ACC Looking at Title Game Reform

[KYExtemper]

Per ESPN:

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said Sunday that the league will have conversations among coaches and athletic directors about whether to make changes to its conference championship game format...

Phillips said the ACC could consider giving its regular-season champion a bye, and have the teams that finish second or third in the league standings play in the ACC championship game.

He said another possibility is having the top 4 teams play on the final weekend of the regular season: first place versus fourth place, and second place vs. third place, with the winners playing the following weekend in the ACC championship game.

"The conference championship games are important, as long as we make them important, right?" Phillips said. "Do you play two versus three? You go through the regular season and whoever wins the regular season, just park them to the side, and then you play the second-place team versus the third-place team in your championship game. So you have a regular-season champion, and then you have a conference tournament or postseason champion.

I mean, this sounds absolutely silly to me. Like does the ACC really think they can just manipulate playoff selection by saying "Oh, we have a conference champion AND a regular season champion so you have to give them both bids"?

 

[CondorCat]

It does sound goofy. It's a reaction after their regular season champ SMU lost the championship game and then barely made the CFP as an #11 seed. I don't see how either of the proposed changes will produce a "Bye" in the CFP if their conference has another down year.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

Acc is so pathetic and sad. If smu won the acc title game they wpuld have been a 1 bid league. Clemson winning helped them get an undeserved 2nd bid.

 

[bthaunert]

Although the ideas they present are a little goofy, I believe we will be seeing drastic changes to the conference championship games. Those title games can be more harmful than helpful moving forward.

 

[Cotaay]

I expect the SEC and Big 10 games to go to a play-in game in the future, top 3 teams in each league are basically a lock to make the playoff and the 4/5 teams can settle it on the field. The current setup makes the championship game worthless, the ACC on the other hand is probably a 1 bid league most years going forward so I don’t think what they do matters.

 

[TucsonCat]

I don't understand how you see Georgia losing their starting qb in the conference championship and think you need to play more games

 

[ktbug]

I don't understand how you see Georgia losing their starting qb in the conference championship and think you need to play more games

You are correct on this.

 

[Cat06]

Per ESPN:



I mean, this sounds absolutely silly to me. Like does the ACC really think they can just manipulate playoff selection by saying "Oh, we have a conference champion AND a regular season champion so you have to give them both bids"?

That's how it is done in basketball. Of course that's how they view it.