CSNbbs

With conferences boasting 16-18 members now, I wonder if any of the P4 will capitalize on their brand power and host their own Senior Bowls. I think it’s a great way to promote both the athletes and the conference.

This would be cool but with divisions gone in most conferences I wonder how the teams would be split up.

I could also see a P2 All-Star Game becoming quite entertaining. SEC vs Big 10 seniors.

(01-04-2024 05:12 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote: [ -> ]This would be cool but with divisions gone in most conferences I wonder how the teams would be split up.

I could also see a P2 All-Star Game becoming quite entertaining. SEC vs Big 10 seniors.

Probably with some of the same randomness that they place kids on all the all star game rosters now.

I like this concept especially for players that are moving on from playing.

Who? (Would play as opposed to prepare for the draft with their agent and "team". Also, which coaches not under contract would coach and how much would they be compensated?)

Where?

When? (Hard to go up against the NFL Playoffs and before the Senior Bowl. Apparently, the Shrine Game still exists and plays on a Thursday.)

How much? (How much are tickets? How much would it cost to provide housing and feed them?

Why? (If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense)

(01-04-2024 08:41 PM)Renandpat Wrote: [ -> ]Who? (Would play as opposed to prepare for the draft with their agent and "team". Also, which coaches not under contract would coach and how much would they be compensated?)

Where?

When? (Hard to go up against the NFL Playoffs and before the Senior Bowl. Apparently, the Shrine Game still exists and plays on a Thursday.)

How much? (How much are tickets? How much would it cost to provide housing and feed them?

Why? (If it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense)

Who—that’s easy. Players from the conference (Big 10, SEC, etc) would play in the senior all star game hosted by their conference.

League coaches are probably all engaged in recruiting so for coaching staffs I’d bring back some recently retired coaches from the league—guys that everyone around the league would look up to.

Where—probably the same centrally located stadiums used for the CCG. If you’re the Big 10, maybe you do LA and the Rose Bowl or Coliseum to switch things up.

As far as expenses go, there’s already a bunch of senior bowls and they’ve all seemed to figure out how to rent stadiums and attract fans, and pay for it all. Surely the conferences can too. The games don’t even need to make a bunch of money—think of it as n exposure opportunity. Televise them on the conference networks.

Memories of the Olympia Challenge Bowl. It was an all-star game played at the Seattle Kingdome after the 1977 and 1978 seasons. The first game was between the Pac-8 and the Big Ten, the second one was between the Pac-10 and Big Eight.

In the late 1970s, the Kingdome hosted both instances of a Pacific-10 Conference all-star game called the Challenge Bowl; the bowl, sponsored by the Olympia Brewing Company, pitted an all-star team of Pac-10 players against a similar team from another conference. The Pac-10 went undefeated with a 27–20 victory (as the Pac-8) over the Big Ten on January 15, 1978, and a 36–23 victory over the Big Eight on January 13, 1979.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdome

You would only get players that feel they have no shot at the NFL … Most Draft Eligible players are preparing the the East/West Shrine Game and especially the NFL Senior Bowl.

Their college careers are over and they are looking towards those event since they are basically run by the NFL and in the case of the Senior Bowl are coached by current NFL Team staffs … they also get an opportunity to interview with the 32 teams in the NFL

A combine seems more likely. A lot of players who want to get a chance to play for an NFL team will not be invited to the NFL combine. A centralized one for each of the P4 conferences would be hugely appreciated.

As for a Senior Bowl game, they have trouble enough filling out the two that go on now, one by the NFL itself and one under NCAA coaches (lower of the two). There just isn't demand for it.

But there is demand for the combines.

(01-04-2024 11:19 PM)Maize Wrote: [ -> ]You would only get players that feel they have no shot at the NFL … Most Draft Eligible players are preparing the the East/West Shrine Game and especially the NFL Senior Bowl.

Their college careers are over and they are looking towards those event since they are basically run by the NFL and in the case of the Senior Bowl are coached by current NFL Team staffs … they also get an opportunity to interview with the 32 teams in the NFL

I think you missed the point. I’m proposing replacing the existing all star/senior bowls with conference based ones.

Why would the P4 want to bring these games inhouse? The money is negligible. Let the NFL (Senior) and the agents/NFLPA (East-West Shrine) which is now part of the NCAA Bowl system, run the games. Why have a B1G vs Big 12 and an ACC vs SEC game instead? The existing games have structure and sponsors. Unless FOX and ESPN want to fund it, there is no sense in replacing them.

Combines are far more likely, as literally a 1000 players will get invited to mini-camps or training camps who are not drafted.

I think one for the SEC seniors not going to the NFL would get some decent viewership. Or maybe one for the All-Conference team like the Pro Bowl.

Y’all remember the Blue/Gray game? I miss those types of games but the current environment of opt-outs and such puts a damper on these reboots/ideas.

Back in the day, the graduating basketball seniors in the ACC would barnstorm over the summer to pick up some spending money.

https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2...123432007/

(01-04-2024 05:12 PM)Soobahk40050 Wrote: [ -> ]This would be cool but with divisions gone in most conferences I wonder how the teams would be split up.

I could also see a P2 All-Star Game becoming quite entertaining. SEC vs Big 10 seniors.

SEC vs Big 10 = Blue Gray Game 2.0

(01-05-2024 07:14 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-04-2024 11:19 PM)Maize Wrote: [ -> ]You would only get players that feel they have no shot at the NFL … Most Draft Eligible players are preparing the the East/West Shrine Game and especially the NFL Senior Bowl.

Their college careers are over and they are looking towards those event since they are basically run by the NFL and in the case of the Senior Bowl are coached by current NFL Team staffs … they also get an opportunity to interview with the 32 teams in the NFL

I think you missed the point. I’m proposing replacing the existing all star/senior bowls with conference based ones.

The idea of the Senior Bowl is to get the best available players from around the country for a week of practice and a game. The infrastructure is in place, and they have been organizing and managing the game for years. A conference all-star game will just not have enough talent, among other issues. The NFL Scouts watch Big Ten games and SEC games. They don't need to see a Big Ten all-star game. The 2022 Senior Bowl game had 106 players drafted, or 82% of the participants. The East-West Shrine game had 45 players drafted from their game in 2022. Those games work. The scouts like to see players from different conferences competing against each other in drills, in practice and in the game.

Some players will not participate in all-star games because it is not in their best interest to. They will decide to prepare for the NFL Combine, while others are preparing for their pro days. The Senior Bowl works because they pick good players from all levels of college football; from all FBS conferences, from FCS, D2, and D3. Once a player's eligibility is done, or they decide to leave for the NFL, the only thing that matters is preparing for the NFL Draft. Playing in a conference all-star game against the same players that they have seen throughout their careers is not going to do much for them or the scouts.

(01-05-2024 03:08 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote: [ -> ]Back in the day, the graduating basketball seniors in the ACC would barnstorm over the summer to pick up some spending money.

https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2...123432007/

I had no idea - very cool. This isn’t even really that far back in the day - that article is from 2013. It works for basketball because those players are generally playing games *somewhere* (high level pickup games or otherwise), so it’s not a heavy lift to get them to play coordinated games. That’s why I think the proposal to allow for colleges to play summer exhibition games (beyond the international trips that are allowed now) has a lot of traction.

In contrast, the NFL Draft prep process is pretty well prescribed and the lift to put together a football game and risk in playing in one for the players is many multitudes higher compared to basketball.

Surely the 16 SEC teams and 18 Big 10 teams can muster enough talent to fill a pair of rosters for an all star game. After all, their brands are centered around the idea that they are a step above all the rest. Having their own all star games only reinforces the idea that they have better NFL prospects than the M2 and G5.

(01-06-2024 08:11 AM)Fighting Muskie Wrote: [ -> ]Surely the 16 SEC teams and 18 Big 10 teams can muster enough talent to fill a pair of rosters for an all star game. After all, their brands are centered around the idea that they are a step above all the rest. Having their own all star games only reinforces the idea that they have better NFL prospects than the M2 and G5.

You’re looking at it as these are events to help the Big Ten and SEC. However, the entity that is far more powerful than both of them is the NFL. The point of these all-star games is to serve the needs of the NFL as opposed to the colleges and conferences. So, if the efficacy of a Big Ten/SEC-only all-star game is lower than the Senior Bowl or pro days, then it’s going to have a hard time getting off the ground.

The Big 12 Pro Day serves the NFL’s needs because the conference is aggregating the separate individual school pro days into one event - that provides a lot of value to the NFL because they’re now making 1 pro day trip as opposed to over a dozen. Separating the Big Ten and SEC out of the Senior Bowl would be the opposite - you would end up with multiple diluted all-star games, which isn’t what the NFL needs.