College Sports (Football)
Sankey’s talking smack. Let’s talk facts and data:
1) ND is 9-6 vs SEC over the past 20 years (2-1 in 2025).
2) Season-end ranking of ND and Mizzou over the past 20 years says ND is the more consistently tough team.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Of course, but it's the same marginal chance we already had in the regular season under the old model, it's just shifting that same chance around.
Another way to think of it, the minimum number of games you'll have to win to win it all in this new system is 14. 9 to make it into the first round requiring 5 more, or potentially 10 to get the bye and need 4 more.
And at least 4 or so of those are going to be against the cream of the crop elite.
Between 1998 and 2013, the two-team era, we never needed more than 13, 12 would have done it in most cases, and it could have been done beating more like 2-3 elite teams.
Being a first round loser in the second week of December is not going to impart any kind of sense of being close to the mountaintop, I promise you.
It's exactly the same honor as being ranked, because exactly the same amount of teams get the honor.
Sankey was completely justified for taking the crack at him. Bret made his comment directly at the SEC. It was a verbal jab, which is perfectly fine. I don't think that anyone would argue against the fact that the SEC has ESPN pull. There's definitely a conflict of interest.
However, it's not a great look if Bret was going to fire shots against the conference to get out of a series against one of their teams. The jab back is fair.
That said, we all agree that a Home and Home with ND is far better for the overall health of the program.
Thanks for the reply. I don't think what and how much I view will change - other than I'll watch more football playoff games because they'll be more playoff games to watch.
It's going from 12 to 24 teams and the only thing that changed when it went from 0>4>12 was I watched more playoffs.
BTW, I watch bowl now of teams not in the playoff. It won't change for me at 24 teams.
Homecoming 2019
- Chicago
Not even mentioning how much more important this weeks game would be if there was a 24 team playoff this year.
The entire regular season holds more weight for us now.
Being at the playoff table with all the fan fare, media coverage, possibility of a home game under the lights in primetime for the right to move onto the sweet 16 of CFB, honestly I'm talking myself into the idea more and more as an Illini football fan
I just want to watch Illinois play in December.
I don't care if it's getting walloped in a first round loss at Tuscaloosa or winning in a blow out against Toledo in the "We Had To Give This Bowl To Someone" Bowl.
The concern about whether Bowls go away or not is valid, but I think it's more the smaller bowls. Going from 12 to 24 added 12 more teams not going to traditional bowls. That's 6 bowl games. I wouldn't be shocked if about 6 bowl games disappear.
My hunch is that going from 12 to 24 will not decrease the chance of Illinois playing in December. The same number of opportunities will exist for a team like Illinois. Win 6 games, you're playing in December. Win 8 or 9, you're playing in a better bowl (or maybe squeak into the CFP). Win 10, you're guaranteed the opportunity to compete for a championship.
None of these options sounds bad for Illinois. Win, you keep playing.
I don't care if it's getting walloped in a first round loss at Tuscaloosa or winning in a blow out against Toledo in the "We Had To Give This Bowl To Someone" Bowl.
The concern about whether Bowls go away or not is valid, but I think it's more the smaller bowls. Going from 12 to 24 added 12 more teams not going to traditional bowls. That's 6 bowl games. I wouldn't be shocked if about 6 bowl games disappear.
My hunch is that going from 12 to 24 will not decrease the chance of Illinois playing in December. The same number of opportunities will exist for a team like Illinois. Win 6 games, you're playing in December. Win 8 or 9, you're playing in a better bowl (or maybe squeak into the CFP). Win 10, you're guaranteed the opportunity to compete for a championship.
None of these options sounds bad for Illinois. Win, you keep playing.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Yeah, when you factor in what ESPN gets back for the conference championships ($140m), it’s only an extra $205m + FOX gets back $50m, so it’s a total net revenue gain of just $155m:
Of that new $345 million, ESPN will essentially be paying only $205 million, as the network is getting back $140 million annually from the cancellation of the SEC, Big 12 and ACC championship games that the network owns the television rights to broadcast. Sources told Thamel that Fox is expected to get back about $50 million annually for the cancellation of the Big Ten title game, which Fox owns the rights to televise.
RabidDawgClassic
- Los Angeles, CA
Curt Cignetti is frantically scouring the standings trying to determine which Power 4 team is the weakest.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
What a crock of sh*t. Announcers aren’t allowed to criticize officials anymore? Everyone in America could see with their own eyes that Manning threw a forward pass, yet the announcer is dead wrong? And isn’t allowed to speak about it?
This is the play the announcer later criticized:
The funny thing is, the SEC rules expert that was brought onto the broadcast thought it was a forward pass too.
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To me, the biggest loss in the headlong charge to the CFP becoming the only purpose to the season is the admission that football conference championships, and therefore conferences, no longer exist. Going to 18 teams with unbalanced scheduling and a somewhat random conference championship game qualification process lessend the conference championship dramatically. Now they kill it off completely.
In football, we will be part of the Big 10 Cooperative, not a conference as we have traditionally thought of it. I find this incredibly sad.
In football, we will be part of the Big 10 Cooperative, not a conference as we have traditionally thought of it. I find this incredibly sad.