The easy answer would be the Nike answer: Just Do It.

In reality I would think the #1 reason those two conferences are the last holdouts among the P5's is their rivalry games. Then again, Iowa and Iowa State play annually and both the Big Ten and Big 12 play nine conference games. USC and Stanford both play annual games with Notre Dame and still play nine conference games.

I would think the unwritten rule on most P5 schools is they have to play seven home games a year and in small SEC towns like Athens and Tuscaloosa that would be more important because they are more dependent on football game days than say Nashville or Atlanta. So the trick is to figure out a way to arrange it so all four of the rivalry schools can host their rivalry game the same year they get five road conference games. If Florida has to play at Florida State the same years they have to play five SEC road games, they are screwed.

Assuming the SEC keeps divisions (if they get rid of them, all bets are off), then the only fair way to determine who gets five home games would be like the Big Ten and Pac 12 does, alternate by division. Obviously the Big 12 doesn't (and can't). Does the SEC really want a division to come down to Alabama having four home games and Auburn five? They might get away with those arguments in the Big 12. I doubt they would in the SEC.

In this case, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Kentucky are all in the East Division. So all of them would have to host their rivalry games in the same year and the East Division would have to have five road games those years (and vice versa).

Then in the ACC, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Louisville would all have to be in the same division and the ACC would have to give one division the extra home game each year as well. Currently Florida State, Clemson, and Louisville are in the Atlantic and Georgia Tech is in the Coastal. So Georgia Tech would have to move to the Coastal and one team in the Coastal would have to move to the Atlantic. Then the four in state rivalries would have to be adjusted so that the SEC teams all host the year the SEC East teams have just four home games and the ACC teams all host the year the ACC Atlantic teams have just four home games.

If these things happen, then the SEC and ACC can go to nine conference games and the SEC and ACC schools can still host seven home games a year (or be limited to five road games a year). There is the small issue of Florida/Georgia and the fact that one of their "home" games will be in Jacksonville. But this season both Florida and Georgia will only play six games on campus. The problem for both schools would then be what if Florida had to play five SEC road games, Florida State at Tallahassee, and the Georgia game at Jacksonville counted as a Florida "home game"? Then Florida would have just five games in Gainesville (three SEC games and two non conference). That's why it's still important to layer FSU (and for Georgia, GaT) away from the years they get five conference road games.

(06-21-2021 07:40 AM)schmolik Wrote:  The easy answer would be the Nike answer: Just Do It.

Sure, but they don't want to.

How they would do 9 conference games..... If the playoffs forced them to.

Given that the playoffs are never going to force them to do it, it's never happening.

It's pretty much that simple

Alabama has 2 P5 opponents booked per year for several years out—I don’t think the SEC will go to 9 games any time soon.

If there’s schools in opposite divisions that don’t see each other very often, especially in the ACC, I think they should take the UNC-WF route and schedule OOC games amongst themselves.

I could see a Pitt-BC series schedules like that. I also think there’s some schools who would like to play VT and/or UVA more.

How about L’ville vs Miami for a Howard Schnellenberger Trophy?

When they add a 13th regular season game, a 9th conference game will be added by The SEC and The ACC. There is no positive to either conference adding an additional conference game.

Just because the other conferences did it doesn’t mean The SEC and The ACC need to. Its seems to be lost on many that the only conferences that have made every CFP since it began are the two that only play 8 conferences game a year.

It's simple really, conference champions week. Division winners or top 2 overall play each other in Atlanta (SEC)/Charlotte (ACC), runners-up or 3 v. 4 play, 3rd place division teams or 5 v. 6, etc. You could have 1 Division host the 9th game outside the CCG and alternate each season, teams finishing 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. overall host, or have games played in a neutral locations. Regardless, all teams play 4 non-conference games, 9 conference games for 13 total games.

(06-21-2021 10:12 AM)CardinalJim Wrote:  When they add a 13th regular season game, a 9th conference game will be added by The SEC and The ACC. There is no positive to either conference adding an additional conference game.

Just because the other conferences did it doesn’t mean The SEC and The ACC need to. Its seems to be lost on many that the only conferences that have made every CFP since it began are the two that only play 8 conferences game a year.

ACC may find adding a 9th game helps in reopening their ESPN contract. Which is needed!

There's an inherent fallacy here that playing more conference games = more games to be broadcast. Conference broadcast packages are based on home games, since the home team controls the broadcast rights and those rights convey to the conference so they can collectively bargain for them.

Every conference game, by definition, is not only a home game for the conference, but also an away game. So adding an extra conference game means adding an extra away game for every team in the conference. If instead, a majority of the conference teams play a game that is a home game as part of either a buy game or an uneven contract (2 for 1 or 3 for 1), it means more inventory for the conference broadcast package.

USFFan

(06-21-2021 10:21 AM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  It's simple really, conference champions week. Division winners or top 2 overall play each other in Atlanta (SEC)/Charlotte (ACC), runners-up or 3 v. 4 play, 3rd place division teams or 5 v. 6, etc. You could have 1 Division host the 9th game outside the CCG and alternate each season, teams finishing 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. overall host, or have games played in a neutral locations. Regardless, all teams play 4 non-conference games, 9 conference games for 13 total games.

Is that allowed in non COVID years?

(06-21-2021 10:45 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(06-21-2021 10:21 AM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  It's simple really, conference champions week. Division winners or top 2 overall play each other in Atlanta (SEC)/Charlotte (ACC), runners-up or 3 v. 4 play, 3rd place division teams or 5 v. 6, etc. You could have 1 Division host the 9th game outside the CCG and alternate each season, teams finishing 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. overall host, or have games played in a neutral locations. Regardless, all teams play 4 non-conference games, 9 conference games for 13 total games.

Is that allowed in non COVID years?

No. The only way teams have gotten to 13 is through a championship game or a game at Hawaii. I don't even think the special games in Ireland allow to get to 13. And given the hand wringing about extending the season with the potentially expanded playoff, there's no way in hell they're going to just give blanket expansion for every team to play a 13th game. Especially in light of today's SCOTUS ruling about players being unpaid labor.

USFFan

(06-21-2021 08:14 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  Alabama has 2 P5 opponents booked per year for several years out—I don’t think the SEC will go to 9 games any time soon.

If there’s schools in opposite divisions that don’t see each other very often, especially in the ACC, I think they should take the UNC-WF route and schedule OOC games amongst themselves.

I could see a Pitt-BC series schedules like that. I also think there’s some schools who would like to play VT and/or UVA more.

How about L’ville vs Miami for a Howard Schnellenberger Trophy?

Georgia has two P5 OOC games scheduled through 2025. Beginning in 2026 the number goes up to 3 through 2031. UGA has spread their OOC games around...Clemson, FSU, Louisville and GA Tech from the ACC. Oregon and UCLA from the PAC. OU and Texas from the B12. And Ohio State from the Big 10.

Playing top level OOC competition interests me much more than working Miss State into the conference rotation more often.

(06-21-2021 10:45 AM)schmolik Wrote:  

(06-21-2021 10:21 AM)GoBuckeyes1047 Wrote:  It's simple really, conference champions week. Division winners or top 2 overall play each other in Atlanta (SEC)/Charlotte (ACC), runners-up or 3 v. 4 play, 3rd place division teams or 5 v. 6, etc. You could have 1 Division host the 9th game outside the CCG and alternate each season, teams finishing 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. overall host, or have games played in a neutral locations. Regardless, all teams play 4 non-conference games, 9 conference games for 13 total games.

Is that allowed in non COVID years?

Right now, probably not, but if conferences want to try to grab some extra cash, I could see them use them and push the NCAA to allow a rule for it. Additionally, I could see an increase bowl eligibility to 7 wins to reduce the number of bowls while maintaining or even increasing the number of bowl/playoff games when playoff expansion to 12 teams occur.

Historically, conferences have rarely reduced the number of conference games per team, so rather than the Big 12, Big Ten, and Pac-12 dropping the 9th game, it seems more likely that the ACC and SEC will eventually add a 9th game. I agree that adding a 13th regular season game, played either before the CCG or at the same time as the CCG, would likely go a long way toward compelling the ACC and SEC to keep up (along with proportionally increased media payouts, of course).

The 13th game pairings could certainly be done 3 vs. 4, 5 vs. 6, etc., but it probably wouldn't be exactly like that. If South Carolina, for example, had played at Clemson during rivalry week (and didn't make the CCG), it's likely they would be given a home game during CCG week regardless of the seeding.