PAC-12 melt down

[BeauFoster]

Poor Jacksonville State getting lumped in with the Florida schools

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

Why in the world would Buffalo, UMass and UCONN be in the Atlantic, but not ODU, JMU and VT? You trade those three and I’m down.

[spacemonkey]

SEC and BIG should lay out how the playoffs are going to look and everyone else can sign on or be fcs.

They shouldn't even put it to a vote.

If I were them it would be 16 at large with all schools playing at their controlled bowls in the first round. Each team making the first round of bowls would split the money 80/20. After that it would be CFP money with 80% going to the SEC and BIG.

My bet is it will be 12 with one g5 representative. (4) P4 rep, (1) g5 rep, 7 at large.

My "best I can hope for" would be SEC Championship, BIG Championship, ACC vs Big12 championship, Top 2 G5 teams get 4 auto bids. The other 8 are at large bids

[t4pizza]

SEC and BIG should lay out how the playoffs are going to look and everyone else can sign on or be fcs.

They shouldn't even put it to a vote.

If I were them it would be 16 at large with all schools playing at their controlled bowls in the first round. Each team making the first round of bowls would split the money 80/20. After that it would be CFP money with 80% going to the SEC and BIG.

My bet is it will be 12 with one g5 representative. (4) P4 rep, (1) g5 rep, 7 at large.

My "best I can hope for" would be SEC Championship, BIG Championship, ACC vs Big12 championship, Top 2 G5 teams get 4 auto bids. The other 8 are at large bids

I believe that the initial expanded playoff contract is only for 3 years, so after that I am sure the SEC and BIG 10 will have their opportunity to decide how they want the playoffs to go and who will get the money.

[appdaze]

Interesting thread here. So it seems the PAC 12 just wasn't valued enough by the media to give a mega contract to like the big 2.

[appdaze]

[mike87]

The woke crowd's gonna turn backflips over the "Dixie Conference".

[AppYosef!]

I’m loving the current SUNBELT set up more and more!

[Yosef1986]

Not a fan of the power conferences - why not 12 conferences, 10 teams each(or 10 conferences and 12 teams) regionally grouped. The winner of each conference goes to the playoffs - winner of the playoffs is the NCAA champ. The college sport is about the opportunity to be relevant. Just the opportunity.

Teams outside the playoffs can still be bowl eligible.

NCAA can fix this with some effort.

[NattyBumppo'sRevenge]

The woke crowd's gonna turn backflips over the "Dixie Conference".

Dixie Wrecked Conference

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I am curious what folks on YC think SBC should do. Chips are going to fall with even more realignment. It is a possibility that ACC is next...and down to P3..

Personally, I would like to see SBC add fours teams..two to East and two to west...so each side does not play each other until championship game...

In a dream world: add ECU or Charlotte to the East and UAB and SMU to the West.

I’d rather go to an Eric Church concert than to have Charlotte in the Sun Belt.

Fair, but GA and NC are basically the same size (8th and 9th in population) a second NC school (in a dream world) makes sense. I HATE Charlotte too, but if we're being honest, they add to the conference. I say that only because I see no real upside to ECU.

ECU has more fans in Charlotte than Charlotte. That’s their upside.

Johnson and Wales has more fans in Charlotte than Charlotte.

[Stonewall]

Has to be a joke.

[kornegaylw]

Something like this could be a possiblity in 20 years...When the BIG10 and SEC consume whats left of the ACC, BIG12 and MW/PAC12 everyone will be screaming about travel costs and quality of life for the athletes so they all merge back into whatever the NCAA has become and redistrubute teams into logical conferences.

Is this likely or logical? No...but what about what we've observed in the past 3 years been likely or logical?

[MrCraig]

I’m loving the current SUNBELT set up more and more!

The Sunbelt has, seemingly overnight, become the conference for folks who like college football "the way it was." Regional footprints, close/intense rivalries, kids are getting NIL $$ but not 6-figure stuff, transfers happen but aren't earth-shaking...

I'm not sure if that's necessarily "good" for the Sunbelt in the future, but I think it makes the conference more interesting. SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 have just become the minor league conferences for the NFL. ACC, Sunbelt, MWC are more like what college football was meant to be.

[appdaze]

I would guess in the long run football conferences will be football only for most everyone. Those conferences could be these wild nationally big foot prints. Then all other sports would be in traditional regional conferences with logical travel.

[kornegaylw]

I’m loving the current SUNBELT set up more and more!

The Sunbelt has, seemingly overnight, become the conference for folks who like college football "the way it was." Regional footprints, close/intense rivalries, kids are getting NIL $$ but not 6-figure stuff, transfers happen but aren't earth-shaking...

I'm not sure if that's necessarily "good" for the Sunbelt in the future, but I think it makes the conference more interesting. SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 have just become the minor league conferences for the NFL. ACC, Sunbelt, MWC are more like what college football was meant to be.

I don't see whats happened driving many away from CFB but I do see people caring less about "conference play"...Sure they'll tune in to see their team team play a rival but are they really gonna care when Maryland plays Washington or Missouri plays South Carolina? I would say no they won't. What makes CFB great is being able to brag to your low life Georgia Southern friend that App beat up them up on Saturday. Who's gonna care if your Syracuse Orange beat up the Cal or if your Oregon Ducks beat up Rutgers?

[Tru2ASU]

I do wonder how the Sun Belt will look in 5 years. But, I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts!

[mike87]

I’m loving the current SUNBELT set up more and more!

The Sunbelt has, seemingly overnight, become the conference for folks who like college football "the way it was." Regional footprints, close/intense rivalries, kids are getting NIL $$ but not 6-figure stuff, transfers happen but aren't earth-shaking...

I'm not sure if that's necessarily "good" for the Sunbelt in the future, but I think it makes the conference more interesting. SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 have just become the minor league conferences for the NFL. ACC, Sunbelt, MWC are more like what college football was meant to be.

I don't see whats happened driving many away from CFB but I do see people caring less about "conference play"...Sure they'll tune in to see their team team play a rival but are they really gonna care when Maryland plays Washington or Missouri plays South Carolina? I would say no they won't. What makes CFB great is being able to brag to your low life Georgia Southern friend that App beat up them up on Saturday. Who's gonna care if your Syracuse Orange beat up the Cal or if your Oregon Ducks beat up Rutgers?

Pretty loose interpretation of "friend" but otherwise spot on. I think the Sun Belt gets it. Probably were backed into getting it because they had no other real choice but I think it works for us in the long run.

[WASU 93]

I’m loving the current SUNBELT set up more and more!

The Sunbelt has, seemingly overnight, become the conference for folks who like college football "the way it was." Regional footprints, close/intense rivalries, kids are getting NIL $$ but not 6-figure stuff, transfers happen but aren't earth-shaking...

I'm not sure if that's necessarily "good" for the Sunbelt in the future, but I think it makes the conference more interesting. SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 have just become the minor league conferences for the NFL. ACC, Sunbelt, MWC are more like what college football was meant to be.

I don't see whats happened driving many away from CFB but I do see people caring less about "conference play"...Sure they'll tune in to see their team team play a rival but are they really gonna care when Maryland plays Washington or Missouri plays South Carolina? I would say no they won't. What makes CFB great is being able to brag to your low life Georgia Southern friend that App beat up them up on Saturday. Who's gonna care if your Syracuse Orange beat up the Cal or if your Oregon Ducks beat up Rutgers?

This is already proven out in today's ACC. Unless both teams are undefeated, no one cares about a Florida State vs. Pitt game or Syracuse vs. Wake Forest. Miami/BC is only relevant because of old Flutie throwing a Hail Mary in the Orange Bowl almost 40 years ago.

The only other reason people will care about the games are sports wagering, but that's an in-the-moment activity.

This isn't about logic or rivalries or the fans, it's about $$$ and the haves (Big10, SEC, and Big 12) protecting their revenue streams. There only concern is for their program, not the state of the game.

Also, the Big 10 and Big 12 should change their names immediately and begin the marketing push. If you are not going to respect the tradition, don't market your league as such. "The Institution" and "Chasing the Money" seem to be appropriate conference names.

[canes_mj]

Agree with the sentiment of the above poster. Unless you're a fan of the specific team, no one cares if it's them playing a low level conference opponent. I actually like the merging because you're concentrating the teams that people want to see play each other into conferences....so for games not involving App, just as neutral CFB fans, fans of the sport, we're going to get more better games. Look at the SEC now...every week they have 2 or 3 games featuring ranked teams. And now it's going to get better w/ Texas and OU. I want to see Texas and OU play Bama, UGa, LSU, etc...not Texas Tech or Iowa State. Same with Southern Cal, Oregon, Washington...I want to see them play Michigan, Ohio State, Penn St, etc. Same with Clemson and Florida State wherever they go eventually...sorry but those games vs Syracuse and BC just don't do it for me.

I feel for the have-nots and the left-outs, but they need to come to grips with reality as far as their place in the college football landscape. They're basically G5 programs in P5 conferences. The reason App and the Sunbelt and the G5 conferences work well is because most fans know who and what we are for the most part. Alabama, Clemson, etc, and App are all FBS citizens; but we don't live in the same neighborhoods.