wayneliner

Sankey did SEC a disservice by not bring in more bidders to the media rights negotiation as the Big Ten is doing now. Basic sales rule NO 1 - always try to sell your product to multiple potential buyers. Don't get lock-in into one buyer.

The key question is though, which teams? If teams such as ND/North Carolina/Oregon etc are calling, then it means something. If it's JUCO schools, then there is really waste of time.

The B1G schools have bigger alumni fan base and those fan demographics are very desirable for advertisers. They are smart in working with multiple partners. I can understand why they rejected the original CFP expansion plan, in which ESPN would be the only bidder.

The Big Ten is always smart when dealing with media partners - you always want multiple networks to bid for the product. Rejecting the original 12 CFP is mainly to stop ESPN from being the ONLY network for the CFP content. The SEC leaders need to learn from the Big Ten academics.

There is a true reason why Sankey said SEC will stay put at 16, and Warren said the Big Ten will expand proactively. All of the remaining brand schools such as (North Carolina, Oregon, FSU, Miami, Clemson, and Washington, etc) will choose to join the Big Ten if both Big Ten and SEC invitations are offered. The Big Ten has the potential to be a true national conference, aka, the new NCAA, which just have a headquarter in Chicago.

The most valuable schools to the SEC are North Carolina, Notre Dame, and maybe (Virginia). But those 3 schools would choose to join the Big Ten if options are provided. Oregon and Washington would also choose the Big Ten over SEC. Adding Florida schools (Miami, FSU) and Clemson don’t really add that much value to the SEC. So it's not about Sankey saving the college football. It's about there is really no valuable next move for the SEC.

The most valuable schools to the SEC are North Carolina, Notre Dame, and maybe (Virginia). But those 3 schools would choose to join the Big Ten if options are provided. Oregon and Washington would also choose the Big Ten over SEC. Adding Florida schools (Miami, FSU) and Clemson don't really add that much value to the SEC. So it makes sense that SEC to stay put at the moment.

If Greg Sankey keeps saying SEC is fine staying at 4 in CFP, then people would assume SEC is also content with staying at 4. Why does Sankey keep whining about CFC expansion?

The student-athletes probably don't need expansion either, as there will only be 3 to 4 great teams per year to compete for the championship. People who support 12-teams-expansion don't really put student-athletes welfare as the top priority.

So Greg Sankey prefers 4 teams as well. That's a good news. All SEC championship game has low TV ratings, but it's not SEC's fault. The new NIL and transfer portal could help other conferences to recruit better players, so this all-SEC problem might go away, which is good to the whole industry.

This year's all SEC CFP championship game is a rat poison in TV ratings - an expanded 12 teams CFP will only bring more SEC teams that become a bigger rat poison in TV ratings. The true solution is other conferences need to step up their football level.

Too many blowouts in the past CFP semis, expanding CFP to more games just means forcing the student-athletes to play those unnecessary blowouts that could expose them to injuries and less time in class. The true problem is other conferences must step up to provide teams at Alabama level so we see great teams got left out - then we can talk about meaningful expansion of CFP.

The alliance offers many benefits, mainly game inventory and governance power. 41 teams would give you 820 team combination possibilities. A good example is Big Ten/ACC challenge in basketball. As a Big Ten fan, initially I didn't really pay attention. But 20 years later, it becomes a stable and a must see for fans from both conferences. Even two bad teams are competing, we still feel strong emotion. Two decades of rivalries brewing - and consider that college sports fans are hopelessly loyal to home teams, even football game like Rutgers VS Boston College would eventually grab attention from the midwest and the east coast after years of playing.

None of the Big Ten school will join the SEC, even the SEC is begging for them to join. None of the academically excellent schools from the Pac-12 and ACC will ever join the SEC. Because it's the university presidents' decision, not athletic directors nor TV network executives' decision.

Exactly, SEC doesn't need B1G/PAC/ACC. Those 3 conferences alliance schools occupy only about 85% of U.S. population, it's big enough market for the alliance to exploit and develop by playing among themselves. SEC could form an alliance with the leftover Big 12 + G5, and still make more money than B1G/PAC/ACC. What a plan!

Well, Greg Sankey thought he was smart by working in the CFP expansion team while talking with Texas/OU for more than a year, pretending to be unbiased. This kind of leadership & personality – dishonest and pretentious – would anger many people. If the B1G/ACC/Pac12 alliance turn out to be huge success for them, they all need to thank Sankey.

Well, Greg Sankey thought he was smart by working in the CFP expansion team while talking with Texas/OU for more than a year, pretending to be unbiased. This kind of leadership & personality - dishonest and pretentious - would anger many people. If the B1G/ACC/Pac12 alliance turn out to be huge success for them, they all need to thank Sankey.