct. Obviously, the move to the playoff was the biggest change and once made, the almighty dollar became the king of CFB. For the SEC, bringing in Missouri and A&M was the break in the proverbial dam. Neither they nor Oklahoma or Texas belong in the SEC. Regionalism, at a time when everything is moving toward globalism, is important and a good thing in many regards. Georgia Tech and Clemson and Florida State are appropriate for inclusion in the SEC . . . actual southerners know that Texas is not in the South! To be fair, it is its own.
Some controversy in the post-season is good for the sport. It inflames passions, it fuels the energy in the next season, it refreshes the spirit of rivalries, and it teaches the valuable lesson that not all in life is fair but the greater victory is possible if you never quit. The playoff abandoned that idea in the pursuit the almighty dollar and in the guise of increasing post-season parity. In reality, there is nothing fair about the lie that a 7-3 team deserves or has earned a place in the competition for the championship.
Athletics and sports are creations and reflections of our cultural values. They are the venues in which our values are expressed and performed and reaffirmed. For well over a hundred years, Major League Baseball served this function. In some ways, still does it that means that our national values are so corroded that, instead of celebrating the Romantic notion that our best will go against your best and all hail the victor . . . until next time, we only seek to maximize the moment for own ends and have no eye toward or care for the meaning of our actions in this moment. So, if we are only the current iteration of Rome's plebians who only seek a momentary distraction from our inconsequential existences, then, perhaps Sankey is right and we should immediately expand the playoffs, exterminate traditions, and only ever be concerned that the gladiators' blades are sharp and the lions are hungry.
@ColumbusDawg...when you only have 4 teams in a playoff, then yes, a weak schedule can hurt you and may cost us next year. And next year it's still only 4 teams in the playoffs. And honestly, I'd much rather us play a tougher non-conference schedule and lose than play Kent State and win. Kirby wants a tougher schedule and better opponents. Sorry, that's just the way we see it. And I'm always going to want to change up my conference schedule so I'm not playing the same teams every year. Who wouldn't? Add a 9th SEC game as well. I'm a college football fan, first and foremost. So, I want better and varied matchups.
Get ready because change is coming whether you like it or not. I'm on Sankey's side, and it looks like that view is going to win out.
The core problem, in my mind, is that shortness of the College Football schedule. This isn't basketball where you can have all of the SEC teams play each other numerous times and there's lots of data points as to who might be the best. You cannot, in my opinion, have a conference division where every team doesn't play each other. That's fundamentally flawed.
Keep in mind, we've had instances in previous years where the winner of the division had to be based on rankings and that wasn't ideal.
Those arguing that the East is "weaker" might've had an argument for a short period of time, but that's not true anymore. It goes in periods. Now, it's Georgia's time (Smart). Tenn has had their time (Fulmer). Florida has had their time (Spurrier). The West has historically been weaker.
This year is the perfect example of how dumb it'd be. You have Georgia at #1, Tenn at #5, LSU at #7 and Bama at #8. You going to have minor differences and "style points" determine who Georgia would play? One big reason why the Georgia vs Tenn game was so heavily watched was BECAUSE it was essentially the SEC East championship game. Why would people watch it if they knew that Georgia and Tenn were both guaranteed to be there no matter who won?
The BIG10 becomes a national college football league with the addition of the CA teams. As you stated they can add LA to NY and also Chicago TV (IL) markets. The 3 biggest TV markets in the country. CFB is the 2nd most popular sport behind the NFL. CFB is poised to overtake the NFL in popularity for a lot of reasons.
Market size equals advertising revenue equals broadcast content equals broadcast revenue. Very compelling (viewable matchups being created) programming with the new BIG10 additions especially IF ND joins the BIG10. Verifiable.
"The Big Ten is projected to eventually distribute $80 million to $100 million per year to each of its 16 members."
"In February, the SEC announced an annual revenue distribution of about $55 million per school."
That makes the BIG10 able to have better facilities, bigger budgets and more NIL. That makes the BIG10 the CFB expansion winner.
As for the student athlete logistics. Most of them don't go to class now. With technology, tutors, virtual classes most of their work and assignments can be completed on line from anywhere.
College football will never come close to overtaking the NFL in any of those three “biggest TV markets”. UCLA, USC, and Rutgers can’t even sellout their home games. I believe advertising rates are set by Nielsen ratings. Low numbers of eyeballs tuning in equal low advertising dollars. The B1G bean counters got this wrong. Projections mean nothing.
I hope USC does get in vs. UGA in the semis. It will be interesting seeing the Nielsen splits between the west coast viewing audience and the SEC footprint.
As a season ticket holder, I prefer the 9-game conference schedule with the 3-6 format. Having 3 permanent opponents and rotating the rest will improve the home schedule. Every team will play at Sanford Stadium at least once every 4 years. Hopefully Georgia will keep scheduling at least one quality non-conference opponent in addition to Georgia Tech. It would be a tough schedule, but a quality product for the fans and still a path to the expanded playoffs.
You obviously have not been following the trends.
"All NFL games are averaging 15.7 million viewers to date, down from 16.5 million at the same point in 2021"
NY is ranked 36th in NFL viewership and CA ranked 48th. In fact NY and CA watch more golf than NFL.
CFB generates a new class of fans every season.
Bottom line. Football revenue comes mostly from broadcast deals. The value of those broadcast deals are reflected in the payouts to each school. The broadcast rights are more valuable for the BIG10 based on the payouts to each school. $100M/team is greater than $55M every time. And that is before they add Notre Dame.
I believe the question revolves around the 12-team CFP...not the current model. So, your comments come off as irrelevant. IMO
I agree with you, if you were referring to the current model. But, in a 12-team tournament, the SEC would obviously field the SECC. They would also, get at least 1 more at-large team...regardless of record. I can live with that.
There is only 1 Champion, every year. I think we all know which teams are elite, by now. The 12-team CFP is overdue and will be a lot of fun to watch.
For those of you commenting about minor leagues and money...it's been that way, since the NFL and NCAA were first realized. Not to mention the birth of ESPN, The Internet and Cable TV.
The NFL was created by former College Players. It's since blown up into a Fortune 500 business. Why? Supply and Demand. We love our football. So does Vegas and every bookie from Miami to LA..
Nothing new, here...except the number of NFL Teams and opportunities for television exposure. ESPN and the NFL aren't in business for our health. We get to watch football 3 or 4 times a week, on multiple Channels, vice once or twice a week on 2 channels. I'll take it.
The SEC hasn't negotiated it's deal, yet. So, you might want to hold off on your rankings. LOL
You quoted NFL viewership...what is NCAA Football viewership in the Rutgers area? NFL vs NCAA viewership... Apples and oranges.
BIG10 viewership before USC, UCLA and probably ND (and now Clemson) and after those additions, apples and oranges. LOL IF CFB content has underperformed in certain markets then there would seem to be even greater potential for growth and the associated revenue.
New, compelling rivalries will generate even more interest. The media content suppliers agree based on the broadcast rights contracts.
But the numbers are the numbers. SEC signed a 10 yr deal in '20 that is exclusive to ESPN/ABC in '24 for $3B/10yr. "meaning the SEC will get an annual payment of US$300 million". "media rights deals worth a reported $8 billion over seven years that will make the Big Ten — already America’s richest conference - even richer". Not my words. Industry experts. Google is your friend. LOL
The right numbers are the numbers. That's the point. I lived in Cali and in NY, at various times in my life. I can tell you this. They love their NFL...But could give not 1, but, 2 s*h*i*t*s less about College or High School football. Their go to sport is Basketball or Baseball.
The only people that care about College Football, in those areas, are alumni and maybe a couple of their kids.
FYI...Those contracts are currently being renegotiated...so, standby.