OT - CNN Opinion Piece on Conference Realignment and Football

[FairView]

Nothing new, but a well-written piece that highlights reasons, problems and a solution we've heard before.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/opinions/college-football-conferences-realignment-pac-12-acc-sec-big-12-leitch/index.html

 

[MilfordHusky]

I agree with Rick Pitino, Swin cash, et al. The new conferences don't work for sports other than football.

 

[Rowdy831]

I agree with Rick Pitino, Swin cash, et al. The new conferences don't work for sports other than football.

Unfortunately money talks in college sports and has for quite some time. Even a mediocre football team can generate enough revenue to pay for the sport while very good basketball teams have no chance to do the same. I think what we are witnessing is the fall of college athletics as an amateur's sport and with it the end of students being the center of the game. Like the pro game all the fans will pay huge money to attend and a ton of seats will go to corporate sponsors.

 

[Carnac]

I agree with Rick Pitino, Swin cash, et al. The new conferences don't work for sports other than football.

Then the answer to this dilemma is simple. Separate football from all other programs in college sports.

Create a stand-alone national college football program. Create 4 national FBS and FCS regions as they do for the NCAA BB tournaments, then divide those regions into 2 to 4 divisions. From there, you figure out your bowl games and playoff brackets.

Let the Presidents, Athletic Director, coaches, and network executives have a round table discussion on how to figure out the leagues, rankings, logistics, schedules, and payouts. You've got college presidents and administrators with pHDs. They should be smart enough to figure that out.

All of the "other" athletic programs (Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, etc.) can work out their own conference affiliations, schedules, payouts, and post-season tournaments. One would have nothing to do with the other.

No man can serve TWO MASTERS. In today's world, football is the master and is being served like royalty. This concept should work to most college presidents' and TV executive's satisfaction, IMO. There will always be some malcontents and those smaller schools who feel "left out" and would be forced to fight and rummage over the table scrapes (leftovers).

A similar concept would also work in the NFL. Exclude the starting QB's salary from a team's salary cap. Each team would be allowed to pay their QB whatever they wish, and it would not count or be part of the team's salary cap allowing teams to hold on to players they now are forced to cut because of salary cap limitations.

 

[Alydar]

Unfortunately money talks in college sports and has for quite some time. Even a mediocre football team can generate enough revenue to pay for the sport while very good basketball teams have no chance to do the same. I think what we are witnessing is the fall of college athletics as an amateur's sport and with it the end of students being the center of the game. Like the pro game all the fans will pay huge money to attend and a ton of seats will go to corporate sponsors.

While I agree that basketball has a hard time breaking even I don't think UConn's football program is anywhere close to self-supporting.

 

[Carnac]

Then the answer to this dilemma is simple. Separate football from all other programs in college sports.

Create a stand-alone national college football program. Create 4 national FBS and FCS regions as they do for the NCAA BB tournaments, then divide those regions into 2 to 4 divisions. From there, you figure out your bowl games and playoff brackets.

Let the Presidents, Athletic Director, coaches, and network executives have a round table discussion on how to figure out the leagues, rankings, logistics, schedules, and payouts. You've got college presidents and administrators with pHDs. They should be smart enough to figure that out.

All of the "other" athletic programs (Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, etc.) can work out their own conference affiliations, schedules, payouts, and post-season tournaments. One would have nothing to do with the other.

No man can serve TWO MASTERS. In today's world, football is the master and is being served like royalty. This concept should work to most college presidents' and TV executive's satisfaction, IMO. There will always be some malcontents and those smaller schools who feel "left out" and would be forced to fight and rummage over the table scrapes (leftovers).

A similar concept would also work in the NFL. Exclude the starting QB's salary from a team's salary cap. Each team would be allowed to pay their QB whatever they wish, and it would not count or be part of the team's salary cap allowing teams to hold on to players they now are forced to cut because of salary cap limitations.

follow up...............

The chaos that has enveloped college football, as the saying goes, came on us slowly, and then suddenly. The true starter pistol for all this, though, was the June 2021 Supreme Court ruling—and instantly infamous Brett Kavanaugh concurrence—that essentially called the NCAA, which was claiming it didn’t have to pay its football players despite bringing in billions of dollars, a cartel. The NCAA’s response to this was, essentially, to take its ball and go home, to abdicate any responsibility as the governing power of the game.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/09/opin...e-sports-harvard-affirmative-action-macintosh
Opinion: The one group with a huge advantage in college admissions -
And while the NCAA is flawed—hugely, hilariously flawed—and was in desperate need of reform, it was still the closest thing college football had to an overarching authority. When it checked out, that vacuum launched an arms race among athletic directors, conference commissioners, and television executives to fight for every scrap of revenue—and to destroy anyone who stood in their way.

That’s why Oklahoma’s now in the SEC, Arizona is in the Big 12, Washington’s now in the Big Ten, and the Pac-12 is dead.
Every college football decision has been made with solely short-term interests—rather than what’s good for the sport, and higher education in general—in mind. No one’s minding the store. So everyone’s pulling up and selling anything not nailed down.

 

[sun]

While I agree that basketball has a hard time breaking even I don't think UConn's football program is anywhere close to self-supporting.

I agree.

The average cost of an FBS football team is over 22 million dollars per year. FBS teams are the largest and most expensive college teams in the US. The Southeastern Conference averages the highest cost per team at 34 million per team, while the Sunbelt only averages 7.4 million per team.

• SEC: 33.95M
• B1G: 30.03M
• ACC: 27.61M
• Big 12: 26.28M
• Pac 12: 26.2M
• AAC: 15.7M
• Mountain West: 11.38M
• Conference USA: 9.45M
• MAC: 8.00M
• Sun Belt: 7.39M

How much does it cost to run a college football program? - GameDay Culture

During the fall, one of the most popular sports to watch during the weekend is college football. Thousands of people around the country turn in to watch these

gamedayculture.com

 

[Skeets]

Unfortunately money talks in college sports and has for quite some time. Even a mediocre football team can generate enough revenue to pay for the sport while very good basketball teams have no chance to do the same. I think what we are witnessing is the fall of college athletics as an amateur's sport and with it the end of students being the center of the game. Like the pro game all the fans will pay huge money to attend and a ton of seats will go to corporate sponsors.

Rowdy, I somewhat disagree. UConn is the very definition of a mediocre football team (based on the pre-Mora years). UConn football doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for anything. Back a couple of decades ago, UConn's WBB team was famous for helping to subsidize the men's football team (pre-D1?). UConn was the only school in the country that could make such a claim. UConn's WBB might do a little better than break even today (such things are not broken out by sport), but probably not enough to make such a claim today.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Unfortunately money talks in college sports and has for quite some time. Even a mediocre football team can generate enough revenue to pay for the sport while very good basketball teams have no chance to do the same. I think what we are witnessing is the fall of college athletics as an amateur's sport and with it the end of students being the center of the game. Like the pro game all the fans will pay huge money to attend and a ton of seats will go to corporate sponsors.

The problem is that it is only football money that talks in college sports. No other sport counts. Indeed, it is only football money at the biggest, most successful football universities that counts. And that is destroying everything else.

Agree that a few years from now, college football will realize that in its greed, it has destroyed what was so valued by so many millions of people.

 

[Carnac]

The problem is that it is only football money that talks in college sports. No other sport counts. Indeed, it is only football money at the biggest, most successful football universities that counts. And that is destroying everything else.

Agree that a few years from now, college football will realize that in its greed, it has destroyed what was so valued by so many millions of people.

That's exactly why you put ALL of the Division 1 football programs in a separate "fishbowl", and allow all of the other college and university athletic programs to operate on their respective separate budgets. Notice what greed and mismanagement did to the PAC 12, soon the be the PAC 2 (Oregon St & Washington St.)

 

[hjoerring]

Thanks for sharing this FairView. Nothing wrong with reminding us about the insanity that has come to enveloped us. Speaking sense to others pocket book and their armies is ... well, good luck. One of the things that have fascinated me about Amer Univ is the way in which the culture of sport remained a part of student life. (Not to be found in other peoples world) Perhaps universities as they once were has outlived themselves, and only as sport/football entities can they survive. Nobody doing anything (but auditioning for the next invitation) because no one really knows what is really worth saving-- clearly not the student athletes.

 

[Steelerone]

Just curious - I wonder how many of the Boneyard fans have the same interest in college football as they had say, five years ago. Has it increased or has it diminished? Have you gotten so weary of reading about these changes and how they are going to affect your team that you find yourself sometimes turning the sport pages a little more quickly or has it actually generated more interest?

 

[uconnfan68]

Just curious - I wonder how many of the Boneyard fans have the same interest in college football as they had say, five years ago. Has it increased or has it diminished? Have you gotten so weary of reading about these changes and how they are going to affect your team that you find yourself sometimes turning the sport pages a little more quickly or has it actually generated more interest?

Very much more interested in UConn since Mora came along. I really don't care about the rest, but will pay attention to our next opponent.

 

[visitingcock]

Just curious - I wonder how many of the Boneyard fans have the same interest in college football as they had say, five years ago. Has it increased or has it diminished? Have you gotten so weary of reading about these changes and how they are going to affect your team that you find yourself sometimes turning the sport pages a little more quickly or has it actually generated more interest?

The transfer portal has ruined my interest across the board, oh, I watch the Gamecocks but I don’t have the two deep etched in my mind when I watch. I don’t remember who we battled for a recruit. I don’t remember the low 3 star that the coach took a chance on. I don’t know the top players in the conference or who is returning from injury.

When the SEC was 12 teams, I knew a lot about every team in our division. When it hits 16 with no divisions, I’m not going to know much about 15 other teams.

It’s just slipping away - along with the passion

 

[mudcat]

Just curious - I wonder how many of the Boneyard fans have the same interest in college football as they had say, five years ago. Has it increased or has it diminished? Have you gotten so weary of reading about these changes and how they are going to affect your team that you find yourself sometimes turning the sport pages a little more quickly or has it actually generated more interest?

I was in Korea for over 7 years and couldn't watch football regularly. When I returned I found my interest has waned. Unlike basketball, I rarely watch anymore.

 

[ucbart]

The transfer portal has ruined my interest across the board, oh, I watch the Gamecocks but I don’t have the two deep etched in my mind when I watch. I don’t remember who we battled for a recruit. I don’t remember the low 3 star that the coach took a chance on. I don’t know the top players in the conference or who is returning from injury.

When the SEC was 12 teams, I knew a lot about every team in our division. When it hits 16 with no divisions, I’m not going to know much about 15 other teams.

It’s just slipping away - along with the passion

I've often wondered about this perspective from an SEC fan. You're THE giant, but even you guys must feel bad for the little guy and it must take some of the joy out of conference rivalries.

 

[triaddukefan]

Just curious - I wonder how many of the Boneyard fans have the same interest in college football as they had say, five years ago. Has it increased or has it diminished? Have you gotten so weary of reading about these changes and how they are going to affect your team that you find yourself sometimes turning the sport pages a little more quickly or has it actually generated more interest?

I don't have the same interest in college football as I did 5 years ago. Partly due to aging, partly due to conference realignment, and partly due to ACC games switching to the ACCN as opposed to being on free TV. I still watch, listen, and keep up with Duke FB, and watch some of the CBS, FOX, and ABC games. I will say, on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I'm as likely to watch Elon @HuskyNan or a CIAA/SWAC game as I am a Big 12 or Big 10 game.

 

[Ozimoto]

I grew up with college football in the 1970's and 1980's. That was the era of eastern school rivalries when WVU (my alma mater) played Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, and Virginia Tech every year. Those games led to some wild times. Just don't get the same vibe from playing Big 12 opponents.

I still watch games, but rarely from start to finish.

 

[Steelerone]

I grew up with college football in the 1970's and 1980's. That was the era of eastern school rivalries when WVU (my alma mater) played Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, and Virginia Tech every year. Those games led to some wild times. Just don't get the same vibe from playing Big 12 opponents.

I still watch games, but rarely from start to finish.

Could not agree more Oz. I started looking forward to the Pitt-WVU game as soon as training started for the season. Now is just seems like all the old rivalry games are going to be a thing of the past. Maybe the younger generation will look forward to new rivalry games but somehow they will never be the same. By the way, my Uncle was the Director of Admissions at WVU but I still hated them when we played.

 

[Ozimoto]

Ah yes, the backyard brawl. The week on campus before the game was wild.

 

[MSGRET]

There is only two games that I watch every year and that is the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry between Purdue and Indiana, the other is the Army - Navy game. I might watch some others off and on depending on what I'm doing that day.

 

[sun]

You don't need to love watching college football to enjoy this article.
It's about how the college all-stars played the NFL champions in a preseason game for charity every year from 1934 to 1976.
In 42 games, the all-stars won nine and tied twice.
It contains anecdotes about some of the games.

When the College Football Stars Played NFL Champs | HISTORY

The last game, a 24‑0 win by the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976, was played in a 'surreal' deluge.

www.history.com

 

[Skeets]

I grew up with college football in the 1970's and 1980's. That was the era of eastern school rivalries when WVU (my alma mater) played Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, and Virginia Tech every year. Those games led to some wild times. Just don't get the same vibe from playing Big 12 opponents.

I still watch games, but rarely from start to finish.

Rutgers - Princeton game isn't played any more. Want a good laugh? Rutgers thought they were too good to play Princeton. But that was the game that started all of this. Without that game, no P4 conferences, etc. all we would have to talk about is WBB

 

[JellyBean]

You don't need to love watching college football to enjoy this article.
It's about how the college all-stars played the NFL champions in a preseason game for charity every year from 1934 to 1976.
In 42 games, the all-stars won nine and tied twice.
It contains anecdotes about some of the games.

When the College Football Stars Played NFL Champs | HISTORY

The last game, a 24‑0 win by the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in 1976, was played in a 'surreal' deluge.

www.history.com

Wow. Thanks for the history lesson. I never heard about these games until now. That had to be pretty cool experience for everyone back in the day, especially for the players that beat the Green Bay Packers of that Lombardi era.