The Blue Board

Basketball doesn't do it right, the regular season is virtually meaningless in basketball.

And the whole point in having automatic qualifiers is kind of defeated when you add 'only if it's the team we want'. That's as vague as the options we have now.

And I agree, 4 teams is flawed, need 8.

Basketball and football are apples and oranges though.

Let's deal with reality. As fans we would all prefer an or 16 team playoff that would allow for non-conf champions to be a part of. The reality is that the only thing on the table is a 4 team "playoff". The new agreement between the Big-12/SEC signed the deathknell for the ACC. FSU and others will jump ship as soon as they can, and take a short term financial hit in order to do so. By 2014 we will have an accepted 4 major football playing conferences, and if he have a 4 team playoff, it only makes sense at that point in time to simply have the champions of those 4 conferences play each other. I know many would like a seeded tourney with 1 playing 4 and 2 playing 3, but with the current traditions in CFB (ie the Rose Bowl, the grandaddy of them all) what is most likely is that the winner of the Rose Bowl plays the winner of the SEC vs Big-12 bowl. I believe that this will be the model pushed hard by Scott and Delaney.

The big winner of all of that would be the PAC-12. Absolutely no need to expand at that point and all that money shared by 12 teams as opposed to 14 or 16. Though we would take Notre Dame in a heartbeat.

It remains to be seen, but I think ultimately the model that I proposed will be the one used. It consolidates all the money and power among the 4 conferences, and in the end that is what it is all about. I also think that the conferences will get together and decide to call it an 8 team playoff, using the CCG's as round 1. That will allow some renegotiation from a TV standpoint and get more money and sponsorships for those CCG's.

It maintains the integrity of the regular season, it preserves the tradition of the Rose Bowl, and it is the biggest power grab in college football history. It makes too much sense from too many angles.

In the end after about 4 years or so, in 2018, I could see these 4 conferences expanding their post-season to allow for non-conf champs. That could be the major compromise. CC's only at the beginning, then a handshake agreement to expand on that in the near future.

while i agree that a "sweet 16" that i've pitched for the past ten years would be the real answer (short & long term) for D1 CFB , its nowhere near happening .

as for the " new Bowl" being a deathknell to the ACC ? its highly unlikely as the BIG12 /SEC champs are ever likely to actually play one another w/ a top 4 playoff format in play. and if they do ? it will only mean that neither are in the NC picture .

No revenue sharing from the CCG's, only revenue sharing from a post season bowl game featuring the winner of the Rose Bowl, vs the winner of this new bowl. It is a way to consolidate money and power and further separate these 4 conferences from everybody else.

The only reason the SEC and Big12 are making this agreement is to make sure they don't lose money with the end of the BCS bowl games. With the old system, the BCS required bowls to pay 'x' amount of money. The new BCS will have no control over the games outside of the BCSCG or the +1. Matching the top conferences allows them to ensure that the same money or more keeps coming in.

It has nothing to do with positioning the 2 for a playoff system.

Eventually that may be true, but at the moment, starting with this first +1 agreement, they will definitely be apart of it.

I agree that it could go away, after the 2014 season, but the thought is that if a +1 system is established and agreed upon (still a big if, IMO), then the contract will be extended/renewed.

Disagree. Not saying this is going to happen, but it's an interesting idea. And all seven parties do not have to agree. If that were the case, they never could get anything done. At the end of the day, the absolutely essential parties are the SEC, B10, P12 and B12. The Big East is literally almost irrelevant and while it would be problematic if the ACC and ND were left out in the short term it would hurt them far more than it would the four power CFB conferences. Recruiting at places like FSU, CLEM and ND would take a major hit and the money and prestige gap would widen even further.

In reality, outside the four power CFB conferences, the only schools that matter much at all in CFB are ND, FSU, MIA, VT, CLEM and possibly BSU and BYU. And every one of those schools that joins one of the Big 4 weakens the position of the others. If the current rumors come to fruition (FSU and CLEM to the B12), that basically leaves just ND, VT and MIA as major football programs outside the Big 4. It's not at all unrealistic to think the Big 4 might actually tell those schools at that point that they have one final chance to get aboard the train before it leaves the station or get left behind. Even Jack Swarbrick, ND's AD, has acknowledged that despite ND's desire to remain independent there are some scenarios that could force it to join a conference.

Why? What is the Big East's recourse if they don't agree? How about the ACC or ND? The only recourse for any of them is to take their marbles and go home. And that is the scenario I walked through in my example. It's slightly problematic to have two or three major football schools outside and looking in, but it's far worse for those schools than for the Big 4. And I question how long it would last before ND & Co. cave.

This is nothing like a jury. There is no law that requires a unanimous vote or even a majority vote. It's all about negotiating leverage and the Big East, ACC and ND have less with each passing day. If FSU and Clemson jump to the B12, it will be ND, Miami and VT against the rest of the elite footballl programs which all are in the Big 4. You are wrong if you think Slive/Delany/Scott/Bowlsby lose that faceoff.

Edit: Of course the existing format will remain in place through the 2013 season. This all has to do with what happens after those contracts expire.

My friend, I don't think you quite understand, not saying that in a bad way though as this situation can be a bit convoluted. No matter what, the current agreement is going to last until 2014. IF there is an agreed upon +1 or playoff, then that will be the first year it can happen, which is when the current bcs agreement expires. Now most are simply thinking that a new similar bcs agreement gets signed with a +1 of 4 team playoff. It is my current contention that it is entirely possible that the PAC-12, SEC, Big-12, and Big-10 simply back out of a new BCS agreement, thus killing the bcs. Those 4 conferences will then go on to agree to have a +1 themselves between the winner of the Rose Bowl and the winner of the new Big-12/SEC bowl. The only legal ramifications will be that they may not be able to call it a national championship game, but who cares. I believe that this new agreement will be signed for 4-5 years, and after it is over, then we will have an expanded play-off format.

Hopkins Horn over at BurntOrangeNation is suggesting pretty much the same thing. If you haven't read his latest piece, you might find it interesting. He makes a lot of sense IMO.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2012/5/20/3033183/welcome-to-the-superconference-era-of-college-football#storyjump

Always a risk of injury when you play football. It would make sense to see more good OOC teams, as you would be better prepared to face that style of play later. If you don't see much Pro-style passing attacks, then schedule a USC, or a Washington. If you don't see much of a fast paced read option attack, schedule an Oregon or West Virginia. If you are say Florida and want to prepare for Georgia's new odd man defensive front, schedule someone like Cal or another quality team who runs a 3-4 defense. Your own team will be more battle tested for it.

Really what does Alabama get out of scheduling a Towson or Georgia St? Rest for starters? Injuries are more likely to happen due to playing a little lax, as opposed to playing a tough opponent.

He said CBB which is College BasketBall. He is asking what ramifications would come from kicking those conferences to the curb in football. He is suggesting that they may decide to stick it to the football conferences in basketball and form their own alliance in that sport.

At this point, we aren't to the point where the ACC is about to see their teams leave. I would say it won't be anytime this year and may not be next year. They have a rather expensive buyout and they just signed a lengthy television contract. This isn't the same as the exit from the Big 12 by the schools that left. That conference was in complete shambles. Honestly, I don't think they are out of the woods. If they can't make a serious move with some top tier teams in the next 1-2 years(FSU/Clemson/ND), I think Texas and Oklahoma bolt for greener pastures. We simply don't know what the landscape will look like even a year from now but as it stands, the June 24th meetings will be with all parties from the BCS and there is no chance in hell we come away with a 4 conference champion playoff. Zero chance.