[Redrum]

Rick Scott needed 12 teams to keep up with the mega conference trend.  He failed-- in actuality it was doomed from the start-- in the Great Big 12 Team Robbery of 2010.  He had to do something while crafting the P10/12 network deal.  Colorado and Utah were just part of the Potemkin Village built to please the media gods floating by.

If the National Championship playoff system ever evolves to its full form, an individual school's strength of schedule record will become less and less important compared to the perceived conference strength of schedule.  Then, the tradition and competitive desire to play California school rivalry games every year might weaken.  I really don't care much about playing UCLA every year but can see why many would care.  I could bite my lip and put up with dropping Under Stanford Control out of the regular season schedule to every other year if it made us more likely to be a conference champ feeding into a playoff system.

[Miranda warning:  I'm not a big fan of a playoff.  I am OK with the bowl system, probably because I'm old, set in my ways and haven't been infected with the disease of having to know beyond a certainty of a doubt which team is #1.  That question is less important to me than the question of what's for dinner.  But, it's coming and we need to be part of the elite for as long as we can.]

[Redrum]

Rick Scott needed 12 teams to keep up with the mega conference trend.  He failed-- in actuality it was doomed from the start-- in the Great Big 12 Team Robbery of 2010.  He had to do something while crafting the P10/12 network deal.  Colorado and Utah were just part of the Potemkin Village built to please the media gods floating by.

If the National Championship playoff system ever evolves to its full form, an individual school's strength of schedule record will become less and less important compared to the perceived conference strength of schedule.  Then, the tradition and competitive desire to play California school rivalry games every year might weaken.  I really don't care much about playing UCLA every year but can see why many would care.  I could bite my lip and put up with dropping Under Stanford Control out of the regular season schedule to every other year if it made us more likely to be a conference champ feeding into a playoff system.

[Miranda warning:  I'm not a big fan of a playoff.  I am OK with the bowl system, probably because I'm old, set in my ways and haven't been infected with the disease of having to know beyond a certainty of a doubt which team is #1.  That question is less important to me than the question of what's for dinner.  But, it's coming and we need to be part of the elite for as long as we can.]