This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/jonstark19 on 2024-05-03 21:57:52.
Source:
A few notable excerpts:
The debate about eight versus nine conference games hangs over everything but largely has receded to the background. Some people are just tired of the debate. The reality of the new format has given caution to some of the coaches and athletic directors who were in favor of nine. There was also the departure of Ross Bjork, who as Texas A&M athletic director was one of the strongest voices in favor of going to nine.
…
[Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione] is a proponent of going to nine games. Arkansas would still vote for eight, [Arkansas AD Hunter Yurachek] confirmed. But in separate interviews, they each used the term “robust debate.”
…
The marquee games were seen as a way to boost interest in home schedules that, under the old SEC format, were becoming too bland. The non-division format changes that. That doesn’t mean nobody will look for hard games anymore. There’s no doubt that fans and television executives like the marquee games. That’s why Arkansas is eagerly keeping its home-and-home series with Notre Dame, with the teams playing in Fayetteville next year and in South Bend in 2028.
“Fans, more and more, want to see these marquee games, especially in your stadium,” Yurachek said. “And the way you get these marquee games is home-and-home series. And you want to set yourself up to potentially get in the 12-team Playoff. Whether that gravitates to 14 teams, you want to put your program in the best position possible for that to happen. Time will tell what that looks like, what your schedule has to look like. We have very little data … until we go into those 12-team playoffs going forward.”