BUGGZY

decades of NCAA tournament, no conference ever asked for more than 1 auto bid, they just flexed muscle for expansion and greased paths for more at-larges. Even the SEC and the B1G have to know there is no appetite for a B1G/SEC invitational. The public can accept 8-10 of the 12-16 teams in a playoff coming from 2 conferences, but only if all but 2 of them are at-larges. I feel like this is all just noise to distract us from something else. ACC and BigXII get their moment to flex. B1G and SEC will ultimately agree to 1 auto bid. But what do they get for the show? Something will shake out that simply gives the SEC and B1G an even bigger leg up in the at-large discussion. Will the playoff pool be decided prior to conference championships? Will there be some sort of seeding/hosting guarantees? I dunno, but all of this just feels like a hustle playing out in the media for something bigger.

i feel like the ncaa tournament uniquely LOSES interest nationally as the tournament marches on

if you have AQs, every conference/division/league/member group of your chosen name should have the exact same number of AQs, period. the whole purpose of at-larges is to give more spots to the bigger/better/richer members. NFL: every division gets 1 AQ, 6 at larges MLB: every division gets 1 AQ, 4 at larges NBA: every division gets 1 AQ, 6 at larges, 8 play-ins for final 4 spots NHL: every division gets 3 AQ, 4 at larges NCAA: every conference gets 1 AQ, 37 at larges etc etc If the SEC and the B1G are so great, they will get the lion's share of at-larges anyway. Even considering an unbalanced AQ model is short sighted and flat out stupid. EDIT: European Soccer comps have uneven AQs, BUT they are changed annually based on performance, so no nation is guaranteed more spots (though the usual suspects of England, Spain, Germany and Italy tend to keep the most spots year in and year out). So if the SEC and B1G want uneven AQs, base it on past results in the playoff...conferences that go deeper more often will get more spots the next year! ** Edited by BUGGZY at 5/29/2025, 10:11:24 PM ** Edited by BUGGZY at 5/29/2025, 10:32:50 PM

A lot of this chatter coming out of SEC meetings about playoffs and comparisons to American pro leagues struck a nerve. I really want to make this a long winded post including history and examples both domestic and foreign, but let me try to just summarize: There is more money for everyone when there are more teams, and towns, and stories included in the chase for a championship (or just a seat at the table). By eliminating teams from contention before the season even starts (or a league is even formed) and walling off your garden, you are self imposing a cap on the potential revenue available to you (you being the richest teams in a position of decision making power, or a franchise owner in the case of American pro sports). To add, without getting too long winded, there is also more money when more networks are involved covering more teams, schools, towns, stories. ESPN have seduced the SEC into believing all they need is each other, but it's short sighted and leaves a TON of money on the table. Has the NFL (or any pro league) ever sold all its rights to one network? Of course not. These conference commissioners are getting rich by making exclusive deals that leave potential revenue on the table. Sell your game of the week to one network, sell your B and C game to another network, allow smaller networks to bid on your content depth. I know there was the seduction of conference networks, but you didn't need an exclusive partner to launch one (see: B1G). There were (and still are) better ways forward for the sport that rise tides for everyone while also allowing the SEC and B1G to upgrade their yachts. It's not zero sum, and including the ACC or even the SunBelt doesn't mean you get less money for yourself.

of your members? i think we're just as likely, if not more likely, to see a 76/80/96 team tournament with all >.500 P2 and most >.500 P4 members getting autobids along with the current 31 conf champs leaving whatever is left for non-P2 at-large spots. for basketball in particular, i think the P2 still see the value in partnering with ACC/BigXII (for now) and cinderellas from mid and low majors make opening rounds more entertaining.

professional sports can build year over year and plan rosters years in advance via contracts, etc. College sports, even in the NIL world, have eligibility caps and a transfer portal essentially making every campaign a 1 year thing. If you want to award success, it would have to be a creative way of doing it in season. Football example: Split a 20 team league into 4x5 team pods, play 4 games (2 home/away), 8 first and second place teams move to championship division and play 6 more games (3 home/away vs the 6 teams they haven't already played), first place is the champ, no stand alone championship game, but can market final weekend as a championship series finale or something. Or go head and keep the championship game, what's another game these days!? other 12 teams would be scheduled 3 home and away games to maximize interest/revenue for the league/schools. Basketball example: split a 20 team league into the same 4x5 team pods, play 8 games home and away, 1st and 2nd place teams move into 8 team championship division where they would play 12 home and home games against the 6 teams they hadn't already played. obviously all of this could be tweaked/adjusted based on membership numbers and desired total games, etc, but this is the only way to award top teams in college, it has to be done in season. this also ensures the best teams THAT SEASON are all playing each other for TV interest purposes.

i've believed this for a long time, and changes have on reenforced this belief. notre dame is the right model for all of college football. save conferences for bball and the non revs, keep them regional, let football operate nationally outside of the conferences.

the Michigans, Ohio States, Texases of the world will eventually figure out they are propping up the marylands, rutgers, mississippis of the world and even the P2 will see a major collapse/change. Texas has always known this, but for some reason they prefer to choose violence when they wake up and decide which conference to destroy each decade. Michigan and Ohio St will wake up soon enough. there is no rush to run to/away from any leagues in 2026, just do everything you can to to be prepared to deserve a seat at the new big boy table in the 2030s.

...but didn't want to debate formats eliminating/downplaying/changing traditional bowl prominence/involvement since that is an entirely different/bigger discussion.

While there are many things that could be done to the overall playoff/season we might like better, I was just trying to think of a way to improve things within the current overall format. What if we got rid of automatic byes for top 4 conf champs and instead gave all 5 conf champs a guaranteed top 8 seed? This still rewards conf champs but also ensures the 4 teams with a bye are the teams generally considered the 4 best and eliminates the home team blowouts we saw this year. Using final CFP rankings for this year, we could have seen Notre Dame hosting SMU, Boise St hosting Indiana, Arizona St hosting Tennessee and Clemson hosting Ohio St this weekend. It's not perfect, but I think we'd have 4 better games. ** Edited by BUGGZY at 12/22/2024, 1:29:03 AM

are you allowed to just quit?

take the 6 (or 8 if they expand to 14) highest ranked teams not playing in their conf champ games and have them play a 13th game against each other the same day as the conf chap games to level the playing field and still have conf champs. every playoff team will have played their last game on the same weekend, every playoff team will have played 13 games, and every team in contention for a playoff spot will have played a challenging opponent for resume/comparison purposes. CFP could manage these games as part of the tv contract (so 3-4 additional inventory), they could be neutral site like the CCGs to help with planning/logistics, CFP can select the matchups that will help them clear things up, and then you just need a clever brand for these games that are essentially, but not quite officially, play-in games. or maybe they are play-in games, but they aren't necessarily elimination games for the losers. this year ND, Alabama, Miami, USC-e, Tennessee and tOSU could have all been paired up to give the committee some more data points and also ensure none of those teams ended up with an unfair rest advantage in the first round. I'd rather have MORE meaningful games than LESS (eliminating Conf Championships).

getting 1 week off in the NFL makes sense, but it will be interesting to see how teams who have been off for 3+ weeks play against a team who just played a game 1 week ago after a 2 week break. I think we're going to see situations where rust is going to cost the teams with byes when they play hot teams coming off a win. and if we do, we'll get to 16 real quick. I should add: I also wonder how long the appetite for teams to play in as many as 3 bowl games (after likely playing in a Conf Champ Game) will last? The whole schedule being shoehorned around bowls and NFL rather than just playing through Dec on campus fields doesn't feel sustainable, but I guess we'll see. ** Edited by BUGGZY at 12/9/2024, 9:32:06 PM

i've used stubhub to sell parking passes, but they time out 2 days before the event (because of shipping), i see parking passes on seatgeek, but i cannot for the life of me figure out how to post them there. I seem to only be able to sell tickets already loaded into seatgeek (and parking is paper only) any tips? I feel like i'm missing something. i'd honestly love to find a local marketplace (Fairfax/DMV), but refuse to activate my facebook account if that is the only option.

where are the gathering spots for Sat?

what are the planned gathering spots for Hokies in Nova?

i think the "flex game" replaces week 12...essentially week 12 will be a conference semi final for 4 teams and a strategically scheduled game for the other X teams to drive tv value and playoff at large potential. so there is no extra week.

this sounds like nonsense. Also, I still can't see FSU running into the arms of UCF. If those 6 schools were willing to leave the ACC for the BigXII, why not just leave and recruit 6+ schools of their choosing to join them in a new league? Clemson, FSU, L'ville, VT, Pitt, NCSU, then make calls. aim high, but there would be plenty of options to flesh out a strong media property. hell, some of the remaining ACC schools might choose to join them. perhaps disgruntled members of the P2 (aTm? PSU?), and certainly some large BigXII brands. It's all nonsense, so just adding my own seasoning to it.

if the font or other minor design elements get tweaked over time, fine, but make this the template

the moment tv revenue began to exceed expenses, instead of spending it all on facilities and coaching salaries (and buyouts), maybe, just maybe, these school admins (via their conference commissioners and the NCAA) should have been figuring out how to make sure their revenue generators could share in the new found riches. instead, they thought they could spend all this new money on everything but the athletes because scholarships (which existed when athletics depts were LOSING money) and fancy locker rooms would keep them happy. let's face it, all the new money was, in one way or another, spent on behalf of coaches. from direct salaries ballooning to building the things that would help them recruit to expanding the sizes and salaries of their staffs, all the new money was spent on coaches, not players. if we still had coaches making hundreds of thousands a year to live comfortably in college towns and athletics depts balancing budgets with a fine toothed comb in order to cover the costs of basic needs, i'd be all about the classic amateur model where the scholarship is the prize to come rep our school on the field, but that moment came and went a long time ago when the tv money started rolling in and coaches started getting millions and millions of dollars spent on them and their priorities.

if you look back at the last 20 years, even with equal revenue distribution, there has been a WILD gap in budgets (both revenue and spending). punishing a school with less revenue for spending less isn't going to solve any problems, it's just going to widen gaps. the moment you turn your back on one member, all the other members start to look over their shoulder. if you don't want equal rev share, go the ND route and prove that you can make more without your conference.

I do know Disney didn't get where they were by not looking out for their investments. The ACCN (and the overall content agreement) is an investment that has outperformed based on everything I've heard. You don't just let that implode. I understand in the case of a total ACC implosion, you just make an SEC2 or whatever it takes to keep that cash cow producing milk, but ESPN can't be stuck in a situation where the ACC (and the ESPN agreement) survives without key assets. I didn't write all of this to propose an outcome, I just think the reality is ultimately somewhere further from the wildly complex scenarios and closer to the simpler status quo because even thought FSU is throwing a tantrum, the reality is that over the next 10 years, the status quo is better for everyone. The idea of making "100 year decisions" RE: conference membership is clearly a thing of the past, and none of these schools can guarantee what things will look like in 2035+.

Schools feeling they are carrying the weight and deserve more is not a new thing, and it's only going to get worse as these conferences expand. Do we really think tOSU, Michigan, USC-w, Georgia, Texas, etc are going to see the money these conferences are bringing in and also see the money being shared with Rutgers, umd, Vandy, Northwestern, Missouri, etc and not start looking for new ways to keep more money to themselves? the P2 feels like a catalyst to a future smaller breakaway where the true "blue bloods" join up and leave everyone else behind or schools huddle back up into regional partnerships. I'll say this: even if the B1G finds a way to stick to their academic guns and maintain their status quo (i'm skeptical), I have a very high level of confidence that Texas will break up the SEC. If i had to guess, i'd speculate the legacy SEC East are the ones who take their ball and go home when they get fed up with Texas, and it might be beneficial for them to play nice with FSU, Clemson, UNC, etc now if they are looking for a possible exit plan in the future.

On your home turf, you should wear the same basic color combination for all eternity. As a multi sports fan, I feel like soccer gets this right. I know soccer gets creative with colors more than any other sport, but they do not mess with their home look.

the moment they think the league is collapsing, I think they are going to throw up a wall and invite uva, VT, NCSU, unc, Clemson, GT, FSU and Miami. Duke is the only wild card because they are such a huge brand, but I think SEC will be willing to let Duke go to the highest bidder to stay at 24 universities. They can divide into 3 8 school regions for (non-rev) competition. uva, VT, unc, NCSU, Clemson, USC-e, UK, GT UT, vandy, Mizzou, uga, UF, FSU, Miami, Alabama Auburn, Ole Miss, Miss St, Arkansas, LSU, Texas, aTm, OU for non revs, just play your 7 and whatever else schedule allows before conf tournament for MBB/WBB, play 23 conf games (everyone once) then play a 24 team conf tournament with 8 byes. for football, just have a 24 team league, play 2 protected games each and rotate the other 21 teams through every 3 years (7 teams per year). play 3 non conf games. Top 2 teams based on the 9 game conf results play for conference championship. B1G response would be to complete their western expansion with Stanford, Cal, Colorado, and Kansas, then they will take Duke and Syracuse to get to 24. we'll have 48 schools coast to cost in 2 leagues with the Big12 surviving as the 3rd league with it's remaining members + SMU, L'ville, Pitt, BC (maybe a few others?) Wake will join the Sunbelt. ND will go full circle, rejoin BE for non football and remain independent. I can't wait to see how wrong all of this is.

If Texas Tech is flagship, so is Virginia Tech. also, for the rest it's basically just the "University of" except for LSU, PSU and tOSU. not sure what constitutes flagship when a state has multiple major universities.

wealth gap with the schools outside their membership, it really should be be it's own subdivision/league with its own championship. it will be boring compared to what we had/have, but it feels inevitable. The question remains what to do with non-football sports? Should this become its own division vs just a football subdivision? could these 40+ schools generate enough bball revenue to justify leaving the NCAA? would they have their own bball playoff and expect to get a shot at the champion of the "all others" NCAAT? what about the other non/lower revenue sports?

Everything below is very TIC and just for fun, my actual personal preference would be smaller, but since expansion is inevitable, I thought I would have some fun with it. 23-25 teams, 27 games played over 2 months! make all 9 CCGs (18 teams) first round (Championship Weekend) 3-5 highest ranked losers fall into a second round where they host 5-7 at-large teams (Redemption Saturday) (i couldn't decide how many CCG losers vs at-large teams to include here, but I visualized 5/5 below. I think this could be the most loaded round of this format with almost every matchup likely being between top ranked teams) 5 winners join 7 lowest ranked conf champs in 3rd round on home sites (Holiday 12, played on/around Christmas) (This is the exciting round with the chance for a cinderella to emerge) CFP QF matches those 6 winners with the 2 best CCG champs NYE/D in bowls Bracket from there Visual below shows some SEC/B1G favoritism (3 teams each locked in, favorable matchups, etc, but the 2 byes to the QF are not conference specified (but would likely include B1G/SEC teams most years). Matchups could easily be set/adjusted by a committee to ensure best matchups, minimal/no intra-conf matchups between CCGs and QF, and least travel in early rounds, etc.

If not, a lot of sports will still remain outside this new app/bundle (not to mention all the local sports networks). In addition to the brands in the subject, NFL Redzone/NFLN/NHLN/NBAN/B1G(2/3network deals)/ND home games/Premier League Soccer/UEFA/MLS all still exist outside this new partnership, and you can bet Amazon, Apple and Google aren't done chasing new deals. This bundle has 2 of the biggest players in sports TV, but there are still a lot of others. I don't think this amounts to anything but 3 executives shifting the burden of distribution to a new entity with its own executives all while improving their own financials by licensing their content vs paying to distribute it themselves.

stand to get richer if the pie gets bigger. results/harmony be damned, increasing the pie AND getting bigger slices of it seems to be driving everything.

collective bargaining is the only end game that makes sense...1099, salaried employee, etc, doesn't matter, we are talking about a multibillion dollar industry with tens of thousands of employees across hundreds of employers all trying to play by the same set of rules. even if you chop that down to 60-70 universities and a few thousand employees in the revenue generating sports, you have title IX. I just don't see a way this ends without student athletes unionizing to negotiate. simply having the revenue generating athletics departments and their NCAA overlords dictating how the revenue will be shared is not sustainable. ** Edited by BUGGZY at 1/3/2024, 10:10:37 PM

ESPN may not want to pay market value for 2036+ down the road, but they get A LOT of quality inventory from our 15 (soon to be 18) members for what they are paying for it. To move a few of our assets to another entity they control rights to (the SEC) would likely net out as break even at best for them give the volume of inventory they would have to give up in exchange for paying a few schools much more money for their inventory. Also, don't discount how much ESPN values those 3 ND football games and the Duke bball brand. They aren't interested in losing/devaluing either of those assets.

with their brand, they could just say, "who's with me?". form a league from scratch with ND, PSU and literally anyone they want to invite.

organize the 33 teams (+ND) into regional/rivalry based divisions who will play each other every year, but limit it to 6 games (so no more than 7 teams, but it can be less, they can just add inter-division games to get to 6). after those 6 games are played, the last 4 (yes, with a league this size, i think 10 games is understandable) games of the season would be based on the results of the first 6 (ND would not be included in last month unless they commit to full membership/media rev share). essentially, you take the top 5-6 teams in the conference and have them play each other (avoiding any rematches), take the next 5-6 and do the same, etc, then fill out the schedule as needed with inter-division games "made for tv". sure, not knowing your last 4 games is less than ideal, but every team could have 2 home and 2 away placeholder weeks, so all they are filling in is the opponent. this could even be modified to be first 5 games determine the variable 4 in order to preserve a rivalry weekend in late Nov for every school. but point is, with 33+ schools, you regionalize everything and get creative to maximize "national interest" games by not locking into them, keep the schedule flexible in real time. No matter what, any change that gets non-football sports back to smaller regional competitive groups is a good change.

there will be a reversal back to small regional leagues organized in 8 groups of 9 for the top division. football will then proceed to hold 2 simultaneous competitions that merge at the end for a champion: teams will play 8 guaranteed conference games over a 14 week calendar (week 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) there will, in parallel, be a national knockout competition played during the other 6 weeks. the 16 schools who finished 8th and 9th the previous year will play in week 3 those 8 winners will be drawn against the other 56 teams in week 5 week 7 is the round of 32 week 9 is the round of 16 week 11 is the quarter finals week 13 is the semi finals week 1X is the championship (brand it something fun and play it the same day as the playoff final below) the 8 conference champions play an 8 game playoff in Dec (brand this championship something fun) the winner of that playoff plays the winner of the knockout competition for the (insert new champion of champions brand) Each competition could have it's own media revenue and sharing structure so the more successful teams who play in the most games in the most competitions will get the most money. there could even be a consolation bracket of the knockout tournament so teams who lose early could still play/host games in those weeks with a final played in week 15 before the 8 team playoff starts. if a team wins their conference and made the knockout final, the consolation winner would take their place in the 8 team playoff. If 2 teams won their conference and made the knockout final, the consolation finalist would get the 8th playoff spot. brand that competition, too! like a bowl game! monetize it all! If my math checks out, everyone would get AT LEAST 9 games (4 guaranteed at home), and the final championship teams would play a max of 16 games (also only 4 guaranteed at home). most teams would likely play 11-13 games. Buggzy for CFB Czar, 2032!

look, I'm not arguing with you, but never put a cap on the greed of these leagues (league commissioners are obsessed with growth). if it were up to me, we would have a dozen 7 team leagues playing 6 game conference schedules and 6 non conf games with a 6 home game cap followed by a 16 team playoff with 12 league champs and 4 at larges played at home sites for every round other than the final. but no one cares what I think...

...with conferences and divisions within them. call them whatever they want, but get down to divisions of 7 or less for round robin play allowing plenty of intra/inter league scheduling by schools. allow each to hold their own playoff and keep all that money then have a championship game between the 2 winners (splitting that money). If we're going to chase money and the total and complete control of it, let's at least try to fix/improve the competitive format in the process by getting back to regional rivalries and minimal travel for non-rev sports. i'm thinking with total control of all the money, these 2 leagues could probably absorb all the former P5 schools and even some up and coming G5 schools in new markets and still increase per school payouts. hell, they could even have payout floors with bonuses for the teams performing the best consistently. just stop ruining the student athlete/college sport experience in the chase for more money. you can at least try to do both.

even Boston and Miami sharing an non-rev sports league is silly. many have said it for years now, but if there had been ANY foresight by school presidents in the 90s, football could have been peeled away from the conference structure to maintain regional sports conferences for the other 20+ sports. oh well, damage is done.

give ACC members / leadership a say and a landing spot. B1G could take BC/Cuse/Pitt/Duke and 2 of VT/uva/UNC/NCSU, SEC gets the other 8, ND is told pound sand unless they are ready to join as a full member. i know people will laugh at SEC taking Wake Forest, but if that's the price to get Clemson, FSU and Miami, they'll pay it.