A few weeks ago, the SEC was conducting their conference meetings in Destin, Florida and one of the top discussions was the College Football Playoffs and expanding to 16 teams. Naturally, leading the charge to protect the SEC’s interest was conference commissioner Grag Sankey. Sankey’s been very vocal and in listening to him, it’s clear he’s still fuming over Indiana making the CFP over Alabama, Ole Miss and South Caolina. He’s unable to get past it and isn’t going to let it go.
Sankey is feeling the pressure, the SEC isn’t the top dog anymore, they are one of the top dogs, but they aren’t ‘the’ top dog. They are trailing the B1G in television revenue and the B1G has won the last two national championships. It didn’t help either that Michigan beat Alabama, and Illinois beat South Carolina in bowl games.
While Sankey has been chirping, B1G commissioner Tony Petitti has been quiet and reserved. Petitti has nothing to hide. Sankey’s loud behavior is all about his seeking validation and getting the attention he feels the SEC deserves. But Sankey needs to remember, the nail that stands out gets hammered down.
Sankey’s behavior makes one pose the question, is there a problem with the ESPN contract? ESPN has sold off games to TNT and Turner to cover expenses. And it’s my guess ESPN is unwilling to up the ante until the SEC goes to 9 conference games, which is partly why the B1G is getting paid more by FOX, NBC, and CBS.
The feeling of most people, including the B1G and Big XII, is that the SEC and ACC need to start playing nine conference games to level the playing field. Sankey and the SEC are against any such notion.
The nine conference games discussion directly affects how teams are selected to make the playoffs. Some of the models that have been proposed, which may support a nine game SEC schedule include the 4-4-2-2-1 and 5-11 models. The first refers to the number of automatic qualifiers a conference would receive: SEC (4), B1G (4), ACC (2), Big XII (2) and G6 (1). Meanwhile, the 5-11 model refers to having the five highest-ranked conference champions, as well as 11 at-large bids.
While the B1G leans toward the 4-4-2-2-1 model, the feeling is they aren’t totally opposed to the 5-11 model, but only if the ACC and SEC go to 9 conference games. To which Sankey and the SEC bulled up, took their football and went home. The SEC claims they only play eight conference games because their conference is so difficult, but that seems like a hollow argument when you look at the SEC’s schedule in November.
11/08 Ole Miss vs The Citadel
11/15 Tennessee vs New Mexico State
11/22 Texas A&M vs Samford
Alabama vs Eastern Illinois
Georgia vs Charlotte
South Carolina vs Coastal Carolina
LSU vs Western Kentucky
Auburn vs Mercer
Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma’s schedules are comparable to the B1G’s, soft on the front end. But if you think the B1G schedules are soft, look at Northwestern’s: Tulane, Western Illinois, Oregon, UCLA, ULM (Louisiana Monroe), Penn State, Purdue, Nebraska, USC, Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois.
So, as of now, nothing has changed, and it appears it won’t. But it’s painfully obvious the B1G’s request that the SEC and ACC go to nine conference games is more than legit.
Non-conference Crossover Discussion
One of the other discussions was a cross-over game between the B1G and SEC, which never really seemed to gain any momentum with the number of conference games played being the main topic.
I’m on the fence on this one. While I think it would be great to see these matchups, I’m leaning more towards not just the B1G and SEC crossover but making the crossover between all four power conferences. Require everyone to have one crossover game on their schedule each season and rotate between the four conferences. For example, Nebraska would play an ACC team, a Big XII team and then an SEC team.
Or you could take it a step further and allow the traditional rivalries to count as your crossover and play that game every season. Say for example Clemson vs South Carolina, Georgia vs Georgia Tech, Florida vs Florida State, and Notre Dame vs USC. And if we’re talking about Notre Dame, if they are going to remain independent require them to play nine games against the power four conferences every season.
And think about this, allowing rivalry games would allow you to go back and renew old rivalries like a Colorado vs Nebraska matchup every season.
The possibilities for great games are endless. The B1G and SEC are leading the way and need to stop playing politics and find neutral ground.
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