Steve Deace on "Bigger Ten" talked about how there's a report that the counter from the other conferences might be to leave the playoffs at 4 so the SEC can beat up on each other and get a max of 2 playoff teams for their troubles. (Starts @ the 12:00 mark)

Money money money money MONEY

My question now is if Sankey knew about the OU/tu deal half a year ago, why did he sign off on the 6 autobids in the new format?

Why give away 5 spots to other conferences when you're planning on stacking the SEC? Why not just leave it as solely the 12 highest ranked teams?

It would hurt the other conferences as much as it hurt us, or more in the case of pac12 (and big12 as long as it's around). No way they vote to stay at 4 teams. They might instead vote to cap the number of teams per conference at 3 or 4, however.

Big ten homer YouTuber had a fantasy where the SEC gets more powerful and it somehow still hurts them. Can he explain the big ten adding Rutgers and Maryland?

Big Ten is such a damn joke every season there is a Wisconsin or Penn State who starts ranked high and inevitably crashes. Only drama is which moribund program will upset Ohio State that year. And when Michigan will finally fire the ******ed Harbaugh brother.

Aggieair said:

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My question now is if Sankey knew about the OU/tu deal half a year ago, why did he sign off on the 6 autobids in the new format?

Why give away 5 spots to other conferences when you're planning on stacking the SEC? Why not just leave it as solely the 12 highest ranked teams?

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I think these are fair questions. Why leave it at 6 autobids? Only 6 at large is going to hurt OU and Texas and the remaining SEC if they go to a 9 game schedule based on how the committee has picked teams in the past.

Aggieair said:

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My question now is if Sankey knew about the OU/tu deal half a year ago, why did he sign off on the 6 autobids in the new format?

Why give away 5 spots to other conferences when you're planning on stacking the SEC? Why not just leave it as solely the 12 highest ranked teams?

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I am unclear on all of the circumstances surrounding how playoff expansion happened. I have heard there was a very small committee studying the issue. Sankey and Bowlsby were both on it but no one from the ACC, B1G nor the PAC. Those three conferences were not necessarily opposed to expansion but now with the expansion of the SEC, those conferences want to tap the brakes a bit on playoff expansion.

Finebaum had a gal reporter on yesterday discussing this and how Sankey's involvement along with Bowlsby's allegations are raising eyebrows.

Yes, The Athletic wrote about it yesterday as well.

You will see all the other leagues hit the breaks on CFP expansion. There is also talk of waiting till current contract with ESPN expires in 2025/2026 and opening it up for outside bidding.

Lots of concerns about ESPN double-dealing in expansion and CFP and what an expanded field means for other conferences.

It is very conceivable you could have 16 SEC teams fighting over 1-2 CFP bids. Right now in the interests of the other conferences to keep the field smaller, in the 4-8 team range.

Sankey is a moron. Did he really think this foolishness would go off without a hitch?

This is going to end up hurting the SEC.

ClemsonTig said:

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Yes, The Athletic wrote about it yesterday as well.

You will see all the other leagues hit the breaks on CFP expansion. There is also talk of waiting till current contract with ESPN expires in 2025/2026 and opening it up for outside bidding.

Lots of concerns about ESPN double-dealing in expansion and CFP and what an expanded field means for other conferences.

It is very conceivable you could have 16 SEC teams fighting over 1-2 CFP bids. Right now in the interests of the other conferences to keep the field smaller, in the 4-8 team range.

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I think that was same reporter. Nicole Auerbach?

And I think it would be a great idea to open it up to other bidders as long as it wasn't only streaming services. But not sure how that would work with the bowl partners. As it is the Rose Bowl is presenting a bump in the road again under the new playoff expansion plans.

Stay at four and kick the can down the road until this realignment saga plays out.

aggiehawg said:

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ClemsonTig said:

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You will see all the other leagues hit the breaks on CFP expansion. There is also talk of waiting till current contract with ESPN expires in 2025/2026 and opening it up for outside bidding.

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Jeff Bezos has entered the chat

Strange enough it will hurt in one way and it won't hurt in another.

The SEC will have a lot of money which is good for the bean counters in the SEC. The coaches, administrators and others whose job it is to meet payroll will love it. They will have even more money to play around with.

However, a 4-8 team CFP will HURT the SEC tremendously, It will have the impact of basically jamming a lot of good/great teams into a Game of Thrones situation where only 1-2 teams can make it out. That is a lot of Alpha teams fighting for a bid.

Over time, that type setup will weaken the SEC football product. There simply are not enough wins to go around. And the less you win, the bigger the negative impact on recruiting.

As for NIL, being in the playoff will afford a kid the biggest stage to make $$$. So those CFP slots will be like gold.

If we really are moving to four "super" conferences it wouldn't be the worst idea to keep the four team playoff. Each super conference gets a bid for their champ, and let the conference championship game be the de facto quarterfinals.

The B1G adding Maryland and Rutgers wasn't about making the conference stronger by adding good teams. It was about adding teams from states with large populations (MD and NJ) to increase revenues for the Big 10 Network