Conference Realignment

[MusicalBuzz]

There won’t be a lot of CFB in the future. Wash St is a good example. I would say, if you don’t get much today, you won’t lose anything but if you have a school heavily dependent on tv revenue… it’s going to be tough sledding. We will see. I would not be surprised to see 30-40 teams drop down to FCS.

I know, but exactly how much money is required to run a CFB program?

Who exactly is benefiting from the additional $10/20/30M per year? Exactly how often can one improve facilities, or gain a minuscule odds of gaining an additional 1 win per season per millions $$ spent?

At the end of the day there are many, many coaches, and far more players, that just want to coach or play. And so I’ll maintain that soon an equilibrium will occur. And that it’ll occur sooner on those conferences that don’t have an extended GOR as does the ACC. Because cable and streaming (by virtue of grossly overpaying for rights) are not trending favorably. And, frankly — and, disclaimer .. I actually do work for a major content provider unlike some here who opine — the prognosis to sustain this level of gross overspending/overpaying is not favorable long term.

Net-net: let the 30-40 teams fall to FCS and we’ll still have reason to watch on Saturdays.

 

[MusicalBuzz]

It has been a farce my entire life and even smart fans have bought the BS of “pageantry” and “tradition”. Yeah, I love that tradition of getting to play powerhouses like Duke and Virginia every year.

I always appreciate the appropriate cynicism you bring.. I’m the same!

But I’ll hard disagree on the statement above: At the end of the day this is exactly what’s great about CFB: the school colors, the bands and fight songs, our own lifelong attachment to the institutions and the kids who play their guts out for a game while embarking on the real consequence on the rest of their lives — a college education.

Surely not every game reaches an existential magnitude — but that’s what makes CFB so great and what’s been lost in this greed-fueled realignment and gross inflation of the sport.

 

[Vespidae]

I know, but exactly how much money is required to run a CFB program?

Who exactly is benefiting from the additional $10/20/30M per year? Exactly how often can one improve facilities, or gain a minuscule odds of gaining an additional 1 win per season per millions $$ spent?

At the end of the day there are many, many coaches, and far more players, that just want to coach or play. And so I’ll maintain that soon an equilibrium will occur. And that it’ll occur sooner on those conferences that don’t have an extended GOR as does the ACC. Because cable and streaming (by virtue of grossly overpaying for rights) are not trending favorably. And, frankly — and, disclaimer .. I actually do work for a major content provider unlike some here who opine — the prognosis to sustain this level of gross overspending/overpaying is not favorable long term.

Net-net: let the 30-40 teams fall to FCS and we’ll still have reason to watch on Saturdays.

No question there will be a product but that’s not the issue. That $30 or $40 million is not just funding football. It’s funding ALL athletics. So if you have a $70 million athletics budget and just lost $30 million … it’s massive impact on the whole budget.

 

[MusicalBuzz]

No question there will be a product but that’s not the issue. That $30 or $40 million is not just funding football. It’s funding ALL athletics. So if you have a $70 million athletics budget and just lost $30 million … it’s massive impact on the whole budget.

Yeah, that’s a very fair and true point .. thank you for the correction. I guess I’m now even more deflated by considering that inflationary spending is now extending to all amateur athletics

 

[Vespidae]

Yeah, that’s a very fair and true point .. thank you for the correction. I guess I’m now even more deflated by considering that inflationary spending is now extending to all amateur athletics

Exactly. The SEC schools, for example, can’t spend all the money they are generating so they are throwing gobs of money at basketball, baseball, golf, etc.

The ACC could retreat to basketball but in the world of the portal and NIL, you can buy a team.

 

[Techster]

Conference realignment is a brutal and ruthless game. ACC pretty much knee capped the Big East in football, B1G/Big 12 have for all intents and purposes killed the PAC12. I feel like the barbarians are at the gate for the ACC. ACC decision makers will be sweating the next 13 years.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

Speaking of gambling, with ESPN + Bet, we take another giant step toward totally corrupting the game. NIL, transfer portal and now open gambling promoted by the biggest profiteer of all. Just juice the NIL money a bit to have players throw a game here or there, and who can really complain. It's probably already happening but now how can you really object. Reminds of a Frank Zappa lyric that went something like, there it is the way you made it, do you love it or do you hate it. Well, it looks like it really doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Techster]

 

[CEB]

Those who say they wont watch the big matchups if GT isn’t a part is just comical to me. We haven’t been in the “club” in a long time yet everyone has been watching the 3 playoff games to hope UGA loses.

Once we get into a 24plus team playoff (whether GT is a part or not) everyone will watch because it’s fun watching upsets. GT hasn’t been in March Madness much lately yet everyone watches for many reasons (upsets, fan of the sport, or gambling).

All we are seeing over this 20 year period is what should have occurred in the 60’s and 70’s which is the sport being made legitimate instead of continuing to be professional wrestling with fake matchups in bowl games and media majors picking the National Champ. It has been a farce my entire life and even smart fans have bought the BS of “pageantry” and “tradition”. Yeah, I love that tradition of getting to play powerhouses like Duke and Virginia every year. And then when we win enough games to be given the prestigious honor of playing in a corrupt bowl system we get to go the football hotspots of places like Detroit.

The sport will be much better when all this shakes out as all teams will have a chance to prove their worth on the field instead of bogus years like this upcoming season when we already know which 12 will produce the 4. Why? Because they continue to allow opinions thru polls to influence the top 25. UGA will have to lose 4 games to fall out of the top 25. Meanwhile you’ll have 2 loss teams who never get ranked because they aren’t “deemed” worthy in August. I can‘t wait for the money guys to take over from the NCAA.

All teams will have a chance to prove their worth on the field? That’s rich. In case you missed it, the power players are hard at work limiting the pool of potential participants. There is talk of protecting conference champs in the playoff, but the number of conferences seems to be dropping rapidly. Make no mistake, the playoff is going to include 9-10 teams from the pool of predetermined major football schools. The process of picking winners and losers has already begun.
Not playing yourself into contention is VERY different from being excluded from the entire structure. If GT (and others like GT) are on the outside looking in at whatever this becomes, you bet your a$$ I won’t be watching it.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

All teams will have a chance to prove their worth on the field? That’s rich. In case you missed it, the power players are hard at work limiting the pool of potential participants. There is talk of protecting conference champs in the playoff, but the number of conferences seems to be dropping rapidly. Make no mistake, the playoff is going to include 9-10 teams from the pool of predetermined major football schools. The process of picking winners and losers has already begun.
Not playing yourself into contention is VERY different from being excluded from the entire structure. If GT (and others like GT) are on the outside looking in at whatever this becomes, you bet your a$$ I won’t be watching it.

Well, you’ll have no one to blame but GT then. GT isn’t being excluded by anyone. We are excluding ourselves. We could be in the BIG right now and we turned them down. They didn’t turn us down. GT could be in the SEC right now but we left them. They didn’t leave us. And I’ll absolutely love a real playoff system whether GT is in or not for the same reason I’ve enjoyed watching big time games without GT playing my whole life. I like the sport.

And I’ll keep doing what we’ve all been doing whether the ACC or GT gets left out - I’ll watch the GT game and then watch the other interesting games of the day. Sure, it will stink for the GT’s of the world when the SEC and BIG breakaway and create their own league but if it’s the right move for those schools then they should do it. This isn’t charity and if the NCAA had actually enforced their own rules all these decades evenly we wouldn’t be to this point. Isn’t it ironic that the schools the NCAA has protected will be the end of the NCAA. I think that is awesome.

And if fans respond like you and not watch then that opens the door to schools “left out” to form their own league and negotiate their own system for TV. If the numbers are there then so will the money. You guys can clearly create a system of bowl games and even allow journalists to pick who plays in them. You can even create some sort of system where journalists vote or take a poll of who the top teams are and then appoint a champion. Heck, you could even let journalists tell you who the best teams are before the season even begins then you can really save the student-athletes from a lot of travel and potential injuries by not even playing the games.

 

[SOWEGA Jacket]

I always appreciate the appropriate cynicism you bring.. I’m the same!

But I’ll hard disagree on the statement above: At the end of the day this is exactly what’s great about CFB: the school colors, the bands and fight songs, our own lifelong attachment to the institutions and the kids who play their guts out for a game while embarking on the real consequence on the rest of their lives — a college education.

Surely not every game reaches an existential magnitude — but that’s what makes CFB so great and what’s been lost in this greed-fueled realignment and gross inflation of the sport.

I get it. But to say “this greed-fueled realignment and gross inflation of the sport” as if this is something new I just find weird. It’s as if no one other than a few of us actually know history. The entire sport was based on greed. And every era can point to a “gross inflation of the sport”. None of this is new.

Heck, the guy many here hold as some sort of deity of virtue (Dodd) used every rule he could to his benefit. Has no one else read the books? Dodd had so much virtue he beat a team 222-0, used players (many much older) kept back from war, brought in players who didn’t even attend GT, played double digit home games, etc. That’s how much virtue he had busting out of his personality.

The point is Dodd wasn’t a bad guy nor are any of the guys that modern fans want to skin alive. Dodd did what was in the best interest of Dodd and since he was paid by GT it benefitted GT. But, make no mistake, if Dodd were at Bama or Tennessee he would have done the same thing as Neyland and Bear. I know, for today’s era, that I sure hope Key is doing everything he can to be successful because that means GT benefits.

 

[yeti92]

Speaking of gambling, with ESPN + Bet, we take another giant step toward totally corrupting the game. NIL, transfer portal and now open gambling promoted by the biggest profiteer of all. Just juice the NIL money a bit to have players throw a game here or there, and who can really complain. It's probably already happening but now how can you really object. Reminds of a Frank Zappa lyric that went something like, there it is the way you made it, do you love it or do you hate it. Well, it looks like it really doesn't matter anymore.

I've wondered about this for a while now. Everyone is focused on paying their team's players/recruits to play for them, but what if someone starts paying players on opponents' teams to underperform/sit out the week of their game? You could spend half a million per game to have the top 5 guys on your opponent's team sit out or play like crap that one game to help ensure a win for your side.

 

[slugboy]

I get it. But to say “this greed-fueled realignment and gross inflation of the sport” as if this is something new I just find weird. It’s as if no one other than a few of us actually know history. The entire sport was based on greed. And every era can point to a “gross inflation of the sport”. None of this is new.

Heck, the guy many here hold as some sort of deity of virtue (Dodd) used every rule he could to his benefit. Has no one else read the books? Dodd had so much virtue he beat a team 222-0, used players (many much older) kept back from war, brought in players who didn’t even attend GT, played double digit home games, etc. That’s how much virtue he had busting out of his personality.

The point is Dodd wasn’t a bad guy nor are any of the guys that modern fans want to skin alive. Dodd did what was in the best interest of Dodd and since he was paid by GT it benefitted GT. But, make no mistake, if Dodd were at Bama or Tennessee he would have done the same thing as Neyland and Bear. I know, for today’s era, that I sure hope Key is doing everything he can to be successful because that means GT benefits.

Heisman coached the 222-0 game.

 

[Vespidae]

Make no mistake, the playoff is going to include 9-10 teams from the pool of predetermined major football schools.

There is some truth to this. We will likely have a number of 2 loss teams. And you can assume that part of the selection criteria will be potential fan interest (viewers, dollars ).

CFB has never been healthier financially. The problem is that it is skewing, not a little, but a lot to an ever smaller group of schools.

One AD said it. ”No more facilities, no new stuff. The game is about buying players. Simple.”

 

[MWBATL]

I've wondered about this for a while now. Everyone is focused on paying their team's players/recruits to play for them, but what if someone starts paying players on opponents' teams to underperform/sit out the week of their game? You could spend half a million per game to have the top 5 guys on your opponent's team sit out or play like crap that one game to help ensure a win for your side.

Hasn’t this always been true? No different now than before…

 

[iceeater1969]

There is some truth to this. We will likely have a number of 2 loss teams. And you can assume that part of the selection criteria will be potential fan interest (viewers, dollars ).

CFB has never been healthier financially. The problem is that it is skewing, not a little, but a lot to an ever smaller group of schools.

One AD said it. ”No more facilities, no new stuff. The game is about buying players. Simple.”

Add "no more pretending to go to classes". UNC was ahead of the curve.
.

 

[g0lftime]

Add "no more pretending to go to classes". UNC was ahead of the curve.
.

And FSU before them with online class credits. They had to vacate wins under Bowden over it. It's probably now how a lot of players are kept eligible. Burrow said his senior year at LSU was online classes and he didn't have to even go on campus. At UNC no class attendance in AFAM class, write one paper, and it gets graded by the secretary. Went on for 16 years.

 

[CEB]

Well, you’ll have no one to blame but GT then. GT isn’t being excluded by anyone. We are excluding ourselves. We could be in the BIG right now and we turned them down. They didn’t turn us down. GT could be in the SEC right now but we left them. They didn’t leave us. And I’ll absolutely love a real playoff system whether GT is in or not for the same reason I’ve enjoyed watching big time games without GT playing my whole life. I like the sport.

And I’ll keep doing what we’ve all been doing whether the ACC or GT gets left out - I’ll watch the GT game and then watch the other interesting games of the day. Sure, it will stink for the GT’s of the world when the SEC and BIG breakaway and create their own league but if it’s the right move for those schools then they should do it. This isn’t charity and if the NCAA had actually enforced their own rules all these decades evenly we wouldn’t be to this point. Isn’t it ironic that the schools the NCAA has protected will be the end of the NCAA. I think that is awesome.

And if fans respond like you and not watch then that opens the door to schools “left out” to form their own league and negotiate their own system for TV. If the numbers are there then so will the money. You guys can clearly create a system of bowl games and even allow journalists to pick who plays in them. You can even create some sort of system where journalists vote or take a poll of who the top teams are and then appoint a champion. Heck, you could even let journalists tell you who the best teams are before the season even begins then you can really save the student-athletes from a lot of travel and potential injuries by not even playing the games.

I know where we are and why we’re here, but I do fear where it’s going.

You seem to be quite understanding and apologetic toward everyone except for who those say they aren’t on board with a semi- pro model of a handful of teams. I don’t know why its so comical that such a model will alienate some fans...

You also keep railing against an argument that no one is making.... a playoff IS good. HOWEVER, There is a new group of journalists and conference leaders selecting playoff eligible teams right now, before a single down has been played.

There is nothing remotely resembling open competition in the grand scheme and pointing that out is not calling for charity.

You’re not alone in your thinking (and I won’t condemn you for it). ESPN, Fox, BIG and SEC leaders are investing a lot of money on you and fans like you tuning in at record levels. I’m just hoping there is a big change in trajectory over the next 8-10 years while the B12 and ACC still have claims to playoff spots. Once those go away, we’ll just be seeding the top 6 SEC vs top 6 BIG.

 

[stech81]

Ok FSU, it's Tuesday again now pick a door.

 

[Techster]

Implications of realignment on the playoffs: