P5 Breakaway?

[elimunelson]

Despite our collective perception of the NCAA, there is no way this would be a positive for SU.

Edit: At least on the football side, which is the real revenue driver.

or any northeast school. We just don't matter to modern college football and their aspirations. When i say "we" i mean Pitt, BC, Syracuse. Penn St is probably the outlier of the northeastern power schools who can sustain during this arms race ramp up.

I worry about the football of SU football alot. At some point the school will determine if the "juice is worth the squeeze" (pun very intended)

 

[721Comstock]

or any northeast school. We just don't matter to modern college football and their aspirations. When i say "we" i mean Pitt, BC, Syracuse. Penn St is probably the outlier of the northeastern power schools who can sustain during this arms race ramp up.

I worry about the football of SU football alot. At some point the school will determine if the "juice is worth the squeeze" (pun very intended)

SU Football is the reason we're in the ACC, and UConn is not.

It is ALWAYS worth the squeeze, since it's what pays the bills.
It's also what is drawing in the BIG donor $ (like that $25Mil for football-related stuff TBD).

Just in the ACC alone, I'd imagine that smaller school teams like GaTech, Wake, Duke, BC, Pitt, and NCSt are all in the similar state of "we're just not that great at Football consistently, but we're in a conference where it's mandatory to keep it going"

 

[sutomcat]

Tomcat I think March Madness could still survive nicely with fewer schools. What is there like 350 schools right now?

Maybe we reduce big time BB schools to 150...maybe as high at 200 teams. Here is the kicker. The lower level group of teams could qualify into the Power tourney as unknown spoilers. Set aside 4 slots and let them play the four current Power 16 seeds in play in games at the Power Tournament. (Classic David vs Goliath matches). Keep the tourney at 68 teams. TV should be happy with this.

The lower league could set up a 16 team tourney to determine the Willy Wonka Golden Ticket 4 teams...get tickets to the Big Dance. ESPN could cover the tourney. They can hoist a banner that they were a Final Four team and Champion in their division. They get lots of media attention as they advance to the tourney. Hickory High stuff...if one of them advances a round or two

You could even take it a step further and those four teams could re-meet two weeks later and play for a championship in their division on ESPN. I would expect all of them would be eliminated by the first weekend but you have the flexibility if they survive to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8.

Finally the NIT might be history...or it evolves into something different.

What I am saying is that I do not want a model where the P5 schools, or a subset of the P5 schools play a tournament at the end of the year and declare a national championship. I like having the champions of all the different leagues in the country participating in the tournament. It makes it a truly national competition where almost everyone has some skin in the game.

I like the NCAA tournament the way it is today, although I would be open to allowing everyone to participate, at all levels (like they do in Indiana for HS basketball), if it only meant cutting the regular season by 7-9 days.

 

[UpstateSM]

What I am saying is that I do not want a model where the P5 schools, or a subset of the P5 schools play a tournament at the end of the year and declare a national championship. I like having the champions of all the different leagues in the country participating in the tournament. It makes it a truly national competition where almost everyone has some skin in the game.

I like the NCAA tournament the way it is today, although I would be open to allowing everyone to participate, at all levels (like they do in Indiana for HS basketball), if it only meant cutting the regular season by 7-9 days.

The NCAA tournament is the closest to thing to perfection that we have in sports fandom I’m not willing to change it in any drastic manner.

In general, even though NCAA anarchists will scream about it all day, the system isn’t “broken.” Actually changing the NIL rules will be a huge step in the NCAA maintaining prominence. The way things are now is just fine and athletic departments from D1-D3 benefit in ways that keep them afloat. This likely isn’t the case if the P5 breaks off.

 

[JoeCollege]

I think 32 is way too small. You need to cover the country to generate national interest.

Go through the exercise of culling down to 32. You are going to have to leave a ton of really important programs off your list. You are going to have to ignore big areas of the country. I just don't see it.

32 is likely too small, but large swaths of the country will be ignored. No teams will make the cut representing Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island. Football programs from North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Connecticut, Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, (yes, I know K-State makes the bowl circuit some years) bring neither eyeballs nor tradition to the table. I can see a move to a 70ish team format. Maybe 75-80, but schools like Southern Mississsippi or Rice or Wyoming will be left behind with Uconn.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

Great to hear of another member of the faith in the Church of the Tri-Screen

I just hope you’re part of the 1-1-1 sect (middle screen larger, obviously) rather than those heathens that have 2 on one side

Honestly after years of being a 3 or 4 tv guy I watch games better with 2. One a little bigger closer to me.

So the third is antenna for CFB only and never gets used other times and is kinda out of the way. Or you focus on that and have the 2 mantle TVs on silent.

But yes middle screen 1-1-1 is the only way to set up.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

The NCAA tournament is the closest to thing to perfection that we have in sports fandom I’m not willing to change it in any drastic manner.

In general, even though NCAA anarchists will scream about it all day, the system isn’t “broken.” Actually changing the NIL rules will be a huge step in the NCAA maintaining prominence. The way things are now is just fine and athletic departments from D1-D3 benefit in ways that keep them afloat. This likely isn’t the case if the P5 breaks off.

Great post!

 

[Moontan]

Great to hear of another member of the faith in the Church of the Tri-Screen

I just hope you’re part of the 1-1-1 sect (middle screen larger, obviously) rather than those heathens that have 2 on one side

We always have at least 2 TVs going on the deck, usually 3 and sometimes 4.
Hoping that will happen again this fall.

 

[nzm136]

You were countering my point, but I agree with everything you said. The current system is not perfect, seeped in greed, and already structured by a class system strata.

This would do nothing to rectify the problems with the current way things are run ...in fact it only serves the bellies of the Power 5 (and a few others) and continues to break the system further.

I agree with another poster in this thread who said that eventually this will get paired down to 30 schools ...who will basically be a pro league that no other school can touch.
#1: Is that what we want Universities to do? Become a 2nd pro league? Is that the priority?
#2: Syracuse probably gets left out of that equation. Would you still be for it, then?
#3: If it's possible that Syracuse could eventually get pushed out of an elite league of schools, then why should any of us be for a group of 65-80 schools separating themselves now?

The other poster said it was a possibility, not that it would happen, or even that it would likely happen.

My guess is that SU survives whatever shakeup ends up happening (if one ever happens).

Speaking for myself, I want whatever is best for SU. If the money/publicity of being one of 64 football schools (most likely scenario in my eyes) would benefit SU, then I’m all for leaving Toledo, Wyoming, Liberty, and so on behind.

EDIT: I actually think 8 geographically, culturally, and historically coherent conferences of 8 schools each and an 8 team playoff would be incredible for the sport.

The numbers are almost perfect for it, too: ND + 14 ACC + 14 B1G + 14 SEC + 10 B12 + 12 Pac = 65, but will anyone on the planet miss Rutgers?