You can keep claiming that it's all ESPN's doing with the 5 major conference thing but the reality is that with the elimination of the AQ, the Big East holds zero power anymore. They are clumped right back in with the MWC, C-USA of the world. Not saying we;re on the same competitive level, but in the eyes of the big boys, we don't matter. I've now seen the reference to 5 power conferences on 4-5 major sites. I think it's a clear consensus that the Big East no longer matters like it did when AQ status existed.
Here's an interesting article about the length of the contract for this new playoff:
http://cfn.scout.com/2/1198219.html
I found this to be most interesting and disturbing for the Big East.
"
The selection committee will choose not just the four playoff teams, but the matchups for the six bundled bowl games that will be part of this larger plan. This is fabulous news for fans of the sport, because it means that top-tier bowl matchups will finally exist with fewer conference-forced constraints. The tie-ins and lock-ins that existed in the BCS era – and to a lesser extent in the pre-Bowl Alliance era – suffocated the sport by limiting the options of bowl committees."
There's not a shot anyone in the NBE moves the needle enough to make this committee want to pit them in one of the big time bowls unless they go undefeated or lose one game and beat one or two powerhouse teams along the way.....