The P12, B10 and SEC all think they are untouchable, and all believe they are more solid and stronger than the ACC and B12. They all three have eyes on B12 and ACC members to add to their leagues. All three want more members for more content for their three respective networks which equates to more revenue.
Bowlsby has apparently gone all "Marinatto" and played the "let's all be best buddies" card with the ACC. He helped them with their grant of rights, and there have been rumors and talks of scheduling agreements.
Dodds was enamored with the idea of getting some kind of partnership with Notre Dame, but they ended up joining the ACC.
FSU voted against the ACC buyout, signaling to some they were unhappy in the ACC.
I posted a theoretical merged B12/SEC conference last month, but I don't think there is any real chance of that happening.
In retrospect, the 2 conferences that would benefit the most from a merger would be the B12 and ACC. Putting those two together would make them the unquestioned across the board best and strongest conference in the country.
There would be 24 teams + Notre Dame. Notre Dame would have a similar partnership with the new super conference.
There would be a 10-game conference schedule in football, allowing for tons of inventory, as well as the game allotted each year for tier 3 rights.
24 teams means 12 conference matchups in any given weekend. Notre Dame would factor in during the non conference portion of the schedules and wouldn't count towards conference standings.
Instead of divisions, there would be regions to offset travel. Each region team would face all the other teams in their region, and the remaining games would be scheduled using an intra-regional matchup.
LONE STAR REGION
Texas
Texas tech
Baylor
TCU
PLAINS REGION
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma state
Iowa state
NORTH REGION
WVU
Pitt
Louisville
BC
Syracuse
TOBACCO REGION
VT
UVA
Duke
Nc State
Wake
UNC
SOUTH REGION
Clemson
FSU
Miami
GT
Notre Dame would still be required to play six conference members in football each year (3 home, 3 away). They would rotate through the conference playing each team once every four years, and essentially each team home and away every 8 years.
Even though there are not the same number of teams in each region, it wouldn't matter because there are an even number of teams in the conference, and there would be no regional or divisional standings, only overall conference standing like the Big East did with its 16 basketball teams. Only conference standings overall for the 10 game schedule would matter.
An example schedule might be something like this:
Texas would play all three other teams in its region, then play Oklahoma, Florida State, North Carolina, Iowa State, Boston College, Clemson and Kansas for its conference schedule, and Notre Dame and Tulane as non conference opponents in any given year.
The TV contract would be unbelievable, allowing each team (including starting allowing the ACC teams) to control their tier 3 rights.
There would be no more pilfering of B12 or ACC teams by other leagues.
There would be enough strong willed entities in the conference as to prevent anyone school from being too powerful within the conference as has been claimed against Texas, Notre Dame, Duke and UNC respectively over the years.
Dodds wants to push for an 8-team playoff. That 24- team league would be worthy of 3-4 playoff bids each season, meaning giant payouts.
It won't ever happen but that would solve most of the issues facing both conferences, and we all would make a boatload of cash in the process.
Just something to think about on a slow Sunday afternoon while daydreaming about the upcoming season that seems a long way off.
Bowlsby has apparently gone all "Marinatto" and played the "let's all be best buddies" card with the ACC. He helped them with their grant of rights, and there have been rumors and talks of scheduling agreements.
Dodds was enamored with the idea of getting some kind of partnership with Notre Dame, but they ended up joining the ACC.
FSU voted against the ACC buyout, signaling to some they were unhappy in the ACC.
I posted a theoretical merged B12/SEC conference last month, but I don't think there is any real chance of that happening.
In retrospect, the 2 conferences that would benefit the most from a merger would be the B12 and ACC. Putting those two together would make them the unquestioned across the board best and strongest conference in the country.
There would be 24 teams + Notre Dame. Notre Dame would have a similar partnership with the new super conference.
There would be a 10-game conference schedule in football, allowing for tons of inventory, as well as the game allotted each year for tier 3 rights.
24 teams means 12 conference matchups in any given weekend. Notre Dame would factor in during the non conference portion of the schedules and wouldn't count towards conference standings.
Instead of divisions, there would be regions to offset travel. Each region team would face all the other teams in their region, and the remaining games would be scheduled using an intra-regional matchup.
LONE STAR REGION
Texas
Texas tech
Baylor
TCU
PLAINS REGION
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma state
Iowa state
NORTH REGION
WVU
Pitt
Louisville
BC
Syracuse
TOBACCO REGION
VT
UVA
Duke
Nc State
Wake
UNC
SOUTH REGION
Clemson
FSU
Miami
GT
Notre Dame would still be required to play six conference members in football each year (3 home, 3 away). They would rotate through the conference playing each team once every four years, and essentially each team home and away every 8 years.
Even though there are not the same number of teams in each region, it wouldn't matter because there are an even number of teams in the conference, and there would be no regional or divisional standings, only overall conference standing like the Big East did with its 16 basketball teams. Only conference standings overall for the 10 game schedule would matter.
An example schedule might be something like this:
Texas would play all three other teams in its region, then play Oklahoma, Florida State, North Carolina, Iowa State, Boston College, Clemson and Kansas for its conference schedule, and Notre Dame and Tulane as non conference opponents in any given year.
The TV contract would be unbelievable, allowing each team (including starting allowing the ACC teams) to control their tier 3 rights.
There would be no more pilfering of B12 or ACC teams by other leagues.
There would be enough strong willed entities in the conference as to prevent anyone school from being too powerful within the conference as has been claimed against Texas, Notre Dame, Duke and UNC respectively over the years.
Dodds wants to push for an 8-team playoff. That 24- team league would be worthy of 3-4 playoff bids each season, meaning giant payouts.
It won't ever happen but that would solve most of the issues facing both conferences, and we all would make a boatload of cash in the process.
Just something to think about on a slow Sunday afternoon while daydreaming about the upcoming season that seems a long way off.
