Latest news with #Dinich
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Texas A&M athletic director comments on CFP's influence on SEC scheduling
Texas A&M athletic director comments on CFP's influence on SEC scheduling After months and months of lengthy discussions regarding the state of the College Football Playoff and how the Southeastern Conference will handle conference scheduling moving forward, Texas A&M's athletic director discussed his thoughts on the impending decisions. ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich reported that the Aggies' athletic director Trev Alberts gave his thoughts on the potential expansion of the CFP on Tuesday afternoon and how it affects the SEC scheduling discussions as a whole. "Are we going to four autobids? Are we not? We need some answers... Nine games makes sense for a lot of different reasons, but it doesn't make sense for us if we're not guaranteed to be protected." According to Dinich, the second-year athletic director for Texas A&M believes that the interest in conference representatives to extend league play to eight games instead of nine hinges upon the future of the CFP. As reported by multiple outlets last week, the College Football Playoff has now adopted a straight-seeding concept, effective immediately starting this season. Of course, the rules, regulations and concepts are being changed and new ones are being instated every single day. As Alberts stated in his discussions with Dinich, the commissions for both the CFP and the SEC need to determine what they want to do with scheduling and how they want it to look soon. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
USA Today
23-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
The best social media reactions to Notre Dame being able to get a bye in the CFP
The best social media reactions to Notre Dame being able to get a bye in the CFP If you haven't hear the news, on Thursday the College Football Playoff announced that its seeding model is going to change to a straight system, and the biggest benefactor of this was Notre Dame. The Irish previously were unable to earn a bye, as they aren't affiliated with a conference, as the top ranked conference champions were the teams that didn't have to play in the first-round. That will now change, and it's a huge bonus for Notre Dame. They'll be able to be a top-4 team, not having to win an extra game, and still be able to watch the eight other teams battle it out in mid-December. As it always does, social media reacted to the news, and it was very favorable for Notre Dame. Check out the best reactions below. Some extra details on the announcement Interesting that everyone thought that this was a good idea, maybe they saw what my thoughts were on the change. It makes plenty of sense after what we saw this year, and a big plus for Notre Dame is that they won't have to share the money earned with a conference. It looks like this might not be an immediate fix, but that is still up in the air. No need to join a conference now The biggest factor that could have made the Irish join a conference was this exact reason, not being able to earn a bye. Now that this is going out the window soon, there is absolutely no need for Notre Dame to join a conference in the forseeable future. The exclusive club has opened for Notre Dame While Notre Dame still would have had to play a first-round game this past year, the won't have that issue going forward. It's interesting that Dinich singled out the Irish, as they are the clear winner of this decision. The photo tells it all While College Football Report didn't mention the Irish, you know exactly who they thought of when the announcement was made. Notre Dame has to love this decision, as this evens the playing field for them. Huge is an understatement All Notre Dame has to do going forward is just handle its business and they should be in the field of 12. They can obviously now not have to worry about always having to play in the first-round. Agreed As mentioned before, this is exactly why this ruling was massive for Notre Dame. They can continue their business as normal and get rewarded by not having the play the first set of games of the CFP. Massive day for Irish Nation.
USA Today
21-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN reporter drops bombshell in latest update on potential CFP changes
ESPN reporter drops bombshell in latest update on potential CFP changes Strength of schedule, head-to-head results, conference championships and common opponents are some of the biggest criteria used to determine the participants of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Could TV ratings soon become another criteria? ESPN college football analyst Heather Dinich alluded to such a possibility in a new report (subscription required) Monday ahead of the annual spring meetings this week between FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua in Texas. While no significant changes to the 12-team format will go into effect in 2025, it has seemed for months like a foregone conclusion that the CFP will expand to at least 14 teams in time for the 2026 season. As Dinich notes, changes to the 2026 CFP format must be in place before Dec. 1. Dinich also noted that there was both "private and public resistance to the idea of leagues having guaranteed spots to the postseason before the games are played." As things currently stand, the CFP's four highest-ranked conference champions are seeded 1-4 and receive a first-round bye in the playoff. The SEC and Big Ten have been lobbying for a format that would guarantee their respective leagues four automatic berths in an expanded field, so it isn't surprising that there's been resistance to that from the ACC and Big 12. But then this nugget from Dinich's report appeared: "One possibility, which could be viewed as a compromise, is having conferences earn automatic bids through their play each season. A model in which each Power 4 league can earn guaranteed spots through a combination of its teams' overall records -- and maybe even TV ratings, according to a source -- could be presented. The highest-ranked conferences would earn the most automatic bids." Highest-ranked? Or most-watched? If TV ratings are taken into consideration, teams like Alabama would benefit greatly. The Crimson Tide always have a good overall record, even if their four losses last season were less than ideal in the first year following Nick Saban's retirement. They're also high on the list of the most watched college football teams in any given year. So is Ohio State, Michigan, and the rest of the sport's blue bloods. Alabama was the third-most watched team in the 2024 regular season, according to Nielsen research. Only the Georgia Bulldogs (8.6 million) and national champion Buckeyes (6.8 million) totaled more average viewers per game than Alabama's 6.6 million. The Texas Longhorns (6.4 million) and Tennessee Volunteers (5.4 million) were fourth and fifth, respectively, on the list of most-watched teams, per Nielsen's data. Alabama has topped or been near the top of the list of most watched college football teams for years. Dating back to 2020 alone, Alabama was the most watched team that year and in 2023 (7.12 million). They were the third-most watched team in 2021 and 2022. Aside from that, Dinich's report reiterates what's already known: the SEC and Big Ten are in the driver's seat in the next wave of postseason format changes -- and just about any other changes to the sport. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion
