7th Bowl (ESPN news)

[Hoop Fan]

College football is becoming a cartel. Either that or a mafia led by its boss, ESPN. It's amazing how they have created different rules for certain colleges. Everyone should have a shot not just primarily the large public schools that are funded by us the taxpayers to begin with.

totally agree. Its absurd when people use the 'marketplace' argument for why its ok to exclude some existing D-1 schools (smaller private schools who don't happen to be Vandy, Northwestern and Duke, or unlucky state schools like Fresno or Hawaii) from basic access. Marketplace? 95% of the BCS schools are governmentally subsidized. The very land that they sit on in many cases was given to them by the taxpayers of this country. Their tuitions are subsidized. By extension, their athletic programs are public assets. The fact that it gets massive private donations now from its alums who got subsidized educations, doesn't change the fact that UT Football and all that it has become was essentially enabled by public support and subsidy. Its terribly ironic how on one hand UT will go to the Supreme Court to protect access and quotas in public education, yet its wholly-owned athletic department subsidiary and its CEO Deloss Dodds thinks he is the king of capitalism and running Bershire Hathaway or something.

[EastStang]

But with our coast to coast model, they can move across the country. Imagine having an 11 p.m. game EST of Boise vs. Cincy, or SDS vs. Rutgers in the western time zone. Thus creating a late game for their network with midwestern or eastern interest. Remember we also have teams in the NY, Philly, Dallas, Houston, Cincy, Tampa, Orlando, Memphis, San Diego markets in football and in hoops you add DC, Chicago and Milwaukee. And while those teams do not dominate their respective markets, they at least give TV execs something to think about.