I think the future for ACC teams getting into the CFP is grim and grimmer.
And it may not matter. The B1G and SEC teams are going to be cranking in $75-90 million MORE per team, per season. They're going to be able to pay bigger, better, faster athletes a whale of a lot more. And have bigger, better coaching staffs.
The ACC and B12 are going to end up getting 1 team only (occasionally 2 teams) into the even the larger 16 team CFP. And those 2 or 3 total sacrificial lambs will always be blasted by bigger, better B1G and SEC teams.
The SEC and B1G are going to add one between-conferences game to their either 9 or 8 regular games.
It's almost certain that Georgia and Texas A&M will be pulled from the Louisville future schedules. That's 4 games that will be lost right there for Louisville.
I think the only reasonable way forward for the B12 and ACC is to merge after 2028, with whatever teams remain. And agree to have their own separate CFP.
Maybe the SEC/B1G CFP winner would agree to play the B12/ACC CFP winner in the very distant future. The SEC/B1G biggies would probably be OK with that if they get 75% of the media $$$.
Only way this ever gets 'fair' way into future is if the Congress intercedes or the Justice Department intercedes.
I'm afraid College Sports as most of us have know them are long gone.
What sucks is that honestly had we done this 15 years ago, everything would be just fine and there wouldn't have been as much realignment.
Because of the greed of keeping the BCS status quo and then 4 team playoff for too long, this just kept going on and on.
Had it truly been the top 4 conference champions of the power 6 conference gotten byes (including the old Big East) and the top G5 team, it would've worked so much better. What happened over time is that when there was only 2 teams, less games mattered. Teams moved up in conference to just get money and it devalued everything else. Maybe forced conferences to play a title game?
Imagine the 2006 playoffs? Top 6 Power 6 conferences are the top 6 seeds. 1 mid-major gets a bid. 5 at-large teams.
Byes
#1 Ohio State
#2 Florida
#3 Louisville
#4 USC
#5 Oklahoma vs. #12 Notre Dame
#6 Wake Forest vs. #11 Auburn
#7 Michigan vs #10 Boise State
#8 LSU vs. #9 Wisconsin
Imagine what that does for our league and our TV deal in the Big East? Those games against Rutgers and WVU aren't just big games for our league, they become national games that matter.
I'd also bring up the mid-major teams at the time like Boise, Utah, BYU, TCU, etc. type teams all feel like they're fighting for something. The entire sport matters more and not just one game.
What happened simply was it became 2-4 teams. It was always the SEC Title game, usually Bama, LSU, Georgia, etc. type teams and maybe one surprise and they took all the oxygen. Then it was Ohio State and if they could finish it off and the rest of the Big Ten was boring. Then it was Oklahoma. Then there was the 1 surprise team people would watch. But by late October into November, those were the only games that mattered. Other than the SEC title and occasional Big Ten title game, none of the conference title games ever had impact. Imagine if a top 6 seed was on the line?
The second I saw Nebraska & Missouri leave the Big 12, the sport I loved was changing and not going back. It's always going to change. Change has benefitted UofL, so we can't really complain about it as it's really helped us. But overall, the sport killed itself by allowing the bowl game traditions and greed take over.