While SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey offered his annual address on the first day of SEC Media Days last week, he was asked if he envisioned a future in which the Power 5 conferences would break away from the NCAA’s yoke to operate as its own entity.
“That’s not the focus,” Sankey said.
Knowing what we know now – that the SEC is having a flirtation with Texas and Oklahoma that seems as if it will reach the finish line – perhaps a better question would have been whether the SEC plans to expand to where it has enough reach, power and financial incentive to break off as a lone ranger, at least in football.
Power 5 conferences each received $67 million from the College Football Playoff for the 2019-20 season, before revenue decreased last year amid the pandemic.
There’s little mystery as to the primary motivator for a proposal to expand the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12. The AP reported that such a playoff could be worth $1.9 billion annually, according to projections from Navigate Research.
That’s a lot of dough.
But why share it?
The SEC, in its current state, already houses many of the nation’s most recognized and valuable college football brands. That only stands to increase if Texas and OU join the fold.
No need to stop there.
Why not grow to 20 to 24 teams and hold your own SEC Playoff? Would it be worth $1.9 billion? Perhaps not. But you could keep all the earnings.
Would the winner of such a playoff be the undisputed national champion? Maybe not. But college football fans are familiar with not having undisputed national champions.
A 20- to 24-team SEC housing the top programs and brands would make any other playoff seem like small potatoes.
A super-sized SEC could house a six-team playoff. Three rounds. Five playoff games. Top two teams get firstround byes, preserving regular-season value.
Come on in, Clemson. What about you, Ohio State? Would the Buckeyes leave the Big Ten for the only college football playoff that would matter? Hey there, Southern California. Want to become the SEC’s West Coast anchor?
Notre Dame, would you give up your independence if it meant becoming part of an SEC super league and not be stuck competing for a second-rate national championship?
An SEC super league could still seek to compete within the NCAA’s championship structure for other sports. The NCAA doesn’t operate the CFP anyway, so why should it care if the SEC chose not to participate in it?
I don’t think the NCAA would want to conduct, say, the College World Series, Women’s College World Series, women's basketball tournament or gymnastics championships without the most important conference.
The SEC got a taste last year for what a college football season as a semi-independent operator would be like.
When the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they would not play a fall season amid a pandemic, the SEC responded with: You do you.
The SEC decided to play a fall season featuring a 10-game, conference-only schedule.
It took a deadly pandemic, but, finally, the league realized it could play more than eight conference games and not lose its stranglehold on the sport.
COVID-19 complications and attendance restrictions aside, it was thrilling theater.
Did anyone miss Alabama’s nonconference game against Tennessee-Martin, other than the bean counters at UTMartin?
How about Georgia’s game against Louisiana-Monroe? Was it an affront to the college football gods to have that scintillating would-be beatdown replaced with a game against Mississippi State?
The SEC housing its own playoff and keeping all the proceeds for itself wouldn’t be good for Oregon State or Rutgers or Arizona State.
But as changes come to college sports at warp speed, we’re entering a landscape that is as dog eat dog as ever.
Time to eat.
“That’s not the focus,” Sankey said.
Knowing what we know now – that the SEC is having a flirtation with Texas and Oklahoma that seems as if it will reach the finish line – perhaps a better question would have been whether the SEC plans to expand to where it has enough reach, power and financial incentive to break off as a lone ranger, at least in football.
Power 5 conferences each received $67 million from the College Football Playoff for the 2019-20 season, before revenue decreased last year amid the pandemic.
There’s little mystery as to the primary motivator for a proposal to expand the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12. The AP reported that such a playoff could be worth $1.9 billion annually, according to projections from Navigate Research.
That’s a lot of dough.
But why share it?
The SEC, in its current state, already houses many of the nation’s most recognized and valuable college football brands. That only stands to increase if Texas and OU join the fold.
No need to stop there.
Why not grow to 20 to 24 teams and hold your own SEC Playoff? Would it be worth $1.9 billion? Perhaps not. But you could keep all the earnings.
Would the winner of such a playoff be the undisputed national champion? Maybe not. But college football fans are familiar with not having undisputed national champions.
A 20- to 24-team SEC housing the top programs and brands would make any other playoff seem like small potatoes.
A super-sized SEC could house a six-team playoff. Three rounds. Five playoff games. Top two teams get firstround byes, preserving regular-season value.
Come on in, Clemson. What about you, Ohio State? Would the Buckeyes leave the Big Ten for the only college football playoff that would matter? Hey there, Southern California. Want to become the SEC’s West Coast anchor?
Notre Dame, would you give up your independence if it meant becoming part of an SEC super league and not be stuck competing for a second-rate national championship?
An SEC super league could still seek to compete within the NCAA’s championship structure for other sports. The NCAA doesn’t operate the CFP anyway, so why should it care if the SEC chose not to participate in it?
I don’t think the NCAA would want to conduct, say, the College World Series, Women’s College World Series, women's basketball tournament or gymnastics championships without the most important conference.
The SEC got a taste last year for what a college football season as a semi-independent operator would be like.
When the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they would not play a fall season amid a pandemic, the SEC responded with: You do you.
The SEC decided to play a fall season featuring a 10-game, conference-only schedule.
It took a deadly pandemic, but, finally, the league realized it could play more than eight conference games and not lose its stranglehold on the sport.
COVID-19 complications and attendance restrictions aside, it was thrilling theater.
Did anyone miss Alabama’s nonconference game against Tennessee-Martin, other than the bean counters at UTMartin?
How about Georgia’s game against Louisiana-Monroe? Was it an affront to the college football gods to have that scintillating would-be beatdown replaced with a game against Mississippi State?
The SEC housing its own playoff and keeping all the proceeds for itself wouldn’t be good for Oregon State or Rutgers or Arizona State.
But as changes come to college sports at warp speed, we’re entering a landscape that is as dog eat dog as ever.
Time to eat.
