(04-26-2015 04:16 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 03:34 PM)johnbragg Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 12:26 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 09:27 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  Lower-FBS and the higher-revenue non-FBS programs will have to make decisions--do you pay FCOA to keep (sport X) competitive with P5 programs, at the expense of other sports, or do you focus on investing in basketball and keeping more sports open?

There is a lot of spending pressure in some of the "Olympic sports" that might squeeze out some non-P5 schools that do well there now, and FCOA is only part of it. Baseball and hockey are two sports that come to mind where P5 schools that are ambitious in those sports can easily start a spending race in which currently successful but less-wealthy programs will fall behind. Think about the millions that Oregon spent to start baseball from scratch, or the obscene hundred-million-plus amount that Penn State spent to start hockey. How long will Coastal Carolina baseball or St. Cloud State hockey be able to keep up if a few dozen P5 schools are overspending on those sports?

Not to mention the impact of the SEC and PAC networks. Hmm, should I take that offer from Coastal Carolina and maybe play on ESPNU twice a year and CBS-SN a couple of times, or go to South Carolina and have Mom watch *every single game* on the SEC Network? (I even think the SEC Network is going to draw prospects away from the minor leagues--unless you have a shot at the majors in 1-2 years, who wouldn't rather spend 3-4 years in Athens GA or Knoxville TN vs Pee Dee SC or Port St Lucie FL?

That's a good point. And it's not just Mom who can watch all of those Pac-12 or SEC baseball games -- scouts can get video of every one of the player's games, if they want it. In contrast, there might be only a few games worth of video on the star player at Coastal, plus a few more if they make a run in the NCAA tournament. For a starting pitcher, it's the difference between having video of two of his starts versus having video of every start.

That might be a factor in every college sport where athletes have a chance to move on to pro or Olympic competition. I doubt that Olympic teams or lower-profile pro sports teams have the funding to send scouts all over the country to follow draft prospects through their college careers, so having ten times the video on one player instead of another could be important.

Pretty sure almost every Coastal baseball game is available via online stream. I was surprised at the quality of the broadcast when Clemson played them earlier this year. Better than some I have seen from P5 schools.

As for video for scouts, Coastal HC Gary Gilmore is a former scout for the Mariners and Indians so I feel sure he makes sure that scouts get what they need of his players.

The Big South has more non-football schools than football. Thus why I said Liberty may have forced it. Big South has only 6 football playing schools and 11 basketball.
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According to our beat writer, the Big South had already tentatively agreed to offer FCOA to men and women's basketball before Liberty's announcement. All the other sports, including football, was decided to be left up to the individual schools. Their spring meetings are next month though, so obviously that could change.

Do you guys never tire of talking about this same stuff?

(04-26-2015 09:07 PM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 01:36 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 01:06 PM)Seminole Indian Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 11:15 AM)Attackcoog Wrote:  

(04-26-2015 09:27 AM)johnbragg Wrote:  ARticle about UNC Asheville AD isn't sure how they'll come up with the money, but they'll figure it out

Another data point against the theory that FCOA will further separate P5 from everyone, or FBS from everyone. If Big South and the Horizon League and some Southland schools are paying FCOA in basketball, then pretty much everyone is going to. You might have a few outlier conferences at the very bottom of the food chain who can't afford it, but I think you'll see at least 25 of the 32 or so Division I conferences paying FOCA for basketball.

There will be a division in non-revenue sports--ECU and Liberty have said they're paying FOCA for everybody, the P-5 are pretty much going to have to pay FCOA for everybody.

Lower-FBS and the higher-revenue non-FBS programs will have to make decisions--do you pay FCOA to keep (sport X) competitive with P5 programs, at the expense of other sports, or do you focus on investing in basketball and keeping more sports open?

Do top FCS programs pay FCOA for football to stay on top of FCS? Does that drive some FCS realignment, at least in the east where there are non-Big Sky options?

I think it's likely that the entire package of benefits that the P5 will offer will be unmatchable for those outside the P5. The G5 will come as close to matching it as possible. I suspect they will offer a training table, some family travel benefits, extended lifetime scholarship, some extra recruiting staffing, amybe even some limited extended insurance coverage with caps (but nothing like the insurance coverage the P5 will be offering). FCS has no chance of keeping up---just too many mens football scholarships and too little income. A few well heeled basketball conferences can keep up. A number of basketball conference's can offer FCOA for just basketball---but no other benefits for basketball athletes and no FCOA for any athletes outside of basketball.

I have said it before. The purpose of autonomy is to allow the P5 to better leverage their massive financial advantage into a real on-field advantage. The old rules pretty much limited the use of that financial advantage to building better facilities. The existing rules prevented the massive financial seperation from creating an on field seperation of similar size. The new rules will allow the P5 to shower thier athletes with more direct benefits. Now you will see the on field separation begin to widen as more top athletes choose the larger benefit package even if it means it might be tougher to get playing time.

A split within D1 is simply inevitable at his point. It's no longer a question of "if" it will happen. It is simply a question of when it will occur and what will be the final trigger. I could see the CFP agreement talks that will occur just prior to the CFP renwal (CFP expires in 11 years) being a possible trigger. If correct, that means the rest of D1 has about a decade to figure out how to keep up or what to do if they cant.

Only an idiot would say that a split is inevitable now, when they got what they wanted by threatening to split. Not that it could not happen, but it is a lot less likely to happen now that they got what the wanted than it was before.

I'd say its virtually impossible to not see some sort of separation on the horizon. In fact, with the granting of autonomous powers one could say the separation or "split" has already occurred at the governance level.

Its going to happen. It may not be a cataclysmic split you envision--instead, it may take on a different form that is less brutal. Yes, it could be a complete split of the P5 from the NCAA. On the other hand, it may be a new upper P5 division within the NCAA. It could be a refining of the rules that define who is D1 and who isn't D1. It may even be the voluntary mass future migration to FCS or D2 by uncompetitive D1 programs facing escalating costs and falling revenues along with long odds against on field success. Bottom line, the massive D1 herd will be culled one way or another and the final result will look like a "split". The massive differences in financial resources is simply not like any other division in the NCAA. It is a division increasingly made up of haves and have-nots rather than peers. Its just a matter of time before it regoups into "peer" based divisions like the rest of the NCAA.

I understood there has already been separation 'at the governance level' (the FCS lost their seat at the table, and the FBS took control of issues related to FBS football), and the P5 was given autonomy over a few issues everyone agreed they should have autonomy over, and they can not arbitrarily add to it.

That is why you are getting schools that want to pretty themselves up so that they can be attractive to join the FBS ranks.