http://pilotonline.com/sports/college/ol...1f056.html

This is getting stupid. First, the P5 should simply drop their FCS games. Second, they are losing their autonomy by allowing TV to tell them what to do. Third, a lot of coaches, teams and fans are going to be pissed when their team only wins 5 games now. And lastly, why do we even pretend that there is FBS, FCS, D2 & D3 anymore. Division 1 now has 3 divisions, whether we care to admit it or not. I used to be against separation, but its happening. Let Houston, Cincy and UConn go, so we can get on with what the discussion about what the rest of us are going to do. It sucks, but it is what it is. When Wake is being pressured to drop ODU, and VT pressured to drop ECU etc, its game over for college football for the rest of FBS.

CFP guidelines which look at strength of schedule will force more teams or conferences to phase out or greatly reduce FCS games.
I think the BIG TEN and PAC have banned the scheduling of additional FCS games. The BIG Twelve has considered the change.I think we will be alright as a general rule.

We all need "Quality Content"....

The Big 10 banned FCS games? Syracuse, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern all have FCS games this year.

(08-11-2016 06:17 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  The Big 10 banned FCS games? Syracuse, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern all have FCS games this year.

Effective in 2017 or 2018, I believe.

I understand that ESPN wants good TV games. But still, pretend the below are a set of 4-year schedules for an ACC team. Is A necessarily better than B from ESPN's perspective (fill in different C-USA teams for ODU and USM if you desire)?

A: Year 1: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS MAC, VS FCS
Year 2: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 3: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 4: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS MAC, VS FCS

B: Year 1: VS P5 team, VS ODU, AT Southern Miss, VS FCS
Year 2: AT P5 team, VS Southern Miss, VS MAC, VS FCS
Year 3: VS P5 team, AT ODU, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 4: AT P5 team, VS ODU, VS Southern Miss, VS FCS

Both A and B provide 7 home games a year. A has 4 different 1-and-1s with P5 teams, and 8 different buy games. B has 2 different 1-and-1s with P5 teams, 2 2-and-1s with a regional C-USA, and 6 different buy games.

ESPN already has a limited TV contract with C-USA: they have the potential to get the 2 ACC @ Sun Belt games on TV. While the 4 1-and-1s with P5 teams may look nice, they may lose those TV games to Fox if it is with a Big XII, Pac-12, or (in the future) Big Ten team.

One thing that is for sure. All of those buy games are going to get relatively low ratings, and likely get warehoused on the ACC network. It's in ESPN's best interest, I would think, to minimize the number of those games.

I look at it this way the TV dollars are already signed for or at least most of it is under contract. So how will it benefit the p5 schools to not play a buy game? It wont, it will cost them millions of dollars every other year and replace a win with a loss at least 50% more often.

Other words if they replace a buy game against a Western with a home and home from another P5 team that's one less home game every other year. That's 2 to 3 million they are not getting even after writing the pay check for Western. The flip side of that argument is attendance will increase if you replace Western with a P5. My argument would be not enough to offset losing a home game every other year....

not even close

When Western plays Bama this year the stadium will be about 85 to 90% full but more than likely 95 to 98% sold tickets already paid for. So espn is not paying extra for Bama vs Wake or any other middle to bottom p5 school and even if Bama sells out that game we are talking 5,000 extra tickets sold.

I can't ever foresee the P5 not buying home football games

If they want to go this route, wave goodbye to about a dozen and a half bowl games.

The G5 conferences need to shed some schools to keep FBS together.

I think that this will ultimately fail. There is a reason that the P5 hasn't completely broken away from us. To a degree they need us and this will show it in the long run, when schools like Syracuse, Maryland ect. aren't going to bowl games because they are getting killed by the big boys.

(08-12-2016 08:08 AM)polkhigh Wrote:  The G5 conferences need to shed some schools to keep FBS together.

This is simply not realistic. While I personally feel that the FBS should be limited to a 100 teams or less and that there should never be more than 25 bowls, money dictates agenda and right now the agenda is to try and squeeze every drop out of college football. Once the saturation point is met and loss on return starts for these big Networks, we won't see any reasonable action. The Networks right now are already trying to trim the fat by cutting G5 out of the money and out of quality games with the bigger schools because they know the saturation point is very close.

(08-12-2016 09:51 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  While I personally feel that the FBS should be limited to a 100 teams

The number of teams should be a fixed ratio to population. 100 may be the right number today, but as the country grows, so does the pool of players and size and availability of fanbases.

I believe that ESPN is trying to create an NFL minor league, and I think they are going to ruin the game in the process. It'll be too late when everyone (including the schools that made the cut) realizes it.

(08-12-2016 09:56 AM)Artifice Wrote:  

(08-12-2016 09:51 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  While I personally feel that the FBS should be limited to a 100 teams

The number of teams should be a fixed ratio to population. 100 may be the right number today, but as the country grows, so does the pool of players and size and availability of fanbases.

I believe that ESPN is trying to create an NFL minor league, and I think they are going to ruin the game in the process. It'll be too late when everyone (including the schools that made the cut) realizes it.

I agree with all your points, however it can be argued that 128 teams fits our population. ESPN and Fox are to blame for this debacle of a system. They got too greedy and continued to change the rules to cut the little guy out over and over again. In 5 to 10 years the Iowa States, Wake Forest's, and the Washington States will be the new G5. By continuing to push FBS as a minor league for the NFL is going to kill Football. Just wait for collective bargaining to begin with College kids.

Yeah, everything you just said is coming. I think the visible pain point will be when all the lucky to be P5 programs get forced out.

(08-11-2016 06:17 PM)EigenEagle Wrote:  The Big 10 banned FCS games? Syracuse, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern all have FCS games this year.

Since when is Syracuse in the B1G?

(08-11-2016 05:28 PM)monarx Wrote:  http://pilotonline.com/sports/college/ol...1f056.html

This is getting stupid. First, the P5 should simply drop their FCS games. Second, they are losing their autonomy by allowing TV to tell them what to do. Third, a lot of coaches, teams and fans are going to be pissed when their team only wins 5 games now. And lastly, why do we even pretend that there is FBS, FCS, D2 & D3 anymore. Division 1 now has 3 divisions, whether we care to admit it or not. I used to be against separation, but its happening. Let Houston, Cincy and UConn go, so we can get on with what the discussion about what the rest of us are going to do. It sucks, but it is what it is. When Wake is being pressured to drop ODU, and VT pressured to drop ECU etc, its game over for college football for the rest of FBS.

I'm thinking more and more "autonomy" was spearheaded by the networks vs the P5. Pay the players? Check. Further distance the G5's and especially FCS from the pack to "increase quality"? Check. Move closer and closer toward an NFL farm system? Check. Make more profit in college football as a result of all of the above? Check.

G5's and FCS's? CHECKMATE.

(08-11-2016 06:33 PM)NittanyLion Wrote:  I understand that ESPN wants good TV games. But still, pretend the below are a set of 4-year schedules for an ACC team. Is A necessarily better than B from ESPN's perspective (fill in different C-USA teams for ODU and USM if you desire)?

A: Year 1: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS MAC, VS FCS
Year 2: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 3: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 4: AT P5 team, VS P5 team, VS MAC, VS FCS

B: Year 1: VS P5 team, VS ODU, AT Southern Miss, VS FCS
Year 2: AT P5 team, VS Southern Miss, VS MAC, VS FCS
Year 3: VS P5 team, AT ODU, VS Sun Belt, VS FCS
Year 4: AT P5 team, VS ODU, VS Southern Miss, VS FCS

Both A and B provide 7 home games a year. A has 4 different 1-and-1s with P5 teams, and 8 different buy games. B has 2 different 1-and-1s with P5 teams, 2 2-and-1s with a regional C-USA, and 6 different buy games.

ESPN already has a limited TV contract with C-USA: they have the potential to get the 2 ACC @ Sun Belt games on TV. While the 4 1-and-1s with P5 teams may look nice, they may lose those TV games to Fox if it is with a Big XII, Pac-12, or (in the future) Big Ten team.

One thing that is for sure. All of those buy games are going to get relatively low ratings, and likely get warehoused on the ACC network. It's in ESPN's best interest, I would think, to minimize the number of those games.

Certainly possible but if the ACC Network is anywhere near as successful as the SEC Network has been, mainly the marquee games not already signed by even larger networks will be featured. At the sports bar I frequent, half the patrons would rather watch the SECN replaying four year old SEC football games (and not necessarily competitive ones) than watch the Olympics, NBA, MLB, etc., during the off-season. What's even more ridiculous is they actually cheer loudly during the plays and holler at the refs over these oldies.

(08-12-2016 09:24 AM)pilot172000 Wrote:  I think that this will ultimately fail. There is a reason that the P5 hasn't completely broken away from us. To a degree they need us and this will show it in the long run, when schools like Syracuse, Maryland ect. aren't going to bowl games because they are getting killed by the big boys.

And how do we know it's not ESPN's plan to see those types of P5 schools get marginalized so that they can concentrate their scheduling on the cream of the crop?