The new ESPN College Football Proffessional Minor Leagues

[JasonB]

Realistically, ESPN is creating their own minor league for the NFL. They pulled all of the P5 coaches together a few weeks ago, are encouraging them not to play smaller schools, and the resolution just happens to come out a few weeks later giving them more autonomy. ESPN doesn't give a crap about academics, and eventually the players will get paid. If you aren't in a power conference, you are a division 2 school because you aren't getting any money for TV and you can't afford to pay your players.

The schools want as small a number of universities in the power conferences as possible so that they don't have to split the cash. And ESPN wants the pool of universities to be as small as possible, because they only want big colleges involved that drive massive ratings.

Right now there are 5 power conferences with a total of 64 teams. We have two teams that need to join because of demographics: ND and BYU. Which of the following scenarios is most likely?

1) The schools add ND and BYU, and decide for balance that each conference should have 14 teams. So there are 70 total teams invited to the big dance.
2) The schools add ND and BYU, and decide that there should only be 4 conferences. Each conference will have 20 teams, and the conference championship game will essentially be the first round of an 8 team playoff. 80 total teams involved.
3) The schools add ND and BYU, and decide that there should be 4 conferences of 16 teams each. Either the Big 12 or the ACC is ripped apart, and 2 teams from NW, Baylor, TCU, Wake, and Vandy are dropped from the majors to the minors.

If you think that options 1 or 2 are more likely, then if you are SMU, you continue to try to invest in your sports programs and fight to get a chair before the music stops.

However, if option 3 is more likely (and I believe it is), then the dance is over and you don't have a chair. In that case, does June's idea of starting a separate league in the Spring really sound that crazy? It is the only way to have any relevance in the world of college football. There isn't going to be a bowl system anymore, and even if there is, we won't be allowed to participate in it. If they don't allow teams to play non-conference against smaller schools, they certainly aren't going to give away bowl money. So take the remaining conferences, combine them until you have 4 left, and play the same system in the Spring, except you aren't paying the players.

This all sucks, but I really get the feeling it is over. We didn't fight for relevance early enough. And if you think the NBA and ESPN aren't going to influence the same thing to happen in basketball, you are kidding yourself. Eventually, the ratings will decrease because such a small percentage of the population will have ties to those schools, and things will open back up. But it sucks for now.

[ReedFrawg]

I am a tcu fan but putting that aside for the moment, I don't see any P5 schools being booted. Especially not schools like vandy and northwestern with their conference history.

[couch 'em]

Just as irrelevant in the spring as in the fall. Must accept football betting irrelevant, or drop football, or do something crazy like arena ball or Canadian football or something to get attention and pray it sticks. If we find ourselves truly out for good, I'd rather drop the sport and demo ford. It is less embarrassing to not play than to be D-II. let's hope college basketball stays popular

[michiganstang]

I am a tcu fan but putting that aside for the moment, I don't see any P5 schools being booted. Especially not schools like vandy and northwestern with their conference history.

I'd like to think conference history means something, but in an era that includes the Big Ten adding Rutgers and WV in a conference with Texas, I would imagine that the involved ADs would drop the 'smaller' schools in their conferences like a rock if the money to fan animosity ratio came out on the right side, particularly if the veneer of academic involvement is shed.

With the theoretical "ESPN CF minor league" as the o.p. put it including ND, one would think they need not have Northwestern to have the desired Chicago presence (also, it seems likely that Michigan and Michigan State have more alumni in Chicagoland than Northwestern does) and I don't know that Vanderbilt adds substantially to the bottom line of the SEC, if the bottom line is money rather than tradition or academic bragging rights.

[Stallion]

Consider though that it is very possible that ESPN has lost control of the freight train. What if they don't control conference networks that are now appearing. You also got FOX, and other networks ramping up their college football. Big10, SEC, PAC networks etc. Conference expansion to a large degree has been based upon the network's of competing conferences battling it out. What are they going to do to fill time slots? ESPN is actually in a more precarious position than it has been in awhile

[covok48]

Consider though that it is very possible that ESPN has lost control of the freight train. What if they don't control conference networks that are now appearing. You also got FOX, and other networks ramping up their college football. Big10, SEC, PAC networks etc. Conference expansion to a large degree has been based upon the network's of competing conferences battling it out. What are they going to do to fill time slots? ESPN is actually in a more precarious position than it has been in awhile

If that's the case then good. They deserve whatever happens as they help the freight train switch from coal to diesel.

Story below is the origin of the big 10 network. Good read about how the wheels were set in motion.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011 ... -officials

[LA_Mustang]

I love football and SMU has a lot of history in the sport but if we are not going to compete at the P5 level, which it appears we will not, SMU should strongly consider dropping football. Let basketball be our primary sport (like Georgetown) and add baseball. We could build a nice baseball stadium where Ford currently sits. We could become a dominate hoops program and excel in the "other" sports - baseball, soccer, golf.

If the P5 start to only schedule other P5 schools in OOC, SMU football is a lost cause. They only way we make any money now is when we play the P5 Texas schools in OOC. Take that away and we will average 5k a game for the season.