(11-18-2019 12:42 PM)JRsec Wrote: (11-18-2019 12:23 PM)Hokie Mark Wrote: It's easy for us on this board to see the best strategies. The problem is: "best" is defined too much by which group you're in... fans of ths sport want one thing, but fans of a specific conference (like the Big Ten or SEC) want something else (not necessarily what's best for the SPORT), while fans of a specific team might not want something that's not even good for their own conference... then there's what the school administrators want... we are where we are because the players in this game can't agree on how to win.
It is now a market (consumer) driven sport with regards to revenue. Therein lies the priority. The problem is that conferences, AD's, Presidents, and even the players all have different agendas. If all of them would realize that each of them would benefit by doing everything possible to boost the love of the game then all would be rewarded. But power, real or perceived, is never surrendered for the sake of the whole. Power whether with the NCAA (and they are definitely part of the problem with their turf protection, entrenched bureaucracy, money siphoning, and self importance) or the rest I've just mentioned, are not going to act in the best interest until fans turn them off and when that happens they will never fully get back to their lofty position within our culture. Just ask MLB and the NBA how pissing off the fans has worked for them? Even NFL football is beginning to struggle against the backdrop of the Kaepernick issues and the other kneelers.
College football has finally admitted, very belatedly, that they are a business and that admission is coming now in player concessions. They all need to let that sink in because in any business it is the customer to which all should pander. I personally don't like the idea of expanded playoffs, and while fascinated by realignment as a cultural event, would still prefer the 10 team SEC. But if fans want more playoff teams, and networks will acquiesce to fans faster than the other participants in the leadership of college sports, then if we need to consolidate conferences to preserve rivalries and provide a structure that will produce what the fans want, then that is what we should do, but within some constraints.
Whether we move to 4 conferences of 16, 3 conferences of 20 or 24, or two leagues of 32, we need to get there fast, get the committees out of the game, and let the championships be won on the field whether that is 4 teams or 8 teams.
If every year PAC or Big 12 fans become more disinterested due to their champions being left out it will continue to damage the game. Even the current dismay over which 1 loss team will get in turns off the fans. Only the dinosaurs within the NCAA / AD's / Presidents / and Commissioners still believe controversy gets publicity. When everything in life has become contentious it is high time that sports do everything possible not be contentious or controversial. It is a pastime and people use it as an escape from the contentious living of their daily lives. Set up a structure that will yield 4 or 8 schools for a playoff without having a committee decide a damned thing and we'll all be happier for it and it will get us back to discussing the actual games instead of how a committee with arbitrarily enforced standards manage to select the participants. All conversation should be about the players, teams and games, and not about the damned committee!
How to involve everyone?
First divide onto two 32 team divisions:
B1G division: PAC, B1G, plus Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State.
SEC division: SEC, ACC, West Virginia, Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, SMU
Notre Dame attaches to one of the conferences and could participate with
stiff restrictions.
It should be easy to divide the 32 team divisions into 4 conferences that are regional and provide traditional rivalries.
I would suggest that 11 of the 12 games in a schedule should be played within your division.
4-8 team conferences per division
conference winners play to get two regional champions
regional champs play to get a division champion
division champions play for the national championship (same number of games currently being played in the playoff system.
Or we could divide into 3 conferences. 10, 11, 11 (10, 10, 12, etc. or in the case of the B1G division it could be 11, 8, 13)
With conference champions and one "wild card" playing to get regional champs. This might even be the best way to incorporate Notre Dame into the mix. They could play in a conference in each of the two divisions in alternating years (to make conferences 11, 11, 11,they could play USC every year and Navy/Stanford every other year).
I like a permanent home for the championship game similar to Omaha for baseball