It would be better for everyone if the SEC and Big Ten laid their cards on the table and took whatever spoils they want from college sports in one fell swoop as opposed to the craven way they’re going to spend the next decade rigging the game while pretending what they’re doing isn’t a choice.
We see what you’re doing, Greg Sankey. You’re not fooling anyone, Tony Pettiti.
So just get on with it, guys, and stop trying to sell college football fans another jalopy disguised as a Rolls Royce.
That’s exactly what this new 14-team College Football Playoff trial balloon is. It’s a lemon. It’s a dud. It’s a disgrace.
And it’s a preview of exactly where the SEC and Big Ten want to take college sports: Into a world where they do what they want and they get what they want, with the inclusion of anyone else serving only as a veneer of protection from the next cluster bomb of antitrust claims.
What is being sold as a compromise — a 14-team playoff with three automatic bids for the SEC and Big Ten, two for the ACC and Big 12 and one for the top team from the lesser conferences — is in reality the most heavy-handed money grab yet from the Power Two.
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy and head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrate after defeating Washington in the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship game at NRG Stadium.
Locking in six of the 14 playoff spots every year without even playing a game is just the beginning. You can be sure the SEC and Big Ten will argue for at least two and sometimes all three of the at-large spots as well because recent expansion has made their leagues too big and powerful to be judged against the peons.
Welcome to the SEC/Big Ten invitational: A deck stacked so high that they’ve literally created a caste system in college sports. Regardless of merit or accomplishment, the SEC…
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