Details of New Postseason Money Distribution Emerge

We've known for a while that the new postseason format with the playoff will be lucrative. What we haven't known is just how the conferences will divide up the money. Finally, some details are emerging on that front:

The BCS recently signed a 12-year contract with ESPN. The deal averages to $470 million annually, sources said. Of that amount, about $125 million is expected to go toward expenses, including an academic reward component, game participation, team expenses, allotment to Football Championship Subdivision conferences and other items.

It leaves an average of $345 million annually, which the commissioners have decided to split in two ways: 75 percent ($258.75 million) divided equally between the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC, and the remaining 25 percent ($86.25 million) divided among the Big East, MWC, MAC, C-USA and Sun Belt.

More money for the power conferences will come from ESPN's separate contracts with the Rose, Sugar, and Orange Bowls. The Rose and Sugar will be passing out $40 million annually to each of their conference business partners, while the Orange will give at least $27.5 million to the ACC every year (Notre Dame won't get that much when it appears).

That math comes out to a $91.75 million guarantee to the SEC each year, and it will go up to $119.25 million in seasons when it puts a team into the Orange Bowl. By contract, the league will have at least three and up to five appearances there. The conference will get even more money from teams participating in the playoff games, and individual schools will receive some of the pot for staying above an Academic Progress Rate threshold.

So there you go. That's how the rich are going to continue to get richer beginning with the 2014 football season.