🏈 Exercising the nuclear option (16 team conference)

[XXL TideFan]

Meaning that the SEC should take three more teams into the conference prior to the start of 2012 football. It is going to happen eventually, go ahead and launch and leave the rest of the BCS conferences sucking dust. What say ye?

 

[UAgrad93]

It sounds sensible, but I think Slive doesn't want to be seen as a raider of other conferences. I think he wants to be seen as the savior to come in and take them away to the promised land.

 

[TerryP]

It sounds sensible, but I think Slive doesn't want to be seen as a raider of other conferences. I think he wants to be seen as the savior to come in and take them away to the promised land.

In the lawyerly fashion, "we didn't issue an invitation" all the while knowing there was a process. In the eyes of a lot UTx isn't going to come out looking too good in the publics perception.

Here's another thought of mine.

We are one year removed, less than that really, from the SEC setting the football schedules for the next 10 years. While this was going on we all saw the way teams were moving around. It's foolish to think that this wasn't discussed, in detail, and they have plans in place on how to implement even just one team into a schedule. I suspect it's a plan that includes several different scenarios as well.

This is where his attorney background helps Slive and the SEC out.

 

[UAgrad93]

No doubt in my mind Terry that it has been discussed with numerous scenarios. I was putting the public perception of how Slive wishes to be seen out there. 1-3 teams, I'm sure it's all been discussed and schedules have already been kicked around with the various scenarios too.

 

[Crimson14Tide]

Meaning that the SEC should take three more teams into the conference prior to the start of 2012 football. It is going to happen eventually, go ahead and launch and leave the rest of the BCS conferences sucking dust. What say ye?

It sounds like one of the worst ideas in the history of college football...again.

 

[XXL TideFan]

4 four team divisions.10 game schedule with semi final and SECCG. The SEC sets the standard instead of playing catch up.

via DROID ERIS on Tapatalk Pro

 

[psychojoe]

The Big 12 is teetering on the brink of ceasing to exist as a conference. The BCS has obvious inequities with the Big East and ACC being given automatic bids. There are powerful forces that may force the re-alignment issue. I'd like to see our league out in front in such a scenario, grabbing off the most desirable teams from the perspective of competition and markets. I would be shocked if there is not a plan in place to move quickly in the area of expansion.

 

[Bo]

What I'd like to see.

6 - 16 team "Super" Conferences

Winner of each conference goes to the play offs, top 2 teams gets a bye in the first round.

Will never happen, but that's what I'd love to see.

 

[Southern Bama]

The Big 12 is teetering on the brink of ceasing to exist as a conference. The BCS has obvious inequities with the Big East and ACC being given automatic bids. There are powerful forces that may force the re-alignment issue. I'd like to see our league out in front in such a scenario, grabbing off the most desirable teams from the perspective of competition and markets. I would be shocked if there is not a plan in place to move quickly in the area of expansion.

I agree. There has to be some major behind the scenes talking going on right now.

 

[musso]

What I'd like to see.

6 - 16 team "Super" Conferences

Winner of each conference goes to the play offs, top 2 teams gets a bye in the first round.

This is a very similar proposal of mine which I proposed back in 2006:

PAC 14

North: Wash, Wash St, Oregon, Oregon St, Cal, Stanford, San Jose St
South: Fresno St, USC, UCLA, San Diego St, Ariz, Ariz St, Hawaii

WAC 14

North: Idaho, Boise St, Wyoming, Colorado St, Utah St, Nevada, Utah
South: BYU, UNLV, Air Force, New Mex, New Mex St, Texas Tech, UTEP

Heartland Conference

North: Iowa St, Kan, Kan St, Mizzou, Colorado, Neb
South: OU, Ok St, Texas, Tex A&M, TCU, Baylor

Midwest Conference

West: Minn, Iowa, Wis, Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame
East: Purdue, Indiana, Mich, Mich St, Ohio St, Cincinnati

Northeastern Conference

North: Boston College, Syracuse, Army, UConn, Penn St, Rutgers
South: Pitt, Maryland, Navy, West Va, Marshall, Louisville

ACC

North: Va, Va Tech, UNC, NC St, ECU, Wake Forest
South: Duke, Clemson, Ga Tech, FSU, UCF, Miami

SEC

West: unchanged
East: unchanged

Gulf Coast Conference

West: Tulsa, Houston, Rice, SMU, North Texas, La Tech
East: Memphis, Tulane, So Miss, UAB, Troy, USF

This plan entails:

1. A reduction of Division 1-A/FBS/AQ teams to a fixed number of 100 within 8 conferences.
2. A regular season of 11 games, which includes every intra-divisional opponent plus a minimum of two inter-divisional opponents for 14 member conferences and three for 12 member conferences. The remaining games are out-of-conference.
3. Every conference has a championship game involving divisional champs.
4. A "Sweet 16" national playoff would follow in addition to the conventional bowl invites for all other bowl-eligible teams.

Here are a few excerpts from my lengthy proposal which offer further details and rationales:

• In creating my conferences and divisions, a priority was to preserve northern access to the post season. The reason is the obvious climatic and demographic advantages that southern schools have in this sport. By using "North" and "South" as divisional categories whenever possible I ensure that a northern representative would have a chance to win their respective conference and/or appear in the national playoff.
• The expense and duration of transportation can be drastically minimized during the regular season by my geographically friendly divisions. The reduced distance between conference rivals (particularly divisional rivals) would free up more resources for players and coaches. Expenditure is critical for financially strapped athletic departments, and any savings provided by a more cost-conscious divisional and conference realignment could then be used to fund the kinds of intriguing intersectional regular season match-ups that earn dismissed schools the national respect that they seek but cannot otherwise afford.
• All eight conference champions would receive automatic invitations in the 16-team playoff. The remaining eight teams would be simply the eight highest ranked teams not to win their respective conferences. Playoff seeds would be based upon objective/computerized rankings (e.g. BCS Poll) which would be initiated after the conference championship games. This means that any team ranked lower than 16 in the computer/playoff poll would have to be a conference champion to qualify for entry in the Sweet 16 playoff. This provision provides for equitable inclusion of every conference into the national playoff while still permitting talent-laden regions and conferences to be represented proportionally.
• Playoff games would be played on campus. This provision would ensure ticket sales and fan attendance, a primary concern among opponents of playoffs at neutral sites.
• All conference champions would have automatic home field advantage over any playoff opponent that did not win its conference. This provision would preserve the grandeur and utility of conference championships, another concern among opponents of playoffs.
• In playoff games involving two conference champions or two non-conference champions, the higher seeded team would host the game. This provision preserves the importance of team records, thus every regular season game. This remedies yet another concern of playoff opponents who wish to preserve the excitement of the regular season.

There is so much more that I have written down, but this is some of the more message-board friendly content. Thoughts? Comments?

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Perhaps the SEC goes ahead and gets a 14th team now, but I think the best course is the wait and see which conferences collapse and get the best remnants of a current BCS conference. I know it seems the Big 12 big boys (UT, OK and OK State) are destined for PACdom, but let's just keep our powder dry for now, beyond aTm.