(01-04-2019 02:39 AM)AllTideUp Wrote: (01-03-2019 06:55 PM)OdinFrigg Wrote: Doubtful Texas really has any interest in moving to the BIG, SEC, or the PAC12.
They may try to resurrect the idea of moving to the ACC with partial football membership. The question will be would the ACC buy into it? Perhaps with enough money is put on the table. However, there are not natural rivals in the ACC and travel distance with costs would be an issue.
Staying in the B12 with partial football could be an option if OU and maybe one or two others leave for elsewhere and a couple of new additions come on board. I regard this as more viable than the ACC route. Basketball and baseball are important, and having a reputable conference as home for both will be a requirement.
Going totally football independent is not realistic, even for Texas. Quality schools will play them, but few will do so in most of October and November when conference schedules kick-in.
If the playoffs become more focused on having conference champions, being technically football independent could become more of a detriment.
The thing about Texas is they are rich enough that they can basically do whatever they want. It's also true that some options are more beneficial than others.
Their preferred plan would probably be a healthy and viable Big 12, but that's not likely anymore. They may very well throw a hail mary and try some crazy plan to save the conference, but I doubt it will work at this stage.
The ACC makes sense to a certain degree, but the SEC is the best overall fit even if some people in blog-land don't want to admit it.
I think the most interesting wrinkle is what exactly does ESPN want in this whole deal. Looks like they're going all in on the ACC Network so they'll probably want to push certain properties there to enhance the profile, but that might be easier said than done.
I can't rule out the idea that ESPN will find a way to acquire the PAC by getting Texas to go in on a new format, but that depends on a lot of things falling the right way. It also makes sense that ESPN would want to acquire more PAC content given that the ACC Network and the SEC Network will have taken some prime games away from their main channels. The other day, a report came out that ESPN2 had fallen behind FS1 and NBCSN in ratings.
I'm sure that's not something Disney will abide. Especially with the advent of ESPN+, I think the corporation will be looking for ways to increase their inventory in the coming years. College properties have been a staple for ESPN for a lot of reasons so it makes sense to me that they would try to recapture more of the Power conferences.
Of course, ESPN could do things to lure the PAC that wouldn't involve Texas as I'm sure some of the leaders in the PAC wouldn't want to compromise their model in exchange for UT or anyone else.
This topic, the CFP Championship ticket sale fiasco, and the push for an 8 school playoff all have 1 thing in common which is at the source of the screwed up mess we are in, ESPN.
The CFP was designed to appease the most powerful bowls. That's why you have a CCG in Atlanta followed by two more extant neutral high dollar sites for the fans to try to manage. If ESPN doesn't hold those bowl contracts then this thing doesn't get fouled up that way. If ESPN hadn't been so concerned about maximizing thee ad revenue from the CFP, and hadn't made promises to move the game around to appease all regions we wouldn't be in this mess. If ESPN didn't work so hard to try to include all regions as a priority then the first few years of the CFP wouldn't have been fouled up by leaving T.C.U. out, and stretching it to try to include a lousy PAC which just doesn't have right now what it takes to make that field.
Because of ESPN's involvement realignment didn't unfold naturally either. The market footprint model pushed some really odd duck moves.
So how do you go about fixing this mess?
Make the neutral site games a Summer ending last weekend of August game at a regional neutral site for between 16 to 20 of the top rated P schools.
Return to 8 conference games for all P conferences. Leave 3 slots for OOC or G5 games provided the G5 games are P home venue games only. They'll line up for the payday but gripe about it until doomsday. But, they'll do it for the money. If a school wants to schedule two of those as other P conference home and home series then fine that's on them and they shouldn't complain about having only 6 home games instead of 7.
The rest of the P5 open with home and homes with other P5 schools not of their conference.
The top 8 to 10 bowls get a great season opener, with fans optimistic about their year to come, and at the end of Summer vacations and while they still have cash and what's more the fans will have had since January to know who they will be playing and where to arrange travel and save for the event.
ESPN should release the rest of the bowls from their contract, unless the G5 uses them for similar purposes, and pay them the remainder of their contract.
Then ESPN should cooperate with FOX to place out the Big 12 schools and move us to a P4. IMO opinion they need to do the same in the G5 with their weakest conference.
Then after the CCG's the champions move to semis. Only each conference's runner up will be paid with another conference's champion at the home of the champion. The quarter-finals are played on the 2nd Saturday of December.
Semi finals again are played at the home stadium of the remaining highest 2 seeds 2 weeks after the quarter finals, Jan 1st.
The finals are then held at a pre-determined neutral site 1 week later. All fans will know ahead of time where that will be and contingent tickets and accommodations can be made in advance with the winners receiving the tickets and the accommodations. Others will have reserved these with a credit card which is credited if their teams lose.
That way fans begin the season potentially at a neutral site if they are ranked in the top 20. They have all season to prepare to save for the CCG's and Finals.
The interest and travel would remain reasonable and regional until the finals.
Let WVU and N.D. join the ACC in full. Let Texas take Texas Tech, T.C.U. and Kansas State to the PAC. Let Kansas and Iowa State join the Big 10, and let Oklahoma and Oklahoma State come to the SEC. Relegate Baylor.
Now you have 4 conferences of 16 each with two divisions of 8 the winners of which do play in the CCG. The runner up of each conference is determined not by the CCG but the best record and tie breakers after the CCG.
Those 8 teams are your playoff first round.
That's what we need in my opinion. It solves all 3 messes, helps the fans, guarantees the best possible 8 teams are in the finals, and solves the content issues for the networks.
Tie post season play to season ticket priorities and you have no lag in the sale of regular season tickets.