Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Tony Barnhart doesn’t tend to make things up, so when he says the Big Ten is seriously considering a leap not to 12 teams, but to sixteen, making it college football’s first certifiable megaconference, it really would be the first "megaconference." That is, until someone decides to go to 24, and now we’re just hopping multiples of 8 until things get as silly as the proposed 96 team NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Let’s stick to 16 team proposals for the moment: if this happened—and by source, it is being considered—It would completely change the course of college football in no less than a zillion different ways, the most important being the very thing college hoops fans have spent all month crowing about: the way college football determines a champion.
The Big Ten would likely move to a conference championship game, and then be faced with the prospect of continuing to dilute the profits from the Rose Bowl with 16 teams or going for a huge chunk of a hypothetical playoff package for networks.
The choice would be clear for the conference, and by extension for college football. This doesn’t mean it will happen, but the very thought of a complete geological shift like this coming to college football has to warm the cockles of everyone who’s ever despised the BCS, much less anyone like me who just likes watching things blow up in flames.
And if Notre Dame is one of those teams? I…I might need some air…
9 comments
Comments
Wait just one minute...
When did Judge Wapner get replaced by some chick?
by domer.mq on Apr 5, 2010 2:13 PM EDT reply actions
by Infield Elephant on Apr 5, 2010 2:49 PM EDT reply actions
I'm not sure I understand why this would have an impact of the playoff vs BCS argument.
The only reasoning for that conclusion hinted at in this article is that money from the Rose Bowl would be diluted. But that’s only part of the picture. You would also have the additional revenue from a championship game and additional bowl games (including other BCS games).
The only thing that I can see changing is the rules that limit BCS conferences to two teams.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
by Zoltar on Apr 5, 2010 3:46 PM EDT reply actions
I think the implication
is that a 16 team “super conference” wouldn’t have a championship game. They would have to find a way to make it a 4 team conference championship playoff. And that does radically change the playing field. Once one “super conference” goes to a playoff, then the theoretical other “super conferences” would follow suit. It’s not a playoff, but going from 16 to 4 teams is a start.
It never gets to be easy
by chitownhawkeye on Apr 5, 2010 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions
hmm. That’s an interesting thought.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
by Zoltar on Apr 6, 2010 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
Big Ten = Midwest Region
Rather than replacing the BCS with a playoff, it seems to me that if we end up with 4 superconferences (Pac-10, Big Ten, Big ACC?, and SEC), and each have a title game, then the BCS would become a playoff.
by TheCornballer on Apr 5, 2010 5:09 PM EDT reply actions
reply fail
And of course this would require that these conferences snatched up Boise State, Utah, et al.
by TheCornballer on Apr 5, 2010 5:11 PM EDT up reply actions
good point.
What you're seeing is team spirit. It's like the Holy Spirit, but more powerful.
-Hank Hill
by Zoltar on Apr 5, 2010 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions
Conference Realignment and Playoffs
First a touch of realism: Each conference will consider expansion on its own terms and only expand if it furthers the interests of the conference. Similarly, even when expansion may make sense for a conference overall, any given school may vote against it if it thinks it won’t come out ahead after expansion. This is why superconference plans may stall.
Now, forget realism. What would I want if I could be the king of college football?
I want to reconcile two opposing desires of mine – to see a playoff accessible to all teams and to preserve the Rose Bowl. You see, as a fan of a Pac10 team, I have a love-hate relationship with the Rose Bowl. I love the length of its tradition and the bragging rights it brings. I even like the silly parade. But I hate that it has stood in the way of a playoff. I believe that super-conferences may be a way to bridge the two.
This is my proposal for a BCS/Playoff Hybrid:
5 super-conferences of 16 teams each – Pac16, Big16, SEC, ACC, and MWC.*
The playoffs will include the champions of each of the 5 superconferences and 3 at-large* selections.
Rose Bowl: Pac16 vs. Big16
Sugar Bowl: SEC vs. At-Large 1
Orange Bowl: ACC vs. At-Large 2
Fiesta Bowl: MWC vs. At-Large 3
Following those New Year’s Day games, we would have a Football Final Four over 2 weekends at a neutral site.
The price of keeping the Rose Bowl for the Big16/Pac16 champs is a somewhat harder quarterfinal. At-large selections cannot face a conferencemate in the quarterfinals. Each conference is still limited to 2 eligible teams. All other bowls continue to operate as they do today.
by RobberBaron on Apr 7, 2010 9:58 PM EDT reply actions
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