The SEC and Big 10 form as two conferences of 28 members each with 4 divisions of 7 each and operate as one league.

The divisions are grouped geographically with alterations for balance and to save on travel.

The SEC and Big 10 market their product together leveraging an even larger payout.

Each Conference plays 13 regular season games and they open the season by playing the first week against each other.

Then each conference school plays 6 divisional games and rotates 2 schools from the other divisions annually.

Notre Dame joins because it is one League.

All games are played in league.

FOX and ESPN own and control the post season. Two conferences networks remain one under each network. All other tiers of college football are streamed.

For competitive reasons they hold a High School draft for players and recruiting is forbidden. A separate draft is held for players called up from a lower tier.


Big 10:

Maryland, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

California, California Los Angeles, Oregon, Southern California, Stanford, Utah, Washington

SEC:

Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, South Carolina

Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Alabama, Auburn, Louisiana St., Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

(06-12-2024 11:13 AM)JRsec Wrote:  The SEC and Big 10 form as two conferences of 28 members each with 4 divisions of 7 each and operate as one league.

The divisions are grouped geographically with alterations for balance and to save on travel.

The SEC and Big 10 market their product together leveraging an even larger payout.

Each Conference plays 13 regular season games and they open the season by playing the first week against each other.

Then each conference school plays 6 divisional games and rotates 2 schools from the other divisions annually.

Notre Dame joins because it is one League.

All games are played in league.

FOX and ESPN own and control the post season. Two conferences networks remain one under each network. All other tiers of college football are streamed.

For competitive reasons they hold a High School draft for players and recruiting is forbidden. A separate draft is held for players called up from a lower tier.


Big 10:

Maryland, Notre Dame, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Wisconsin

Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska

California, California Los Angeles, Oregon, Southern California, Stanford, Utah, Washington

SEC:

Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, South Carolina

Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia, Virginia Tech

Alabama, Auburn, Louisiana St., Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt

Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech

Better than what we have now!

This is actually a really good set up. 56 sets the bar slightly higher than the 65 or so that had elite status in the BCS era.

You really gonna leave Cincinnati out like that?

Folks, it’s important here not to hyperfixate on the list of 56 teams. The point of the OP is the governance structure

How would you address kids who try to hold out and refuse to sign with the school that claimed them?

How would NIL play in? The draft would help disperse talent but unless there’s a way to restrict NIL, you’re going to have schools whose private and corporate boosters have deeper pockets

(06-21-2024 09:28 PM)Fighting Muskie Wrote:  How would you address kids who try to hold out and refuse to sign with the school that claimed them?

How would NIL play in? The draft would help disperse talent but unless there’s a way to restrict NIL, you’re going to have schools whose private and corporate boosters have deeper pockets

1. Those who hold out miss a year of eligibility. If drafted and they refuse to sign they lose a year.

2. NIL was capped at 22 million or some such number. Boosters still can't pay players directly. The university can distribute the funds.

3. Really signing these kids to contracts and treating them as employees of the university is way more beneficial than what we have now. It places them above board in filing tax instead of starting them out on the grift and dodge, and it obligates them to the University's behavior codes for employees. And it sets up contract buyouts for transfers which compensates the University for their money spent developing a player.

4. The NFL ought to get interested in sponsoring the schools who participate at this level because it is their life's blood for keeping players and their game fresh.

As to structure, regionality does several good things:
a. It keeps travel overhead down.
b. Divisional play should feed directly into the CFP thereby starting every year's playoff with all regions of the country involved.
c. It keeps rivalries intact and helps fans to travel to games which means donations stay high.

If scheduling permits all schools access to all parts of the country and the high school draft spreads recruits out the schools which need them most it will revitalize the competitive nature of the sport annually, at least a lot more than it does now. And it also keeps recruiters off of the backs of the kids and it doesn't create as many head cases among 17 and 18 year olds who think wrongly they are the best thing since sliced bread. And it cleans up a helluva a lot of the cheating that has gone on for decades.

The schools should market their product together and only keep conference branding to promote a larger rivalry. They would have one large media deal and a lot more leverage. Each division could have their own dedicated subscription channel and that money too, would be pooled.

It would provide a far more competitive momentum annually than expecting Clemson, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State to make the CFP. And that more random field would drive national interest.

Those are my thoughts.

Oh yeah, one other thing. There would be one training camp for officials and all officials would work for all of the schools and each would be trained to make calls the same way and use the same criteria. In the P5 each crew was tied to a conference and their emphasis on how to make calls varied. In out of conference play this led to a lot of confusion and what appeared to be favoritism though it was likely not all intended. And the Upper Tier should be wholly separate from the NCAA.

I’m glad you bring up the NFL. For too long they have been the benefactors of free player development. There needs to be a transfer fee or some compensation when a player moves from the super league to the NFL.

I still think the relegation would be the most entertaining model for CFB. It's NEVER gonna happen but I think it would be fun as hell. Real life dynasty mode activated.

Tier I: 24 Teams (4 relegation matches)
Tier II: 48 Teams (8 relegation matches)
Tier III: 64 Teams

Could even create a 4th tier for FCS if you wanted.