If there is a fundamental disconnect between how the three other power conferences see the future of the sport and how the SEC views it, does this ultimately end with the SEC taking its ball and creating its own league?
And if that happens, one has to assume that the SEC will attempt to go full nuclear and raid the ACC-B1G-P12 of its best programs. Sankey isn't dumb. As powerful as his league looks, if the SEC went out on it own (and let's be honest the SEC has no interest in taking the G5 and B12 scraps with them as part of a new league), it would basically resemble NASCAR. The SEC would have intense fan interest in 8-10 states, and be a non-entity anywhere else. College football remains intently regional, and I just don't see how non-SEC parts of the country would turn out to watch Georgia-Florida or Alabama-Oklahoma if it had no impact on their schools.
And maybe this is the ultimate objective of the remaining three conferences. Drive the SEC out of the sport, and return the sport to its roots -- a more regional-based regular season, where winning the conference matters, with a bowl system serving as the reward. The national title wouldn't be the be all, end all. For the vast majority of schools in the alliance, this probably appeals to them -- Illinois or BC or Arizona State aren't winning a title, so why not create a system where winning games and beating rivals is the main goal.
The ultimate question is for this model to succeed the best of the B1G-ACC-P12 have to stick together. If OSU, Clemson, Michigan (we'd be asked in a hearbeat), ND, SC bail, then the Alliance would be viewed as a minor league. If everyone sticks it out, then maybe we have two different versions of top-level college football, akin to soccer in Europe. Sure the SEC may pay more, but you'd be in an intensely regional league -- would that appeal to top players outside of the South? Kids from California go to the SEC in part because they have the best shot to win the playoff. But what if there are two different systems. Would the SEC basically become a college version of the NFL?
This is the ultimate leverage the Alliance has. Sure the SEC could break off, but without adding some top schools from outside the region, it will essentially have a ceiling on its interest.
And if that happens, one has to assume that the SEC will attempt to go full nuclear and raid the ACC-B1G-P12 of its best programs. Sankey isn't dumb. As powerful as his league looks, if the SEC went out on it own (and let's be honest the SEC has no interest in taking the G5 and B12 scraps with them as part of a new league), it would basically resemble NASCAR. The SEC would have intense fan interest in 8-10 states, and be a non-entity anywhere else. College football remains intently regional, and I just don't see how non-SEC parts of the country would turn out to watch Georgia-Florida or Alabama-Oklahoma if it had no impact on their schools.
And maybe this is the ultimate objective of the remaining three conferences. Drive the SEC out of the sport, and return the sport to its roots -- a more regional-based regular season, where winning the conference matters, with a bowl system serving as the reward. The national title wouldn't be the be all, end all. For the vast majority of schools in the alliance, this probably appeals to them -- Illinois or BC or Arizona State aren't winning a title, so why not create a system where winning games and beating rivals is the main goal.
The ultimate question is for this model to succeed the best of the B1G-ACC-P12 have to stick together. If OSU, Clemson, Michigan (we'd be asked in a hearbeat), ND, SC bail, then the Alliance would be viewed as a minor league. If everyone sticks it out, then maybe we have two different versions of top-level college football, akin to soccer in Europe. Sure the SEC may pay more, but you'd be in an intensely regional league -- would that appeal to top players outside of the South? Kids from California go to the SEC in part because they have the best shot to win the playoff. But what if there are two different systems. Would the SEC basically become a college version of the NFL?
This is the ultimate leverage the Alliance has. Sure the SEC could break off, but without adding some top schools from outside the region, it will essentially have a ceiling on its interest.
