Alabama Football: So far B1G and ACC have out-maneuvered SEC

Alabama football and others in the SEC surprised by ACC move to 10-game season.

A sudden move by the ACC on Wednesday did not much impact Alabama football. The Alabama Crimson Tide has no 2020 games scheduled against ACC teams. If anything, the Tide’s CFP chances might be improved with Notre Dame being a regular, football member of the ACC next season. In the planned one division format for the coming ACC season, the Irish and Clemson may have to do battle twice.

Forcing Notre Dame into the 2020 football fold of the ACC was a smart move. Other than Clemson, the ACC does not have as many marquee teams as the other Power Fives. Notre Dame competing for a first-ever conference championship is a marketing win for the ACC and the Irish.

Behind the ‘smart move’ acknowledgments to the ACC is another story. The ACC announcement and scheduling template caught other conferences, especially the SEC by surprise. Rather than a collaborative effort accommodating the needs of more than one conference, it was an ‘in-your-face’ rogue action.

Currently scheduled annual games between ACC and SEC teams will be allowed by the ACC. The league defined them as having to be held in the home state of each ACC team. Clemson vs. South Carolina, Florida vs. Florida State, Kentucky vs. Louisville and Georgia vs. Georgia Tech can still happen. That is as long as the SEC does not join the B1G and the Pac-12 in playing conference-only games. If the games are not allowed by an SEC decision, none of the heat for canceled rivalries will be aimed at the ACC. The SEC will be the bad guys.

According to Pat Forde of si.com,

"… as of Wednesday. Most of the league’s (SEC) 14 ADs were in favor of 10 league games and nothing else."

Even if the SEC ADs and Presidents accept the ACC plan, the Auburn vs. North Carolina game on Sept. 12 is out – unless it is moved from Atlanta to the state of North Carolina. Who knows, maybe Mack Brown seized an opportunity to avert a future loss at the hands of the Tigers.

There is a sub-plot to all the shenanigans. There has been broad speculation, the rescheduling driven by COVID concerns might be an impetus to move beyond the de-centralized dysfunction of the current college football structure. Conjecture about the Power Fives breaking away from the rest of college football goes back years. That could have never been engineered in time for the 2020 season. The ACC’s sudden power play could mean the other conferences will be less inclined to break away in the future.

What does this mean for Alabama football? Very little if anything, but Greg Byrne and his fellow SEC ADs must be annoyed.