Latest College Football Playoff format proposal a slap in the face to ACC and Big 12
With all of the major conference realignment moves taking place across college football we have seen the death of a Power conference, the playoff format change, and an ongoing attempt at monopolizing the sport.
The SEC and Big Ten each picked off the two biggest programs from the Pac-12 and Big 12, which led to a year and a half full of questions as to what to make of those conferences. The Big 12 was able to respond by adding four Group of Five schools, while the Pac-12 missed out on a chance to poach Big 12 schools to save themselves due to USC sabotaging the conference on their way out.
Eight other Pac-12 schools ended up leaving the conference for the Big Ten, Big 12, or ACC. This changed how the new playoff was formatted, and now the SEC and Big Ten are really putting an emphasis on taking over the sport.
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There is a belief that in the coming years, regionality will be dead altogether if it isn't already, and that there will eventually be two super conferences. While we aren't there yet, Florida State's ongoing legal battles with the ACC will certainly play a role depending on the outcome.
Their snubbing from this past year's playoff appeared to be the final straw, and even with the format changing, they want out. The aforementioned change will see the four best conference champions get an automatic bid, while the best Group of Five team will also be getting a nod. The remaining seven spots will go to the best teams that weren't able to win their conference.
While that seems more than fair considering winning a conference title has been diminished in years past, there was a recent proposal reported by Yahoo's Ross Dellenger that showcased just how badly the Big Ten and SEC want to monopolize the playoff. According to Dellenger, the proposal entailed expanding the playoff to 14 teams from 12, with the conference champs from the Big Ten and SEC getting automatic byes.
Rather than any sort of ranking system in place, this means the Big Ten and SEC are automatically guaranteed the top two seeds regardless of how good an ACC or Big 12 team is. Not to mention, the proposal also would entail those two conferences getting two other automatic bids, while the ACC and Big 12 each would each get just two bids each. TCU head coach Sonny Dykes spoke out vehemently against this proposal, bringing to light just how unfair and illogical it is.
"Automatic first-round byes for the Big Ten and SEC is like the NFL saying the Cowboys get a first-round bye since they have more fans than the Bengals," Dykes told ESPN's Dave Wilson. "How preposterous is that?"
Although Dellenger reported that the proposed format "is nowhere near finalized", it is clear the Big 12 and ACC are reading the writing on the wall. The two biggest powers in the sport have no interest in doing what's best for the sport, but only what is best for them.
Looking back now, the BCS system wasn't so bad after all.
