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Playoff Expansion

Posted on 8/27/21 at 5:35 am
Posted by OU4Life
Member since Jul 2021
37 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 5:35 am
ESPN says the vote to expand playoffs must be unanimous. Why create the alliance then? The PAC or BIG could have blocked expansion on their own. What did those conferences gain?

I’m starting to think we may never go past 4.

I think the alliance see the B12 losing its contender (Oklahoma), therefore dropping the B12 from competition for a spot. Now the G4 conferences (bc B12 is no longer a power conference) are vying for 4 spots. Leverage the alliance to gain momentum behind staying at 4 and somehow creating a conference champion tie in and the PAC just earned an annual spot in the playoff (that second part probably needs SEC buy-in, which is a clear no).

If I’m OU/TX, I am staying in the B12 until the playoff expands, because now there is no guarantee it will. Also, no way the SEC will be happy with adding OU/TX and staying at 4, but they might not be able to do anything about it.

Did A&M screw the pooch on this one (is that the right saying)? Remember the OU/TX announcement was leaked by A&M leadership via Houston Chronicle reporter. Nothing was planned to be announced and they could have waited until playoff expansion was already a done deal.
Posted by bamameister
Right here, right now
Member since May 2016
14240 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 5:44 am to
quote:

ESPN says the vote to expand playoffs must be unanimous. Why create the alliance then? The PAC or BIG could have blocked expansion on their own. What did those conferences gain?



Nothing, so far. There's been speculation that it was about scheduling. Except, the day after the big announcement, USC and LSU agreed to play each other in Las Vegas to open the 2024 season.

This is the same group of administrators that completely mismanaged the virus last season. We all might want to pause and let that reality settle in before worrying about how little sense all this is making.
Posted by nuRally
Member since Mar 2018
139 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 6:49 am to
The "alliance" doesn't mean crap
Posted by Mizz-SEC
Inbred Huntin' In The SEC
Member since Jun 2013
19252 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 6:56 am to
quote:

Did A&M screw the pooch on this one (is that the right saying)? Remember the OU/TX announcement was leaked by A&M leadership via Houston Chronicle reporter. Nothing was planned to be announced and they could have waited until playoff expansion was already a done deal.

Maybe so, I reckon.
Posted by Hugh McElroy
Member since Sep 2013
17437 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 7:15 am to
quote:

Remember the OU/TX announcement was leaked by A&M leadership via Houston Chronicle reporter


That reporter has said it wasn’t an A&M source who leaked it. Some factions at Texas wanted to go Big 10 rather than SEC. They leaked it, trying to scuttle the deal.
This post was edited on 8/27/21 at 7:16 am
Posted by BLG
Georgia
Member since Mar 2018
7149 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 7:17 am to
Posted by Drydock
Osage County
Member since Oct 2013
6751 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 8:37 am to
If the SEC gets 2 teams in this year's playoff, you'll see that pot start to boil damn quick.
Posted by Kentucker
Cincinnati, KY
Member since Apr 2013
19351 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 9:02 am to
My take from the “Alliance’s” tet a’ tet is that a strategy to compete with the SEC for viewers is vital. There may have been other subjects discussed but they apparently didn’t warrant any actions be taken.

So I see them continuing to schedule SEC teams and also pairing their best teams against each other to garner week-to-week television appeal. That’s smart IMO. I think they understand that the SEC product has become so strong that they need to step up their game if they’re going to compete.

I also think they’ll vote to expand the playoff so that the PAC won’t be frozen out every year. They see the value of “last year’s playoff teams facing each other in this year’s regular season games” for TV appeal.
Posted by JayAg
Member since Jun 2021
10282 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 9:07 am to
What does A&M have to do with anything? An ESPN writer tweeted tu leaked it

What’s the big deal? Just win the SEC and you’re in, nothing has changed

You trying to say the SEC is too hard?
This post was edited on 8/27/21 at 9:09 am
Posted by OU4Life
Member since Jul 2021
37 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 10:30 am to
quote:

What’s the big deal? Just win the SEC and you’re in, nothing has changed

You trying to say the SEC is too hard?


Adding OU/TX makes the SEC harder. Do you really want a harder path to the playoff if the SEC does not get any more teams in?

Staying put at 4 while adding OU/TX to SEC is not a good deal for any teams involved. And yes, it hurts Oklahoma most.
Posted by transcend
Austin, TX
Member since Aug 2013
4166 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 11:47 am to
Oklahoma and Texas will never see a playoff spot if they don't expand it. Neither will A&M.
Posted by ATW
Columbia, Mo
Member since Jul 2021
759 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 1:27 pm to
quote:

Oklahoma and Texas will never see a playoff spot if they don't expand it. Neither will A&M.



Seriously? Bold words. OU will have just as good a chance as LSU if not better. You can have a great team on all three levels but you damn well better have an excellent or elite QB as well. Just ask Bama.
Posted by Ramblin Wreck
Member since Aug 2011
3898 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 1:31 pm to
The West Virginia president gets a vote and has vowed to vote "no". Texas and Oklahoma hurt his feelings too much, so "no soup for you!"

quote:

"I think [expansion] is on life support now," Gee said. "I have one of the votes and I think it nearly needs to be unanimous and I'm not voting for it.


ESPN
This post was edited on 8/27/21 at 1:35 pm
Posted by KingofTexas
Member since Jun 2021
1740 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 1:59 pm to
The enemy of their enemy is their closest thing to a friend. All 3 would pick each other apart if they can but all 3 see the SEC as the more immediate threat. The only way they will agree to a playoff expansion is to set a limit of no more than 2-3 teams per conference.
Posted by ptclaus98
Member since Dec 2014
1203 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 2:04 pm to
It shouldn't be more than 4 anyway.
Posted by BreakawayZou83
Kansas City, Missouri
Member since Oct 2011
9500 posts
Posted on 8/27/21 at 2:18 pm to
The broader point here is that the current playoff system is totally unsustainable. If a single veto can deny changes that benefit the majority, it is just a matter of time until that majority (or in the SEC's case, an extremely powerful minority) simply buck the system entirely.

After just a decade of being an SEC member, it's pretty obvious why it is the most successful entity in college football. Equal-revenue sharing, straightforward membership rules, no exit fees, no bullshite.

Pretty much everywhere else in the FBS landscape is littered with corruption, cowardice and short-sighted decision-making. It's just a matter of time until the SEC either breaks away entirely or the current iteration of the playoff/bowl season fails and is rebuilt.
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