FCS Schools getting screwed by the NCAA once again!

[Milktruck74]

IF you want to have your blood boil a little, read this article.

This comment said by a longtime Citadel grad/fan Sums it up perfectly....

This plan would probably cost members of leagues like the SoCon about $300,000 per year for 10 years. Basically, it forces schools like The Citadel, Furman, and South Carolina State to pay money to football and basketball players who went to Clemson and South Carolina.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ncaa-power-conferences-try-to-force-unequal-deal-on-the-less-powerful-in-lawsuit-settlements/ar-BB1mJISR?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[FUBeAR]

IF you want to have your blood boil a little, read this article.

This comment said by a longtime Citadel grad/fan Sums it up perfectly....

This plan would probably cost members of leagues like the SoCon about $300,000 per year for 10 years. Basically, it forces schools like The Citadel, Furman, and South Carolina State to pay money to football and basketball players who went to Clemson and South Carolina.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/ncaa-power-conferences-try-to-force-unequal-deal-on-the-less-powerful-in-lawsuit-settlements/ar-BB1mJISR?ocid=BingNewsSerpNeed to vote the P4ish schools off the NCAA island or all non-P4ish schools immediately move to D3…Sorry less-than-P4ish scholarship kids…go protest at Big State U. They’re the one that f’d you and ruined college sports.

[ElCid]

Screw em. We outnumber them. Make it even more than the counter proposal. Better yet, each school takes care of its own obligations for "back pay."

[JacksFan40]

Just rip the band aid off already and let the P4 form its own super league or whatever. Let the remaining G6 schools merge with the top of the FCS. Allow the left over FCS schools to choose between D2 or D3.

[bonarae]

Another proof that college sports as it currently stands is broken beyond repair?

[Outsider1]

Matt Brown just put out another story on this again earlier this morning.

https://www.extrapointsmb.com/p/something-fishy-potential-house-settlement

Frankly, it's time for the NCAA to say "See Ya", we and the other conferences and schools don't owe you a dime, and move on.

[Hammerhead]

The power conferences should be on the hook for 99% payments since they have 99% of the NIL money.

[bonarae]

House vs. NCAA settlement has just been approved. xsighx

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-athletes-set-to-get-2-8-billion-revenue-sharing-model-in-landmark-house-v-ncaa-settlement/

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/how-looming-house-v-ncaa-settlement-will-impact-college-athletics-on-and-off-the-field-for-years-to-come/

In the second link, FCS schools, per a memo shared by Yahoo Sports, will lose close to $280K PER SCHOOL over a period of TEN YEARS in back damages. Non-football schools will also share in the settlement of back damages...

Also... coaching buyouts in all of FBS/FCS cost programs nearly $200 MILLION collectively in 2023...

Roster sizes and scholarship allowances could change dramatically as well...

Employment status and collective bargaining are not resolved, however...

[JacksFan40]

Lol NCAA is now allowing schools to directly pay athletes. This sport is screwed.

[Go...gate]

I was wondering about this. Why should the conferences with few, if any, players receiving NIL even have to participate in this settlement?

[caribbeanhen]

I was wondering about this. Why should the conferences with few, if any, players receiving NIL even have to participate in this settlement?

just don’t pay, I mean what more could they possibly do to you

[Outsider1]

just don’t pay, I mean what more could they possibly do to you


Kinda my thought... Get together and continue to tell them that we don't owe them back damages for the damages they created in the first place.

[FUBeAR]

just don’t pay, I mean what more could they possibly do to you
Unless FUBeAR is misreading, the schools do not have the ‘choice’ not to pay … because the NCAA is holding the cash in the form of NCAA Tournament Revenues payable, which are distributed via the Conferences.

So, let’s say Furman says they ain’t gonna pay. The NCAA says… “No worries. We weren’t expecting a check. We’re taking YOUR “FAIR SHARE” (GOSH - FUBeAR HATES THAT PHRASE) out of the annual payments we make to the SoCon based upon the cumulative annual earned NCAA Tournament revenues of SoCon Teams. Just tell the SoCon Office that you’re refusing to pay YOUR “FAIR SHARE” and maybe they’ll send you the full amount owed and just take your reduction out of The Citadel’s share…but probably not.”

Follow?

[Outsider1]

Unless FUBeAR is misreading, the schools do not have the ‘choice’ not to pay … because the NCAA is holding the cash in the form of NCAA Tournament Revenues payable, which are distributed via the Conferences.

So, let’s say Furman says they ain’t gonna pay. The NCAA says… “No worries. We weren’t expecting a check. We’re taking YOUR “FAIR SHARE” (GOSH - FUBeAR HATES THAT PHRASE) out of the annual payments we make to the SoCon based upon the cumulative annual earned NCAA Tournament revenues of SoCon Teams. Just tell the SoCon Office that you’re refusing to pay YOUR “FAIR SHARE” and maybe they’ll send you the full amount owed and just take your reduction out of The Citadel’s share…but probably not.”

Follow?

I think you are right, but I also think this is one that needs to continue to get fought out in court. Again, these larger conferences/schools created these damages to begin with. I have hard time truly seeing their legal standing, unless it was the smaller conferences/schools finally agreed under duress... Even under duress I think the smaller conferences have legal standing to fight this more. If we say the NCAA is holding the money, that would mean that a few of the bigger players at the NCAA table are holding the money against the others at the table. How do you take your family to court? It's messy but needed sometimes. When people try to strongarm, you strongarm back. Like I said, kick these loonies out of the NCAA and force them to play their own games alone with the CFP.

[caribbeanhen]

Unless FUBeAR is misreading, the schools do not have the ‘choice’ not to pay … because the NCAA is holding the cash in the form of NCAA Tournament Revenues payable, which are distributed via the Conferences.

So, let’s say Furman says they ain’t gonna pay. The NCAA says… “No worries. We weren’t expecting a check. We’re taking YOUR “FAIR SHARE” (GOSH - FUBeAR HATES THAT PHRASE) out of the annual payments we make to the SoCon based upon the cumulative annual earned NCAA Tournament revenues of SoCon Teams. Just tell the SoCon Office that you’re refusing to pay YOUR “FAIR SHARE” and maybe they’ll send you the full amount owed and just take your reduction out of The Citadel’s share…but probably not.”

Follow?

did FCS and G5 schools verbally or in any other way agree with this fleecing?

[ElCid]

Wouldn't it be great to just say screw you and the majority of schools start a new association? Leave these goons to try and latch on to the P5 thugs. Everyone else can start fresh without those infected creatures in the NCAA machine. Could be a chance to do it right.

[The Cats]

Wouldn't it be great to just say screw you and the majority of schools start a new association? Leave these goons to try and latch on to the P5 thugs. Everyone else can start fresh without those infected creatures in the NCAA machine. Could be a chance to do it right.

The NCAA basketball tournament is the goose that lays the golden egg every year for the NCAA. If the G5 and FCS schools were to leave the NCAA - let 'em see how much $$$ they get from the tournament then. The NCAA does not help the G5 and FCS other than those proceeds from the tournament anyway. In most cases they are a hindrance rather than a help for those schools...

[Pards Rule]

The power conferences should be on the hook for 99% payments since they have 99% of the NIL money.


Agreed! But oh that isnt fair - so THEY say. BS tired of the tributes that need to be paid to power conference and billionaires!!

[Milktruck74]

The NCAA basketball tournament is the goose that lays the golden egg every year for the NCAA. If the G5 and FCS schools were to leave the NCAA - let 'em see how much $$$ they get from the tournament then. The NCAA does not help the G5 and FCS other than those proceeds from the tournament anyway. In most cases they are a hindrance rather than a help for those schools...

Don't think that the big boys wouldn't like to stop sharing that March Madness money with everybody else...There is a thought from those guys behind the scenes...except Tom Izzo said the quiet part out loud!!!


"Automatic bids for those mid- and low-majors, which comes from winning their respective conference tournaments, has "got to be looked at seriously....While everybody likes the upsets in the first round, I’m not sure if that’s true as it goes on," Izzo told ESPN.

[The Cats]

Don't think that the big boys wouldn't like to stop sharing that March Madness money with everybody else...There is a thought from those guys behind the scenes...except Tom Izzo said the quiet part out loud!!!


"Automatic bids for those mid- and low-majors, which comes from winning their respective conference tournaments, has "got to be looked at seriously....While everybody likes the upsets in the first round, I’m not sure if that’s true as it goes on," Izzo told ESPN.

If it was just the big boys playing (P4), then there would not be the big bucks as it is now. The G5, FCS, and non-football conference could put on their own end of year national basketball tournament...

[ElCid]

If it was just the big boys playing (P4), then there would not be the big bucks as it is now. The G5, FCS, and non-football conference could put on their own end of year national basketball tournament...

Yup. It would be like watching a bunch of conf tournaments if it was just the P-"X" of BB. They really don't get the appeal of having "everyone" in. It draws people who otherwise wouldn't care. These big confs/schools think the world likes them and them only. Clueless. It might work for a year or two and then they would realize the huge drop in revenue. I don't like BB in general, but I'll watch a few games in the first two rounds. If it's the usual suspects in later rounds, nope.

I think G5, FCS, Div II, III, need to reevaluate the NCAA and terminate their membership or stage a no holds barred coup and take charge. People like to say that the NCAA is nothing but the sum of its membership. BS. It money and the bureaucrats running it who control and steer things. They have the NCAA organization and their jobs as their priority, not college sports as intended.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

The highest ranking games in the NCAA Tournament's later rounds are when the blue bloods face each other. If the P2(4)(5) walks, they take 95% of the fans with them.

[taper]

If it was just the big boys playing (P4), then there would not be the big bucks as it is now. The G5, FCS, and non-football conference could put on their own end of year national basketball tournament...
Not a chance. Look at the money and viewership difference between the current NCAAT and the NIT and CBIT.

[UAalum72]

The highest ranking games in the NCAA Tournament's later rounds are when the blue bloods face each other. If the P2(4)(5) walks, they take 95% of the fans with them.
Of course. “Blue bloods” only play each other in later rounds in prime time when there only a few games. FCS and no football schools play when the audience is divided among four games, and usually either at lunchtime or latenight

[ElCid]

Of course. “Blue bloods” only play each other in later rounds in prime time when there only a few games. FCS and no football schools play when the audience is divided among four games, and usually either at lunchtime or latenight

The obvious is sometimes ignored.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Of course. “Blue bloods” only play each other in later rounds in prime time when there only a few games. FCS and no football schools play when the audience is divided among four games, and usually either at lunchtime or latenight

All later rounds games, regardless of participants, have those separate time slots.

The data has shown generally that Cinderella-P5 teams games in the later rounds don't draw as well as Duke-Kentucky in the same slots.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

Not a chance. Look at the money and viewership difference between the current NCAAT and the NIT and CBIT.

If the average consumer cared about the mid-majors as much as the doom and gloom crowds says they do, the CBIT and other minor tournaments would be on major networks or not become defunct.

We are the minority here; the vast majority follows brand names.

[NY Crusader 2010]

If the average consumer cared about the mid-majors as much as the doom and gloom crowds says they do, the CBIT and other minor tournaments would be on major networks or not become defunct.

We are the minority here; the vast majority follows brand names.

I'm confused. You're really comparing viewership for top mid-majors playing in March Madness to barely-.500 teams playing in the CBI, CIT and other small-time postseason tournaments? Of course nobody cares about Norfolk State playing Tennessee Tech in some random postseason tournament. Why would they?

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

I'm confused. You're really comparing viewership for top mid-majors playing in March Madness to barely-.500 teams playing in the CBI, CIT and other small-time postseason tournaments? Of course nobody cares about Norfolk State playing Tennessee Tech in some random postseason tournament. Why would they?

You are confused.

Read the original comment that started this mini-thread. Someone said the G5/FCS should start their own basketball tournament. Taper wisely said it wouldn't work. I agreed with him.

[ElCid]

I'm confused. You're really comparing viewership for top mid-majors playing in March Madness to barely-.500 teams playing in the CBI, CIT and other small-time postseason tournaments? Of course nobody cares about Norfolk State playing Tennessee Tech in some random postseason tournament. Why would they?

I think everyone is looking at different kind of fans. There are diehard school/conf fans, there are uninterested, only watch the tournaments fans because it's a big deal, there are general sports fans, there are gambling fans, etc. The general sports fans and gamblers will watch regardless. By far I think the most "in play" in regard to ratings, are the casual, generally uninterested fan who wants to feel part of something and just watch the tournament as an event and the conf/team fans. The casual fan numbers will go up and down a lot depending on the who, what, where, etc. if they never heard of some school, sure they may just not watch. But compelling Cinderella story teams, if hyped properly, will draw ratings. The fans of conf/teams who have done well historically will usually watch "their" games, mostly, so the ratings for their games are affected. And there is usually more fans as a result of their history. I'm sure Duke alone has more fans than the either the entire CAA or SOCON, etc.

In any event, if 2/3s of the field is shut out or leave for a different arraignment, the ratings for the current tournament will take a hit. How big or small is anyone's guess. The casual fan being a big factor. Will they sour to the blatant money grab, or just not care? Sure it's like comparing the CFP to the FCS. We all know how that plays out, but it's not quite the same. The numbers are a bit bigger in Basketball. If fans from Podunk U knows his team is being purposely shut out, will they care that Duke is playing Kentucky?

I'm almost certain, that whatever the fallout is with P5 football in regard to separating from the NCAA entirely, it will also bleed into Basketball and there will be a move to shut out the lower 2/3s of the conferences. It's all about money and the greed is extreme.

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

I doubt the hit will be as large as some people fear.

[NY Crusader 2010]

You are confused.

Read the original comment that started this mini-thread. Someone said the G5/FCS should start their own basketball tournament. Taper wisely said it wouldn't work. I agreed with him.

It definitely wouldn't work -- will only happen if the big schools take the ball and go home. Then you'll have the equivalent of FCS for basketball. I actually think, in Men's Basketball, the big schools and the small schools have a sort of symbiotic relationship when it comes to the NCAA Tournament. If the major schools left the NCAA and formed their own division, like they very soon will in football, it will hurt everyone. The value of the NCAA tournament drops significantly if viewership for the first weekend tanks. And it would without the David/Goliath factor. Would people continue to watch the Regionals and the Final Four in same numbers as they do now? Probably, yes. But people aren't going to be glued to their TV or streaming device of choice at noon on Thursday to see if Minnesota can beat Kansas in the 1st round.

[clenz]

Of course. “Blue bloods” only play each other in later rounds in prime time when there only a few games. FCS and no football schools play when the audience is divided among four games, and usually either at lunchtime or latenight
No, he's right.

We all love FCS and small schools making runs.

No one else does. The lowest rated EE and later games always involve cinderellas. No one, nationally, is tuning into watch them.

It's why ESPN always shows the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, etc. and almost never Tampa, Minnesota, Kansas City, Colorado, etc. no matter how good/bad they are. The worst Yankees teams are going to get better national viewership than a 110 win pacing Twins game. It's just the sad reality.

No one gives a **** about any of us nationally in enough numbers to make it worth the big schools listening to us. They know it. We know it. The media companies know it.

Everyone loves a March Madness Cinderella … except for television networks – Chicago Tribune (https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/03/26/everyone-loves-a-march-madness-cinderella-except-for-television-networks/)


“Incredible to have a Chicago team in the Final Four. I’ll take that over an intact bracket any day! Congratulations to everybody @LoyolaChicago- let’s keep it going!”
But not everyone is on board with the little guys, whether it’s Loyola this year, VCU in 2011, Butler in 2010-11 or George Mason in 2006. Because here’s Cinderella’s dirty little secret: Compared to the blue bloods, they generally aren’t great television draws.
“From a television standpoint, you really root for the big teams,” CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said Friday on Chris Russo’s Sirius/XM show. “Last night’s Kentucky outcome was not good for us and not good for TBS at all. Kentucky being the blue bloods that they are, and having the television draw that they have, that really hurt us. Kansas State winning — I have nothing against Kansas State as a school or a team — but that really hurt us.”



Kentucky, which fell to Kansas State on Thursday in the Sweet 16, is indeed a good television draw. The Kentucky Wildcats’ Final Four game against Wisconsin in 2015, their last appearance in the national semifinals, drew a 12.4 rating and 22.6 million viewers on TBS, TNT and truTV (all three cable networks televised the game), bigger numbers than the national title game the next season between Villanova and North Carolina (which also was on TBS, TNT and truTV) and nearly as big as last year’s national championship contest between Gonzaga and North Carolina, which reached a wider audience on CBS and drew a 13.2 rating and 23 million viewers.
Games featuring Cinderellas simply can’t compete in the ratings department. The 2011 Final Four game between VCU and Butler drew a 8.3 rating and 14.2 million viewers on CBS, 2.5 million fewer viewers than the Connecticut-Kentucky game that followed it. George Mason’s run to the Final Four in 2006 did not provide much in the way of a ratings bump, either: It drew a 9.1 rating and 14.5 million viewers, down from the comparable game in 2005 between Illinois and Louisville.

[ST_Lawson]

No, he's right.

We all love FCS and small schools making runs.

No one else does. The lowest rated EE and later games always involve cinderellas. No one, nationally, is tuning into watch them.

I know you're right, but that just seems so crazy (counterintuitive). The "cinderellas" are like 95% of the reason I watch the NCAA tournament. Once they're all done, I pretty much lose interest. I remember the big runs by Oral Roberts, Loyola Chicago, Florida Gulf Coast, VCU, and of course Ali with UNI back in 2010. Off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you who was in this year's final four (I looked it up, and I did remember seeing some of those games, but didn't really care that much). It just doesn't matter to me if UConn or Villanova wins another championship.

Maybe it's just because my team has never been in the tournament...it might be different if they made regular appearances there and I almost always had a team with a direct connection that I was rooting for. I never have, so I always just root for the little guy.

[clenz]

Networks love the upsets on Thursday/Friday. Maybe one or two real good stories for the round of 32. They genuinely want none of them past the S16 though. It's a good story. It makes for good articles. Makes for fun social media. It makes for "awful" TV ratings. The general public isn't tuning in for UMBC in the round of 32. They aren't tuning in for Loyola in the Final 4. They aren't tuning in for Wichita State in the final 4. Hell, even Memphis/Kansas is one of the worst rated title games of all time because no one cared about Memphis - and that was a loaded Memphis team.

We get so lost in our online sphere, twitter, friends, etc. We all have our own group that amounts to essentially an echo chamber. "Everyone I know loves it!". Great, Billy. You truly know about 13 people. Step outside that for a second.

It's the same thing we deal with in the FCS all the time. Our title games get the same ratings as low-end bowl games - in a good year. No one gives a **** how good the teams in the title game are outside of FCS fans, a tiny percent of college football die-hards, and the die-hard gamblers. It's massive to us. It doesn't register for 99% of the population.

People remember the runs. They are romanticized. The ratings and eyeballs tell the NCAA, the TV networks, the advertisers, the conferences, the committee, etc. that it's "bad" for the bottom line to have the small schools and Cinderellas.

[ElCid]

Networks love the upsets on Thursday/Friday. Maybe one or two real good stories for the round of 32. They genuinely want none of them past the S16 though. It's a good story. It makes for good articles. Makes for fun social media. It makes for "awful" TV ratings. The general public isn't tuning in for UMBC in the round of 32. They aren't tuning in for Loyola in the Final 4. They aren't tuning in for Wichita State in the final 4. Hell, even Memphis/Kansas is one of the worst rated title games of all time because no one cared about Memphis - and that was a loaded Memphis team.

We get so lost in our online sphere, twitter, friends, etc. We all have our own group that amounts to essentially an echo chamber. "Everyone I know loves it!". Great, Billy. You truly know about 13 people. Step outside that for a second.

It's the same thing we deal with in the FCS all the time. Our title games get the same ratings as low-end bowl games - in a good year. No one gives a **** how good the teams in the title game are outside of FCS fans, a tiny percent of college football die-hards, and the die-hard gamblers. It's massive to us. It doesn't register for 99% of the population.

People remember the runs. They are romanticized. The ratings and eyeballs tell the NCAA, the TV networks, the advertisers, the conferences, the committee, etc. that it's "bad" for the bottom line to have the small schools and Cinderellas.

All true unfortunately. But those were very informative ratings numbers you put up above. I would not have ever thought there was that much of a difference. In any event, personally I don't care how much money is made or not made. I love the runs by the underdogs regardless of conf. As a non basketball fan, those are the only thing that draws me personally. I guess I'm the oddball, along with St Lawson.

[WestCoastAggie]

Networks love the upsets on Thursday/Friday. Maybe one or two real good stories for the round of 32. They genuinely want none of them past the S16 though. It's a good story. It makes for good articles. Makes for fun social media. It makes for "awful" TV ratings. The general public isn't tuning in for UMBC in the round of 32. They aren't tuning in for Loyola in the Final 4. They aren't tuning in for Wichita State in the final 4. Hell, even Memphis/Kansas is one of the worst rated title games of all time because no one cared about Memphis - and that was a loaded Memphis team.

We get so lost in our online sphere, twitter, friends, etc. We all have our own group that amounts to essentially an echo chamber. "Everyone I know loves it!". Great, Billy. You truly know about 13 people. Step outside that for a second.

It's the same thing we deal with in the FCS all the time. Our title games get the same ratings as low-end bowl games - in a good year. No one gives a **** how good the teams in the title game are outside of FCS fans, a tiny percent of college football die-hards, and the die-hard gamblers. It's massive to us. It doesn't register for 99% of the population.

People remember the runs. They are romanticized. The ratings and eyeballs tell the NCAA, the TV networks, the advertisers, the conferences, the committee, etc. that it's "bad" for the bottom line to have the small schools and Cinderellas.

Casual views want clearly identifiable brands to watch. That 2023 Final Four was poorly viewed, IIRC. But get a Final Four with Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and UConn... RATINGS GOLD. Get a CFP with Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma... Viewership!

But a FCS Semifinal with Holy Cross, Weber State, Austin Peay, and NDSU? Outside of maybe NDSU, you're getting very poor TV ratings. And don't get a Celebration Bowl featuring Morgan State and Prairie View A&M... Ehh...

[KnightoftheRedFlash]

No, he's right.

We all love FCS and small schools making runs.

No one else does. The lowest rated EE and later games always involve cinderellas. No one, nationally, is tuning into watch them.

It's why ESPN always shows the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, etc. and almost never Tampa, Minnesota, Kansas City, Colorado, etc. no matter how good/bad they are. The worst Yankees teams are going to get better national viewership than a 110 win pacing Twins game. It's just the sad reality.

No one gives a **** about any of us nationally in enough numbers to make it worth the big schools listening to us. They know it. We know it. The media companies know it.

Everyone loves a March Madness Cinderella … except for television networks – Chicago Tribune (https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/03/26/everyone-loves-a-march-madness-cinderella-except-for-television-networks/)


Networks love the upsets on Thursday/Friday. Maybe one or two real good stories for the round of 32. They genuinely want none of them past the S16 though. It's a good story. It makes for good articles. Makes for fun social media. It makes for "awful" TV ratings. The general public isn't tuning in for UMBC in the round of 32. They aren't tuning in for Loyola in the Final 4. They aren't tuning in for Wichita State in the final 4. Hell, even Memphis/Kansas is one of the worst rated title games of all time because no one cared about Memphis - and that was a loaded Memphis team.

We get so lost in our online sphere, twitter, friends, etc. We all have our own group that amounts to essentially an echo chamber. "Everyone I know loves it!". Great, Billy. You truly know about 13 people. Step outside that for a second.

It's the same thing we deal with in the FCS all the time. Our title games get the same ratings as low-end bowl games - in a good year. No one gives a **** how good the teams in the title game are outside of FCS fans, a tiny percent of college football die-hards, and the die-hard gamblers. It's massive to us. It doesn't register for 99% of the population.

People remember the runs. They are romanticized. The ratings and eyeballs tell the NCAA, the TV networks, the advertisers, the conferences, the committee, etc. that it's "bad" for the bottom line to have the small schools and Cinderellas.

Thank you, clenz.

My comments were not intended to be incendiary but to acknowledge the real danger our programs face. We, and Reddit College Basketball, can pontificate how important the mid-majors are and how essential Cinderella is for the tournament experience, but numbers are not interested in sentiment. The networks like the underdog for the first weekend. After that they want the clock to ring midnight on Cinderella.

Coaches, commissioners, and executives have launched P4 exclusive trial balloons for a reason. They are testing the waters. The casual fan wants Kentucky-Kansas in the final rounds, not Kentucky-Cleveland State.


All true unfortunately. But those were very informative ratings numbers you put up above. I would not have ever thought there was that much of a difference. In any event, personally I don't care how much money is made or not made. I love the runs by the underdogs regardless of conf. As a non basketball fan, those are the only thing that draws me personally. I guess I'm the oddball, along with St Lawson.

Me neither, but it confirms how easily we are encased in our sports bubble. For us, the Cinderella run is the Holy Grail. We are the Galahads. The casual fan is the Lancelot; too profane by earthly sins.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Casual views want clearly identifiable brands to watch. That 2023 Final Four was poorly viewed, IIRC. But get a Final Four with Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, and UConn... RATINGS GOLD. Get a CFP with Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma... Viewership!

But a FCS Semifinal with Holy Cross, Weber State, Austin Peay, and NDSU? Outside of maybe NDSU, you're getting very poor TV ratings. And don't get a Celebration Bowl featuring Morgan State and Prairie View A&M... Ehh...

The average person who would happen to tune into the FCS semifinals wouldn't know the difference between Austin Peay and NDSU.

If you asked the general population, who has a better football team Montana State or Georgetown, a decent amount would say Georgetown. Simply because they know the name being affiliated with the Big East and big time college basketball. At the same time, if you asked the general population, "does Georgetown have a football team?", probably half would say no. Probably similar results if you asked if Villanova has a football team.