2026 - 14 team playoff
- Thread starter Chitown11
- Start date
12 is silly. 14 is silly. 16 is silly
It should be no more than 8 teams. They ruined the best regular season in all of sports
It should be no more than 8 teams. They ruined the best regular season in all of sports
No shit sherlock. I know its about the money. Why 14? At this point go to 16 teams and NO byes
Notre Dame could go 10-2 and easily make the playoffs; maybe even 9-3 depending on our schedule
so anyone still bleating about needing to be in a conference can go suck an egg
so anyone still bleating about needing to be in a conference can go suck an egg
The expansions of the playoffs makes the need for any team to be in a conference moot
I think from an on the field perspective this is true. But the inequitable financial piece of this means IU, Nw, and Purdue get $23M and we get $18M if we make the playoff. Those teams also get $90M from Fox and we get $50M from NBC. At some point earning $40-50M less despite doing more matters. Add that to the discussion of 8 of the 14 teams necessarily coming from the Big 2, and FSU, NC and Va joining them, and we may start to feel like the frog in the pot. But agree we are better off than anyone not in those conferences, can still compete on mostly even playing field, and no room to panic. I think a changing world requires change, the best deals are made from a position of strength, and I don't hate the idea of a conference like many do, but I do resent the fact that a jealous world is trying to force us to assimilate.
I think it is fair to say money is less important to ND, and values are more important at ND, then most (almost all) places. But of course money is an issue--otherwise they would not negotiate a contract with NBC. Read Jack's third factor that could lead to conference affiliation.
i paid roughly 60k a year in tuition and room/board, so they certainly cared about my money 😅
If the Notre Dame administration made decisions based solely on money, the football team would have been playing full time in the Big 10 a long time ago.
Glad you agree with me, the AD, and just about every body else that ND does not make decisions based solely on money.. Nice work. If you want to see if you can name the color of the moon later I will make sure you get a thumbs up!
Related to football decisions, it also does not hurt when your university sits squarely on an endowment worth 20-billion.......
Not when those conference teams decide they really don't need to schedule Notre Dame as an out of conference game. And don't tell me they will due to money. They all make more money than ND at this point with their TV contracts and playoff payouts. Rutgers makes more than us. Why would any of those teams go out of their way to schedule us?
Correct. When we join the conference formerly known as the big ten, it won't be SOLELY about money.
Agree. And frankly, being aligned with Michigan and the rest of that group that universally despises Notre Dame is something I hope never happens.
I doubt this ever happens but if it does we will survey the landscape and either decide there are enough worthy opponents not in the SEC/BIG or we will inform both conferences which one we’ve chosen. For now we are fine - to some the world is a giant scary place but thankfully not to our AD and administration.
Works well in the NFL, and rewarding two standout teams, or four as it is now, is all well and good.
Our AD and administration have avoided the Big 10 for decades. "Leopards do not change their spots."
You are right that things change very slowly at ND but they do it occasionally change. There’s no looming crisis here.
BIG and SEC want the bye. to give their respective conference champions an advantage.
"changing slowly" is just another way of saying the leadership/vision is lacking at ND.
As long as ND has
1. The NBC contract (check)
2. Access to the playoff (check)
3. scheduling (check)
They won't be joining a conference. I don't believe any of the conferences will eliminate out of conference games. ND will always have the demand to play teams in the BIG, B12, SEC.
Let's be realistic, They play 5 in the ACC, USC, Navy, Stanford, and one G5 school. That leaves 3 games, one from each the BIG, B12, and SEC. This isn't difficult.
Notre Dame’s going to get $50 million from NBC, and also $17 million from the ACC. When you add the 12-18 million from the playoffs you get either $79 million if Notre Dame misses the playoffs, or $85 million when they make it. The B1G has an estimated payout of $96 million/year per team. It isn’t great news, but it’s not that bad either.
And yet ND has continued to graduate its players at the best rate in the nation, stayed independent, has a spot in the new playoff structure, and still has all the conferences trying to date them
That really sounds like a lack of vision…
In part. But the BIG10 & SEC both want their conference championship games to be meaningful. Those games provide another nice payday from ESPN & FOX.
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