College Football 2019/20

[Hot Pepsi]

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
https://www.espn.com/college-sports/...l-stanford-smu

[Hot Pepsi]

It's all going to end badly. They're all adding a lot of expenses for not a lot of revenue. FSU, North Carolina and Clemson are going to leave ASAP.

I guess the Cal and Stanford presidents think that the fallout from this will be somebody else's problem in the future. In the mean time, they don't have to level with their booster communities about what is happening in football.

The ACC presidents who insist, "oh, but they're prestigious schools" should be fired. They don't seem to understand who it is they're working for or what their enterprise is.

[ursus arctos]

Yes, this is very dumb

The sooner gridiron breaks off from the rest, the better for everyone

[Hot Pepsi]

Yes, this is very dumb

The sooner gridiron breaks off from the rest, the better for everyone

Yeah.
As we've discussed, this all started 40 years ago when the Supreme Court said the NCAA couldn't stop teams and conferences from making their own TV deals.*
That was the time for everyone involved to see that the Avery Brundage idea of "amateurism" wasn't working and that it just didn't make any sense for major college football (or basketball or, really, any other D1 sport) to be run by the same organization that oversees D3 cross country. Some people at that time did suggest that, but it didn't go anywhere, really.

And yet, here we are.

It's a fascinating economics case. For the most part, everyone is just doing their fiduciary duty for their employer.

But it's hard to argue that this is all just market forces doing what they're supposed to do. There were a number of unforced errors.

This all started, really, when the Pac12 decided not to expand to include Texas and Oklahoma when it had the chance. Then it screwed up the Pac12 Network and the subsequent TV negotiations. It would have been financially irresponsible for USC and UCLA to stay in the Pac12 and that made it untenable for everyone else.

Also, the ACC's terrible "Grant of Rights" situation was pretty short-sighted. But ACC football has never been a very valuable TV property aside from FSU and Clemson.



* I don't know anything about the legalities there. But if the ruling had gone the other way, the big football schools would have eventually just left the NCAA anyway.

[ursus arctos]

Yes, there is a very good argument that had SCOTUS gone the other way, the "Superleague" breakaway would have happened more than 25 years ago.

Though it wasn't close. 7-2 with only Rhenquist and College Football Hall of Famer Whizzer White dissenting.

[Hot Pepsi]

Yes, there is a very good argument that had SCOTUS gone the other way, the "Superleague" breakaway would have happened more than 25 years ago.

Though it wasn't close. 7-2 with only Rhenquist and College Football Hall of Famer Whizzer White dissenting.

Thanks for that info.

I've heard some discussion this week that that was the decision that ultimately "broke" college football, but again, that's assuming that somehow the status quo of the 60s and 70s could somehow have been maintained. In any universe where cable TV was invented, that would not have ever happened. Letting the NCAA continue to try to stop teams from making TV deals would have accelerated the end of the NCAA, which may be where it needs to go anyway.

In all areas of the economy, a lot of people imagine that we can all just agree to not take the money that's being offered to change something - a sport, a neighborhood, a very traditional profession - then everything will just stay the same.

But the demand doesn't go away just because somebody tries to limit the supply.

A related example is all the shenanigans in college basketball. (It happens in football and other sports too, but it's especially prevalent in basketball because of the shoe-deal money and because one player can change a team's destiny so dramatically.) Even if the NCAA actually had the resources to enforce all of its rules - which it definitely does not - there will still be middle-men, boosters, agents, AAU coaches, parents, etc. taking payoffs to get certain players to go to certain schools.

Because it's just worth that much to them. The possible sanctions they might face if they get caught is just the price of doing business for them.

As the saying goes, you can't stop it, you can only hope to contain it.


And all of this is why I like college hockey. Nobody is really making much money from it and the players aren't under any particular pressure to go to college (or stay in college) if they can make more money elsewhere. So, for the most part, it works pretty well. College soccer could be like that too if they could fix the schedule problem.

[ursus arctos]

Very much so

The ECAC is actually a decent model for the kind of non-gridiron conference that could emerge. One that essentially ignores other affiliations and includes disparate types of schools who share geography and an attitude towards ice hockey, while not getting ridiculous about pre-existing traditions like the Beanpot.

[Hot Pepsi]

Very much so

The ECAC is actually a decent model for the kind of non-gridiron conference that could emerge. One that essentially ignores other affiliations and includes disparate types of schools who share geography and an attitude towards ice hockey, while not getting ridiculous about pre-existing traditions like the Beanpot.

We'll have to see how the TV situation evolves. It's not a huge moneymaker by any stretch, but all of those schools would still like to get most or all of their hockey games on TV beyond just their local area so they can reach their alumni and, perhaps, maybe promote college hockey to a broader audience in general.

Right now, there probably isn't a commercially viable way to create a streaming service that could cover games from all 60-plus teams. But I suspect there might be some day.

So for now, each conference has its own TV/streaming deal, I think. Of course, the B1G puts its games on BTN. The ECAC and Hockey East have deals with ESPN+. The production values are uneven, but they're there and I'm sure the Cornell alums who live in Timbuktu appreciate it.

I'm not sure about the CCHA. The NCHA has, at least, an online thing, but I don't know if anyone outside of Grand Forks, ND can actually see games on cable.

But college hockey collectively - including the B1G - has shown a willingness to work together on areas of common interest. During COVID, for example, while the football people were bickering and cherry-picking experts to back-up the decisions they already made, all of college hockey worked together to come up with a common plan. (Except the ECAC/Ivies which, IIRC, just cancelled everything).

[Cal Alamein]

Deion’s kid ain’t too shabby.

[ursus arctos]

510 yards passing against kast year's playoff finalist.

Guess his god is stronger.

Pleased to see that your Sooners took their foot off the gas after half time to keep it under 100.

[Cal Alamein]

Yeah, a good scrimmage - hope no one got hurt. QB's combined for 30 out of 33 passes.

[Cal Alamein]

Locally, the Lobos go to college station where the Aggies just might get to 100.

EDIT: Only got whipped 52-10.

[jefe]

I'm not sure about the CCHA. The NCHA has, at least, an online thing, but I don't know if anyone outside of Grand Forks, ND can actually see games on cable.

Some of it, for now of course, gets on the local sports regional. Altitude (I think) has a fair amount of Denver games; Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth tends to show up on ___ Sports North; NESN has a bunch of Beanpot teams plus New Hampshire and Vermont and Maine, and women's hockey as well.

Oregon were excessively rude to Portland State today.

[ursus arctos]

Sanders brought in 86 new players at Colorado

Second place in that table belongs to Texas State and Incarnate Word's former head coach, who brought in 53

Colorado beat TCU in Waco as a 21 point underdog

Texas State beat Baylor in Waco as a 27.5 point underdog

The transfer portal may be getting even more insane next cycle

Penn State got more than 111,000 for West Virginia

[Hot Pepsi]

Not quite 111,000. 110,700.

WVU was a tough game to have for a first game. A lot of dumb mistakes. But none of them proved very costly and PSU got the back-door cover with a late touchdown by the second string.

TCU is not in Waco. It’s in Fort Worth, right? Texas Tech is in Waco.

I suspect TCU just isn’t as good as expected and Colorado is better than expected. The magnitude of their roster turnover is unprecedented so there’s really no historical examples to compare it to. I suspect they’ll be 3-0 going into their game with Oregon.

But the defense in that game on both sides was pretty shocking.

I don’t think it will last. Colorado is still Colorado and Prime is Prime. They will not be able to afford to keep him. He’ll go to a better program or the NFL.

[ursus arctos]

Yes, TCU is in Fort Worth, not sure how that happened

Baylor.is in Waco. Texas Tech is in Lubbock..Texas State is in San Marcos, which is between Austin and San Antonio.

PSU looked considerably better than Ohio State or Michigan, anday well have the best quarterback in the conference.

[Hot Pepsi]

Some of it, for now of course, gets on the local sports regional. Altitude (I think) has a fair amount of Denver games; Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth tends to show up on ___ Sports North; NESN has a bunch of Beanpot teams plus New Hampshire and Vermont and Maine, and women's hockey as well.

The RSNs are in trouble, so they may need a better option. My understanding is that lots if Coloradans can’t get Altitude.

Minnesota is the one B1G school that wasn’t happy with the change. Pre-B1G, all of their games were on Fox Sports North. Now some of them are on BTN and some are not on TV at all for some reason. And their traditional in-state rivals aren’t in conference any more. But that’s just part of the trade off of being in the B1G and getting all that free TV football money.

But they now have a rivalry with Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, which they didn’t have before.

[ursus arctos]

Colorado putting the hurt on Nebraska this week on a perfect day in Boulder

Sanders seems to have more than a dozen guys who can make big plays

[Hot Pepsi]

Clemson getting all it can handle vs Charleston Southern.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Not many big match ups this week and I'm not staying up for Texas v Alabama. Watched Utah getting a scare from Baylor, which, as the commentators kept pointing out, will be within conference next year.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Though looking through the scores, I should have stuck with James Madison v Viriginia, which I watched for a while.

[Incandenza]

Seeing what Colorado has done is exciting but god I can't stand anymore "Coach Prime" hype, and I don't even watch ESPN or Fox Sports.

Also, ironic that the Pac-12 has some really good teams right before the whole thing blows up.

[ursus arctos]

Both College Gameday and Big Noon Saturday are in Boulder next weekend.

Having to go to Eugene the following week will be a real test.

[ursus arctos]

Though looking through the scores, I should have stuck with James Madison v Viriginia, which I watched for a while.

One of about a dozen games with long lightning delays

UMass and Miami of Ohio are in their second.

The game was scheduled to start more than three and a half hours ago. They haven't finished the first quarter.

[Hot Pepsi]

Seeing what Colorado has done is exciting but god I can't stand anymore "Coach Prime" hype, and I don't even watch ESPN or Fox Sports.

Also, ironic that the Pac-12 has some really good teams right before the whole thing blows up.

The Colorado hype is insufferable.

I think a lot of people running things in the Pac12 thought just being successful at sports would somehow save the conference.