(12-17-2019 04:31 PM)YNot Wrote: The only thing that might change would be a move to divisionless conference schedules and ensure top-2 match-ups in each CCG. No conference would agree to risk one of their teams not being a CCG winner.
Why would Ohio State or the B1G agree to play B12 Baylor instead of B1G Wisconsin?
Why would Clemson or the ACC agree to play SEC-Florida instead of ACC-member Virginia?
Why would Utah or the PAC 12 agree to play SEC-Georgia instead of PAC 12 Oregon?
Good “why” questions. Here are some potential answers.
Utah defeating Georgia would guarantee the Utes a playoff berth, which a win over Oregon could not.
Clemson vs. Florida would be a much more lucrative TV property (better matchup, higher stakes) than Clemson vs. Virginia.
The claim that conferences would not want to risk having no “CCG” winner is on par with the current risk of missing the 4-team playoff. Therefore, no additional risk is taken.
Would the SEC or Big Ten want Baylor when they already have high ranking Georgia and Wisconsin? I agree, probably not. These 2 conference have enough large fan bases that even a 9-3 conference team would be more worthwhile than a 10+ win non-champion.
Would the Pac-12, ACC, and Big 12 agree to share 2 annual Challenge Games between their 3 regular season champions and their top at-large member? These would be near-certain quarterfinals. If they shared the revenue, they wouldn’t have to worry about a rotation and could simply pre-select their quarterfinal sites.
The Big Ten and SEC make too much money on their current CCGs, so I could see them passing on this alliance.
West: 5 Utah vs. 6 Oklahoma
East: 3 Clemson vs. 8 Baylor
SEC: 1 LSU vs. 4 Georgia
BT: 2 Ohio St vs. 10 Wisconsin
AAC: 17 Memphis vs 7 Florida ???
If the Pac-12, Big 12, and ACC have no at-larges in the Top 8 MAYBE they invite an alternate Top 8 team, like Norte Dame or BT/SEC #3 or a G5 champ to fill that 4th spot.
They can also stage a 3rd Challenge Game, like an early Bowl Game, and upgrade it to a 3rd Quarterfinal if ever the alliance has 5 of the Top 8 to 10 teams. ...a pre-bowl Bowl Game, however, does sound like a consolation game and would rarely if ever get upgraded.