12th Game Dilemma
Coach Alvarez was initially a proponent of adding a 9th BT regular season football game now that the NCAA has given a thumbs up for a 12 game season with the difficulty of finding non-conference opponents and the ransoms they tend to charge for "appearance fees." The idea was scrapped when it was suggested that the formatting change would cost the league one bowl berth each season. In a sport where each game counts and bowl revenue determines the long-term stability of any program, even athletic dept., I tend to agree with this financial capitulation as much as I'd love to have a shot at Purdue or NW this season.
The idea to establish a pre-season interconference challenge similar to the BT-ACC basketball pairings is also intriguing, although I think it exposes the bottom half of the league to similar bowl-less seasons as a result of a non-conference loss paired with a losing conference season. Additionally, the bowl schedule as it now exists fosters such pairings in a less organized manner.
Given Bucky's recent postseason matchups against Georgia, Auburn, and Arkansas, I could see a BT-SEC contest generating huge interest in early Sept. A more likely and workable scenario may be to formalize our annual pairings with MAC teams. Although Northern Illinois, Toledo, Bowling Green and Company have won a few from their regional big brothers and put a scare onto all comers, such a challenge may have to award the MAC double the points for a win to keep the contest close.
posted by Shawn Healy @ 12:55 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Shawn:
This all comes down to simple greed at the hands of the NCAA, its schools, and the conferences. Otherwise, there is 0 reason to foist a 12th game on the fans- especially if that 12th game is going to be Wisconsin/Citadel or Georgia/Georgia Southern or South Carolina/South Alabama, Florida/West Carolina, Texas/SW Louisiana.
Nobody nowhere wants to see those games. Season ticket holders I'm sure have no interest in forking over $50-$500 for tickets to those games (Sherby, how pumped are you for the battle against the Citadel?)
Big schools can make millions on these games and the Div 1-AA hired human shields can fund their entire program by losing 60-7 on a warm September afternoon in front of 80,000 yawning fans.
I would love the 12th game idea if that 12th game was worth watching. Unfortunately for too many teams (like ours) instead of having 1 garbage non-conf game and 2 mediocre games, we now have 2 garbage games and 2 mediocre games. What was great about the Texas/OSU contract the last few years is that it was so rare these days that 2 top programs chose to decide their national title fate before the first day of fall. It was even better for the winner, because that team then had an inside track at the national title game. I'm fine with the 12th game if it meant that every team had to play 1 big time non-conf game, 2 mediocre games, and a snoozer. There is nothing wrong with one snoozer, but the 12th game now gives teams cover to load their schedule with creampuffs.
I love the idea for the 9th conf game, but that would not be right for the teams that would have 5 road games. Teams should just play 10 conference games, then the Big 10 would not need a conference title game and they could jack up the cost of their contract to ESPN/ABC. That would off-set some of the non-conference losses. The Big 10 could then have a contract with the MAC for one of the two non-conf games and then the other game could be the ND battle for the Michigans and Purdue or some other traditional game. I personally would like to see the Badgers take on NIU or Iowa St every year.
I like the addition of Wash St this year, but lets be honest, the Badger schedule still stinks and could cost them a trip to New Orleans if they go 12-0 or 11-1. Citadel is a garbage cash grab that wouldn't be so bad if we didnt have a guaranteed win against NIU later on. UNLV is basically a bone thrown at the Alumni Association, and Wash St is a cheap attempt at playing a big school like Cal, Nebraska, Clemson, or Louisville. Of course, in order to play one of those teams it would require them to give up a game against directional Louisiana...
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