(11-04-2011 12:58 PM)Frank the Tank Wrote:  

(11-04-2011 11:12 AM)Capital Pirate Wrote:  No matter the reality, it is 100% shortsighted pretzel logic. If we were talking UF or UT (teams which actually DO carry/bring the markets of those 3 teams), then I'd be with you......

It's kind of like basing a decision upon a belief/fear of ghosts or something similar......devoid of logic.

I do not begrudge the 3 CONFUSA teams who seem to be in place for the first 3 bids.....I applaud them for being located in areas that attract people like Marinatto....but don't pee on my leg and tell me that it is raining......

I'm not sure why this is pretzel logic. Sure, UCF doesn't carry Orlando like UF and SMU doesn't carry Dallas like UT. However, the TV people don't believe that ECU carries Raleigh like UNC or NC State or USM carries Jackson like Ole Miss and Mississippi State, either. I know others will try to argue this, but non-flagship schools simply don't get credit for any markets outside of their immediate TV market. That's what I mean by pretty much all of those non-Boise/Navy/Air Force schools being in the same bucket. The differences aren't material enough to warrant taking one school located in a larger market compared to a smaller market school. I know that everyone here has a ton of pride in their own schools and believe that they have special attributes (whether it's attendance, bowl traveling, alumni bases located in major cities, etc.), but the media world looks at all of C-USA and MWC as one big mass with only Boise State and Air Force being outliers. Everyone else is essentially interchangeable in their eyes. So, immediate market size becomes the next most important criteria (and to the extent that they don't being actual TV sets, they certainly bring recruiting territory for the rest of the league).

Note that I'm not saying you are guilty of having pretzel logic......your first 3-4 sentences, though, spell out exactly why the "market" argument among all these "non-flagship" schools is something akin to that type of logic from square one.

I fully understand the "reality" that is being presented in all of this. I've been supporting East Carolina for over 30 years and have pretty much seen it "all" up to this point - nothing shocks me any longer. I agree 100% with what you're saying here.....that's the "reality" we're facing. It isn't "fair", and it reeks of short-sightedness and a lack of logic, but it is what it is.