NJDuck Moderator No. 1 Share Posted June 4 Chatter around expanding the playoff system in 2026 has cooled significantly in recent months Big Ten, SEC demands for College Football Playoff bids on pause as leaders look to assess future landscape - CBSSports.com WWW.CBSSPORTS.COM Chatter around expanding the playoff system in 2026 has cooled significantly in recent months Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJDuck Author Moderator No. 2 Share Posted June 4 Paul Finebaum believes the ACC falling apart would make SEC, Big Ten relationship 'really sticky' With lawsuits and questions of the future of the ACC, it’s basically “Who is going to get the top schools in the ACC?” It’s been a talking point since realignment went nuts over the last couple of years. Paul Finebaum believes the ACC falling apart would make SEC, Big Ten relationship 'really sticky' WWW.ON3.COM . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JabbaNoBargain No. 3 Share Posted June 4 (edited) Really depends on how big each conference wants to get before reformatting completely to some type of super league. Things get very unwieldy north of 20 schools imo, and frankly, there aren’t enough candidates in the ACC for both conferences to get north of 20. With that logic, to me it feels like the B1G adds ND and whoever from the ACC, and the SEC adds 4 top brands from the ACC. All about ultimately getting ND and I just don’t see them joining the SEC. So 5 ACC schools and ND at play…unless ND wants to go the SEC, I just don’t think it will be all that sticky. ND FSU Clemson UNC Miami ??? (Duke, UVA, NC State, uhhh) Edited June 4 by JabbaNoBargain 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 4 Share Posted June 4 On 6/4/2024 at 2:34 PM, NJDuck said: Paul Finebaum believes the ACC falling apart would make SEC, Big Ten relationship 'really sticky' With lawsuits and questions of the future of the ACC, it’s basically “Who is going to get the top schools in the ACC?” It’s been a talking point since realignment went nuts over the last couple of years. Paul Finebaum believes the ACC falling apart would make SEC, Big Ten relationship 'really sticky' WWW.ON3.COM . The only thing 'sticky' would be antitrust issues. Fox and ESPN will take their best shot at Notre Dame and North Carolina - I think both schools go B1G and bring the B1G to 20 members. The SEC goes to 20 with the additions of Clemson, FSU, and 2 more ACC teams or 2 B12 teams. FSU becomes an AAU member and the B1G will also be after FSU. Then, other than for antitrust reasons, why not have a 16-team playoff with 8 from the B1G and 8 from the Power 2? To keep the lawyers and politicians at bay, go to 14 teams and have a play-in between the 4 highest-ranked restructured ACC, B12, and G5 teams. All is quiet on the playoff front today because lower ranked ACC champ, B12 champ, and G5 representative have yet to knockout higher-ranked B1G and/or SEC teams, and the SEC playing 8 conference games hasn't put 5 teams in the field with the B1G getting 2 or 3 in. Come 2026 the PO format will change. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washington Waddler Moderator No. 5 Share Posted June 4 The closer it gets to a PAC 12-style meltdown for the ACC, the more my mind wanders to the fate of Cal and Stanford. To have to survive that a second time? Whew. Would hope both could be regarded as ‘bubble’ programs by the P2: their potential to flesh-out any conference imbalances as part of a group deal. Would not be surprised though if there’s been a few calls from those presidents to their counterparts at WSU and OSU. An eventual super conference is an interesting reality to ponder. I wonder who would have less problems negotiating their way past their self-interests: B1G and SEC, or Fox and ESPN? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Joseph No. 6 Share Posted June 4 (edited) On 6/4/2024 at 4:59 PM, Jon Joseph said: The only thing 'sticky' would be antitrust issues. Fox and ESPN will take their best shot at Notre Dame and North Carolina - I think both schools go B1G and bring the B1G to 20 members. The SEC goes to 20 with the additions of Clemson, FSU, and 2 more ACC teams or 2 B12 teams. FSU becomes an AAU member and the B1G will also be after FSU. Then, other than for antitrust reasons, why not have a 16-team playoff with 8 from the B1G and 8 from the Power 2? To keep the lawyers and politicians at bay, go to 14 teams and have a play-in between the 4 highest-ranked restructured ACC, B12, and G5 teams. All is quiet on the playoff front today because lower ranked ACC champ, B12 champ, and G5 representative have yet to knockout higher-ranked B1G and/or SEC teams, and the SEC playing 8 conference games hasn't put 5 teams in the field with the B1G getting 2 or 3 in. Come 2026 the PO format will change. Exhibit A; The Athletic's Stewart Mandel's updated top-25, while friendly to the ACC and the B12, has No., 12 Missouri as being first out. Knocked out by the G5 representative. This will not bounce high in Birmingham. College football preseason Top 25: Alabama rises in updated rankings WWW.NYTIMES.COM Who are the top 25 teams in the country as we come out of the spring? Let's take a look at our latest rankings. Stewart's Top 25 gives me pause. But Utah at No. 8 and FSU at No.10 would lower the angst instead of the B12 and ACC champ finishing outside of the top 12 and being seeded No. 3 and No. 4. 8 SEC/ 6 ACC/ 5 B12/ 4 B1G/ 1 Independent SEC - 4 of the top 6. OK (no pun intended) but No. 1 UGA plays No. 3 TX, No. 4 Bama, No. 6 Ole Miss, and 16 Tennessee. And the other ranked SEC teams also play one another. 8 conference games only but there are conference matchups with very good to excellent teams playing one another. 6 ACC teams ranked? No comprende. Again, the ACC plays but 8 conference games but it is still 8 games. How many of the ranked ACC teams will finish 9-3 or better? 10 FSU and 18 Louisville play at 7 Notre Dame. 22 Clemson opens against No. 1 UGA. 14 Miami opens at Florida. 5 B12 teams ranked? IMO, in 2024, the B12 takes over the Pac-12 'cannibal conference' moniker. No B12 team has a Blue Chip roster and the B12 play 9 conference games. 4 B1G teams ranked? First, Penn State at 17 is seriously underrated. Get by West Virginia in the opener and Penn State has a game vs. Ohio State where it will be an underdog playing at home and a game at USC where it may be an underdog. As it has in many the season under James Franklin, PSU has 10-2 written all over it. I am more bullish on SC than most but I see SC finishing 9-3 and with its SOS in the top 25. I think Iowa will finish higher than 24 and that Nebraska and Wisconsin could finish in the top 25. Nebraska lost five one-possession games last season, has better personnel this season, and Matt Ruhle's teams have all improved in his second season. Notre Dame? The schedule provides a beguiling argument for a top-10 finish. I see Notre Dame opening with a loss at Texas A+M in game one, a loss in game 12 at USC, and a loss to one of FSU/Louisville in South Bend. Let's Get It On! Edited June 4 by Jon Joseph Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 7 Share Posted June 4 On 6/4/2024 at 1:59 PM, Jon Joseph said: The only thing 'sticky' would be antitrust issues. Fox and ESPN will take their best shot at Notre Dame and North Carolina - I think both schools go B1G and bring the B1G to 20 members. And I'm sure there will be a lawsuit following the ACC demise. I think the ACC will survive like the Big 12 has been permitted to survive as a G5+ conference. I think the left behind teams will make a lawsuit accusing ESPN and Fox colluding in the destruction of their conference to enable them to gain more control over the sport. They did it with the Pac-12 already. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike West No. 8 Share Posted June 5 On 6/4/2024 at 4:52 PM, David Marsh said: And I'm sure there will be a lawsuit following the ACC demise. I think the ACC will survive like the Big 12 has been permitted to survive as a G5+ conference. I think the left behind teams will make a lawsuit accusing ESPN and Fox colluding in the destruction of their conference to enable them to gain more control over the sport. They did it with the Pac-12 already. If the economy had fallen off the cliff before Obama took office, this would have happened ten years ago. And didn't it bother you that TV ratings weren't off the charts during the COVID disaster? Once the kids starting suing the NCAA it should have been obvious to all of us change was coming. DirecTV was the canary in the coal mine. And the ACC was merely a recovering Big East. Or really a shell of that conference. I just can't justify paying a team like Syracuse $60 million George Washingtons because they're associated with Clemson. Twelve Million Abraham Lincolns tell me you gotta carry your own weight - or at least enough to help pay the bills. C Suite Larry was ahead of his time. You need six or more name brands to carry a conference. Preferably ten. People just don't watch enough college football to justify giving 70 teams $60 million a year each. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
