BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 60,716
- Reaction score
- 15,959
- Points
- 113
per Yahoo:
Here’s a look at why those three topics will inevitably shape the next generation of college football.
When will the College Football Playoff expand?
It would be a stretch to call an expansion of the College Football Playoff inevitable, as there’s so much to change, unwind and restructure to move the playoff from four teams to eight, which is the most likely next iteration. There are player safety issues, scheduling issues and enough bowl contract reworking that the CFP may have to bring in Will Hunting as a consultant.
All that said, there’s momentum behind the scenes that something will happen, and there’s a chance it happens before the end of the 12-year contract. (We’re entering Year 6 of ESPN’s 12-year, $7.2 billion deal.) As one source said this week: “I think there’s more unified dialogue than people are led to believe publicly.”
Conversations with multiple sources around the sport indicated that it would be impossible logistically for the playoff to be expanded in the next two years. The sources indicated the earliest that significant change could occur in terms of adding teams to the playoff would be for the 2021 season.
“I’d put the emphasis on the complicated more than the momentum,” said a high ranking collegiate official. “Even if someone starts this in earnest, the complications are real.”
When will we see the next realignment wave?
Those crickets you hear are indicative of the realignment talk across the college sports landscape right now. One of the lessons learned from the last wave of realignment is that more isn’t always better.
One small window into that is the American Athletic Conference’s recent decision to sit tight after the departure of UConn. It’s instructive to how institutions are thinking, as adding schools and delivering more inventory won’t necessarily ignite television contracts as in the past rounds of realignment. (The theory of people watching Maryland playing Indiana on a far-flung television channel sounded great in a boardroom. But then someone actually had to watch it.) “The cable TV model drove the last round of realignment.” said another prominent athletic official. “That model is shifting in front of our face.”
In an era of cord cutters and subscription models and big-tech companies looming as the next potential bidders, the Big Ten adding Maryland and Rutgers for cable boxes looks antiquated. And the wave of blowout losses and negative headlines those schools have generated in football since joining the league doesn’t make the decision look any wiser.
The Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12 and ACC don’t appear likely to add schools anytime soon, perhaps because there aren’t many options that would move the needle. Good options like UCF and Houston face resistance from geographic neighbors who don’t want to empower them. “In a flattening revenue model, bringing another mouth to the table has to add value,” said a collegiate official.
What’s next in player compensation?
The compensation issue has long hovered over the sport, especially in the era of billion-dollar television contracts, $92 million head coaching contracts and facilities that would make the ancient Egyptians gawk at their opulence.
The NCAA announced in May that it’s studying allowing athletes to compensate off their name, image and likeness. The report on that is scheduled to arrive in October to the NCAA Board of Governors. Is this another committee formed to form an endless filibuster of committees? We’ll see.
For now, it will be interesting how new Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren addresses the topic at Big Ten media days here this week. (Don’t forget about the brutal optics of former commissioner Jim Delany walking away with a reported bonus of $20 million.)
Warren has a son who plays college football at Mississippi State, comes from an extensive NFL background and couldn’t possibly be more antiquated than Delany on these types of issues.
Will a new voice help shape one of the next generation’s defining issues? As the dollar amounts rise around the sport, so will the volume over this issue.
https://sports.yahoo.com/here-are-t...-looming-over-college-football-171023312.html
Go Gophers!!
Here’s a look at why those three topics will inevitably shape the next generation of college football.
When will the College Football Playoff expand?
It would be a stretch to call an expansion of the College Football Playoff inevitable, as there’s so much to change, unwind and restructure to move the playoff from four teams to eight, which is the most likely next iteration. There are player safety issues, scheduling issues and enough bowl contract reworking that the CFP may have to bring in Will Hunting as a consultant.
All that said, there’s momentum behind the scenes that something will happen, and there’s a chance it happens before the end of the 12-year contract. (We’re entering Year 6 of ESPN’s 12-year, $7.2 billion deal.) As one source said this week: “I think there’s more unified dialogue than people are led to believe publicly.”
Conversations with multiple sources around the sport indicated that it would be impossible logistically for the playoff to be expanded in the next two years. The sources indicated the earliest that significant change could occur in terms of adding teams to the playoff would be for the 2021 season.
“I’d put the emphasis on the complicated more than the momentum,” said a high ranking collegiate official. “Even if someone starts this in earnest, the complications are real.”
When will we see the next realignment wave?
Those crickets you hear are indicative of the realignment talk across the college sports landscape right now. One of the lessons learned from the last wave of realignment is that more isn’t always better.
One small window into that is the American Athletic Conference’s recent decision to sit tight after the departure of UConn. It’s instructive to how institutions are thinking, as adding schools and delivering more inventory won’t necessarily ignite television contracts as in the past rounds of realignment. (The theory of people watching Maryland playing Indiana on a far-flung television channel sounded great in a boardroom. But then someone actually had to watch it.) “The cable TV model drove the last round of realignment.” said another prominent athletic official. “That model is shifting in front of our face.”
In an era of cord cutters and subscription models and big-tech companies looming as the next potential bidders, the Big Ten adding Maryland and Rutgers for cable boxes looks antiquated. And the wave of blowout losses and negative headlines those schools have generated in football since joining the league doesn’t make the decision look any wiser.
The Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12 and ACC don’t appear likely to add schools anytime soon, perhaps because there aren’t many options that would move the needle. Good options like UCF and Houston face resistance from geographic neighbors who don’t want to empower them. “In a flattening revenue model, bringing another mouth to the table has to add value,” said a collegiate official.
What’s next in player compensation?
The compensation issue has long hovered over the sport, especially in the era of billion-dollar television contracts, $92 million head coaching contracts and facilities that would make the ancient Egyptians gawk at their opulence.
The NCAA announced in May that it’s studying allowing athletes to compensate off their name, image and likeness. The report on that is scheduled to arrive in October to the NCAA Board of Governors. Is this another committee formed to form an endless filibuster of committees? We’ll see.
For now, it will be interesting how new Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren addresses the topic at Big Ten media days here this week. (Don’t forget about the brutal optics of former commissioner Jim Delany walking away with a reported bonus of $20 million.)
Warren has a son who plays college football at Mississippi State, comes from an extensive NFL background and couldn’t possibly be more antiquated than Delany on these types of issues.
Will a new voice help shape one of the next generation’s defining issues? As the dollar amounts rise around the sport, so will the volume over this issue.
https://sports.yahoo.com/here-are-t...-looming-over-college-football-171023312.html
Go Gophers!!
