"It's very real." —@CFBHeather on the possibility of the SEC breaking away from the NCAA ✍️

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A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
What would this get them?

Just different rules?

What rules?
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Whatever the specifics are, you can be sure that they want more ways to exert control by throwing around money, to exclude certain schools with less money, and make sure the biggest entities get bigger and rule over all.

It's all about the money and tearing down the limits on how it can be spent to influence outcomes.
 




MonikerSchmoniker45 said:
Only a matter of time before CFB turns into a European soccer model.
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I've long said the first American sports league to adopt relegation will be massively rewarded. Can you imagine the interest in a Rutgers/Northwestern late November game with the loser moving down to an inferior level?

Or instead of NBA tanking they bring in a relegation system? Hard to do with stadium sizes of pro teams, but the interest level would be massive.

Go Gophers!!
 

I'm guessing this was always something they've been considering in recent years but it comes across as throwing a tantrum because they are no longer the top conference.

Look to their Media Days they just had. Sankey continues to spout his normal nonsense. Missouri coach Drinkwitz said it was easier for the Big Ten to win the NC the past 3 seasons because they are not required to play a nonconference game against a power conference. Which makes no sense as every BT team played 9 conference games, and many teams were playing 10 P4 opponents. Missouri, on the other hand, played 9 P4 opponents the past 3 seasons.
 



BleedGopher said:
I've long said the first American sports league to adopt relegation will be massively rewarded. Can you imagine the interest in a Rutgers/Northwestern late November game with the loser moving down to an inferior level?

Or instead of NBA tanking they bring in a relegation system? Hard to do with stadium sizes of pro teams, but the interest level would be massive.

Go Gophers!!
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As long as the games are fair, but think back to that Illinois/Mich game, like 2022, where that Mich WR blocked on 4th down before the pass was thrown but it wasn't called?

If you get relegated on something like that, I don't think the interest level would remain for very long.
 



The Big Ten is going to break way with them. Those are the two conferences getting hosed in the current legislation. Seems like it is almost a given at this point. The other conferences are playing with fire making B10 and SEC get in bed...
 



BleedGopher said:
I've long said the first American sports league to adopt relegation will be massively rewarded. Can you imagine the interest in a Rutgers/Northwestern late November game with the loser moving down to an inferior level?

Or instead of NBA tanking they bring in a relegation system? Hard to do with stadium sizes of pro teams, but the interest level would be massive.

Go Gophers!!
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Anyone that has followed the European soccer leagues knows that the term "tanking" doesn't exist. Some of the most intense and fun matchups of the entire season are at the end of the year involving teams near the bottom of their tables. The financial distress caused by potential relegation is one heck of a motivator.

Watching the B1G make them their little b*tch has the SEC scrambling for outs and I love every second of it.

"It just means more...to play with ourselves." - SEC
 


BleedGopher said:
I've long said the first American sports league to adopt relegation will be massively rewarded. Can you imagine the interest in a Rutgers/Northwestern late November game with the loser moving down to an inferior level?

Or instead of NBA tanking they bring in a relegation system? Hard to do with stadium sizes of pro teams, but the interest level would be massive.

Go Gophers!!
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none outside of the fanbases of rutgers and NW. Same as there's not increased interest to watch burnley or wolves when they're getting relegated. If it was someone big (like we saw with tottenham this year), people will hate watch it. ]

the problem with the US doing this is the geographic space between the teams and resultant mega stadiums. Travel costs are hugely problematic there given your catchment zone for fanbases plummets outside of your geographic home site. Add to it we have large stadiums and we don't restrict ticket purchasing (love this about EPL that there is a small away end and the rest of the stadium is your fans) and you'd see drops in revenue with the move and add the fear of dropping revenue precipitously if you missed out so that no ownership group would ever even consider it.
 

Of course the SEC and Kirby Smart are upset. He used to only have to compete with a few SEC coaches and Ohio State for the National Championship and coach of the year honors. Now that team talent is based on money instead of recruiting geography, he and his team are much less important. Kirby is going to look like a much more average coach in the coming years.

I'd much rather stay with the rest of FBS and let the SEC spin off. The SEC would be cutting off its nose to spite its face. The definition of that phrase is perfect in this instance, "Driven by anger or revenge (or desperation!!!!), you make a decision that ultimately hurts you more than the object of your frustration."

ESPN is going to pay them a lot less when only a quarter of the country even cares about their games. You think Prime and Netflix are going to waste time and money on you? It would also make it even easier for the B1G to just sweep in and pick up teams in Florida, Georgia Tech, Texas teams, Clemson, etc. Would they like to play in a national conference or a regional one?

A part of the reason the B1G hasn't expanded to the southeast is likely a gentleman's agreement that the SEC hasn't expanded north. It's best for both conferences to work together rather than compete. That's off the table when the SEC defects.

If the SEC defects, the B1G can just form it's own super conference by adding a few more teams. It will be a P1 and G7 or 8 NCAA.
 

I hope everyone freezes the SEC out, refuses to have a "winner of everyone vs the SEC" title game, and just pretends those clowns don't exist.

The south is and always will be America's poorest and worst region (typing this from Florida, in the only few square miles I would ever live in in the Southeast) and if you starve the SEC out of relevance it will have to fall back on its failed economies and failed everything else. Small TV deal for a regional entity representing America's poorest region. The average person in Alabama makes 40-50% less than the average Minnesotan.

College football is just about all it has to excel in (historically), and if nobody plays their little game...it Just Means Less.
 


I thought maybe i was out of the loop but it appears that in fact this idea of the SEC “breaking away” or “going it alone” …. Is a mystery to everyone and yet it keeps getting brought up like there’s something to the idea.

WTF
 


Do you guys not remember losing the last 2 in a row to NW? We have been pretty even with them over the last decade. They are not the bottom feeders you are projecting them to be. They are firmly mid, like us.
 


On the CFB pod that Ross Dellenger's joins, he explained that there are two different versions of an SEC breakaway that are being discussed and explored behind closed doors.

The more likely one he called a "governance breakaway", where the SEC would still play other teams but would govern itself and enforce its own rules.

Because the SEC would be just a single conference on its own in that scenario, the legal idea is that it would not have "market power" and therefore could not be sued by players on antitrust grounds.


If the Big Ten and SEC joined forced, on the other hand, it could likely be argued that the two combined do achieve "market power".

Not to mention the obvious likely conclusion that they could be sued for collusion.
 

I'm just tired of the whining. All those years the SEC was clearly the best conference. Now after a few years that isn't the case anymore, they just constantly complain.

Sarkasian talking about how if they don't play Ohio St last year, they get in the playoffs. But then ignores that they lost to 4-8 Florida and had to go to overtime to beat two teams (Kentucky & Miss St) that went 5-7 i the regular season.

Leave, I don't care.
 

GophersInIowa said:
I'm just tired of the whining. All those years the SEC was clearly the best conference. Now after a few years that isn't the case anymore, they just constantly complain.

Sarkasian talking about how if they don't play Ohio St last year, they get in the playoffs. But then ignores that they lost to 4-8 Florida and had to go to overtime to beat two teams (Kentucky & Miss St) that went 5-7 i the regular season.

Leave, I don't care.
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I only care to the extent if it means less dough for other Conferences/Big 10 specifically.

Also Championships in Football & Basketball would seem a bit more callow without SEC teams even competing.

Scottie Scheffler has been dominating the PGA Tour for about 5 years now. I wonder how it would have played out with the full roster of LIVers still aboard.

Can't we all get along?!?

Perhaps, no.
 

I think it is all talk right now to try to manage expectations. sec moves to nine conference games, so let's see what that does. It has dodged doing this until the playoffs expanded. It's going to be an interesting year in the sec. Would love to see the B1G start floating the idea of potentially going to 10 conference games.
 

TurfGopher said:
Do you guys not remember losing the last 2 in a row to NW? We have been pretty even with them over the last decade. They are not the bottom feeders you are projecting them to be. They are firmly mid, like us.
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i don't think anyone is saying that. more that the "relegation battle" would not be something much of anyone would care about (not to mention you'd have to change the schedule to make us all play H2H). No one would care outside of MN (and peripherally WI and IA) if the Gophers played NW to decide who was sent down. OSU, Mich, USC, Oregon, and PSU would probably generate some outside interest, but the rest no one will really care about being sent down
 



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