(07-01-2014 02:19 PM)HawkeyeCoug Wrote: (07-01-2014 01:36 PM)Attackcoog Wrote: No thanks to the FCS style playoff for the G5.
I would like to see the G5 work together (including investing about 10 million dollars of the 85 million dollar CFP money that the G5 split) to create a "Champions Series" of high end bowls with high enough payouts to attract a #3/4 selections from power conferences. These "Champions Series" Bowls would serve as suitable post season destinations for the 4 G5 champions that don't qualify for the single access bowl reserved for the best of the G5 champs. Right now, the G5 champs who don't make the access bowls are relegated to trash bowls. That's one place I think the G5 can (and should) work together on.
I see it as 3 bowls. The #2 G5 champ and #3 G5 champs would play #3/4 selections from power conferences in bowls that pay the P5 participant 3-4 million each (G5 participants would receive 1 million each). The #4 and #5 G5 champs would play each other in a quality bowl paying each 1 million.
How are you going to work those finances on $10 Mill? The salary for the bowl executives are easily $1 mill per bowl, eating up 40% of the money. Now you have 6 million in bowl payouts, but if there is an even split (and bowls such as the Las Vegas bowl give more to the P5 particiapnt) you are only giving $3 million to the G5 teams. How does going from $10 mill to $3 mill make financial sense for the rest of the G5 teams?
Let the top rated champ go to an equity bowl. Run a 16 team tournament at home sites of the higher seed. The FCS runs this model on much less fan support and TV dollars than the G5, and they survive financially. The CBI and CIT do this in college basketball without teams losing a bunch of money.
Meanwhile, the G5 sell themselves to a bowl system where they lose money on each bowl game played, have bad matchups, conference champs rarely meet, and end up with massive student subsidies paying for it. Further, the tournament could be implemented rather quickly, and be added to as bowl contracts finish up and are not renewed. Teams get better matchups by winning, not by conference tie-ins, and you will have excellent teams meeting at the end. Reality TV is evidence that the drama of people being kicked off an island draws viewers. A one-and-done tournament will also draw viewers, certainly more than the current G5 bowl games do now.
A couple of quick points. The 3 bowls I propose (not 4) would be owned by the G5 and the profits would be funneled back to the G5. They would be managed by a single group and would be far more efficiently managed. There would be no bowl directors being paid a million (btw--I don't think any make a million right now).
It would look like this---
#1 G5 champ vs P5 (selection comm)---CFP game already established
#2 G5 champ vs P5 #3/4 selection (new bowl owned by G5)--Payout/P5-3 mil G5-1mil
#3 G5 champ vs P5 #3/4 selection (new bowl owned by G5)--Payout/P5-3 mil G5-1mil
#4 G5 champ #4 vs G5 champ #5 (new bowl owned by G5)--Payout/1mil each
As for the finances, the bowls would be funded by 10 million from the CFP, but should cost far less than that (if done correctly, they should actually make money). The bowls would be owned by the G5. Thus, the G5 would be receiving income from sponsorship deals, media rights contracts, and ticket sales. Ideally, once established, the 10 million coming from the CFP would never even be needed after the first start up year. If the cash flow is not positive, it will certainly only be short a few million, which would be money well spent to provide the G5 champs with a proper national stage for it's champions.
As far a 16 game football tournament, unless the NCAA approved a 17 game FBS season it isn't going to happen. Besides, there is no money in determining the 66th best team in the nation (which is exactly how a G5 playoff would be viewed). The FCS playoff draws flies and media pays virtually nothing for it. Why would we copy such a model?
What we really need is 3 high end bowl games to showcase the G5 champs---thus bringing context and importance to every G5 championship race. You build value for your regular season by making the championship mean something more than a trip to the Military Bowl or the Go Daddy.com Bowl.