Realignment, Alliance, and the Future of College Athletics

[cytor]

I think ratings would go down overall. The magic of college sports is overall competitiveness between schools. Having it top heavy will drive people away from viewership.

MLB is a great example of same teams vying for the world series every year. I don't watch the playoffs anymore. The NFL and NHL are leagues where anything can happen on a yearly basis... far more fun to follow.

 

[HFCS]

I am guessing the thought process is that the concentration of fans will outweigh the fans that drop out

If I had gone to UNI I’m probably an NFL fan or not a football fan. Maybe I’m unique. Maybe Louisville, ISU, and GT alums and students and communities will suddenly wear the gear of the super league former rival school.

It’s not just about excluding markets or including them, it’s weakening interest in existing markets too.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I think ratings would go down overall. The magic of college sports is overall competitiveness between schools. Having it top heavy will drive people away from viewership.

MLB is a great example of same teams vying for the world series every year. I don't watch the playoffs anymore. The NFL and NHL are leagues where anything can happen on a yearly basis... far more fun to follow.

Premier league soccer has the same 4-6 teams every year and it has the highest ratings of any league in the world.

People who’s teams don’t have a chance at the playoffs usually just hope to compete for a conference title or to beat their rivals. Personally I could see NIL making the playoffs much more interesting as bama no longer has a strangle hold over every 5 star they want.

 

[Mr Janny]

I think ratings would go down overall. The magic of college sports is overall competitiveness between schools. Having it top heavy will drive people away from viewership.

MLB is a great example of same teams vying for the world series every year. I don't watch the playoffs anymore. The NFL and NHL are leagues where anything can happen on a yearly basis... far more fun to follow.

I can't think of many sports that are MORE top heavy than college football already is, and there are plenty of viewers.

Oklahoma is 76-8-1 against Iowa State, historically. That's not overall competitiveness. Shoot, most power 5 teams pay at least one cream puff a year to come in and get their clocks cleaned. If you think that competitiveness is a selling point for college football, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Al_4_State]

If I had gone to UNI I’m probably an NFL fan or not a football fan. Maybe I’m unique. Maybe Louisville, ISU, and GT alums and students and communities will suddenly wear the gear of the super league former rival school.

It’s not just about excluding markets or including them, it’s weakening interest in existing markets too.

Yeah ******* right.

I'd drop out of college sports before I became a Hawkeye fan.

 

[HFCS]

Yeah ******* right.

I'd drop out of college sports before I became a Hawkeye fan.

Are WVU fans going to suddenly be Alabama fans or are the going to check out or focus on nfl.

Seems pretty obvious.

I’m not sure programs like Bama and Georgia can even grow much more interest than they already have? I mean who in Alabama or Georgia is waiting for bigger success or more tv coverage before they jump on the bandwagon? It’s virtually impossible.

 

[houjix]

I think ratings would go down overall. The magic of college sports is overall competitiveness between schools. Having it top heavy will drive people away from viewership.

MLB is a great example of same teams vying for the world series every year. I don't watch the playoffs anymore. The NFL and NHL are leagues where anything can happen on a yearly basis... far more fun to follow.

MLB also has (had) the most restrictive playoff system. Even then, all teams but one (Mariners, 20 seasons) have made the playoffs in the last 7 years. That 's pretty similar across the NBA, NFL, and NHL. All three of those leagues have had all teams in the playoffs in the last 6 years with the exception of one outlier team (Kings, Jets, and Sabres) with a decade+ long drought.

 

[WhoISthis]

I think ratings would go down overall. The magic of college sports is overall competitiveness between schools. Having it top heavy will drive people away from viewership.

MLB is a great example of same teams vying for the world series every year. I don't watch the playoffs anymore. The NFL and NHL are leagues where anything can happen on a yearly basis... far more fun to follow.

Nothing is a better example of the same teams vying for the title every year than college athletics. That’s what happens in amateurism model with history, tradition, and geography being the primary means to get talent.

The pay to play employment era, and the consolidation to a P2 that comes with, will add to competitive integrity. Money is a great equalizer. You also have talent consolidation occurring. The back half of the top 40 or 48 should improve, while the elites decline.

The SEC is driving this, but they stand to lose the most when a BIG program can more readily import talent in the employment era

 

[Remo Gaggi]

Thoughts on Cowherd's take here? Is CFP going to be more popular in 5 years? What's happening at USC in 12 months? Are they breaking away like the ND AD said the big dogs would?

I honestly don't care what Cowherd has to say, but I have to admit that I do watch his show just to see Joy Taylor. God, what a woman.

 

[Al_4_State]

Are WVU fans going to suddenly be Alabama fans or are the going to check out or focus on nfl.

Seems pretty obvious.

I’m not sure programs like Bama and Georgia can even grow much more interest than they already have? I mean who in Alabama or Georgia is waiting for bigger success or more tv coverage before they jump on the bandwagon? It’s virtually impossible.

Yeah, and there's absolutely no market for those schools in unaffiliated states.

The reason people in Iowa watch SEC games is because they're part of the same level of football that our schools are. If that changes, no one will give a ****.

Now take "Iowa" and insert any other state outside the SEC footprint.

 

[HFCS]

Thoughts on Cowherd's take here? Is CFP going to be more popular in 5 years? What's happening at USC in 12 months? Are they breaking away like the ND AD said the big dogs would?

Cowherd has said some of the dumbest things I've ever heard a human say. He could be right here, but the guy is stone cold dumb frequently.

I haven't listened to him in many years but this was my fav...
There was a year when his only college football take the entire season was how overrated the Big 12 was and how it was the worst major conference. Texas won the national championship that year, Big 12 went 6-0 against spread in bowls, Big 12 went 5-1 straight up in bowls. (we were the only team that lost but we beat the spread)

I mean it's hard to be that wrong if you are trying to be wrong. A national champion and 6-0 against the spread in bowls is overrated?

In this case he's probably right but by being ridiculously vague he's only saying what most people suspect anyway. He knows as much or less about the USC situation as every passionate Iowa State fan knows about USC.

 

[BryceC]

Agree. I'd love for the blue bloods to split off and form a semi-pro league. Let the rest of us get back to playing college sports. We'll see which model lasts longer.

Am I the only person in this thread who will admit that if the top schools split off and form their own division, I'll care a whole lot less about the whole thing? Admittedly I'm already pretty bummed about OU and UT leaving, at least from a football perspective.

 

[isutrevman]

Am I the only person in this thread who will admit that if the top schools split off and form their own division, I'll care a whole lot less about the whole thing? Admittedly I'm already pretty bummed about OU and UT leaving, at least from a football perspective.

I wouldn't watch the top schools for the same reason I don't watch the USFL. If I want to watch pro football, I'll watch the NFL. I would still follow/watch Iowa State and whatever division they're in.

 

[Al_4_State]

My interest in watching this top level would hinge on what the effect it had on ISU was.

If this is a super league of 20 blue bloods, and all the schools we consider rivals (Iowa, KSU, OK State, etc) weren't part of it, I would casually watch the way I'll casually watch any football.

If ISU is relegated and the majority of our historical opponents are part of this new level (say it's 50 schools and we're out), I'll probably just focus on being a Vikings fan.

 

[BryceC]

I wouldn't watch the top schools for the same reason I don't watch the USFL. If I want to watch pro football, I'll watch the NFL. I would still follow/watch Iowa State and whatever division they're in.

I'd still watch, let's be real. But I'll admit to the fact that I'll just care a whole lot less.

 

[cyfanatic]

My interest in watching this top level would hinge on what the effect it had on ISU was.

If this is a super league of 20 blue bloods, and all the schools we consider rivals (Iowa, KSU, OK State, etc) weren't part of it, I would casually watch the way I'll casually watch any football.

If ISU is relegated and the majority of our historical opponents are part of this new level (say it's 50 schools and we're out), I'll probably just focus on being a Vikings fan.

Yep...it would depend upon how busy I was...if I had nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon I would see who was on but I wouldn't plan around an afternoon match-up of Auburn v Florida.

 

[jctisu]

Cowherd doesn't know ****.

Eh not entirely true. He is always right about Iowa being the Fake ID of the sports world. Forever grateful for that gem during the entire year leading up to McCaffrey destroying them in the Rose Bowl

 

[BryceC]

If ISU is relegated and the majority of our historical opponents are part of this new level (say it's 50 schools and we're out), I'll probably just focus on being a Vikings fan.

Admittedly I'm kind of just hanging on as a football fan already. I don't watch anybody if it's not the Chiefs or ISU but I watch those teams religiously with ISU as my #1 by a mile. If we got relegated I'd probably just do other stuff.

 

[HFCS]

Nothing is a better example of the same teams vying for the title every year than college athletics. That’s what happens in amateurism model with history, tradition, and geography being the primary means to get talent.

The pay to play employment era, and the consolidation to a P2 that comes with, will add to competitive integrity. Money is a great equalizer. You also have talent consolidation occurring. The back half of the top 40 or 48 should improve, while the elites decline.

The SEC is driving this, but they stand to lose the most when a BIG program can more readily import talent in the employment era

So if we estimate that 20% (pulling # out of my ***, it could be any number) of Iowa's population is Hawkeye and Cyclone fans watching most FB games...the super league is going to result in MORE than 20% of Iowans being just Iowa fans? That's with Iowa going from being 20th out of 140 in FBS and 5th out of 14 in Big Ten to being 20th best in the new 30 team superleague?

Why will it be more popular suddenly? It will still have worse players than the NFL. An extra 8k Iowans a year will graduate from college with no ties to a major conference team (their alumni affiliation also affects friends/family who didn't go to college so the number is much greater than annual grads). That's the # I see growing. Annual alums with no ties to a major college football and who will not be football fans or be NFL fans. The # I see shrinking is graduating alumni from major football schools.

How will it work in Nebraska? What Nebraskans were just waiting through the 90s and 00s for a reason to become Nebraska fans for the first time? What individual in the country was waiting to be an Alabama fan and just didn't have a reason because they didn't win enough or weren't on TV enough or didn't get enough ESPN coverage or didn't have a cool enough stadium?

The biggest reason a lot of these sports programs became massively popular were ties to universities and alumni bases. An Iowa Hawkeye minor league football club that had no connection to the university brand is called the Iowa Barnstormers (do they even exist anymore?).

 

[Al_4_State]

I absolutely love the game of football, but my attachment to ISU is stronger. I'll always follow football, and I'll always follow ISU at any level, but I'll be a whole hell of a lot less invested if we're in a different segment of the sport than Iowa.