I still prefer the 1 + 7 until playoff expansion, then the 1 + 8 (with Texas being our obvious permanent).
What happens this week in Destin could change college football forever
“This has been brewing for a while now,” another SEC AD told me . “(The Alliance) made their move, and now we’ll make ours.”
Before we go further, understand this: The SEC doesn’t want to break away from the rest of college football. The 14 SEC presidents and commissioner Greg Sankey don’t want to be the impetus for reshaping college sports.
But they can — and that’s the key to this game of chicken with the rest of the FBS playing schools.
Right or wrong, fair or not, when the Alliance — the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC — scuttled College Football Playoff expansion as a response to the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma, it was their last and only chance at exerting power in what they believed was the SEC creating a competitive imbalance.
The SEC already has dominated college football in the 2000s, winning 12 of the 16 national championships since 2006 and becoming the only conference to have 2 teams in the BCS National Championship Game, 2 teams in a non-COVID season Playoff, and 2 teams playing in the Playoff national championship game.
Now they’re adding the biggest brand in college sports (Texas), and a powerful all sports program (Oklahoma) that just happens to be one of the greatest football playing schools in the history of college sports.
Meanwhile, the Alliance’s first and only move took an estimated $1.2 billion annually off the table and left the sport with an obvious end game. The next Playoff contract will not need unanimous approval by all 10 FBS conferences, but a simply majority of the Power 5 conferences and Notre Dame.
As it currently stands, it’s a 3-3 deadlock: the Alliance vs. the SEC, Big 12 and Notre Dame. Don’t blame the 14 SEC presidents and Sankey for reading the room.
There is no guarantee of Playoff expansion. Sankey and the SEC presidents have made their intentions clear from the start: stay at 4 teams, or expand to 12.
They see more problems down the road — infighting among the Power 5, and more important, the need for another revenue stream for looming pay-for-play decisions — and the only safe landing spot is their own backyard.
“(Texas and Oklahoma) came to us, they wanted in. That’s where this begins and ends,” an SEC AD told me. “We’re seen as the wolf because we said yes. If they had asked to join the Big Ten, there is no Alliance and the Big Ten is pushing for (Playoff) expansion. It’s disingenuous and it’s deceitful.”
And it has led to a crossroads for college sports.
No matter what happens with a longterm plan at 30,000 feet, the conference will this week take the first few big steps on a micro level with the scheduling model.
There are still a handful of schools that prefer the division setup, and they’ll need to be convinced of the advantages of no divisions (remember, the SEC doesn’t move forward unless everyone is on board — by agreement, or gentle nudging).
Even if the league moved to 9 conference games a season, the division format would leave 7 of those games committed to division opponents. In other words, the SEC would be in the same situation is stands now, with limited ability to rotate quickly through games.
The mandate from the presidents has been to give student athletes the ability to play at least once at every member institution over a 4- or 5-year career. That almost certainly means the end of divisions, and the implementation of a 3-6 model (3 permanent games, 6 rotating).
The argument of 8 games vs. 9 games has been around for more than a decade, and the sides have never changed.
Those programs with the largest budgets (see: blue-bloods) aren’t against 9 games. The remainder want 8 because another SEC game is another possible loss on the way to qualifying for not only a bowl game — but a New Year’s 6 bowl game.
ESPN wants a better inventory of games — games that reach the elite advertising threshold of 4 million viewers. It’s hard for the SEC to deliver Ole Miss vs. Memphis, when Ole Miss vs. Georgia is out there waiting to be had.
But if the presidents stay true to their mantra of a more expanded experience for student athletes, 9 games is the answer. And that means a 3-6 model, where all 14 teams have 3 permanent games and rotate through 6 others over the course of a player’s career.
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What happens this week in Destin could change college football forever
“This has been brewing for a while now,” another SEC AD told me . “(The Alliance) made their move, and now we’ll make ours.”
Before we go further, understand this: The SEC doesn’t want to break away from the rest of college football. The 14 SEC presidents and commissioner Greg Sankey don’t want to be the impetus for reshaping college sports.
But they can — and that’s the key to this game of chicken with the rest of the FBS playing schools.
Right or wrong, fair or not, when the Alliance — the Big Ten, Pac-12 and ACC — scuttled College Football Playoff expansion as a response to the SEC adding Texas and Oklahoma, it was their last and only chance at exerting power in what they believed was the SEC creating a competitive imbalance.
The SEC already has dominated college football in the 2000s, winning 12 of the 16 national championships since 2006 and becoming the only conference to have 2 teams in the BCS National Championship Game, 2 teams in a non-COVID season Playoff, and 2 teams playing in the Playoff national championship game.
Now they’re adding the biggest brand in college sports (Texas), and a powerful all sports program (Oklahoma) that just happens to be one of the greatest football playing schools in the history of college sports.
Meanwhile, the Alliance’s first and only move took an estimated $1.2 billion annually off the table and left the sport with an obvious end game. The next Playoff contract will not need unanimous approval by all 10 FBS conferences, but a simply majority of the Power 5 conferences and Notre Dame.
As it currently stands, it’s a 3-3 deadlock: the Alliance vs. the SEC, Big 12 and Notre Dame. Don’t blame the 14 SEC presidents and Sankey for reading the room.
There is no guarantee of Playoff expansion. Sankey and the SEC presidents have made their intentions clear from the start: stay at 4 teams, or expand to 12.
They see more problems down the road — infighting among the Power 5, and more important, the need for another revenue stream for looming pay-for-play decisions — and the only safe landing spot is their own backyard.
“(Texas and Oklahoma) came to us, they wanted in. That’s where this begins and ends,” an SEC AD told me. “We’re seen as the wolf because we said yes. If they had asked to join the Big Ten, there is no Alliance and the Big Ten is pushing for (Playoff) expansion. It’s disingenuous and it’s deceitful.”
And it has led to a crossroads for college sports.
No matter what happens with a longterm plan at 30,000 feet, the conference will this week take the first few big steps on a micro level with the scheduling model.
There are still a handful of schools that prefer the division setup, and they’ll need to be convinced of the advantages of no divisions (remember, the SEC doesn’t move forward unless everyone is on board — by agreement, or gentle nudging).
Even if the league moved to 9 conference games a season, the division format would leave 7 of those games committed to division opponents. In other words, the SEC would be in the same situation is stands now, with limited ability to rotate quickly through games.
The mandate from the presidents has been to give student athletes the ability to play at least once at every member institution over a 4- or 5-year career. That almost certainly means the end of divisions, and the implementation of a 3-6 model (3 permanent games, 6 rotating).
The argument of 8 games vs. 9 games has been around for more than a decade, and the sides have never changed.
Those programs with the largest budgets (see: blue-bloods) aren’t against 9 games. The remainder want 8 because another SEC game is another possible loss on the way to qualifying for not only a bowl game — but a New Year’s 6 bowl game.
ESPN wants a better inventory of games — games that reach the elite advertising threshold of 4 million viewers. It’s hard for the SEC to deliver Ole Miss vs. Memphis, when Ole Miss vs. Georgia is out there waiting to be had.
But if the presidents stay true to their mantra of a more expanded experience for student athletes, 9 games is the answer. And that means a 3-6 model, where all 14 teams have 3 permanent games and rotate through 6 others over the course of a player’s career.
SEC considering change to intraconference transfer deadline
Nick Saban comments on recent feud with Jimbo Fisher: 'I have no problem with Jimbo'
