BearsTruth Board

Posted on another site:

For conference strength, round robin is by far the best, so 10 is max that will work this way. But every one is on board with expansion, AS LONG AS IT FITS. So what does that mean?

12 works as 2 divisions with 3 rotating games from the other division for a total of 8. Doesn't produce as strong a bond of familiarity and unity, and it is hard to balance the strength of the 2 divisions, but at least you get compensated for the extra trouble beyond the additional members by getting paid for the CCG. You just have to work harder at communication and consensus decisions.

14 becomes really hard with no inherent benefits. Much tougher scheduling and even harder to equally set up the divisions. With 12 everyone plays everyone else at least 2x every 4 years, nice home & home. 14 isn't so smooth as you can't divide 7 evenly by 2 or 3. The SEC appears to be experiencing this, as several members have advised us to think long and hard before going to 14.

16 sounds great on paper with one of the various versions of rotating pods and cross pod rivals. Everyone would play each other at least 2x every 6 years. But now you have to set up 4 divisions more or less equally and work that much harder on communication and consensus. The effort has expanded exponentially, not just 2x, or even 4x, but 8x harder. NO conference has attempted it and survived.

So, if we go to only 12 and FSU is included, be it with Clemson or with ND, FSU is stuck on an island with 1 other or by themselves, and WVU could be in the same situation. Not a good long term solution for them being content in the conference.

But if planning our moves and we wanted to go to only 12, we should try to accommodate everyone's desire to have regional rivals (defined as opponents whose games you could comfortably drive to). What makes sense is to get ND and 1 of (in order of travel preference) UL, Pitt, Maryland, or VT. This would make for a nice swing from the Kansas schools & Iowa State eastward, and unify that division. If not ND, then take 2 or the those 4 or UNC or NCSU.

Geography still matters somewhat, and FSU really only makes sense if we expand to at least 14, and the numbers will work only if we go to 16, and that has never worked. But then, it has never been attempted with a GOR, so who knows.

I'm not arguing for or against, I'm not even sure Deloss is per se. But I agree that after 12 it becomes uncharted waters, and much more risky. If we decide to go that way, we need to have 4 strong anchor teams in place to secure the 4 pods with equal strength. This explains Deloss' insistence that we get ND in place as the first step to going down that path. We already have Texas and Oklahoma as anchors, and know we can get FSU, and 4 additional teams to make 16 should be no problem. If ND won't accept, then UNC is the only other option or we need to stop expansion to stay at 10, or only look for 2 neighbors for WVU and then quit. Bloggers and Fans to the contrary, these are the only options historically that make any long term sense.

Option One ain't happening.

i think option 4 is go to 12 with fsu and nd and wait on nd. nd will be 13 and someone else will be 14.

If we go to 12 and do that stupid 3 on - 3 off system, I'm going to be pissed.

That formula did NOT work in the old big 12.

You have to have a cross division permanent rival.

Why could we not play 9 or 10 conference games with a 16 team conference or something like that? Why would we be "stuck" at 8 games?

I know this is all making Brian famous, but I hate this stuff. Give me the old SWC + OU, Oklahoma State and call it a day.

Everyone plays round robin.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ is ruining college sports. It has certainly caused major issues in the past, but this is getting ridiculous.

I am not convinced at all that extra TV $$ will make up for sending all the minor sports all over the country.

In 10 years college sports will likely look completely different from today.

Miami is a non-starter. It's more likely to be FSU, Clemson and GT as regional partners. If ND is the fourth piece then you have a good set up with options for 15 and 16 if you want. But Miami is a lost cause. They rather publicly flipped us off, and the NCAA has yet to bring down the hand of god on them. They are about to be SMU, and I think they are very happy with that compromise.

Put me in the camp of wanting 12 teams and favoring Louisville/ND to Florida State/Clemson.

I hear you, this could be support for 16 teams. If you get a big enough conference, it is like having two conferences of 8 teams. And then in the sports like baseball, tennis, softball, soccer, you just play your regional partners regularly and the schools further away sparingly.