It's not likely, but if Aresco and B12 want to do more than survive, they need to get innovative. Lots of fans and pundits have been saying that CFB needs to move towards a European soccer format with relegation and delegation.
Lots of ways it could play out, but I think a conference with all the remaining B12, all the AAC, plus BYU, Army, and Air Force (22 total teams) could form a compelling system. Break it into an upper and lower division of 11 teams each. Each division operates largely as its own conference each season, with the upper division champion getting the P5 bowl bid and the lower division champion moving up to the upper division the following season. I'd also throw in a relegation game between the two bottom teams of the upper division - loser is relegated the following season. With that setup, you have essentially 3 championship games at seasons end, plus a lot of matchups later in the year that impact the relegation standings. And oh yeah, Army-Navy is now a conference game. That would seem to be about as compelling of a football tv package as one could put together without any of the perennial powerhouse programs.
Thinking past the immediate football impact, this conference would be poised to pick up any up-and-coming programs since there's a clear path to a meaningful postseason if you can win on the field. You would also have enough programming in non-football sports to put together a year-round dedicated cable channel for such a league.
Again, this is all super unlikely to happen, but it would be a lot of fun.
It's not likely, but if Aresco and B12 want to do more than survive, they need to get innovative. Lots of fans and pundits have been saying that CFB needs to move towards a European soccer format with relegation and delegation.
Lots of ways it could play out, but I think a conference with all the remaining B12, all the AAC, plus BYU, Army, and Air Force (22 total teams) could form a compelling system. Break it into an upper and lower division of 11 teams each. Each division operates largely as its own conference each season, with the upper division champion getting the P5 bowl bid and the lower division champion moving up to the upper division the following season. I'd also throw in a relegation game between the two bottom teams of the upper division - loser is relegated the following season. With that setup, you have essentially 3 championship games at seasons end, plus a lot of matchups later in the year that impact the relegation standings. And oh yeah, Army-Navy is now a conference game. That would seem to be about as compelling of a football tv package as one could put together without any of the perennial powerhouse programs.
Thinking past the immediate football impact, this conference would be poised to pick up any up-and-coming programs since there's a clear path to a meaningful postseason if you can win on the field. You would also have enough programming in non-football sports to put together a year-round dedicated cable channel for such a league.
Again, this is all super unlikely to happen, but it would be a lot of fun.