Making the Big 12 let Texas & Oklahoma leave for the SEC for the 2024 Football Season when that Big 12 GOR doesn't expire until July 1, 2025. Then having that 16 team College Playoff with no automatic qualifiers that opens the door for numerous SEC teams making the field while the G5 conferences and maybe even the Big 12, might not get a single team in that enlarged playoff. What an epitaph for that alliance. The Pac being stabbed in the back by the B1G and the Big 12 having their feet held to the fire. The Big 12 was not even in the alliance.

just a couple of years from now. So why wouldn’t the other FBS Conferences except for the B1G and ND vote for all Conference Champions receiving an automatic invitation to the playoff?

was a farce that the ACC and PAC bought into ;-)

Called it. The Big 10 was not gonna swim with minnows and used the ACC, Pac to get what they want.

If they pull that off, they might have the last laugh. Still a lot to be determined. I have a hard time seeing why the 8 Conferences that aren’t the SEC, B1G and ND don’t just wait until it’s the majority that wins the vote on the playoff and vote themselves a Conference Championship auto bid. Can you explain why they would not do that? Maybe I am missing something.

A 16 team playoff will make conference championship games fairly meaningless, so I could see those ending or becoming part of the playoff (The way the NFC and AFC championships determine the Super Bowl participants). But considering the amount of win or go home football games in a 16 team playoff (15 to be exact) would make so much $$, the SEC couldn't just turn its head away out of spite as that writer puts it. The structure of the playoff will be debated for certain. Auto bids, selection committees, home/away vs neutral/bowl sites, etc... but the money will ensure it happens. I could see 4 divisions in the SEC and B1G and the winners of each division being given automatic bids to the playoff, but only 1 auto bid for the champions of Big XII, Pac 12 and ACC. Then 5 other at large bids. So, the SEC and B1G probably guarantee themselves at least 5 playoff teams a year. Oh and welcome to the B1G Notre Dame, since this greatly increases your playoff shot. This format would be the primary reason for the SEC and B1G to expand beyond the point of diluted shares for their leagues. (i.e. going to 20-24, when 18-20 would max out your payout per school) Taking as many power football programs as possible to control the bids to the playoffs while at the same time weakening other conferences chances for multiple bids will put a lot of $$ back into the P2's pockets. That article said a 12 team playoff would be worth $1.2B. So, 12 out of 16 teams should be worth about $1.2B. So, if the B1G and SEC could split those 12 bids and pocket another $600M a year, that's $25M a school if you have 24 members.... $30M a school if you have 20. That's a lot of cheddar... And there's zero chance the SEC splits and forms its own championship. They aren't that stupid. They can be as spiteful as they want but they still need everybody to watch their games to cash in.

I think these type posts are very close to the mark and you know the SEC & B1G have accountants scouring those books. I think 20 members is about the limit in size on these conferences. It will just not be financially advantageous to get larger with the product still left available. That would put the B1G adding Oregon, Washington, Cal & Stanford. The SEC adding FSU, Clemson and probably North Carolina & Virginia. The B1G would then never poach the ACC. The Big 12 would then take Colorado, Utah, Arizona & Arizona State, making the Big 12 numbering 18 members. The Big 12 might stand pat on those financial considerations but could go NW to get west to get Washington State & Oregon State or maybe Virginia Tech & North Carolina State to fit with West Virginia. Maybe they will go to 24, but I just don't think so. If Hokie fans can take any comfort in my personal feelings. I wanted the Hokies in the SEC over Missouri and was on this board encouraging the move. I think Virginia Tech might get the call over Virginia by the SEC in this decade but I am afraid North Carolina may call the shots on that.

Every major conference should have flex scheduling the last weekend of the season allowing for the top two teams meet. If you keep the conference championship game as is with a 16 team playoff you’ll eventually see players sitting out that game for sure. Probably other games as well but that is a different story.

There might be a couple of championship game losers with 1 loss that still get into a 16-game playoff, but not all and probably not most. Don’t know how one could say 16 teams make conference championship games meaningless?

Meaningless maybe a poor term. Unnecessary prior to the playoff was what I was getting at. The same way the NFL folds the NFC and AFC Championship Into their playoffs. ** Edited by hokieZ71 at 8/2/2022, 6:46:30 AM

Then it would be similar to basketball. Champ is guaranteed a spot and maybe higher seeding. But a top team who loses would still get an at large/wild card type bid and maybe a lower seed with harder matchup. If they want to keep the conf champ games then it will be one auto bid per conf. If no auto bids then I’ll bet champ games go away and the concession to the P2 is that first round games will either be home games or in select cities near the traditional powers.

But at that point there would be no need for conference champ games anymore. So would they give those up in order to have more schedule room for playoffs, and shift the money to playoff contracts? It’s an interesting gamble. With no guarantee, in a bad year the ACC might only get 1 team in. But in a good year any conference could get 4 teams in easily. I’m assuming they would use the same playoff ranking that currently exists. I’d even be ok with a bye for top two teams if they only expand to 14 teams. Each round of proposals keeps getting closer to an NFL model (including pay for play). At this point the SEC is just negotiating and seeing which statements get the most pushback and which ones they can get away with.

SEC than the runner up. The runner up has to play an extra game, and probably won't end up much better off in the seeding that could result in an opening round game at home.