How the mid-majors can shake the big guys up....

[JasonB]

My opinion, but the only way the smaller conferences are going to be able to get the BCS to listen and get a fair shake is to threaten to pull out of march madness...

[gostangs]

Great idea - it will have to be something big. There are more problems with the idea then you can imagine ( for example, you are a basketball player or coach waiting for this chance all your life - and your school pulls out - I'd have big problems with that).

I think just a good solid law suit with the bucks behind it to take it all the way - the other side will have more resources unfortunately.

[Silk]

A noble idea, JasonB, but I don't think there's a snowball's chance of that. There's just too much money at stake. Take Tulsa for example. Their football team couldn't beat Booker T. Washington High (in Tulsa), but their hoops program is pretty strong, and a solid year with a good showing in the NCAA Tournament undoubtedly makes up a large part - if not a majority - of their athletic revenue. Pulling out of the Dance in an effort to make a point about the inequity of football might cripple or even kill the school's athletic department.

I like your idea. A lot. But I think it becomes another case in which dollars win out over principle.

[The CPC]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JasonB:
<B>My opinion, but the only way the smaller conferences are going to be able to get the BCS to listen and get a fair shake is to threaten to pull out of march madness...</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh, good gravy! You cant be serious..... sometimes the things CPC reads here frighten him right out of his feathers....

Threaten to pull out of March Madness? Do you know what the BCS schools would say to that? "Go." "Let us help you pack!" "Leave the checkbook and bank statements on the kitchen table on your way out the door."

Do you not see how that would play directly into their hands? Do you not see that this would be exactly what they want? The BCS conferences already have an almost complete monopoly on post-season football money, 95% of all bowl payouts are contractually tied up by the BCS leagues. So, now you would like to hand them the entire basketball tournament payout, on top of that?

The only response you would hear from the big schools and the TV networks to that kind of threat would be laughter, long and loud. They've been working for years to find ways to cut the smaller schools out and keep the money for themselves, so if those schools offered to pull out voluntarily, the big schools and the TV executives that control them would somehow find a way to carry on. At least, as soon as their victory dance was over.

The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the very few chances that smaller schools have to take a shot at the big boys, on a neutral court. One of the few chances that most smaller schools have to show off their program on TV, with a true national audience. Beyond the money, its one of the best PR tools a smaller school has access to. The BCS schools would love to see that change. They dont like seeing teams like Tulsa and Gonzaga and Valparaiso pulling off upsets of bigger named teams every year, and neither do the TV people. Threatening to pull out would be suicide.

What you should really be worrying about, is that the BCS schools will be the ones who threaten to pull out. The current TV contract is up in just a couple years, what if those schools all decide they're going to split off and start their own tournament? Leave the NCAA, and form their own basketball league and hold their own tournament. Which way do you think the TV money will go then? The real threat is that those schools will pick up and leave the smaller ones, because they're tired of having to share.

[OldPony]

Only the NCAA can change things without going to court. IF the NCAA would declare the BCS unfair and eliminate those schools who participate from the NCAA only then would those schools feel threatened. It could also spell the end of the NCAA but who cares if they can't run college football anyway.
There is power among the non-BCS basketball playing schools. The tourney would not have near the fan interest if only BCS schools were invited. A non BCS tourney would threaten college b'ball like nothing else but it would have to have 100% participation.I'm afraid it is too much of a gamble for this to succeed though.
The NCAA Presidents could go a long way by making schools accountable for getting students instead of hired thugs (see Baylor basketball) and put severe punishments on those who fail to comply with high graduation rates for athletes. Investigations of some big programs would also help along with DP-like sanctions for teams like Bama.
I'm afraid this is all wishful thinkig though or it wouldn't be necessary for Cowens to have had to call meeitngs. The NCAA should have handled this long ago with a tourney.

[EastStang]

But the BCS schools would love a tournament that did NOT include those smaller schools, because then they wouldn't lose to them and they get their bracket spots. TV networks like the little guy angle but they still would rather have the big boys run through the tournament and have their fans tuning in. I agree with CPC on this one, they would say thanks, and walk away laughing out loud. Can you say Division II?