(02-03-2019 12:03 PM)bullet Wrote: (02-03-2019 09:53 AM)quo vadis Wrote: [quote='SoCalBobcat78' pid='15880030' dateline='1549173184']
[quote='quo vadis' pid='15878948' dateline='1549153776']
As for whether existing to play money games is good or not in a values-sense, we just have to disagree about that.
Those FCS schools that are playing 2 money games against FBS should be questioning why they are even playing football IMO. Its not fair to the players and indicates that the program can't sustain itself. I don't remember who, but there were at least a couple of schools that did that this year, maybe more.
The bottom tier FBS playing 2 or more money games against P5 (although for independents scrambling to fill a schedule it may be for reasons other than money) have to ask the same question.
I have a hard time seeing problems with two money games in a season or money games in general. NMSU, as a member of the Sun Belt, played two money games in 2017, one at Arizona State for $800,000 and the other at Arkansas for 1.35 million. They lost at ASU 37-31 and Arkansas 42-24, but were still able to qualify for a bowl game and won that game to finish 7-6. They also had a $260,000 profit from the bowl game.
As an independent in 2018, NMSU played two money games, one at Minnesota for $800,000 and the other at BYU for $700,000. They are playing three in 2019, for a total of $3.8 million. Three is a lot, but they are an FBS independent. The money games are a by-product of FBS football. If Alabama wants to pay NMSU $1.7 million in 2019 and $1.9 million in 2021, why would that be a problem? Sure, they are likely to get blown out, but how does that differ from most SEC teams that play at Alabama?
UMass, ULM, SJSU, they all have their own reasons for their scheduling and playing at the FBS level. UMass scheduled football games with both South Carolina and Georgia, each for $1.5 million. They also used the football scheduling to add home-and-home basketball games with both. They beat Georgia in 2017 at home in basketball and they play South Carolina at home in 2019. They also somehow managed to get on the Notre Dame schedule, which is not easy. They played at Notre Dame in 2015 for $1 million. In 2018, an individual alumnus donated $5.58 million to their athletic department.
SJSU will only play one money game in each of the next three seasons, at Arkansas (2019), Penn State (2020) and Georgia (2021). The Arkansas and Penn State game pay $1.5 million each, Geogia will pay $1.8 million. Besides their CFP revenue and MWC revenue, they have received some good donations. In November they received a $2 million donation to football and in February of 2018 they received a $5 million donation to football. It is possible to win at SJSU in football. In 2012, they went 11-2 with a bowl win and ended up #21 in both the AP and Coaches poll. That team had eight payers that ended up making NFL rosters.
ULM, as I noted in another post, brought in $2.7 million from money games in 2018 and made $1.7 million from the CFP revenue. A total of $4.4 million from those two sources, which is 80% of their football budget. Maybe they should have never moved up, but they are FBS and there is no good financial reason for them to drop back down. This is the same school that beat a Nick Saban coached Alabama team in 2008 and Arkansas in 2012.
I think once these schools get hooked on the money from football revenue and donations, plus the prestige of being at the FBS level, they are not going to leave it. NMSU has a geography problem that makes playing in any conference difficult. There are five FBS schools and zero FCS schools within 400 miles of the NMSU campus. UTEP is 45 miles away and New Mexico is 220 miles away. NMSU looked at the Big Sky, but the travel was brutal. They made the wise decision to stay at FBS.