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I'm not going to argue with…

I'm not going to argue with the mathematical/algorithmic approach ---- this is a VERY GOOD way to ensure that a bracket will end up in, at worst, the top 25% amongst all entries into a pool.  I do like it.

However, to actually WIN a pool, you usually need to finish in (at least) the top 2% of all entries. 95th percentile may as well be 5th percentile - they both don't pay out.

So as a further refinement ... I'd suggest strategically/intuitively picking 1-2 outlier things (from 2023, those would be, as you noted, teams like SDSU, Creighton and Miami advancing further) after your mathematical/algorithmic approach.  And then hoping they hit.  

Billy Packer shutting up is…

Billy Packer shutting up is a minor miracle.

A couple years before, Brent and Packer called the UNLV versus Loyola Marymount Elite 8 game.  Loyolas magical run ended there.  With about a minute left Brent said: “Both these teams with so much to be proud of.  Let’s just watch and enjoy the last minute here - UNLV going to Denver and the Final Four.”

Not two seconds (!!!!) later Packer yaps in with some inane comments!

One unintended consequence…

One unintended consequence of Michigan losing a lot of games - St Johns loss to U-M looked worse and worse.  They were right on the bubble: Michigan probably kept slimeball Rick Pitino out of the NCAA!!!

It's not completely unlike…

It's not completely unlike OSU hiring Randy Ayers back in 1989.  OSU was sort of "forced" into that hire because Gary Williams left for Maryland in early summer (Maryland had to find a coach as they had to fire Bob Wade, they were facing NCAA issues and that was on top of being only 3 years removed from Len Bias' death).

But Ayers was only 33, no HC experience, and a Buckeye assistant for ~ 5 years.

Ayers got off to a good start, admittedly w/ Williams' players - he was the HC of the OSU team that lost to the Fab 5 in the Elite 8.  But tailed off in later years.

Anyway, as others said: Diebler's low floor, high ceiling.  It is a risk.

The circumference of a…

The circumference of a circle is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582 times larger than its diameter.

Only approximately however - not exactly!  Pi has MANY more digits (infinitely more digits) than this, of course!

Sure, it's possible.  I'd…

(Edit: oops, I mis-read.  I thought the question was would Michigan hoops have as many wins as Michigan football come December).

Sure, it's possible.  I'd say there's a fairly decent chance.

Purdue basketball ---- even they went 12-1 during the November-December portion of the 2023-24 season.

Michigan 2024-25 hoops probably isn't starting 12-1.  They may not even start 10-3.

The real indictment against…

The real indictment against Juwan - the B1G isn't good AT ALL this year:

  • There's Purdue, who I do think is a legit Final Four team (I'm going against the grain on them a bit, admittedly).
  • There's Illinois, who is good, not great.  But still a fairly clear 2nd best in the league.
  • There's 11 teams all bunched together from 3-13, that are nothing special at all, they all basically go .500 vs. each other.  None of these teams will do much in the NCAA if they make it (or the NIT either).

U-M went 0-4 against Illinois & Purdue - that's forgiveable.  Going 3-14 against the rest of the conference, that should never happen and not forgiveable.

It's fascinating seeing the…

It's fascinating seeing the rocket launches (everything about this is fascinating).  I was driving through Santa Clarita, CA Sunday evening and could see the rocket launch from Vandenberg ~125 miles away.  It gets up in a hurry!!!

Putting this hoops game on…

Putting this hoops game on Peacock ......... literally ZERO incremental purchases driven (literally zero people saying "oh, PSU vs Michigan hoops, I must purchase Peacock to see that!").

BTN isn't showing anything tonight.  I don't even know what the hell Peacock's strategy is on this one.  They PAID $$$ to get the rights to these dreck 1st round games which will have an ROI of $0.000000000000000000000000.

Per Wikipedia, Indiana's…

Per Wikipedia, Indiana's length* is 270 miles and it's width is 140 miles --- an aspect ratio of 1.93 which isn't that far off a basketball court's aspect ratio of 1.88 (94 feet by 50).

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* However one measures length and width when a state has a river for its southern border and a chunk of its western border, plus a lake border indention in the northwest.  But when you look at Indiana, you can sort of see a basketball court.

Wayne State dropped "Tartars…

Wayne State dropped "Tartars" in 1999 ...... the reasons given were (1) nobody knew what the heck a Tartar was, and (2) it reminded people of the plaque/film that forms on teeth.

I wish they kept it .... Warriors is so generic and boring.  A Genghis Khan mascot is NEITHER generic nor boring!

FWIW: there are 2* High Schools in America nicknamed the Tartars.  (1) Taylorsville, Mississippi --- a very small zero-stoplight town in rural southern Mississippi, and (2) Torrence, California --- a pretty diverse upper-middle-class city in the Los Angeles South Bay. 

There's also Compton, California's high school.  They're nicknamed the Tarbabes: next-door Compton Community College is nicknamed the Tartars.  So I suppose Snoop Dogg is a Tartar: he attended Compton CC for (almost literally) a brief minute.

Reading on the web, I have no idea how any of those 3 High schools or colleges came to their rather unique nickname --- especially the one in rural Mississippi!!!  But they exist.

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* 2 that I know of/could find.

Yep.  The NFC South QBs in…

Yep.  The NFC South QBs in 2024 are going to be Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, Bryce Young and Cousins.

It won't take that much for Atlanta to go, say, 5-1 vs. the NFC South.  Their out-of-division schedule is also somewhat favorable (they get the AFC West, KC is a likely loss but the other 3 teams were under .500.  Dallas & Philly are good - but otherwise, NYG, WAS, MIN, SEA and PIT.  That's a lot of teams that are middle-of-the-NFL at best). 

Add it all together, a 12-5 record, not totally unlike the 13-4 2022 Vikings, isn't far-fetched.

I'm a "less is more" guy too…

I'm a "less is more" guy too - I certainly won't argue about 2023 PSU being deserving of a playoff spot.

Don't even start to get me started on baseball.  The 2023 D-Backs went 84-78, 16 games behind the much superior Dodgers.  Yet made the playoffs and won the NL Pennant!  Barf.  

Not to get into an extended…

+1 for laying out the argument well. 

Not to get into an extended UIC hoops discussion - but I still disagree. 

UIC went to the NCAA 3 times in the 1997-98 to 2003-04 era from the Horizon/MCC, once as an at-large #9 seed.  That wasn't easy in that era, the conference was solid: Butler was in the league and always good (admittedly they weren't yet "Butler", but they were also oh-so-close to beating national runner-up Florida in the 2000 tourney), and Detroit was regularly fielding high-quality teams that won NCAA games and made NIT Final Fours.

They've had considerably more losing seasons than winning-seasons since 2009-10 ...... but that was Loyola's profile for the longest time too.

It's not easily realized potential, but I'd argue there IS potential.

I suppose ...... I don't…

I suppose ...... I don't love that though.

In the NFL, there's always some team like 2023 Tampa Bay.  They're decent enough, but the only reason they're a division winner is because they're division isn't particularly good.  Objectively, were the Bucs really one of the 4 best teams in the NFC (DAL, DET, GB, Rams, SF*)?

We're not going back, I get it.  But there was definitely some charm in "the good old days", really only 1 team per conference in the playoff, only 2 teams if that 2nd team was particularly exceptional.  

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* Eagles too - but the Bucs did beat them in the playoffs.  So excluded them.

MVC is the right conference…

MVC is the right conference for UIC long-term (it would be a nice conference for Detroit too, but that's going off on a tangent).  Still a commuter school but UIC is improving in the academic metrics and that part of Chicago is becoming more appealing.

The Loyola basketball trajectory isn't easy to duplicate, of course, but that's what they're aspiring to.

Yaklich went 23-29 in his 2 years in the Horizon --- after UIC went .500+ in each of the 3 years before him.  So it arguably wasn't just the conference.

Anyway, he'll land on his feet, no doubt, he still has a great resume.

Let's say the B1G gets 3…

Let's say the B1G gets 3 auto-bids.  What exactly is going to be the procedure to determine them?

The Champion, of course, that's 1.  The Conference Championship Game loser, sure, that's 2.

But then #3?  I can foresee where a common scenario is "4 teams all tied, 7-2 in conference, but only a couple games were played between them.  3 of these teams are 10-2 overall, but 2 of them played absolute cupcakes OOC, no P5 teams.  The third played a slightly better OOC, 1 P5 team but a non-Top 25.  The 4th team is 9-3 overall, but played 2 very tough OOC games, splitting with a pair of Top 15 teams."

How do we decide among that?  I suppose we can derive a formulaic algorithm similiar to the NFL tiebreakers to decide.  But that's tough, NFL teams typically have many many many more games in common with each other.  More likely - some person(s) is going to decide the 3rd B1G auto-bid.

So, in the end ..... it may be a "room full of stuffed shirts" deciding anyway.

For 95% of Michigan (or any…

For 95% of Michigan (or any other college football team)'s fans ----- even if they DID "empty out their bank account" to support the NIL program, it would be a relative drop in the bucket.  It would be relatively meaningless.  When NIL budgets are in the low 8-figures, $100K (which is a lot of money!) is a rounding error.

It's the millionaires who are most important in determing how and where an NIL program goes.  I don't begrudge that of the wealthy.  But Seth is right in spirit on this one: why care if your ability to invoke change is more limited?

At some point, a fan will do the calculus.  I have $X,000 (a different X for everyone) I can spend supporting my favorite college football team.  I can donate $X,000 to an NIL.  Or I can spend $X,000 to attend games and throw tailgate parties and have fun.  BOTH ways of spending have an ROI, in terms of incremental Michigan wins and personal enjoyment gained.  For most folk, the ROI is higher spending the latter way.

Whatever happens to PSU in…

Well, I can't see the future.

But whatever the future holds for PSU in 2024 .......... be it (1) National Champs, (2) 0-12 or (3) somewhere in between ......... we'll know that Chase Winovich declaring a Revenge Tour 6 years prior led to it all!

Definitely the fairest way. …

Definitely the fairest way.  A true table!

Oh wait ......

Michigan (and every other team) would play some teams at home (and not on the road) ..... and vice versa.

266 game season over TWENTY years!

How about a 134-team…

How about a 134-team quadruple-elimination bracket? 

We'll have from 532 to 535 different games as part of the tournament!  SO MUCH TV inventory.

If one uses a long-enough…

If one uses a long-enough time frame, I suppose one can give Winovich's revenge tour credit for anything and everything.

OK, fair enough ....... it…

OK, fair enough ....... it is "confirmed" that "at least 4 Big Ten teams have stolen signs before the games they played in."

But who exactly confirmed that?

I'm going to be excused by TIMMMAAY of being a contrarian again, but if the "who" is "someone associated with the University of Michigan", IMO it's not unfair to not take that at 100% complete face value without asking any addiitonal questions.

Let me explain (as I've done…

Let me explain (as I've done before) my POV:

  • I've never claimed "Michigan isn't 2023 National Champions."  They won their games.  
  • That said --- yes, I have said that teams do have a right to be upset about Connor Stalions* showing up on the sideline of the opponent of a future U-M opponent.  Absolutely.  Doing that was galactic-levels of wreckless, inane and stupid on Stalions' part, in terms of its potential disrailing the whole season.

If it was discovered that MSU had one of their analysts dressed up on the ECU sideline the following day, U-M folk would have been VERY unhappy.  Arguing otherwise: come on.

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* at this point, I think it's fair to say it was him. If it wasn't, U-M and/or Stalions would have shown that he was at Schembechler Hall, or his cell phone was pinging off an AA cell phone tower, or a receipt from him at an AA Chipotle that evening.  Proving it wasn't Stalions --- isn't that difficult in our current era.

Sign-stealing is legal in…

Sign-stealing is legal in college baseball (as long as you don't use outside technology), some teams are good at it (observant teams have found ways to steal signs from the dugout and without a guy on 2nd base), and some teams aren't.

And by taking sign-stealing away via manager/pitcher/catcher communication, that's one less area where a college baseball manager/team could gain a legal edge.

That's your 1st paragraph, just re-worded for a different sport.  Yet college baseball recently allowed electronic communication.

I may be wrong, but I'll be surprised if this football proposal doesn't pass easily.

The majority of FBS teams…

The majority of FBS teams aren't National Title contenders with big budgets and 532 different analysts working on their staff.  The membership is still mostly "Group of 5" plus "lower-tier Power 5" teams --- they are the numerical majority.

I have a hard time believing they are the group that "think they are better at stealing signs and don't want to lose the advantage it gives them."  Those folks already think the big-money programs have every single advantage against them, including this one (spending more $$$$$ on people to steal signs).

If/when it comes to a vote, I'd 100% expect the helmet communication to pass --- easily.

Anyway --- electric manager/catcher/pitcher communication has become an established part of the college baseball world over the last couple years.  That in a sport where sign-stealing is/was a thing too.  They're evolving.  College football will too.

You calling me an MFer ---…

You calling me an MFer --- that's fine.  It doesn't hurt my feelings!

Anyway, since you engaged me in discussion, some questions ---- do you concede there might be some validity to what I ask?  You simply take Joel Klatt at his word, as regards "everyone steals signs?"  If so, why?  What makes him the expert on that regard?

If "everyone steals signs" …

If "everyone steals signs" (which I'm highly dubious on, and I think Klatt really doesn't have much empirical evidence for this claim of his) ----- why would they be against helmet comms? 

If "everyone steals signs", nobody is gaining a competitive advantage from it, and having helmet comms just means teams don't have to spend their time stealing signs.

In MLB, Oakland had a "moneyball" advantage for a few years when they were the only ones doing it.  Same with teams employing the shift earlier than others.  But once everyone does it ....... no marginal advantage any more.

It's strange.  Post WW-2,…

It's strange.  Post WW-2, the U-M/OSU series is fairly close to .500 overall.

But the last 4 OSU HC (not counting Fickell) are ALL either below 25% or over 75% in their win rate vs. Michigan.  3 of those 4 coaches coached 7+ games vs. U-M, so pretty decent sample size.

Michigan, meanwhile, has had 7 coaches in the post-WW2 era who have coached 5+ games versus OSU.  All but 1 (Fritz Crisler, and even then the WW2 era arguably skewed his 7-2-1 record, it was a different strucutral environment during the war years) of them are higher than 25% and lower than 75%.

OSU coaches are more at the extremes, U-M coaches are more in the middle.

Absolutely right on Urban.

Absolutely right on Urban.

Folks here (naturally) highlight the U-M/OSU games, but even recent PSU/OSU games.  OSU has kept on winning at the same rate (vs PSU) under Day as they did under Urban, but OSU plays differently, more finesse, under Day than Urban.

To be fair, OSU didn't have…

To be fair, OSU didn't really have a problem vs. U-M when it was "Urban vs JH." 

They definitely did have a problem vs U-M when it was "Ryan Day vs JH."

Coaching matters quite a lot.  It's a different chapter, yet again, starting in 2024.

“What time do you want me to…

“What time do you want me to leave and what door do you want me out of, brother?”

That was Ed Orgeron after getting fired by LSU (with a $17.1MM buyout as part of the deal).

What's the general opinion…

What's the general opinion on Sean Payton these days?

For as bad as the Russell Wilson trade was ..... the Broncos also traded away a 1st and 2nd Round pick* to be able to hire Payton.

I get it, Payton has never lost 10 games in any of his 16 seasons as an NFL coach.  That's a pretty remarkable record.  But he's still a 61-year-old guy with a prickely personality, who knew what he was getting in Wilson when he signed, plus the BountyGate track record, and it's not unfair to point out his career to-date has 90% overlapped w/ having Drew Brees as his QB.

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* The Broncos did also get a 3rd round draft pick.  But still .... they traded a decent bit.

Everything looks clearer in…

Everything looks clearer in retrospect.

Imagine if Michigan doesn't win the Rose Bowl (which doesn't require that much imagination: arguably it's simply changing one play, the 4th down on U-M's last regulation drive).

Then there's a post on here saying "our easy OOC schedule was an underrated contributor to why we didn't succeed in the CFP.  It made us soft."

And would that really be the case?  Did that much change?  The whole OOC schedule impacted how U-M converted/executed on one key play?

I'm being naive, because the…

I'm being naive, because the NFL monetizes everything.  But I'd feel considerably better about the Combine without the monetization component.

The Combine definitely has value:

  • It is a job interview of sorts, and teams are making huge investments in these players.  
  • It's logistically efficient: the "interviews" can all be done in one location, among multiple teams and players. 
  • It serves as an "NFL social event" - all 32 front offices are together for a few days and trades/moves are made after that networking.

But, all the above can be done without selling tickets or TV coverage.  For the moment, none of those guys being "interviewed" are drawing an NFL paycheck.

I admit that "pro days" are…

I admit that "pro days" are meat markets of a sort too .............. but to me the NFL Combine has always felt WAY over the top in that regard, with the added component that the NFL monetizes it and makes a good chunk of $$$ on it (selling tickets, selling ads for TV).

I get why it won't happen, but I sort of wish everyone opted out.  The NFL Combine has always felt .... rather creepy and cringe .... to me.

Re-wording that a bit: …

Re-wording your 2nd sentence a bit: "Provides a valuable service (in MSU's case, educating folks), but is also a political and bureaucratical mess while costing tax payers a lot of $$$."

There are quite a few entities like that.  Yes, it actually is fairly normal ---- one could argue that bureaucracy (and its 1st cousin, "politics") is more-and-more inevitable as organizations grow.

2-minute warning, huh?  I…

2-minute warning, huh?  I guess FOX and ESPN have representatives on the NCAA Rules committee?

One of the NCAA's core rules…

One of the NCAA's core rules is "if a conference sponsors a sport, and you are both (1) a full member of that conference and (2) you play that sport under the NCAA umbrella, you have to play that sport as a member of said conference"*

For instance, as long as the B1G sponsors football --- Michigan can't decide to play all their non-football sports in the B1G, but play football in the ACC (or as an independent).

There is an exception the "other" way, FWIW.  PSU & OSU have a men's volleyball team --- they play in seperate conferences, the EIVA & MIVA..  This is allowed because the B1G doesn't sponsor men's volleyball: no other B1G school plays the sport.  But if more schools started men's volleyball and the B1G did start sponsoring it, PSU & OSU would have to play there.

Anyway, why I point that out --- the NCAA requires a degree of consistency as regards schools being in a conference.  Schools can't pick-and-choose which conference-sponsored sports they will and won't play within their home conference.

Based on that, I find it difficult to believe the NCAA would allow schools to pick-and-choose with NCAA-sponsored sports they will and won't play under the NCAA umbrella.

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* On ND --- they aren't technically a full ACC member.  Both they and the ACC found a loophole in how their ACC membership is precisely worded.  Yes, they are having their cake and eating it too.

Not to make fun --- but I…

Not to make fun --- but I was out this evening, I just got back, saw this score, and did a double-take. "WTF???  How is this even possible???"

There's no way you can bring Juwan back.  Bad years happen, but it should never be this bad.

If the B1G/SEC said "we're…

From the link: "the presidents and chancellors in both the SEC and Big Ten are having conversations about whether to continue their NCAA membership."

That reads to me as though a full NCAA withdrawal is on the table.

Now maybe the B1G/SEC will try "we're leaving the NCAA for football only, remaining for everything else."  But the reaction (from anyone) to that isn't going to simply be "OK, that's fine."

My question, and this conversation as a whole, is 100% worthy of discussion.

I'm sure there's some…

(edit: I mis-read the initial question)

3 options, I suppose:

1.  If the B1G/SEC stay within the NCAA - a continuation of what currently is - there's absolutely no way they're getting barred from the basketball tourament.

2.  If they ever leave the NCAA, well, they're ineligible for the basketball tournament.  Simply because they are no longer member institutions. 

3.  If the B1G/SEC think they can drop out of the NCAA for Football only and remain for everything else --- I don't know for certain but I'd be kind of shocked if that was allowed under the NCAA's current charter/rules. 

I know there are all kinds of club sports (for instance, U-M had men's club lacrosse for the longest time, parallel to the NCAA's own men lacrosse Championships) at all kinds of Universities. 

But the B1G/SEC withdrawing from NCAA football would be kind of unprecedented.  In the case of U-M club lacrosse, they never played NCAA lacrosse in the first place.  It was a case of moving a sport/team from outside the NCAA structure into the NCAA structure.  PSU men's hockey did the same thing around the same time.  This would be the reverse: into the NCAA to outside.  And, importantly, doing so mostly to avoid NCAA oversight.

I read what you wrote. 

You…

I read what you wrote. 

You wrote the SEC has had a hand in "manipulat(ing) ratings."  I think that's nonsense.  They've been rated higher because they've been better.

As regards "the B1G is not leveraging its relationship with Fox like the SEC is with ESPN." --- well, if you want FOX to employ a bunch of non-objective shills at the B1G's behest, fair enough.  I don't want that from my talking heads.

Yep, that's the history (IFA…

Yep, that's the history (IFA was effectively the "NCAA" of college football in the late 1800s).

Solomon was right --- there's nothing new under the sun.

I know you're not a fan of…

+1.  I know you're not a fan of the idea.

A thought argument, for those who like this idea:

Let's say the B1G-SEC break off the NCAA, and then start their own post-season tournament for all other sports, not just football.  And then let's say the B1G-SEC decides that "to make our tournament more meaningful, we'll issue invitations for 4-8 other schools to participate in our non-football post-season tournaments."

Is the NCAA going to just go along with that?  I doubt it.  They'll apply their own pressure, and say "if any school does this, they're booted from the organization!"

Let's say some of those schools call the NCAA's bluff.  Kansas and UConn play in the B1G-SEC hoops tournament.  UND and BC play in the B1G hockey tournament.  Syracuse and Denver play in the B1G lacrosse tournament.  Et cetera.

But all those schools now need an organization for ALL their sports.  What to do?  Well, I suppose they could join the B1G-SEC's new organization as associate/partial members?

Doesn't that just mean we're going to go down the exact same road?  Call it a "new NCAA", but I'd argue that for college athletics to be meaningful at all: an organiztion that regulates college athletics at a national level across multiple sports is both inevitable and a necessity.

Well, let's say the SEC and…

Well, let's say the SEC and B1G break off and do their own thing, have their own governing body.

Not everyone there is going to be equal either.  There will be schools like U-M and Alabama and Texas, and schools like Rutgers and Arkansas and Mississippi State. 

And eventually, sometime down the line, it'll be a different but same argument.  Folks wanting to break-off into ANOTHER bureaucracy that is "looking out for the interest of the big boy schools rather than trying to make rules that also hve to apply to Podunk State."

And we'd get a 16-team SuperLeague as opposed to an organization representing the combined 34-team B1G & SEC (as opposed to an organization representing the 600+ NCAA member schools ...... it's "turtles all the way down").

I'm sorry ...... but IMO, the big boys who make more $$$ should attempt to play somewhat nice with the smaller boys.  Breaking off and excluding others, it's not the solution (again, IMO). 

I say that as an economic conservative, FWIW: in sports, though, I prefer more equality and "socialism."

OK, that's your plan.  Fair…

OK, that's your plan.  Fair enough.

But what, then, is your plan for Michigan (and the rest of the B1G)'s 20+ other sports?

Sure, Michigan and the B1G can leave the NCAA.  Don't necessarily expect the NCAA and the remaining NCAA teams to allow Michigan/B1G teams to continue to compete in national tournaments (or even play their teams at all).

If/when this happens, it…

If/when this happens, it will likely just be one bureaucracy replacing another.

Those who think this would be some form of progress?  I doubt they'll be correct, or even close to correct.

There were never any…

There were never any proposals to have home playoff games while also having a 4-team playoff.

So I'm not sure what this particular complaint is about.  For the first time ever we are going to have a playoff with more than 4 teams.  And it's going to come with home playoff games, just as the B1G wanted. 

That seems like a 100% success rate on that particular issue?

#1 ..... maybe (going back…

#1 ..... maybe (going back to 2016, satelitte camps were banned in April but the ban was rescined in June, partially because of B1G lobbying).  But the other items you list and blaming the B1G for that is, frankly, nonsense.

The Big Ten can decide to play eight (or six, or ten, or whatever number) of conference games at any time they please.  Why should the NCAA be regulating stuff like that?  The B1G plays nine conference games because of, well, money.  The SEC plays eight conference games because of, well, money --- and also the fact that more of their schools have "must-play" OOC games against in-state rivals (more than the B1G does).  The ACC plays eight conference games because of, well, money, and also their own in-state OOC games and the fact that they have ND locked into 5-6 OOC games per year.

As regards portions the media being SEC shills ---- well, the SEC was 10-2 in CFP semifinal games over the course of the 10-year playoff.  The B1G was 3-6.  The other conferences were rather similar.  The SEC simply was, for most of that decade, the best conference in the country, rather easily. 

B1G folk don't necessarily like to hear this, but the media wasn't wrong and there's really one way to change that narrative.  It's not through having loud and vocal commissioner, it's not through building your own set of media shills.  It's through building a conference that consistently, year-in and year-out, is at the top of the heap.