(07-07-2020 05:44 PM)Florida tribe fan Wrote:  

(06-30-2020 09:26 PM)solohawks Wrote:  I always viewed NCAA basketball auto bids like franchises. The way the franchise rules are now it's very difficult to open up a new one, but current ones are good has long as they follow the building code irregardless of how many repairs they must make annually

What continues to amaze is that the NCAA’s auto bid rule is treated with more reverence than the Ten Commandments.

The history suggests that the letter of the law with NCAA rules is often treated with a lot more reverence in the NCAA than whether someone covets someone else's wife.

The "conferences with divisions that play a divisional round robin can have a CCG" was never written with power conferences in mind, it was written so conferences lower down the ladder that had to worry about the costs of flights versus bus trips could be cobbled together that didn't have to have cross division games in every sport they sponsored.

But it was there in the rule book, and so when it become convenient for a Power Conference to take advantage of it, they took advantage of it.

(06-30-2020 09:26 PM)solohawks Wrote:  I always viewed NCAA basketball auto bids like franchises. The way the franchise rules are now it's very difficult to open up a new one, but current ones are good has long as they follow the building code irregardless of how many repairs they must make annually

A March Madness auto bid is like a franchise in a business that makes enormous amounts of money, a business so golden that your franchise is guaranteed to rake in the bucks even if it is not well managed or operated.

I doubt anyone cared about autobids before the March Madness TV rights were worth hundreds of millions per year. It's all about lining up at the trough for an annual slice of that very large pie.

If schools follow the existing rules, it gives them some protection from being screwed over by the NCAA. The tournament distributions are not insignificant.

That said, the MEAC would not be a party to the CFP prior to it being renewed before the 2026 season, unless if all of the other ten FBS conferences and Notre Dame are willing to renegotiate to let them in early. If there's a push for an 8-team playoff, that may be in their favor - let us in, and we'll vote for the necessary changes in the NCAA to make a third round of the playoffs happen.

(07-07-2020 06:59 PM)chargeradio Wrote:  If schools follow the existing rules, it gives them some protection from being screwed over by the NCAA. The tournament distributions are not insignificant.

That said, the MEAC would not be a party to the CFP prior to it being renewed before the 2026 season, unless if all of the other ten FBS conferences and Notre Dame are willing to renegotiate to let them in early. If there's a push for an 8-team playoff, that may be in their favor - let us in, and we'll vote for the necessary changes in the NCAA to make a third round of the playoffs happen.

And the MEAC (under whatever name they choose to go with) would have to be at the bargaining table in order to be a party to the CFP when it renews.

July 2024 might work, in which case this is only an option if the MEAC hangs on through the 2021/2022 season.