The SEC and Big 12 recently announced a new Bowl partnership to create a matchup of the respective conference champions, similar to what the Big Ten and Pac 12 have with the Rose Bowl. This has several immediate, far reaching implications.
- The BCS will soon become a 4 team playoff.
- The conferences are now bypassing even the Bowls, and forming their OWN Bowl games.
- We are quickly moving to the model of 4 "super-conferences" of 16 teams.
- Clearly, the Big East, ACC and all other non-BCS conferences are on the outside looking in.
- Notre Dame will have to decide what they want to do with our football program - soon.
- The NCAA is irrelevant as an organization.
Look, since the BCS began in 1998, ND has been in 3 games. That's 3 out of 14 years. In a 4 team playoff format, we would have qualified ZERO times in those previous years. No matter what the new BCS format is, ND will be assuredly LESS LIKELY to get a spot, given the fewer teams involved. What options does that leave us? All the Bowls are likely scrambling AT THIS VERY MOMENT to secure conference affiliations. The dominoes are falling. I hate it, but I think it is truly, finally, for real, the moment that we need to make a choice. If we don't act now, the choice will be made for us.
4 comments:
Here's an idea. Have 4 super conferences. The Rose Bowl will be the semifinal for the Pac-10 and Big-10, pitting the champions of the respective conferences against each other. The Champions Bowl will be the other semifinal which will pit the champions of the SEC vs. the Big-12. The winners of each of these games will play in the national championship. Here's where it gets interesting: relegation and promotion. Teams currently not members of the one of the 4 super conferences can join up soon. The last place team in each super conference will be relegated each year and a new team will take its place! Will it ever happen, no. Would it be awesome, yes!
It's going to be very tough to remove the ACC from this whole thing. I agree that they are the weakest in terms of football power of the 5 major conferences (the Big East ceased to be a football power conference when Miami and Va Tech left). However, Florida St., Miami (FL), and Va Tech are all pretty good programs that have been, can, and will be notable again. It's a much easier sell if you use a 6-team playoff, a la the NFL. You have the conference winners of the SEC, Pac-16, Big-16, Big-10, and ACC, and then one other team from FBS. Top 2 teams get BYEs, and you have a very small playoff. This then allows any school in the country to potentially win a National Championship, without having to be in a super-conference. The Notre Dame's, Boise State's, and BYUs of the country would probably be OK with it, since they have a chance, but it still gives the super-conferences the best chance.
Besides, if the ACC is excluded, I could see them trying to do something in basketball. I know there's not as much money in basketball, but there is still a lot of money there.
Ha, I swear I didn't see this article until after I posted my idea of promotion/relegation for college football:
http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/5/17/3025448/conference-football-relegation
Kev, the ACC teams won't be excluded. They'll just be absorbed into the bigger conferences - at least the ones worth adding!
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