Pitt and Syracuse's defection to the ACC has sent shockwaves throughout the NCAA world. My belief is that these two teams have led the charge for a playoff system in college football. But first let's start with what this means for Pitt directly.
I've defended the quality of the Big East for years now. Heck, I'm still convinced that the current Big East is better than the ACC as a basketball conference and as a football conference. However, Pitt's move to join the ACC was the right move for their program for now and for the long run.
From a football standpoint, Pitt's position on the national radar vastly improves. Whether you're like me and believe the Big East is underrated or not, it is abundantly clear that the nation does not respect the conference and you better believe it's tough for coaches to recruit stars to these schools. The quality of player that Pitt can attract has already improved as of Sunday.
The writing was on the wall for the Big East as a football conference. Had all of the teams held firm, the Big East would have only sat back and watched as the ACC, Pac 12, SEC, and Big Ten absorbed all of the top schools from the Big 12 and Mountain West conferences. The Big East would have added a few teams, but in reality the biggest additions they could have made were Kansas and Kansas State. They could have scrounged up a few more stragglers, maybe an Iowa State, and added non BCS schools like Central Florida, Buffalo, or Marshall, but was that really the conference Pitt would have wanted to be a part of? The ACC may yet lose a school or two, but that got a lot less likely when Pitt and Syracuse joined.
Expansion opportunities exist in the ACC. When the Big 12 implodes, most will run to the Pac 12 or SEC. One or two may head to the Big Ten. But the entire Big East will be up for grabs and there are some talented teams there. If the ACC can entice West Virginia and South Florida those would be major additions.
Even though all the new look ACC may become is an ACC/Big East hybrid and probably be the worst of the four remaining major conferences, Pitt really didn't have another option. Had they waited, the Big East would have expanded into a larger conference with a larger disparity between them and the other four major conferences. And if the ACC and Big Ten had already filled their quota on teams Pitt would have been left out of the BCS picture. Plus West Virginia is going to leave for greener pastures soon enough and what's left after that?
It's hard to predict what will happen, but it's not hard to see that big things are coming.
From a basketball standpoint, the Big East was the best conference yesterday. Today the ACC is. Remember, the Big East as we know it is dead. It won't survive as is and everyone will disperse to their new conferences soon anyway. Connecticut will be in the ACC. West Virginia will likely join the SEC, but maybe the ACC. Louisville is a prime candidate for the SEC. Villanova will probably find refuge in the ACC especially since they have no football affiliation and they would want to stay in the top basketball conference. The ACC is only going to get better so there is far less to fear in basketball than in football.
Jamie Dixon loved the Big East and kind of hinted walking away from Pitt if they ever left. Well, fear not Pitt fans, I can't see that happening. Once the other top schools in the conference stray, the ACC will be the best basketball school and Dixon will recognize this. I understand why he was so committed. I, myself, am even still a little upset about the whole idea. But Dixon will warm up to this proposition soon enough, especially in the first conference battles between Pitt and North Carolina/Duke.
So here's what I propose will happen to the landscape of college football:
- It will become a four major conference sport. The smaller conferences may continue to exist, but the BCS schools will be from the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, and Pac 12 (some of them may be renamed by then).
- This will allow for a playoff system that will continue the utilization of the bowl system. The conferences will be able to play their own "mini seasons" and the winners from each conference will go to a BCS bowl (i.e. SEC champ to the Sugar, Pac 12 to the Rose, etc.) These four teams will be seeded and four at large teams will play the four champions. And a playoff will continue from there. The platform is a rough guess, but I don't see much other option.
- The conferences will be so stacked that it will be impossible to say that one deserves a national title shot over another. How can one say that a conference championship over teams like Ohio State, Michigan State, and Wisconsin is better or worse than a conference win over Alabama and LSU? You couldn't and there's too much money riding on those games (and that's really what this is all about isn't it?).
- Players will be paid. Colleges and TV networks will make more than ever leading to players finally getting paid to play the sport. Whether you agree or disagree is for another argument.
Obviously most of this is pure speculation, but that's what we've become accustomed to when talking about college football. Hopefully this gets settled sooner rather than later so we can all get back to just enjoying the game on the field.
And as always, here's some reading material to get you even more informed about the topic:
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I hated to see the massive defection from the Big East, primarily because I agree that the conference is underrated, kind of the opposite of the ACC they are going to, that has gotten by on the reputation of the formerly great Miami and Florida State to hold onto their formidable reputation. The positive side to all this though is that, as the conferences merge into what we believe to be four massive conferences when all is said and done, we will have the closest thing to a BCS playoff that will ever happen. Small victory on an otherwise sad event in my opinion.
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