04-09-2018, 02:23 AM
(04-08-2018 10:03 PM)MissouriStateBears Wrote: [ -> ]Article from SI
https://www.si.com/vault/1990/07/09/1222...conference
Great article. Thanks for posting this.
Very visionary as well, especially this part -
And superconferences will generate more games, not fewer. By adopting divisional play—six, seven or eight teams to a division—the superconferences would be able to take advantage of a long-ignored NCAA bylaw that permits an extra game, beyond the annual limit of 11, to determine a conference championship. A logical subsequent step would be to take the four superconference champs and hold a national-championship playoff; this would involve two more postseason games. "The machinery would be in place," says Miami athletic director Sam Jankovich, who happens to oppose a national playoff. "It's closer than any of us realize. The bowl people are antsy as hell, and they have every reason to be." Concerns about how the extra games might interfere with young Joe Bob's preparation for final exams seem destined to be drowned out by the ring of cash registers.
Like most things, visionary thinking takes time to achieve simply because change is so hard. And who knows, by the time 16 team or 18 team power conferences become a reality a new vision of reverting back to 8 or 9 team conferences may arise that will then take 30 years to achieve from that point.
Also enjoyed this tidbit which I knew about but still find amusing:
Not to be outdone, the Big East, which now sponsors no competition in football, has been involved in low-level negotiations with the ACC. The Big East would like to know if its three members that play Division I-A football as independents, BC, Syracuse and Pitt, could join the ACC for that sport while remaining in the Big East for basketball. "It's logical," says the Big East athletic director. "The ACC needs to jazz up its football, and it would get great football coverage in New England. What the hell would it want with our basketball? It already has the world."
My guess is that was Chet Gladchuk at Boston College, who was also an Associate AD at Syracuse University for a couple years in the late 80s, prior to going to Tulane as AD for two years before getting the BC gig.
Cheers,
Neil