In the wake of the Pac-12 losing two of its strongest programs (UCLA, USC) to the Big Ten, the rest of the Pac-12 and the ACC need to pack it up and fold — with the remaining teams headed to the Big Ten, Big 12, and of course, the SEC.
Parity in college football doesn’t exist in the slightest. Having five Power Five conferences and four College Football Playoff spots sounds tricky enough, but then there’s the entire Group of Five conferences, who just had their first CFP entry this past December.
A just College Football playoff system would have four automatic bids to make what it takes to qualify for the postseason crystal clear. Three Power Five auto-bids and one Group of Five auto-bid–which would have to include an extra mini-playoff to decide the rightful owner of the fourth and final CFP spot–is the best way to make a four-team playoff work.
The ACC and Pac-12 must fold into the Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC
The Big 12 would not have made the cut a year ago. In fact, it looked like the conference was heading to a certain death given their lack of a TV deal and the departures of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. Now, though, they have added one of the 13 teams to ever make the CFP (Cincinnati) and a burgeoning powerhouse in the Sunshine State (UCF). Combined with Baylor, Oklahoma State, and BYU, the conference is now up and coming.
The Pac-12 is now bare bones, and could also lose Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten. Their existence is on life support unless schools like Fresno State, Boise State, and San Diego State make the immediate jump. The ACC, meanwhile, has three schools that would be glove fits in the SEC (Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech) that have built in feuds with current conference members (South Carolina, Florida). In the wake of that trio’s SEC admittance–and let’s throw UNC and Duke in there as well for basketball purposes, with NC State and Wake Forest also making sense geographically–schools in the north could join the Big Ten, and teams like Louisville and Virginia/Virginia Tech could explore a Big 12 addition to play West Virginia on the regular.
Just do away with the Pac-12 and ACC and make the College Football Playoff make some sense, NCAA.