Lots of chatter today about what this new SEC/B12 "Champions" bowl announcement means. Some say it will never be the SEC/B12 champs, b/c they will be in the playoffs, so this is just another version of the Capital One Bowl. True. That's possible.

But I think folks are missing the point here, b/c there is something else it could be, too. What the SEC and B12 just created was their version of the Rose Bowl. They could make it the Sugar Bowl, or the Cotton Bowl, or they could put it out to the highest bidder, and include the Georgia Dome and other interested parties, and make a ton of money.

Those two bowls now will monopolize the major bowl market (outside the playoffs), and start a divide between those 4 conferences and everybody else, both in money garnered by bowl games NOT in the playoff, and by perception and prestige. The other major bowls will take a big hit, when compared to these two. A genius marketing move.

But even more important, depending on how the new BCS playoff format and bowl series goes, they just set up the perfect partnership with the Pac12/B1G/Rose Bowl. One of the proposals on the table is to take the Top 4 conference champs, if they're ranked in the Top 6, and play the semifinals of the playoffs in existing bowls, with the teams with existing tie-ins playing in their "home bowl."

Guess who the top 4 ranked conference champions would be almost every year? Uh, the SEC, B12, B1G and Pac12. Under that proposal, if it passes, they will certainly have at least one of the SEC/B12 and one of the B1G/Pac in, every single year. Go back and look at the history of the top 6 rankings. Most likely, they will have 3 of the 4 playoff teams, and maybe all 4.

That means the Rose and Champions bowl (wherever it is) will host the semifinals of the PLAYOFFS, the majority of the time.

This also will give the remaining biggest football powers outside this little circle (Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech) more incentive to move over from the ACC to the B12 or to the SEC. Now those 4 conferences will become even more dominant. And they will KILL everybody else in recruiting.

You say this plan won't pass? Sure it can. It has 4 votes out of 11 off the bat. Then they can buy the votes of the lower conferences by promising them more money than they ever made before, since the playoffs are going to generate $350-500M ABOVE the normal BCS bowl games. For perspective, those games just earned $181M total, this past year.

How does this affect the BE? Well, if the ACC gets torn apart, they could do the same to the BE. Not that it matters that much. The ACC and the BE, regardless of makeup, will still be #s 5 & 6, second tier now, and everybody else below will be third tier. But if you're a current BE team, you're probably better off to catch the train to the new ACC, if you can.

So, the coup that everyone has talked about for months now will be accomplished, not by seceding from the NCAA, but simply by gathering up all the good FB schools, and consolidating a large enough voting bloc by passing out favors (they could probably throw Notre Dame a bone and get their vote, too).

Game, set, match.

Will this happen? I don't know, but if I were one of those 4 conference commissioners, I sure as hell would try to make it happen. Could it happen? Absolutely. The timing of this announcement fits right in with the big decision being made in a few weeks. Just enough time to lobby. All of this is JMO, of course.

(05-18-2012 09:30 PM)TripleA Wrote:  Lots of chatter today about what this new SEC/B12 "Champions" bowl announcement means. Some say it will never be the SEC/B12 champs, b/c they will be in the playoffs, so this is just another version of the Capital One Bowl. True. That's possible.

But I think folks are missing the point here, b/c there is something else it could be, too. What the SEC and B12 just created was their version of the Rose Bowl. They could make it the Sugar Bowl, or the Cotton Bowl, or they could put it out to the highest bidder, and include the Georgia Dome and other interested parties, and make a ton of money.

Those two bowls now will monopolize the major bowl market (outside the playoffs), and start a divide between those 4 conferences and everybody else, both in money garnered by bowl games NOT in the playoff, and by perception and prestige. The other major bowls will take a big hit, when compared to these two. A genius marketing move.

But even more important, depending on how the new BCS playoff format and bowl series goes, they just set up the perfect partnership with the Pac12/B1G/Rose Bowl. One of the proposals on the table is to take the Top 4 conference champs, if they're ranked in the Top 6, and play the semifinals of the playoffs in existing bowls, with the teams with existing tie-ins playing in their "home bowl."

Guess who the top 4 ranked conference champions would be almost every year? Uh, the SEC, B12, B1G and Pac12. Under that proposal, if it passes, they will certainly have at least one of the SEC/B12 and one of the B1G/Pac in, every single year. Go back and look at the history of the top 6 rankings. Most likely, they will have 3 of the 4 playoff teams, and maybe all 4.

That means the Rose and Champions bowl (wherever it is) will host the semifinals of the PLAYOFFS, the majority of the time.

This also will give the remaining biggest football powers outside this little circle (Florida State, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech) more incentive to move over from the ACC to the B12 or to the SEC. Now those 4 conferences will become even more dominant. And they will KILL everybody else in recruiting.

You say this plan won't pass? Sure it can. It has 4 votes out of 11 off the bat. Then they can buy the votes of the lower conferences by promising them more money than they ever made before, since the playoffs are going to generate $350-500M ABOVE the normal BCS bowl games. For perspective, those games just earned $181M total, this past year.

How does this affect the BE? Well, if the ACC gets torn apart, they could do the same to the BE. Not that it matters that much. The ACC and the BE, regardless of makeup, will still be #s 5 & 6, second tier now, and everybody else below will be third tier. But if you're a current BE team, you're probably better off to catch the train to the new ACC, if you can.

So, the coup that everyone has talked about for months now will be accomplished, not by seceding from the NCAA, but simply by gathering up all the good FB schools, and consolidating a large enough voting bloc by passing out favors (they could probably throw Notre Dame a bone and get their vote, too).

Game, set, match.

Will this happen? I don't know, but if I were one of those 4 conference commissioners, I sure as hell would try to make it happen. Could it happen? Absolutely. The timing of this announcement fits right in with the big decision being made in a few weeks. Just enough time to lobby. All of this is JMO, of course.

They dont really need to even do that. At this point, all they really need to do is dump the 4 team playoff idea and go to the orignal idea----a simple "plus one" played after the bowls are completed.

The simple "plus one" keeps the Rose Bowl intact. It also allows the new Championship Bowl between the Big-12 and SEC to be played every year. Essentially, 99% of the time, these 2 games will effectively function as the semi-finals.

While theoretically, any team would be elligible for the "plus one" championship game, a renovated BCS system with more emphasis on strength of schedule and a bowl system that locks up the champions of the four strongest leagues will essentially prevent anyone outside of the big-4 from advancing to the national championship game. That would be a very possible and very discouraging development for the majority of FBS schools.

(05-18-2012 09:41 PM)attackfrog Wrote:  They dont really need to even do that. At this point, all they really need to do is dump the 4 team playoff idea and go to the orignal idea----a simple "plus one" played after the bowls are completed.

The simple "plus one" keeps the Rose Bowl intact. It also allows the new Championship Bowl between the Big-12 and SEC to be played every year. Essentially, 99% of the time, these 2 games will effectively function as the semi-finals.

While theoretically, any team would be elligible for the "plus one" championship game, a renovated BCS system with more emphasis on strength of schedule and a bowl system that locks up the champions of the four strongest leagues will essentially prevent anyone outside of the big-4 from advancing to the national championship game.

Yeah, that would work too. But I'm sure they will give ND an opening, somehow. Doesn't make sense not to. I just didn't want to start moving through all the ways they could make this turn out like they wanted. I mean, it's not really a surprise.

Those are the Top 4 earning conferences, and the ones who dominate the major bowl games now, and certainly the NCs, especially if the best ACC FB teams bail out.

Whatever happens, the ACC will likely still be #5, and the BE will be #6. There just might be a MUCH wider gap between #4 and #5, and then another gap to #6, and then a BIG gap to the rest.