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To answer one of your questions, the conferences look for a bigger "footprint" because it does indeed mean more money for the conference, and in turn more money that gets funneled to each team in the conference. It's all about the TV contracts- as a conference expands to include more square miles and more major TV markets, they get bigger money from the TV networks for broadcasting their teams' games.
I am from Nebraska and have been following their whole situation closely. Basically the Big 12 is a much smaller conference than the Big 10 population and dollar-wise. In the Big 12 under the current TV contracts, Nebraska and all other Big 12 teams get about $10 million per year. However a move to the Big 10 with its much bigger population and TV markets, Nebraska, along with everyone else, will stand to get about $20 million per year. There is also the indirect effect, such as being in a bigger market like that, getting more exposure on more TV sets most Saturdays means more people to potentially buy Nebraska gear (shirts, hats, jerseys, etc.), and get better exposure with high school kids who may gain interest in coming to play at Nebraska when they go to college.
I now live in Seattle, and of course there has been a lot of talk about the Pac 10's expansion to take on Utah and Colorado. It's a similar case there- the Pac 10 wants a bigger footprint, and expanding into the Salt Lake City and Denver markets is great, getting the conference coverage into really the whole Rocky Mountain Region for better TV contracts due to having more TV markets.
There is still tradition in college football-- it has just evolved from the old SWC days. It is something different now-- new rivalries are being born. Also, your analysis doesn't include the Sun Belt or the MAC, or the independents-- so it is still inherently unfair.
Also, I'm not for a playoff system. I like the BCS system just the way it is. A playoff would totally ruin the importance of regular season games.
Look at basketball-- how many people tune into it when the season begins? (Not many) Those first games in basketball have some very low low attendance... because people really don't care until the end of the regular season and the beginning of march madness.
College football is great because it has so many few games-- and every game counts!
Also, I'm not for a playoff system. I like the BCS system just the way it is. A playoff would totally ruin the importance of regular season games.
Look at basketball-- how many people tune into it when the season begins? (Not many) Those first games in basketball have some very low low attendance... because people really don't care until the end of the regular season and the beginning of march madness.
College football is great because it has so many few games-- and every game counts!
I agree! In some ways I hate how a team or two gets left out by the BCS who are truly deserving, but then again I would hate, absolutely hate to have individual regular season games being meaningless as they are in college basketball or even at the end of the season in the NFL. That intensity in college football where every game is like a playoff game is really cool, and part of what makes it so different- in a positive way- from the NFL.
I don't know if there would be huge lessening of the importance of the reg season though.
I mean isn't the main difference between the hardwood and the gridiron is that there are SO MUCH MORE games played?
The NFL gets MASSIVE ratings that utterly dwarf whatever college football puts on in the reg season. It gets meaningless if your team isn't in the running though.
One of the bigger issues is that it makes traveling to games much harder for students, and that includes other athletes, because all the sports now have to compete in the other division. If you are Nebraska, you are traveling to the west coast a lot now (if you are the basketball team, etc...). That's a lot of extra traveling about.
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