Around the Big Ten

[entropy]

I don't mind an alignment with the PAC. Much cleaner conference than the SEC, that is clear...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Hanni asked up thread if the P12/B1G agreement signals other things are up behind the scenes.

Doug and I have been discussing this very issue by phone and email. We both agree this agreement is purely about the money. Two areas where this thought plays. The B10 TV contracts expire in 2016. We speculate that Delaney will use the negotiating period before contract expiration to extract big increases in carriage rates from the cable and sat guys who carry the BTN (off-shoot .... expect you'll have a period of scrambling for televised games when the game of brinkmanship is played out).

Ultimately .... and this is way out in the early to mid 2020s .... both conferences will be able to ditch ESPN as a middle man for their respective conference networks having expanded their production capabilities sufficiently to go it on their own.

I heard Jack Aroot on radio speaking in different terms a few weeks before the announcement yesterday about the conference commissioners and U presidents acting collectively to make the money do the heavy lifting with regard to fashioning the future look of CFB (conference alignments, scheduling, play-offs, post season play/bowls, etc.). Right now there are too many stake holders with differing agendas to get anyone to agree on what CFB should look like going forward. It's like the old theory of whoever holds the most gold, has the most toys, or any other number of phrases for this, tells everyone else what to do. I think that the move by the B1G and P12 is an example of an effort to do just that ..... have the most gold. It is very forward thinking and typical of the way Delaney operates.

He's not trying to advantage the B1G. He's trying to shape the future of CFB where the B1G and by default the P12 will lead the way by virtue of their collective power to control who is in the driver's seat with TV contracts and bowl agreements/contracts. These two conferences will control the audiences (and therefore the biggest payouts for potential viewership) in most of the nation except the SE .... and one has to assume that the SEC and B12 will work to at least corner that market which, is not any where near as lucrative as what the B1G and P12 will have.

When you're doing that and are directing where the billions in TV and indirectly bowl revenues go, you call the shots on the architecture of CFB in the out-years (2016 and beyond). These guys want a play-off (and I think they ultimately do because of the revenue playoffs will generate), they'll get it.

[entropy]

Delaney has said nothing about wanting a playoff... If anything, he is shaping things to prevent one.

[Jamie H]

Delany is pretty much leading the charge AGAINST a playoff.

[Jeff Buchanan]

At this point, I think Delaney is representing the interests of the President's of the B1G membership .... the academics. As well, he understands this is not the right time to talk play-offs. The architecture isn't there right now to make it work and have the money fall in the right places. Also, as I said, too many stake holders with agendas they won't budge from. They'll have to be forced into things by circumstances they have no control over (i.e., let the money do the heavy lifting).

A play-off is a ways off. The stage is being set and when the timing and circumstances are right, Delaney will support one. The President's will fall into line because the money will be too good. The one thing I worry about in all of this is that the players generating all these bucks are not represented at the table. That needs to be changed.

[lineygoblue]

Delany will not do anything that hurts the Rose Bowl.

I see the possibility of a little more going on behind the scenes.

Everyone seems to be overlooking what Jerry Jones is doing in all this. Right now, he's content to swipe a few early season games (i.e. Mich v Alabama) and bring them to his 100K indoor stadium, and put on a "good show for the folks". But I guarantee, old Jerry has designs on the MNC game. And the B1G, the PAC 12 and the Rose Bowl know it.

This little "alliance" (IMO) is their effort to dilute anything that Jerry might try to put together when the current TV contracts expire. Jerry would love nothing more, than to have a newly-designed BCS playoff system, with the MNC game being played each year in his new cathedral. And, he's got the kind of money it would take to swing such a deal. His biggest problem is getting the conferences to go along with him.

Hence, you have the new "alliance" between the B1G and the PAC 12, who just happen to have the Rose Bowl in their pocket. If they don't like the "package" that Jerry Jones is going to foist on college football, they can say, "screw you, we're going to put our conference champions in the Rose Bowl, our runner ups in a bowl to be designated later, and our remaining members will be free to choose from the minor bowls as they please".

Jerry won't be able to put together a credible MNC/BCS package without the B1G and PAC 12, ... and they're going to insist that the Rose Bowl be included.

Just watch. This is going to get very interesting.

[hack]

A money-aside Opinion: play that other bowl in Soldier Field or Lambeau and don't relegate it to runner up status. Alternate with the Rose. It'll never happen but a champ should be able to win in cold and snow.

[entropy]

Chicago could support a bowl game. City is great to visit.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Not in January ...... I grew up there! Unless Lines sits on my left and Douglas on my right to shield me from the winter blasts of Lake Michigan.

Lines .... I like The Jerry's Palace theory. Could be spot on.

But it fits the overall objective of the B1G/PAC12 basically having enough weight to tell whom ever is offering this or that package thanks, but no thanks.

[entropy]

I went to school in Chicago. It would work. Game might be cold, but the city has a lot to offer.

[Jeff Buchanan]

..... then you will be seated in front of me with a battery pack space heater.

Make sure it operates for 4 hours or more.

[entropy]

Lol...

[entropy]

You need to be more optimistic about global warming. It is 50 in kc..

[WM Wolverine]

Snow makes for lousy quality of football and not very entertaining. People wont pay near as much to watch a game in Chicago, Detroit or Indy and people won't vacation for the week like they do for bowl games in Florida, California or Texas.

[whodean]

Nobody wants to play or attend a game in the tundra in January.