Conference set up. Why we need to stay SunBelt or at least a small conference

[spacemonkey]

College football is making a mistake. These 16 team conferences have to be hurting with teams caring. Just from math...You should win a 16 team conference championship less than an 8 team conference championship. Most ACC teams are out of the conference race by week 3.

We are much better to win an 8 team conference championship most years than to finish 5th in a 16 team conference.

The NFL has it right. Most teams still have a shot late in the season in the NFL. College football is going to have to go to 10 conferences with auto bids and 6 at large. Or even better 24 team playoffs. (small conferences - 8 Teams) Conference champs of the p5 would get byes the first week and most second place teams of the P5 would get byes.

UNC, NCSTATE, WAKE and Duke fans mostly are done with Football already.

Look at Texas A&M...They have a "HELL of a good team" they are barely being mentioned. They have a very small chance of making the playoffs because of the system. There would be so much excitement from their fan base that they could get another shot at Alabama in the playoffs and their games would mater to make sure they make the playoffs to get another shot. Right now they control nothing.

Really bad system...surely some of these p5 teams see it.

Odds of Texas A&M of winning championship is 50-1. This has nothing to do with being able to beat the top 4 teams...It is all about the system is stacked against them where they are now.

[EastHallApp]

Texas A&M lost by 28 to Bama, so yes, I’d say their long shot odds actually have quite a bit to do with ability to beat the top teams.

[appdaze]

Money and who has the money is all that matters. College football is no different than our politics, our economic structure, and our social structure. The way it is run is just a (at least partial) reflection of our society.

NC state as an example has a treasure trove more than us simply by being a middle of the way football team in the ACC. They also have a clearer shot at a title than we do. We could win our conference, go undefeated, and still not get a shot. If they win their conference, go undefeated, they are in the playoff even if they were 4-8 the previous season. The money and the path are the biggest differences and why it matters to be in a P5 conference regardless of there being 12-16 teams.

[AppStFan1]

College football is making a mistake. These 16 team conferences have to be hurting with teams caring. Just from math...You should win a 16 team conference championship less than an 8 team conference championship. Most ACC teams are out of the conference race by week 3.

We are much better to win an 8 team conference championship most years than to finish 5th in a 16 team conference.

The NFL has it right. Most teams still have a shot late in the season in the NFL. College football is going to have to go to 10 conferences with auto bids and 6 at large. Or even better 24 team playoffs. (small conferences - 8 Teams) Conference champs of the p5 would get byes the first week and most second place teams of the P5 would get byes.

UNC, NCSTATE, WAKE and Duke fans mostly are done with Football already.

Look at Texas A&M...They have a "HELL of a good team" they are barely being mentioned. They have a very small chance of making the playoffs because of the system. There would be so much excitement from their fan base that they could get another shot at Alabama in the playoffs and their games would mater to make sure they make the playoffs to get another shot. Right now they control nothing.

Really bad system...surely some of these p5 teams see it.

Odds of Texas A&M of winning championship is 50-1. This has nothing to do with being able to beat the top 4 teams...It is all about the system is stacked against them where they are now.

16 or 24 teams is way too much because it would diminish the regular season. Everyone in FBS should have a shot when the season starts but the season should mean something. You should not be able to lose 3 or 4 games and still get in. You should have to win a conference or be an elite team who had just 1 mishap, 2 at most.

The smart way would be to enforce the current FBS minimums and even raise them a little to push many teams back down where they belong. Then they could have 8 FBS leagues so you can have 8 auto-bids or 8 plus 2 at-large bids. If you want 9-team leagues then I think you have to send a bunch of teams packing. If we keep 130 teams then you would need like 14 conferences. FCS and D2 are way too watered down and I don't want FBS to be that way. If it meant us being pushed down to second tier to have a real shot at a national title I would say do it. I am happier now than before but if you want to truly give everyone a chance who belongs then got to have auto-bids but there is no way MAC, SBC, CUSA, etc deserve an auto-bid now because then you could have a 3-4 loss G5 team in the playoff.

[MtnMan14]

College football is making a mistake. These 16 team conferences have to be hurting with teams caring. Just from math...You should win a 16 team conference championship less than an 8 team conference championship. Most ACC teams are out of the conference race by week 3.

We are much better to win an 8 team conference championship most years than to finish 5th in a 16 team conference.

The NFL has it right. Most teams still have a shot late in the season in the NFL. College football is going to have to go to 10 conferences with auto bids and 6 at large. Or even better 24 team playoffs. (small conferences - 8 Teams) Conference champs of the p5 would get byes the first week and most second place teams of the P5 would get byes.

UNC, NCSTATE, WAKE and Duke fans mostly are done with Football already.

Look at Texas A&M...They have a "HELL of a good team" they are barely being mentioned. They have a very small chance of making the playoffs because of the system. There would be so much excitement from their fan base that they could get another shot at Alabama in the playoffs and their games would mater to make sure they make the playoffs to get another shot. Right now they control nothing.

Really bad system...surely some of these p5 teams see it.

Odds of Texas A&M of winning championship is 50-1. This has nothing to do with being able to beat the top 4 teams...It is all about the system is stacked against them where they are now.

16 or 24 teams is way too much because it would diminish the regular season. Everyone in FBS should have a shot when the season starts but the season should mean something. You should not be able to lose 3 or 4 games and still get in. You should have to win a conference or be an elite team who had just 1 mishap, 2 at most.

The smart way would be to enforce the current FBS minimums and even raise them a little to push many teams back down where they belong. Then they could have 8 FBS leagues so you can have 8 auto-bids or 8 plus 2 at-large bids. If you want 9-team leagues then I think you have to send a bunch of teams packing. If we keep 130 teams then you would need like 14 conferences. FCS and D2 are way too watered down and I don't want FBS to be that way. If it meant us being pushed down to second tier to have a real shot at a national title I would say do it. I am happier now than before but if you want to truly give everyone a chance who belongs then got to have auto-bids but there is no way MAC, SBC, CUSA, etc deserve an auto-bid now because then you could have a 3-4 loss G5 team in the playoff.

I think the reason they would never give every conference an auto bid is because then players would consider smaller schools if they knew there was a path to the playoff. Right now all of those top tier players are only going to go to the few schools that they know they have a shot to make a national title. Distribution of talent means distribution of wealth a little bit more and those big guys aren’t going to like that. If the NCAA tried to set up a playoff structure for the FBS the P5 would just say forget you guys and break away and start their own league. The current playoff is all about keeping the money happy. They don’t care about fairness unfortunately.

[spacemonkey]

Money and who has the money is all that matters. College football is no different than our politics, our economic structure, and our social structure. The way it is run is just a (at least partial) reflection of our society.

NC state as an example has a treasure trove more than us simply by being a middle of the way football team in the ACC. They also have a clearer shot at a title than we do. We could win our conference, go undefeated, and still not get a shot. If they win their conference, go undefeated, they are in the playoff even if they were 4-8 the previous season. The money and the path are the biggest differences and why it matters to be in a P5 conference regardless of there being 12-16 teams.

NFC east is still interesting with 3- 6 records.

NC State is out and Texas A& M would be a touchdown dog at most if they played again in the playoffs. Clemson still has a chance because their quarterback was out. Eye test. It is ridiculous. I cannot imagine why the other schools are going along with it. If the ACC was the original ACC 8 teams it would be great games that mattered for three fourths of the years and all the talent wouldn't head to 8 schools.

[bigdaddyg]

To me 8 team conferences are the best. Either go back to 11 games with 7 conference games and 4 non-conference with no conference championship games at all. What is the point in an undefeated Clemson playing a 3 or 4 loss team from the other division? Don’t penalize a team for playing tough out of conference games. People don’t want to see Alabama v Western Carolina. Go ahead and rank for the playoffs but give the top 4 a bye. Assuming those 4 are P5 champions pick the next 8 and let them play at the home of the highest seed. Winners play the bye teams in the top 4 bowls and the losers play each other in New Years games. And I agree, relegate a bunch of schools to FCS.

[appdaze]

Money and who has the money is all that matters. College football is no different than our politics, our economic structure, and our social structure. The way it is run is just a (at least partial) reflection of our society.

NC state as an example has a treasure trove more than us simply by being a middle of the way football team in the ACC. They also have a clearer shot at a title than we do. We could win our conference, go undefeated, and still not get a shot. If they win their conference, go undefeated, they are in the playoff even if they were 4-8 the previous season. The money and the path are the biggest differences and why it matters to be in a P5 conference regardless of there being 12-16 teams.

NFC east is still interesting with 3- 6 records.

NC State is out and Texas A& M would be a touchdown dog at most if they played again in the playoffs. Clemson still has a chance because their quarterback was out. Eye test. It is ridiculous. I cannot imagine why the other schools are going along with it. If the ACC was the original ACC 8 teams it would be great games that mattered for three fourths of the years and all the talent wouldn't head to 8 schools.

[Bootsy]

Seriously, if Clemson wasn't in the ACC, would anyone see that conference as a true P5?

Post-Beamer VT isn't great and Fuentes has a lot of work left to do. UNC looks strong until they play against Clemson or "real" P5 talent (example: back when UNC was Top 10, had players like Dre Bly, looked unbeatable, then they played the U and got punched in the face?). Florida State? I am NOT going there.

Dare I say the vast majority of ACC football squads are eminently forgettable?

My point is the what we've known all along: basketball is king in the he ACC. Except for the Tigers, the ACC is borderline G5 caliber football masquerading as a P5 conference.

[appdaze]

Yes the ACC would still be a P5. On a year by year basis they still beat 90% of the G5 teams even with their middle of the way teams. Middle of the pack NC state beat undefeated g5 liberty and could have beat them by more but you know, they are the cardiac pack.

Real P5 talent doesn't just mean top 10 teams like clemson. Those middle of the way teams recruit players on the regular that we celebrate when we manage to snag one. The acc may have unforgettable teams but the G5 might as well be in its own lower league if we are going to compare on a historical scale and not just isolated games.



This has a comparison of all the g5 vs p5 wins and losses as of 2018. Notice the incredible lopsidedness of this. The sunbelt as done well this year but sustainability is always the issue with g5 programs being at the top.

[spacemonkey]

It is sad that we can't have this.

ECU
UNCC
Georgia Southern
Georgia State
ODU
JMU
AppState
Coastal

Home and away basketball

All Drivable - This conference would sell a lot of tickets.

[spacemonkey]

Bump

We got darn close to the lineup above with the Sunbelt east division.

[Bootsy]

The P5's can crow all they want about going their own way on football and giving the NCAA the finger.

Keep in mind the NCAA still controls college basketball, March Madness and the mountains of cash that go along with it.

So where football's concerned, I don't see the P5 conferences shagging a$$ anytime soon.