And in even more good news, ESPN: "Sources: 7th access bowl unlikely"

[Rumrunner]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8545522/seventh-access-bowl-bcs-unlikely-sources-say

"I think everyone has realized the seventh bowl is not on the level with the other contract bowls," a source said. "The question was, how much can we get for this game? It didn't sound like it was a lot."
It's not. The Rose and Champions bowls will be worth $80 million a year. Sources also told ESPN that the Orange Bowl will be worth $60 million a year, compared to only about $25 million a year for the proposed seventh bowl.
"Three weeks ago it was probably 90-10 (that a seventh bowl game would happen), now I would put it at less than 50 percent," another source said."

I am shocked, positively shocked that such a development is happening. Why would those who have a lot of stuff be so reticent to give away some of their stuff? When I pick my son up from elementary school today, I am going to ask him.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Looks like ESPN may not get the TV contract for it.

I would be shocked if the rights to the Orange Bowl went for $60MM.

 

[uconNYC]

For the uninformed - what are the 6 bowls? Is this correct:

1) National Championship final game
2) National Championship Semifinal game 1
3) National Championship Semifinal game 2
4) Rose Bowl (Pac12 vs B1G)
5) TheChampions Bowl (Big12 vs SEC)
6) Orange Bowl (ACC vs At large)

So the Fiesta and Sugar are out?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Also, the Big East and non-power conference have already probably sent the BCS a draft of their anti-trust lawsuit, which the BCS would have about a 90% chance of losing.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Seriously? to the original post? seriously?

You trust ESPNMcMurphy's unnamed sources - why?

Do I have to do this again line by line? McMurphy just did the same thing he's done before for ESPN since he went there a few months ago to work. He took information, that has been verified from verifiable sources before (there is nothing new in this article - that has NOT been verified before)....the rest is pure speculation.

He's taken that information, already known, and verified from real sources.....and in his article, attributed that information to "unnamed industry sources" to set up and give credibility to his OTHER "unnamed industry sources" that he uses. This is a professional writer, setting up an article for his employer, at a very critical time for a major sports entity that his employer is tryign to keep from going to open market.

It disgusts me.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Reason number 23480923840293482037423 why getting out of this wretched conference is imperative for our program to be viable as a top athletic program.

 

[Pudge]

Reason number 23480923840293482037423 why getting out of this wretched conference is imperative for our program to be viable as a top athletic program.

Where --- are we going to?

I will put you in with Zac's Club: We should never have started this process by upgrading to FBS. Because without a conference, we are really nowhere.

 

[Palatine]

The end is coming for the bowls.

It may not be in view but its right over the horizon.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Reason number 23480923840293482037423 why getting out of this wretched conference is imperative for our program to be viable as a top athletic program.

I wish you, and the like minded, would stop this and stop acting like sheep reading the ESPN news. Really. The only reason we aren't nationally relevant in football, is because we aren't one of the unbeaten programs in our conference, and never have been. I'd like that to change, but's on nobody but us.

As for the conference, we'll know very, very soon who's been right or wrong. Until then, unless you've got plan for somewhere else to go with our entire athletic department, it's really, really old and useless.

 

[Rumrunner]

So the guy who works for ESPN and has a rolodex filled with sources, including conference commissioners, is not to be believed. But a whackjob poster on a message board is. I get it.

It's better if you claim that the sources telling McMurphy this news are biased and are putting out information that is self-serving. But unless you have had your head in the sand, there has been a concerted effort to marginalize the Big East by the "power" 5 conferences. It is to their benefit to do so. That marginalization continues unabated. What a surprise.

 

[Carl Spackler]

So the guy who works for ESPN and has a rolodex filled with sources, including conference commissioners, is not to be believed. But a whackjob poster on a message board is. I get it.

It's better if you claim that the sources telling McMurphy this news are biased and are putting out information that is self-serving. But unless you have had your head in the sand, there has been a concerted effort to marginalize the Big East by the "power" 5 conferences. It is to their benefit to do so. That marginalization continues unabated. What a surprise.

Trust and verify. That's what you do, with anything. When you verify enough, you know if you should trust. I don't trust a thing that McMurphy writes, unless he's got named, verifiable sources. This entire article is a set up, to get people, to react - just like you, and the other one that posted, and the thousands and thousands of others that read it, and it's a blatantly ugly one at that.

I've actually been surprised that more stuff like this hasn't come out of ESPN regarding college football and the playoff, and the bowl games as the Big East gets closer to ending the exclusive negotiation window.

 

[UConnJim]

Calm down. The 7th access bowl was tied into the BE/ESPN media rights negotiation. ESPN wants to sign the BE for less money, but provide access for a 7th bowl. So BE has to decide, more access or more money. BTW, of course the other conferences aren't leaders for the 7th bowl, so McMurphy is technically correct.

 

[huskymedic]

For the uninformed - what are the 6 bowls? Is this correct:

1) National Championship final game
2) National Championship Semifinal game 1
3) National Championship Semifinal game 2
4) Rose Bowl (Pac12 vs B1G)
5) TheChampions Bowl (Big12 vs SEC)
6) Orange Bowl (ACC vs At large)

So the Fiesta and Sugar are out?

In the posted article - "Although the six access bowls have not been "officially" selected, sources said the access bowls will be the existing four BCS bowls -- Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange -- plus the Cotton and Chick-fil-A. This also works best geographically with the access bowls spread equally across the country: Rose and Fiesta in the west, Sugar and Cotton in the central and Orange and Chick-fil-A in the east. Of those bowls, three already have "contracted" matchups: Rose (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten); Champions/either Cotton or Sugar (Big 12 vs. SEC) and Orange (ACC vs. Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame). That leaves the remaining three access bowls -- the Fiesta, Chick-fil-A and either the Cotton or Sugar -- to be filled by the playoff's selection committee with the highest-rated available at-large teams."

 

[MattMang23]

McMurphy is not a legit reporter because his unnamed sources are not on the Big East battleship.

No one with the initials Adm. before his name supplied the information and therefore it can not be trusted.

Once the real sources, the Big East's hired code-talkers, get ahold of the enemy's plans more trusted information will be declassified and will become available. A briefing will be scheduled at 0300 hours next Tuesday.

 

[huskymedic]

This is all part of the dance in the TV contract negotiations...

 

[huskymedic]

So the guy who works for ESPN and has a rolodex filled with sources, including conference commissioners, is not to be believed. But a whackjob poster on a message board is. I get it.

It's better if you claim that the sources telling McMurphy this news are biased and are putting out information that is self-serving. But unless you have had your head in the sand, there has been a concerted effort to marginalize the Big East by the "power" 5 conferences. It is to their benefit to do so. That marginalization continues unabated. What a surprise.

 

[huskymedic]

How's this for mixing sources...

McMurphyESPN 12:58pm via TweetDeck
For those that don't understand why Big East is not power league in new playoff format this explains it cbssports.com/collegefootbal…

 

[junglehusky]

Carl, you'll be able to have a heck of a "Told-you-so!" if the 7th bowl happens and gets more than 25 million. If it doesn't happen, or if it gets less than 25 million, McMurphy's sources will have been proven right. Even if they're engaging in psy-ops or pump-and-dump or short selling, they will have been vindicated.

 

[Carl Spackler]

How's this for mixing sources...

McMurphyESPN 12:58pm via TweetDeck
For those that don't understand why Big East is not power league in new playoff format this explains it cbssports.com/collegefootbal…

You do realize that the article you source was written in June, before the conference commissioners, which at that time was the interim for the Big EAst, even met to discuss the post season?

Since Aresco was hired, the big east conference has been advertising (I saw the Big EAst put a powerful ad on TV just this past weekend, during saturday's college games on the major networks), and talking about how, the big east is actually a significant player in intercollegiate athletics?

Even ESPN a few weeks ago, on college gameday, was backing off the "power 5" stuff. BUt here we are, exactly 1 week, from when the conference becomes a free agent, and a professional writer, puts out a piece like this? Talking about the same old BS - except McMurphy coins a new-term in here - a "non-power conference". HE repeats the term, quite effectively. Really, that's what it is now - the power conferences, and the non-power conferences.

And all the sheep, get in line and BAA together. Yup, it most be so. Anyone not in the SEC, or the Big 10, or Pac 10, or the ACC or the big 12, is a non-power program. ESPN said so.

BAA.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Where --- are we going to?

I will put you in with Zac's Club: We should never have started this process by upgrading to FBS. Because without a conference, we are really nowhere.

I know it's not up to us if we leave or not, that doesn't change the point that the Big East is not a long term viable solution to keep our athletic program as a national brand program that competes against top competition. We're slowly being relegated further and further back to C-USA standards.

I'm also not living in Carl's delusional world where every negative word out of ESPN's mouth about the Big East is some conspiracy and that the NNBE is some awesome conference that's going to bring in a $20 million a year per team TV contract. Sure, ESPN spins things, and I don't believe much of what they report, but it makes sense that this seventh bowl wouldn't happen, or at least if it did, it would be downgraded in some respect. There's really no point for them to add it except to appease the lesser conferences, of which we are now a part.

That's the key point, we're no longer in a power conference. In the perception world (all that matters in CFB), we're no different from CUSA, MAC, and MWC. Undefeated Louisville/RU is the same as undefeated Ohio - a nice, cute story that isn't nationally relevant.

 

[JayRU09]

Isn't this the guy who criticized the Big East for involving the public schools in the commissioner search because it would allow for a freedom of information request (which only ESPN did)?

In other words, he criticized the conference for involving most of the schools in the search for their own commissioner. Or maybe I just don't understand how these things are supposed to work.

 

[huskymedic]

You do realize that the article you source was written in June, before the conference commissioners, which at that time was the interim for the Big EAst, even met to discuss the post season?

Since Aresco was hired, the big east conference has been advertising (I saw the Big EAst put a powerful ad on TV just this past weekend, during saturday's college games on the major networks), and talking about how, the big east is actually a significant player in intercollegiate athletics?

Even ESPN a few weeks ago, on college gameday, was backing off the "power 5" stuff. BUt here we are, exactly 1 week, from when the conference becomes a free agent, and a professional writer, puts out a piece like this? Talking about the same old BS - except McMurphy coins a new-term in here - a "non-power conference". HE repeats the term, quite effectively. Really, that's what it is now - the power conferences, and the non-power conferences.

And all the sheep, get in line and BAA together. Yup, it most be so. Anyone not in the SEC, or the Big 10, or Pac 10, or the ACC or the big 12, is a non-power program. ESPN said so.

BAA.

and you do realize it was written by McMurphy when he was @ CBS... it it's McMuphy ESPN sourcing McMurphy CBS Sports. Give me a little bit of credit spuds.

 

[Carl Spackler]

The only reason that Louisville and Rutgers aren't ranked in the top ten with other unbeatens, and are at #15, and #16, is because of their low status in the polling to start the season, which is a result of the two decades of the combination of poor management from the conference, and by extension poor media relations.

public perception is very important in college football when it comes to polling, and that's exactly why a paid professional writer, would put out piece of garbage as poorly written(or greatly written - depending on your perspective) as this piece, the purpose of which, is purely meant to sway public opinion.

The college football world is going through major, major change right now. The public is demanding that the champions, actually get determined on the fields of play. THe system is going to fight it, but the bowl system that they are trying to preserve right now, that was concocted in the 1990s, will not continue in the future with a concurrent playoff.

A lower tier bowl system, for winning teams, can co-exist with a true playoff, and should, to reward those 6-6, 7-5, 8-4 programs that don't qualify for a playoff, and the corruption around the college football post season would eventually get cleaned up.

I think it's going to happen faster, than a lot of people anticipate. The BCS system died, with the initial approval of a 4 team playoff. The thing that needs to get really hashed out, is the revenue distribution for the post season among conferences - that's what it's all about now. A revenue distribution system that rewards things like both academics, as well as performance on the field, is not something a conference like the SEC or Big 12 wants to hear about.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Isn't this the guy who criticized the Big East for involving the public schools in the commissioner search because it would allow for a freedom of information request (which only ESPN did)?

In other words, he criticized the conference for involving most of the schools in the search for their own commissioner. Or maybe I just don't understand how these things are supposed to work.

Yes. He's got track record, both with CBS and now ESPN.

 

[Carl Spackler]

and you do realize it was written by McMurphy when he was @ CBS... it it's McMuphy ESPN sourcing McMurphy CBS Sports. Give me a little bit of credit spuds.

Oh man.....sorry dude. I see what you did there now, and I missed it. Sorry. McMurphy is the ultimate cross-reference, strawman source builder in the industry.