The powers that be in CFB are letting shortsighted greed blind them to the fact that they are destroying CFB, and the money they are chasing will ultimately dry up if they stay the current course. The last thing CFB needs is a greater divide between the haves and the have nots, but that is exactly what Texas and OU moving to the SEC is going to create. It will further result in less parity across CFB, which will make the product less interesting for viewers.
If the folks making the decisions were thinking long-term, they would realize that disbanding the existing conference model altogether would be the best move for CFB. Instead of the current structure, they should create 4 conferences of 16 teams based on geographic location and historical rivalries. All of the conferences would then be subject to a uniform set of rules and scheduling would be done at the top of the house rather than conference by conference. TV rights would also be negotiated at the aggregate level, which would result in a significantly more lucrative financial package than the sum of the parts under today's structure. The TV money would be split evenly across the 64 teams and all boats would rise because payouts would increase for every program across the board. The programs would still be differentiated financially based on booster support, ticket sales and merchandise revenues.
This would restore the magic of historical rivalries that have fallen by the wayside because of conference realignment and set CFB on a sustainable and stable path going forward.
Imagine a world where Miami, FSU and UF were in the same conference, playing each other every single year. That's how CFB should be.
If the folks making the decisions were thinking long-term, they would realize that disbanding the existing conference model altogether would be the best move for CFB. Instead of the current structure, they should create 4 conferences of 16 teams based on geographic location and historical rivalries. All of the conferences would then be subject to a uniform set of rules and scheduling would be done at the top of the house rather than conference by conference. TV rights would also be negotiated at the aggregate level, which would result in a significantly more lucrative financial package than the sum of the parts under today's structure. The TV money would be split evenly across the 64 teams and all boats would rise because payouts would increase for every program across the board. The programs would still be differentiated financially based on booster support, ticket sales and merchandise revenues.
This would restore the magic of historical rivalries that have fallen by the wayside because of conference realignment and set CFB on a sustainable and stable path going forward.
Imagine a world where Miami, FSU and UF were in the same conference, playing each other every single year. That's how CFB should be.