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According to CBS's Dennis Dodd, there is likely to be a fracture in college sports with recent loss of March Madness, as one key reason. In any case, the long term viability of the NCAA's current operating model is at risk.

The COVID-19 pandemic has stripped away the financial underpinnings of college sports, which supported the NCAA and the revenue needs of all colleges and, especially, the Power 5. Are we facing the destruction of college sports, whether FB, BB and/or non-revenue men's and women's teams? Candidly, we can't assume we can recreate what existed before the pandemic.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... m-the-fbs/

From the article:

"Don't necessarily think of those 65 schools would be completely alone. They'd most likely have to play somebody. Think about a group of, say, the top 90 or 100 schools to enhance scheduling and a television contract.

"The American Athletic Conference has long considered itself among the power conferences despite being part of the Group of Five. It even built a marketing plan around the term 'Power Six' to indicate as much.

"'If you talk about the Power Five breaking away … the American has been adamant that they would have to go with them,' a source close to the conference said."

To me, most of this article is saying that the swelling (bloating) of FBS ranks in recent decades might not be sustainable (goodbye, Liberty). And that the NCAA sucks. I can agree with both of those things.

Honestly, I don’t buy it, at least not in the next couple of years.

The schools are worried about keeping the chemistry and English departments open, possibly the school itself and people act like they are plotting a coup. The schools just want to get through the season and not go bankrupt and the NCAA isn’t going to stop or impede that. Just the opposite, it’s going to provide the stability that’s needed right now.

how would this work? Are we going to do away with March Madness? Because even a 90-team tourney with P5, Big East, AAC, and MWC isnt going to have anywhere near the intrigue of the tourney. People love the Davidsons, the VCUs, the Loyolas, the George Masons, and rightfully so. Are we going to jettison the current tourney structure? I know football is king but March Madness also prints money.

March Madness produces lots of dollars for Power 5 and everyone else. Power 5 Conferences get about 30-35 slots out of 68. If each round is worth say $280,000, then those conferences net just for the first round $9.8 Million. Let's say 15 of them advance to the second round, that's another $4.2 Million. VCU earned $9.2 Million for its conference. Part of the magic of this tournament is that anyone of the 68 teams might win. Don't you think Loyola's run generated more excitement than if Duke made a run? Right now everyone is trying to just get through this year including the hot dog vendors and the farmers hoping people buy brats to grill at tailgates. As with all realignment threads, yet another kitten has died.