(05-18-2017 01:46 PM)YNot Wrote:  

(05-18-2017 10:14 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Agreed. Plus, the TV people *want* wild cards (non-champs of divisions/leagues/etc.) in playoffs in every sport at every level. I could see an 8-team playoff with auto-bids for the P5 champs, but the concept of wild cards/at-larges would definitely still be incorporated.

The 4x16 fantasy somehow placates some of our message board OCD, but I absolutely agree that uneven conference numbers, wild cards, and the polling, ranking, and selection committee beauty contests and asymmetry provide substantial value to college football.

(05-18-2017 10:14 AM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  Separately, remember when the Big Ten actually insisted upon the requirement to have divisions when a league has 12 or more schools in order to hold a conference championship game (whereas the ACC wanted the flexibility to get rid of divisions and just have the top 2 teams in the league play each other)? Some people were surprised by the Big Ten blocking this proposal (as many thought that it would actually be a good move for the B1G). That wasn't some type of random objection from Jim Delany. It was to essentially preemptively shut down any incentive for Notre Dame to join the ACC as a football member. Under a non-division model, the ACC could pitch to ND that the Irish could rotate among a broad-based set of opponents that isn't much different than what they have now and it's much easier for a league to stay at an 8-game conference schedule without divisions (as that would allow all of the league's teams to continue to play each other regularly even in a 16-team conference), which would allow ND to have the flexibility to continue playing USC and Navy at a minimum in the non-conference slate.

Notre Dame having to play in a strict division in a 16-team conference, though, would be unpalatable to a school that goes out of its way to emphasize a national schedule with a large variety of opponents. ND having to lock in the same 7 divisional opponents every year that they may or may not care about is bad enough. Furthermore, realistically, a 16-team league with divisions also needs a 9-game or even 10-game conference schedule or else you're effectively dealing with 2 entirely separate conferences that don't actually play each other. That would remove the flexibility for ND to play its most important non-conference games. Simply put, a 16-team conference with divisions is essentially the worst possible league setup for ND (as a school that prizes a national schedule with flexibility), whereas a 16-team conference without divisions would have been at least a consideration for ND. That's why the Big Ten killed the ACC's proposal - they knew that ND was the critical long-game piece here.

So, how many votes are needed to beat Delany (and presumably the PAC)? It seems like CCG deregulation and freedom of scheduling would tremendously help the ACC (even w/out ND), SEC, and B12 (if expansion) - and perhaps even some of the other conferences. Did the B12 go along with Delany to ensure the CCG with only 10 teams? At some point, you would think full deregulation will triumph.

Also, I remember there was some talk at SEC media days a couple years ago about counting only divisional games to determine the conference championship participants. Some felt it unfair that they could beat their division mates, but still lose the division because of more difficult cross-division games (ie, Florida-LSU, Auburn-Georgia, Tennessee-Alabama....).

Even under the current CCG rules, the ACC could use the SEC idea but get creative and have flexible divisions from year-to-year and only require ND to play *divisional* games. You could even do that model with 15 teams and uneven divisions. ND only plays 6 ACC division games each year - to satisfy the current rules - but other ACC schools play 2 or 3 cross-division games...that don't count toward their divisional records - which determines the CCG participants.

Notre Dame, even as a full ACC member, still gets to 6 flexible games to play Navy, USC, Stanford, MSU/Purdue/Michigan, and Texas/Georgia/Ohio St., etc.

Using ND's current ACC schedule as a guide:

2019 ACC-
ATLANTIC: ND, Louisville, UVA, VA Tech, Duke, BC, and Syracuse (not scheduled)
COASTAL: FSU, Clemson, Miami, GA Tech, UNC, NC State, Wake, Pitt
*ND plays 6 ACC games. COASTAL plays 7 divisional games. Schedule key cross-over games/rivalries, but don't count them toward the conference record.

2020 ACC-
ATLANTIC: ND, Louisville, Duke, Clemson, Pitt, Wake, Georgia Tech
COASTAL: FSU, Miami, UNC, NC State, VA Tech, UVA, BC, Syracuse
* Again, ensure key cross-over games and rivalries.

2021 ACC-
ATLANTIC: ND, FSU, VA Tech, GA Tech, UNC, UVA, Miami(not scheduled)
COASTAL: Clemson, NC State, Duke, Wake, BC, Pitt, Syracuse, Louisville

It's a somewhat unique concept similar to the NFL scheduling (based upon your rank the season prior). I think this kind of idea would work better with a smaller conference like the XII where you already play everyone. With such a large conference, they run the risk of "regular" ACC members potentially not playing another for a loooong time.

For the XII, you could do two five-school divisions based off the previous season:

Leaders (1, 4, 5, 8, 9): Oklahoma, Kansas St, TCU, Texas Tech, Iowa St
Legends (2, 3, 6, 7, 10): Oklahoma St, West Virginia, Baylor, Texas, Kansas

You already play everyone, so this could be a way to determine who goes to the CCG.