I don't get how it is the future. It creates a mess and is something we saw fail years ago with even a bad conference known as the WAC. The only way I see it being a wave of the future is because it is a pipe dream that people will not stop talking about. It doesn't even look good on paper. If the SEC wants to start all of this then let them, see how it works after 3 or 4 years and then make a decision. I can't believe every conference is going to jump at this right away without the thought of it maybe being a bad idea after a year or two.
Why I think it makes sense as a business model is that I look at the NFL. They have been able to balance the league by having a lot of games with 2 annual games against the other 3 teams in each division (6) plus 1 game each against 2 teams from each of the other 3 divisions in the conference (6) along with 4 games each against a division from the other conference on a 4-year rotation to play everyone. By doing so and by having equal revenue sharing, they have been able to ensure geographic rivalries within divisions along with both conference and league identity.
Where I think that college football is moving is a "BCS League" with power consolidated into 4 16-team conferences.
Pac-16
SEC
Big 10
ACC/Big East
Rather than the NFL model of 32 teams, the BCS League would have 64 teams.
We will have the 4 conferences split into 2 divisions which are then further split into 2 pods.
As discussed a ton on this board, the Pac-16 pods would result in CU having conference scheduling of 3 games against its pod and 2 games each against teams from the other 3 pods to total 9 conference games.
Where I think we're moving is that the 3 non-conference games would be 1 each against a team from the SEC, Big 10 and ACC/Big East conference to get to a 12-game schedule. Those 3 non-conference matchups would either be on a rotating basis or be chosen based on order of finish from the previous season as the NFL does (1st plays 1st, last plays last, etc.).
At the end of the season under this structure, we'd have a BCS Playoff that would start with the conference playoffs.
Much like the NFL does with its conferences, we'd have our 4 pod winners plus one wildcard per division to give us a 6-team playoff.
Highest seed from each division gets a "bye" in the 1st round while the wildcard team plays at the other pod winner in each division. Winner of that game plays at the top seed from the division. Then, the division champs play for the conference championship. Maybe these 4 conference championships are the traditional bowl games. Pac-16 Championship is the Rose Bowl, SEC is the Sugar Bowl, Big 10 Championship is the Fiesta Bowl and ACC/Big East is the Orange Bowl.
After that, we have a host site for a Football Final Four between the 4 conference champions.
If this is the vision, we'd be looking at a ton of money from a longer season and all of these meaningful playoff games replacing lesser bowl games. It would be based on an NFL model that we know works.
I'm not sure if I like it. I'm not sure if it truly reflects the thinking behind the curtain. But this is the one model I have thought of under which this talk of superconferences makes sense to me.