02-07-2012, 03:03 PM
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#6 (permalink)
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Freshman
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Columbia, MO
Posts: 327
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Re: Big Ten Ready for playoff
(Sorry in advance for the long post. If too long for you, don't read)
I do not believe Delaney (or anyone else in the B1G office) are seriously considering this. First, Delaney has made it no mystery that his number one criteria is protecting the Rose Bowl tradition. He outright rejected the notion of a playoff not that far in the distant past for this reason.
And I just don't see how they can, as a practical matter, protect the Rose Bowl if they were serious about this. If Delaney were contemplating a world where a Big Ten team plays (at least more often than not would be the hope I assume) in the "Final Four", how can the Rose Bowl be protected? Delaney's idea would mean that, more often than not, the B1G champion would NOT play in the Rose Bowl. He would not be seriously proposing this idea unless he were confident a B1G team would be playing in the "Final Four" more often than not, otherwise the playoff would make no sense financially or otherwise for his conference.
I believe Delaney has made this announcement for the purpose of, again, shaking up the College Football world, like he did when announcing the B1G was considering expansion. Suddenly everyone in the county felt the earth shake and schools started jumping off of their ships onto other ships, etc., schools like Mizzou started drooling, etc. In the end all the B1G did was add Nebraska, which it could have done without all of the hoop-l, and done decades ago if had wanted to. But in the process he weakened a competitor in the Big 12, further solidified the BTN, and proved the power of the B1G in the face of disparaging comments from the media about its football strength. He is shaking up the College football world again to again increase the B1G's foothold, and by implication, its stake in the money game.
Why think this? Because Delaney would never sacrifice or put in jeopardy the B1G's relationship with the Rose Bowl people. By announcing that the B1G would consider a playoff, he would know the Rose people would be extremely put-off. A playoff would relegate the Rose to the fourth most important bowl game, whereas now, according to tv dollars, it is still the second most important game in the nation behind the NC game. He would not be saying these things unless he already had an "understanding" with the Rose people that The Rose Bowl Game will be protected. What is his motivation? Hard to say. Making people think, at least for a while, that the B1G is more cutting edge than people thought? Using it as a vehicle to say, in a few months, after all examining things, we have OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED that a playoff is a bad idea, to placate all of the playoff supporters? I don't know, I just know he wouldn't jeopardize the Rose Bowl. Too much value there.
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