Thoughts on the Super Conference:
1. Current league commissioners will hate it.
2. Complete decimation of historic leagues.
3. Deterioriation of historic rivalries as demand increases for "super matchups."
4. Fewer upsets as teams will schedule games against roster equivalents.
5. Dissatisfaction among fan bases as teams that were formerly 10-2 on a regular basis are now 6-6.
6. Will fundamentally replace the NCAA.
7. Will involve between 40 and 70 schools. if it's 40, Wake Forest is in, but Stanford and Cal will be out -- same with UCLA and Nebraska. If it's 70, Stanford and Cal are in. If it's 40, it's a true haves vs. have nots, and only the recent top performers will be invited. The most interesting element is that if there is a 40 team super league, then there will be a mid-tier league involving schools not quite strong enough for the Top 40...UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Nebraska, Vandy,
8. There will be a way for the other 64 schools to compete their way to the top. Will be very difficult, 1-4 schools will break through each year.
9. Will that result in an American college football form of relegation? Maybe.
10. Entrance standards will go completely out the window.
11. Academic standards will be greatly reduced and may, at some point, be eliminated altogether as the teams become fully professional. No matter what, less time in the classroom. There will be a future class-action lawsuit as the 95% of NIL-paid “student”-athletes who don’t make it to the NFL sue, claiming (a) that they didn’t have sufficient time to study and had to spend too much time preparing for a career that never materialized. They were misled, you see.
12. Fifth year of eligibility will be added, as will sixth year to complete the five years.
13. I don't know that there's all that much more untapped money in the TV market. ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS have deals with the conferences, including the Big Ten’s deal (through 2029-30), the Big 12’s deal (through 2030-31), SEC’s exclusive deal with ESPN runs through 2033-34), ACC deal is through 2036. Superconference deal will start between 2030 and 2036, depending on conference arrangements.
14. Universities will participate in the deals and profits, top universities will get more.
15. Future litigation (NIL, CTE, other health, antitrust) is going to be lucrative for the law firms and will have a major effect on the business rules and structures of the new conference. One or more conferences might go bankrupt because of the litigation.
16. Schools will directly pay players.
17. There will be a robust playoff, likely eight to sixteen teams.
18. There will be regional divisions to maintain rivalries, so USC and UCLA will be back.
19. I don't think the SEC and Big Ten leadership really want a super league. Right now, they're the two super leagues. Why give up all that power? A super league might demand top quality opponents every week and an alarming lack of body bag games. The SEC and Big Ten might combine to form their own Super Conference. Why share with a bunch of undeserving teams?
20. Move to a 14 game regular season schedule.
21. New Super League conference motto: “Greed is Good.”
22. brobdingnagian injection of money from private capital, ostensibly chasing more viewers.
23. A facilities/nutrition/coaching/fitness arms race that dwarfs the current facilities/nutrition/coaching/fitness arms race.
24. Congress will intervene to regulate.
HAVES:
![[Image: Power-12-Conference-3.jpg]](https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/10/17011607/Power-12-Conference-3.jpg)
HAVE NOTS:
![[Image: Untitled-design-5.jpg]](https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2024/10/17011036/Untitled-design-5.jpg)
1. Current league commissioners will hate it.
2. Complete decimation of historic leagues.
3. Deterioriation of historic rivalries as demand increases for "super matchups."
4. Fewer upsets as teams will schedule games against roster equivalents.
5. Dissatisfaction among fan bases as teams that were formerly 10-2 on a regular basis are now 6-6.
6. Will fundamentally replace the NCAA.
7. Will involve between 40 and 70 schools. if it's 40, Wake Forest is in, but Stanford and Cal will be out -- same with UCLA and Nebraska. If it's 70, Stanford and Cal are in. If it's 40, it's a true haves vs. have nots, and only the recent top performers will be invited. The most interesting element is that if there is a 40 team super league, then there will be a mid-tier league involving schools not quite strong enough for the Top 40...UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Nebraska, Vandy,
8. There will be a way for the other 64 schools to compete their way to the top. Will be very difficult, 1-4 schools will break through each year.
9. Will that result in an American college football form of relegation? Maybe.
10. Entrance standards will go completely out the window.
11. Academic standards will be greatly reduced and may, at some point, be eliminated altogether as the teams become fully professional. No matter what, less time in the classroom. There will be a future class-action lawsuit as the 95% of NIL-paid “student”-athletes who don’t make it to the NFL sue, claiming (a) that they didn’t have sufficient time to study and had to spend too much time preparing for a career that never materialized. They were misled, you see.
12. Fifth year of eligibility will be added, as will sixth year to complete the five years.
13. I don't know that there's all that much more untapped money in the TV market. ESPN/ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS have deals with the conferences, including the Big Ten’s deal (through 2029-30), the Big 12’s deal (through 2030-31), SEC’s exclusive deal with ESPN runs through 2033-34), ACC deal is through 2036. Superconference deal will start between 2030 and 2036, depending on conference arrangements.
14. Universities will participate in the deals and profits, top universities will get more.
15. Future litigation (NIL, CTE, other health, antitrust) is going to be lucrative for the law firms and will have a major effect on the business rules and structures of the new conference. One or more conferences might go bankrupt because of the litigation.
16. Schools will directly pay players.
17. There will be a robust playoff, likely eight to sixteen teams.
18. There will be regional divisions to maintain rivalries, so USC and UCLA will be back.
19. I don't think the SEC and Big Ten leadership really want a super league. Right now, they're the two super leagues. Why give up all that power? A super league might demand top quality opponents every week and an alarming lack of body bag games. The SEC and Big Ten might combine to form their own Super Conference. Why share with a bunch of undeserving teams?
20. Move to a 14 game regular season schedule.
21. New Super League conference motto: “Greed is Good.”
22. brobdingnagian injection of money from private capital, ostensibly chasing more viewers.
23. A facilities/nutrition/coaching/fitness arms race that dwarfs the current facilities/nutrition/coaching/fitness arms race.
24. Congress will intervene to regulate.
HAVES:
HAVE NOTS:
Audaces fortuna iuvat