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Overall, this is an excellent post which every college football fan under 40 should read.
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All about increasing "The Footprint", all about the revenue of new markets. The SEC, Presented by Delta. McDonald's Big Ten-or-Twelve-or-Whatever.
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Agreed. It's disgusting. It's all about "franchising" football. I call it selling out for cash.
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the Big Twelve, Subsidary of Titanic Cruise Lines?
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LOL. True here as well.
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College football arguably was the most traditional of sports, ahead of even that other (former) bastion of tradition, MLB. MLB, of course, has divisioned and wild carded itself into a mockery of its long, cherished history.
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^^^
On the money here. THIS is exactly why I'm so fed up with all this realignment stuff....it is killing the traditions based on region and culture. It will never be the same and I'm predicting that it will greatly diminish not necessarily the interest in college football, but certainly the relationships/identity that have made it such a unique/fascinating sport.
Thanks, B&C; much appreciated. and thanks too for the excellent commentary which further drives the point home.
point is: the colleges are playing their game, and the only college color left is pure $$$$$$$$$$$$; no law says we have to play along with them.
If the pie is finite, why the necessity of increasing footprints? If all conferences extend their footprint with tremendous overlap, don't the "overlap regions" represent a far smaller market than the areas that are solidly in the conference without any other conference in place there? Don't these conferences want all major conferences across the country to be strong, so that a true national champion can be crowned? Why does there have to be competition between conferences? Couldn't the very act of making x amount of broadcast games part of the "commons" that would be split among all schools (just like the NFL does to protect its smaller markets and which MLB does not at the very expense of those smaller markets....the Pittsburghs of the world...barely hang on) mean that all parts of the nation can have competitive programs that make sufficient broadcasting bucks.
however, if anyone disagrees, I have come up with the ultimate dream sports set up for our era. It involves the NFL. Divide the league up into 32 divisions, each with one team. at season's end, all 32 divisional winners go into the play-offs. no wild cards anymore, so second place has beens allowed to continue the season. no, only the real winners, the 32 divisional champs advance.
and an added beauty of my play-off is that any city, even the cold northern ones, can host a super bowl.....in may.
Technically speaking, Texas and Oklahoma are the western most boundary of the South. Going to the Mighty Midwest Conference doesn't make any more geographic sense than the PAC, IMO. Kansas and Missouri, sure, they can go to the Big 10. Oklahoma/Texas schools? I don't think so. Plus, I've always heard that there would be no way that the Big 10, with its academic pedigree, would take Oklahoma/Oklahoma State/or Texas Tech.
There is no easy solution. I still wish there is a way the Texas and Oklahoma schools could start a 10 team South Central Conference (SSC) and then pick up 2-3 bigtime quality non-conference games per year to satfisy the strength of schedule.
SSC East
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Rice
SMU
Tulsa
SSC West
Baylor
TCU
Texas
Texas Tech
UTEP
Nice. This one has the buzz of the old Southwest Conference in it. And, as such, perhaps B&C, with this geographically based idea, A&M would be more willing to stay rather than go.
If that's the case and expanding your idea to the next even number (12), how about Tulane as part of the mix?
SSC East
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Rice
SMU
Tulsa Tulane
I'm an Old Time Traditionalist; and, it pains me to see those traditions swept away so easily just because of money and the fact that A&M just couldn't stand its big brother Texas any longer.
I agree with you completely that college football programs are trashing tradition and chasing the almighty dollar, and it makes me sad as well. My alma mater, Colorado State, played Utah and BYU every year for 50+ years, but with conference realignment, those rivalries are gone.
I honestly can't say I blame the schools for chasing the TV dollar because that's the single biggest source of revenue for a lot of them. Our athletic department barely clears $1 million a year and most of that comes from student fees and the Mountain West's craptastic TV deal. If we had the revenue of a Pac-12 team we could add sports we don't currently have like baseball, and we could afford to expand/replace our tiny football stadium.
It's easy to blame the BCS, but this trend honestly started long before them. OU and Georgia filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA in the early 1980s. At the time the NCAA had complete control over TV coverage for all of college football. OU and UGA won the suit and as a result individual schools were given the freedom to negotiate their own TV deals. That case was the event that got the ball rolling toward the mega-conference scenario.
The only way this trend is going to be stopped/reversed is if people stop going to the games and watching them on TV, and you and I both know that's not gonna happen.
Texas being greedy really blew up in thier face and the Big 12 deserves whats happening, thats for damn sure.
How is this blowing up in Texas' face? They are getting paid from Longhorn Network deal, hence A&M trying to flee.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluescreen73
I agree with you completely that college football programs are trashing tradition and chasing the almighty dollar, and it makes me sad as well. My alma mater, Colorado State, played Utah and BYU every year for 50+ years, but with conference realignment, those rivalries are gone.
Oh for those minor schools... are there really any true traditions...
My alum (FSU) still plays its rivals (UF and Miami).
Florida still plays Georgia.
Michigan still plays Ohio St and Michigan St
Alabama still plays Auburn
Army still plays Navy
Notre Dame still plays Stanford and USC
....
....
....
Quote:
If we had the revenue of a Pac-12 team we could add sports we don't currently have like baseball, and we could afford to expand/replace our tiny football stadium.
Expanding your stadium is in relation to student body/attendance i.e. basic supply/demand... Example... UCF for years couldn't fill out a stadium. As the student body greatly expanded, they expanded not only their basketball stadium but also built a stadium on campus all within a year of each other. Remember they play in minor non-bcs conference just like yours.
Oh for those minor schools... are there really any true traditions...
My alum (FSU) still plays its rivals (UF and Miami).
Florida still plays Georgia.
Michigan still plays Ohio St and Michigan St
Alabama still plays Auburn
Army still plays Navy
Notre Dame still plays Stanford and USC
....
....
....
Expanding your stadium is in relation to student body/attendance i.e. basic supply/demand... Example... UCF for years couldn't fill out a stadium. As the student body greatly expanded, they expanded not only their basketball stadium but also built a stadium on campus all within a year of each other. Remember they play in minor non-bcs conference just like yours.
Minor? In terms of conference and exposure, sure. In terms of longevity, we have a rivlary with the University of Wyoming that's 50 years older than Florida State's entire football program. Without Bobby Bowden, FSU would probably be on the same level as FAU.
Minor? In terms of conference and exposure, sure. In terms of longevity, we have a rivlary with the University of Wyoming that's 50 years older than Florida State's entire football program. Without Bobby Bowden, FSU would probably be on the same level as FAU.
You do realize we are top Baseball school as well as in Track for years. Last I checked, Bobby only coached football.
Florida State hired coaching staff to took a minor school to the next level. They created TRUE tradition and won National champions with 15 Top AP poll finishes.
What is Colorado St excuse? They had 50+ years extra than us to make their program relevant and couldn't. Instead, they look proud with their 3 win record. My hats are off to such fine work
News Flash: Bobby is gone and we were #2 in recruiting; preseason #6 (our highest rank since Mark Richt left for Georgia in 2001).
Now back to your regular scheduled Texas A&M/Big 12 talk...
How is this blowing up in Texas' face? They are getting paid from Longhorn Network deal, hence A&M trying to flee.
1st Texas threatened the Big 12 of leaving the conference, a ploy to make sure it got its own T.V. deal from the Big 12. Texas has been known to be the "bully" of the conference. Pretty much how this conference shift started in the 1st place.
2nd the Big 12 (not really Texas's fault) is the only conference that doesnt share its revenue equally amongst its members. Guess which teams got the most, Texas and Oklahoma. While the littler teams like Nebraska, Colorado, etc got much less. That would tick anyone off I dont care who you are.
Texas has long been the Big 12's baby and its nice to finally see it come and bite them and the Big 12 in the butt after reaping the benefits the last 10 years or so. Im going to miss the Nebraska Kansas/Colorado/Oklahoma rivalries but it was time for a change.
NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma president David Boren says multiple conferences have shown interest in the Sooners recently and he expects to decide whether to leave the Big 12 or not within the next three weeks......
I agree with you completely that college football programs are trashing tradition and chasing the almighty dollar, and it makes me sad as well. My alma mater, Colorado State, played Utah and BYU every year for 50+ years, but with conference realignment, those rivalries are gone.
I honestly can't say I blame the schools for chasing the TV dollar because that's the single biggest source of revenue for a lot of them. Our athletic department barely clears $1 million a year and most of that comes from student fees and the Mountain West's craptastic TV deal. If we had the revenue of a Pac-12 team we could add sports we don't currently have like baseball, and we could afford to expand/replace our tiny football stadium.
It's easy to blame the BCS, but this trend honestly started long before them. OU and Georgia filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the NCAA in the early 1980s. At the time the NCAA had complete control over TV coverage for all of college football. OU and UGA won the suit and as a result individual schools were given the freedom to negotiate their own TV deals. That case was the event that got the ball rolling toward the mega-conference scenario.
The only way this trend is going to be stopped/reversed is if people stop going to the games and watching them on TV, and you and I both know that's not gonna happen.
blue, i think your region gets punished because its smaller population can not generate the t.v. revenue. that's a shame. i mentioned earlier that the NFL shares revenue for ALL t.v. broadcasting evenly among its 32 teams.
wouldn't we benefit if there was a revenue sharing of broadcasting rights among the major conferences? If so, the Rocky Mountain region would no longer be at a disadvantage. Under the right circumstances, Utah far more belonged in its own neck of the woods with the MWC than it does in the Pac 12.
Look at the whole Big 12 mess. That conference came into being because of the smaller revenues of the old Big 8 footprint as well as the Texas schools (mainly UT, but A&M as well) wanting exposure beyond their own state that the SWC didn't provide.
If significant portions of broadcasting rights were shared, there would be no "left out" regions of the nation and places like the Rockies and the Great Plains would not be at any disadvantage.
Look, if this really was the pro's, I can understand the profit motive. But it seems to me that universities throughout the system benefit from strong conferences in every region of the nation to make the game truly national.
I'm sticking with notion that broadcasting rights is the reason we have the step child image in more sparsely populated areas.
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are there really any true traditions...
