The "blackjack 21" ACC - 7x3 model madness

stingstang · Aug 7, 2023

I'm lying awake last night and madness strikes. A 3-pod coastal conference, 7 teams per pod, with end-of-season tournament to determine the champion. Designed to get ND in as full member, taking advantage of the current situation with Cal and Stanford.

Help me workshop this and work out the bugs - it's still the offseason right?

"The National"	"The Traditions"	"The Beast"
(ND national schedule and classic rivals)	(The 7 oldest ACC members - 6 original + GT)	(traditional Big east rivals)
Notre Dame	Clemson	Virginia Tech
Stanford (football only member)	GT	West Virginia
Cal (football only member)	UNC	Louisville
Navy (at greatly reduced share)	Duke	Pitt/BC
Pitt/BC (let ND choose)	Wake	Syracuse
Miami	NCST	Louisville
Florida State	UVA	(new school, maybe Cincy or UCF)

Regular season:
- Play 6 in-pod games. Compete for pod title and tournament seeding.
Postseason:
- 8 team tournament with full losers bracket for conference championship: 3 pod champs + next 5 highest ranked are entered.
  - Winners and higher ranked teams play at home. More home games and revenue for winners = meritocracy.
  - Each team guaranteed 3 additional games for a 9 game schedule, and somehow guaranteed at least 4 home conference games.
  - Seeding takes into account avoiding rematch and getting inter-pod play.
- Next 8 teams play in the "bowl tournament", again with full losers bracket.
- Bottom 5 play a modified round robin with the goal of producing 6 win bowl eligible team(s). Better teams get seeded against weaker teams.

Advantages I see:

Looks incredible for Notre Dame. Does it move the needle enough?
Most traditional rivals accounted for. Great traditional early season scheduling. (UVA and VT may need to schedule an out-of-conference matchup if they want to keep playing).
Meritocracy - can earn more money by playing well. Clemson/FSU whoever can earn better money shares on the field. The conference champ gets 6(!) lucrative home conference games.
Positioning for the 12 team playoff against SEC/B1G/Big12:
1. Your champ is on a minimum 3 game win streak against the best conference competition in that year.
2. End-of-season tournament against good teams naturally improves strength of schedule and national interest for each game.
Everyone has something to play for.
1. Base conference payouts could be based on which tier you achieve on the field. Best payout for top 8. Mid payout for next 8. Lowest payout for bottom 5. Again, meritocracy.
2. Mid-level champ will also be on a minimum 3 game winning streak and can earn preference/access to a strong bowl. Mid-level champ also gets 6 home conference games!!
3. Even the dregs get favorable late season scheduling for reaching a bowl game.
In-season interest boost.
1. While other conferences are playing out the string, we have our best matchups the last 3 weeks of the season, and every games means something. The complexity and unicorn factor guarantees it will talked about, explained and explained, and will get serious airtime.
Inter-pod play randomized based on play results instead of unjust "permanent crossover" rivals. This guarantees great late season matchups, but does not guarantee any particular marquis inter-pod matchup.

Disadvantages:

Not sure if the math works to guarantee 9 conference games for everyone.
"Rivalry week" not supported. Might need to move traditional rivals to the front of schedule.
Early season chaos like cancellations due to hurricanes/lightning need to be dealt with, complicate seeding.
Fans don't know the whole season ticket package and schedule ahead of time. Last minute travel could get expensive for these late season road games that you can't plan for.
Teams don't know where they are headed during late-season, complicating travel/hotels/etc planning.
"The National" may be a little too stacked. Can be solved by putting FSU or Miami in "The Beast" and a new, lighterweight program in "The National". Possibilities: Cincy, USF, SMU, Wash St, Oregon St.

Whatsthegoodword · Aug 7, 2023