I’m going to play King for the Day. My kingdom is college football and under my rule ….
For starters, there is a lack of uniformity among the Power 5 (P5) Conferences. The SEC and Big 10 have fourteen members. The ACC w/Notre Dame has 14 1/2 members. The PAC 12 has twelve members, and the Big 12 has ten members. On top of that, the Big 10, Big 12, and PAC 12 play nine conference games annually, while the SEC and ACC only play eight.
Conference expansion may also be looming. I say that because several conference television contracts are expiring soon, and that may serve as an expansion trigger. The timeframe? Summer of 2023.
So, under my rule, let’s use that as an opportunity to fix divisional imbalances, conference scheduling unevenness, and non-conference scheduling. I believe those are three of four things that could contribute to an ‘ultimate fix’ of college football. The fourth thing is the playoff expansion proposal.
The first step would be to require all (P5) Conferences to have fourteen schools. While some people advocate for creating sixteen-team “Super Conferences,” history tells us that larger conferences aren’t better conferences. Rivalries get watered down, and scheduling becomes a problem. On the other hand, 14-member conferences provide sufficient depth and strength, and they enable rivalries to be somewhat sustained.
So, what would expansion look like?
IndyStar
For starters, the ACC would add Notre Dame as a full conference member. Notre Dame is ‘the big fish’ when it comes to expansion. Last year, the Irish were full football members in the ACC, and it worked out well. They played in the ACC Championship Game and made it to the College Football Playoffs.
Adding ND gives the ACC national exposure and adds much-needed football strength. There are benefits for the Irish, too. It will be much better for Notre Dame to have a conference affiliation than continue as an independent. Why? The new college football playoff expansion proposal only allows the top four highest-ranked conference champions to get first-round playoff byes.
Independents would have to always play in the first round. Retaining independent football status puts ND at a competitive disadvantage. In the ACC, the Irish would clearly be one of its strongest teams and, with that, have a chance to be the conference champion regularly… and earn a first-round playoff bye in the process.
The fly in the ointment is the ND-NBC TV contract. The ACC will need to work out a financial arrangement so that ND doesn’t have to give up that contract to join the conference. Doing that will enable the Irish to have a win-win situation, and it won’t hurt the conference either. That’s because ACC schools would play on national TV when visiting South Bend.
The ACC could throw in a bonus perk that schedules Syracuse and Boston College as regular conference opponents for Notre Dame. Instead of Syracuse or Boston College hosting Notre Dame every other year, they could play at a neutral site, such as Yankee Stadium or MetLife Stadium. Notre Dame obviously has a huge fan base in the New York Area who would love to see them play regularly. Also, ND can keep long-term rivalry games with USC, the Navy, and Stanford.
But to keep the ACC at 14 members, I believe the conference’s newest member–Louisville–will need to be realigned with another conference. Where to? I say the Big 12.
The Cardinal Connect
Let’s face reality. The Big 12 has the biggest challenge with only 10 members, and it’s not as though many high-profile teams are knocking at the B12 door, including expecting conference dropouts to return to the fold. Missouri and Texas A&M (SEC), Colorado (PAC-12), and Nebraska (Big Ten) are going to stay where they settled after the last conference realignment process. Financial numbers say so.
So how does the former Big 8, now Big 12, get to 14 schools? Start by adding Louisville, which would be a conference upgrade in football and basketball with a solid TV market and rabid fan base thrown in. Then, the league needs to raid a Group of Five Conference–the American Athletic Conference. Invite Cincinnati, Memphis, and Central Florida to become B12 members.
Those AAC teams are P5-conference ready. All three (including Louisville) also offer a much-needed geographic bridge to the West Virginia Mountaineers, which now operates as a geographic outlier in a Midwest-situated, Texas-dominated conference. Besides, just like the Cardinals, the current AAC schools are solid when it comes to the TV market (Orlando #18, Cincinnati #37, and Memphis #51).
Now, what about the PAC-12? To get to 14 teams, let’s add BYU and San Diego State. While controversial in some respects, the PAC-12 really needs a significant boost in football talent and exposure. Batting 2 for 7 (years in which the conference had a team in the CFP) doesn’t cut it. The PAC-12 desperately needs football depth and strength.
Courtesy: campusinsiders.com
It has been said by some that the PAC-12 will never invite a religious school (BYU) to become a conference member. The PAC-12 has passed on the Cougars previously, but times have changed. BYU has a national following, a large fan base, a solid football program, and is no longer in a Group of 5 Conference, namely, The Mountain West.
BYU may not be a Notre Dame, but that’s not a deal-breaker. Fit is the issue. With a respectable academic ranking (#80 per US News) and a five-team PAC-12 2021 schedule, it’s hard to reach any other conclusion than inviting BYU to join the PAC-12. Besides, what once was a West Coast-only conference (Washington, Oregon, and California) has a wider footprint these days. The PAC-8 became the PAC-10 by expanding into the SW and adding the Arizona schools. Later, it went from the PAC-10 to the PAC-12 by moving into the Rockies to add Utah and Colorado.
The only issue for me isn’t adding BYU. It’s why add SDSU and not Boise State? While Boise State has a stronger football program, the Aztecs are located in a larger metro area with a top-30 TV market, a competitive football program that will move into a new football stadium, and a much stronger basketball program. SDSU is also stronger academically than Boise (#143 v. #298 per US News). That said, it’s hard for me to see Boise in the PAC-14.
What about the other two conferences? Status quo. The SEC and Big 10 would remain static in terms of conference alignment is concerned.
(There’s more to this story. On Tuesday, I’ll address Part 2 of my college football ‘Ultimate Fix.’)
