In college playoff debate, the Arizona St coach with everything to lose says he’ll take his chances

When it comes to the future of the College Football Playoff there were as a large number of opinions as there were coaches on hand at the Southeastern Conference and Big meetings in Florida this week Perhaps the the majority eye-opening came from particular of those with the bulk to lose Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State and Big Commissioner Brett Yormark The consensus at their meetings which wrapped up in Orlando on Friday was a preference for a format starting in that would include teams five of them automatic bids to the highest-rated conference champions and the other awarded as at-large spots That would be paired with a straight-seeding model that has already been adopted for next season s playoff Had last season s playoff used straight seeding the Big champion Sun Devils would have been seeded th not fourth Instead of a bye they would have been stuck with a first-round road challenge at eventual national champion Ohio State But Dillingham noted the change for the upcoming season is fine with him and if the increasingly popular - model takes hold for that s fine too Last season maybe we didn t earn the right to be the fourth seed Maybe we earned the right to be the eighth seed explained the coach whose organization was ranked th but still received the fourth seed and a first-round bye before losing to Texas - I believe you earn your way to those seeds so I m also in aid of the -plus- that same thought process The SEC and Big Ten will decide the format for the playoff starting in which is when ESPN s new billion contract kicks in Yormark commented the SEC and Big Ten have a great responsibility that goes with it to do what s right for college football and not to do anything that just benefits two conferences And I have a lot of faith in the process The - system could be less advantageous for the Big which would get two automatic bids under the other system being floated the - - - - model in which the SEC and Big Ten each would receive four and the Big and ACC would get two The best argument for that plan might have come from Florida AD Scott Stricklin at the SEC meetings I think anything we can do to make the postseason more objective and less subjective is going to be better he commented pointing to the notion that the more at-large berths there are the more the preferences of the selection committee come into play Yormark noted the Big would be willing to take its chances with more at-large bids We want to earn it on the field Yormark reported The - might not be ideal for the conference but it s good for college football and it s what s fair Dillingham was on the same page Every year is a new year and you never know who s going to be good in college football especially with the volume going through the transfer portal he declared So anything that creates an open platform for teams like our guys last year to prove that they do belong I m in assistance of Expanded March Madness NCAA President Charlie Baker made his bulk definitive report yet about expanding the men s basketball tournament from its current teams to or saying it s a decision that necessities to come in the next insufficient months SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey has long been in favor of that expansion so long as it s done a certain way His model would bring more at-large teams presumably from big conferences into the main draw of It would push more automatic qualifiers from weaker leagues into what would be an increased number of so-called play-in games what s known now as the First Four He used the example of North Carolina State in as a band that was seeded th the Wolfpack didn t have to play a play-in tournament but often an th seed does and made the Final Four I don t think all the - and -type seeds should just be placed in the First Four Sankey explained at the SEC meetings in the Florida Panhandle That s my opinion You could go ask my colleagues in the AQ conferences what should happen and I m certain they d want the split to continue Walk-on walk-outs A minimal SEC coaches hedged when requested what they were telling walk-on football players who were in jeopardy of losing their roster spots under terms of the multibillion-dollar lawsuit settlement that is hung up on the issue of roster limits Certainly it s challenging for us to manage our roster Texas A M coach Mike Elko revealed But it s more challenging for a -year-old to not know what his place on a football band is as we head into the summer Under terms of a reworked agreement football rosters would be limited to players all of whom would be eligible for scholarships though walk-on players who had roster spots before would not count against the limit Kansas coach Lance Leipold conceded that various decisions had already been made regardless of how the settlement works out Indeed chosen of his walk-ons had already left as the Jayhawks made preparations for the upcoming season with the expectation the settlement would be approved When a walk-on maybe decides that now that their roster spot might be in jeopardy he has a chance to go somewhere else where he may see more real playing time in games you got to be happy for him he noted I guess we all wish we had a little bit more clarity sooner One window too multiple From locker rooms to the commissioner s office the Big is unified in its stance on transfer portal timing Rather than two transfer windows including a -day slot with the college football playoff in sight in December the Big is pushing for one window in January As coaches we unanimously promotion one portal window and that is in January Leipold stated You re signing largest part of your guys in December You know what your roster will be like to start the second semester and you have the opportunity to work and develop and build those relationships and evaluate your club and get ready for the next season Coaches can find solace in knowing their commissioner will fight for the cause Adjusting the portal windows is one of a large number of items on the list of topics Yormark will discuss with fellow Power Four commissioners in the coming weeks We discussed the portal window with the coaches Yormark stated We know what their preference is We ll discuss that amongst the Power Four commissioners here shortly but I advocate for their position They want a January portal and we ll discuss that again with our peers and see where we can land this thing The Power Four wants more There are plenty of ongoing disputes between the NCAA s majority dominant conferences but a desire for more control isn t one of them Rumors of the SEC separating from the NCAA may have gained momentum but Sankey is willing to settle for more autonomy at least for now Instead of the original Sankey argued that the Power Four conferences owning of the vote in the proposed NCAA governance model is more optimal Yormark was on the same page There is an appetite and desire to have a little bit more autonomy a little bit more control in decision-making Yormark announced In what s at the moment being discussed I think we will land in a very desirable place We understand the importance of being part of the institution and also being very collegial with our peers But at the same time we do feel that when it comes to control and autonomy that there demands to be a little bit of a shift to the A at least more so than what presently exists By the sounds of it the Power Four may have the NCAA president on their side Charlie Baker has been terrific throughout the process He has listened to all the key stakeholder groups but he does recognize that not everyone looks the same operates the same and there requirements to be a bit of an adjustment and a modernization of what s being done there in the NCAA as a whole is like you declared but also as it relates to the power four Yormark revealed Carey announced from Orlando Fla Pells from Miramar Beach Fla AP college sports https apnews com hub college-sports Source