Personally feel that this round is absolutely about Contraction.
The Ragewood Party has become too large and TV executives want to kick folks out. The power brokers(espn and fox) are looking at any means possible to differentiate the have vs. the have nots- i.e. P5 / G5
(Additional thoughts to follow
)
Somewhere some TV executive floated the idea to dwindle down the number of teams to make CFB similar to the NFL.
One problem is there already are too many brands.
Another of the obstacles to achieving some thing like the NFL - is that not every year will they be a "
power brand" team that goes 12-0 in said super league... so if the SEC or BIG10 only play each other in some super league, die hards & casual fans will have to become comfortable with the best teams [insert any P5 name] finishing the season with a record of 9-3 or in that ball park. That's something that audiences have not been accustomed too in CFB... as they are in the NFL. So they need to acclimate viewers to that, as a result, you have to take the G5s (or have nots) out of the equation completely and provide no claim to a stated playoff.
These power players don't want an
annual 12-0 Liberty type or near undefeated G5 in any playoff conversation.... so simple answer is to make them ineligible to any spot. A similar mindset is happening over in the NCAA Tourney because of the FAU run last season.
Anyone else notice that espn shows like CFB Gameday (AM) and CFB Final (PM) nearly only focus on P5 coverage and dwindled down any G5s coverage or their game highlights?
I so badly want this entire realignment episode to fail miserably and cause serious financial losses to those pushing for it.