It's a good time to be a Bison fan

[PlainsBison]

Big lack of support for the Gopher's football program?

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/183447871.html

Good time to be a Bison!!!

[Honeybooboo]

To the B1G

Kick out Gophers, replace with Bison


:rofl:



And yes I'm kidding

[BisoninNWMN]

2K tickets!

Way to go Gopher fans.

[Vitojr130]

To the B1G

Kick out Gophers, replace with Bison, save conference!

:rofl:



And yes I'm kidding

FIFY :biggrin:

[IzzyFlexion]

Hey goldenshower.
If you're still on hold trying to wade through the throng of gooph fans clammering for bowl tickets......why don't you take a break and re-post some of your genius shit on BV. Your lecture on how NDSU should play some legitimate competition instead of the goophs was compelling as shit!!!!

Better yet, why not take a drive down to Frisco and do one of those sidewalk preacher gags. At any given time you could have as many 6-7,000 NDSU fans listening to your stupid ass.

[THEsocalledfan]

To the B1G

Kick out Gophers, replace with Bison


:rofl:



And yes I'm kidding

Why are you kidding? NDSU would be a much more legit Big 10 team that the goophs......even though it would never happen.

[SDbison]

Hey goldenshower.
If you're still on hold trying to wade through the throng of gooph fans clammering for bowl tickets......why don't you take a break and re-post some of your genius shit on BV. Your lecture on how NDSU should play some legitimate competition instead of the goophs was compelling as shit!!!!

Better yet, why not take a drive down to Frisco and do one of those sidewalk preacher gags. At any given time you could have as many 6-7,000 NDSU fans listening to your stupid ass. You tell him Izzy! Goldenshower hangs here so he can get a feeling of what its like to be a fan of a winning program. I think the guy needs to go take a "insert his user name here".

[thundarsdaddy]

"The Badgers sold more than 15,000 of their 24,000 Rose Bowl tickets for their game with Stanford in the first five days, according to the Wisconsin State Journal."

This was the articles big bragging point, that Wisconsin sold more than 15000 tickets in five days. I can only speculate but if the FCS Championship game would have been held in a large stadium, lets say 50,000+ seating capacity, Bison Nation would have bought more than 15000 tickets within 5 days!!!

[daddy daycare]

Pretty much exactly why I don't want the Bison to go FBS, ever.

[Herd]

Frisco = Championship; Gophers game = far from a championship. Another Meaningless Bowl game. 12000-15,000 bison fans to Dallas vs. 2500-3500 gopher fans to Houston says it all. Gopher fans centered on a major airport blanances things to their favor too. Pretty sad.

[mebisonII]

Is there a chance that these little bowls will eventually fold due to schools/conferences finally getting tired of paying for them?

[thundarsdaddy]

Frisco = Championship; Gophers game = far from a championship. Another Meaningless Bowl game. 12000-15,000 bison fans to Dallas vs. 2500-3500 gopher fans to Houston says it all. Gopher fans centered on a major airport balances things to their favor too. Pretty sad.

Great point!!!

[MNLonghorn10]

Is there a chance that these little bowls will eventually fold due to schools/conferences finally getting tired of paying for them?
yea...the schools make money on these bowl games...

[thundarsdaddy]

Is there a chance that these little bowls will eventually fold due to schools/conferences finally getting tired of paying for them?
I think without question thats whats going to happen. This move to the new Super-Conferences among the BCS schools will take care of that. There was speculation a year ago that if there could be 4 Super-conferences in college football, then those Conferences could simply do-without the NCAA, and simply have their own "playoff" of their choice, thats when the NCAA realized they need to do something to avoid Dinosaur status. Personally I wish they would go that route, but thats just one persons opinion.

[CAS4127]

yea...the schools make money on these bowl games...

MNLong-->I think you need to go back and read the article in full that was posted by the OP.

[56BISON73]

Is there a chance that these little bowls will eventually fold due to schools/conferences finally getting tired of paying for them?

If I am not correct ESPN owns most of the small bowls.

[BisonTeacher]

I think one of those gopher fans maybe Kill posted in that gopher vs ndsu basketball thread last week that 3000 had been sold per the pioneer press. Apparently they were wrong.

Edit...

Here it is....


According to the St Paul Pioneer press over 3,000 have been sold.

[LITTLEGUYSINGREEN]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but, according to the article, after the B10 is done buying out all the small bowl ticket guarentees, the revenue gets split evenly among all the conference schools? That smacks of communism. What's the incentive for getting to a BCS Bowl game if the school that gets there doesn't get to keep all the winnings, or at least a large portion of them. What a bunch of crap. Why would any major program want to join one of these communist conferences?

If I was an admistrator of one of the power schools in the conference, I would be pissed. Why should Michigan or OSU subsidize Minny, Indiana, or Northwestern?

No wonder Nortre Dame blows off the Big 10. If I was the president of the university, the B10 wouldn't get anywhere near the Virgin Mary.

[1998braves64]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but, according to the article, after the B10 is done buying out all the small bowl ticket guarentees, the revenue gets split evenly among all the conference schools? That smacks of communism. What's the incentive for getting to a BCS Bowl game if the school that gets there doesn't get to keep all the winnings, or at least a large portion of them. What a bunch of crap. Why would any major program want to join one of these communist conferences?

If I was a admistrator of one of the power schools in the conference, I would be pissed. Why should Michigan or OSU subsidize Minny, Indiana, or Northwestern?

No wonder Nortre Dame blows off the Big 10. If I was the president of the university, the B10 wouldn't get anywhere near the Virgin Mary.

Because even Minny made it to a crappy bowl, so if half of the conference can make it to the bowl just by winning a few games it allows them to garner money from 6-8 bowl games (including a fairly good shot at the "jackpot" of the national championship bowl game most years). But yeah that's why they say most of the teams that go usually end up losing money I believe since they don't actually get the full share of the winnings.

[NorthernBison]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but, according to the article, after the B10 is done buying out all the small bowl ticket guarentees, the revenue gets split evenly among all the conference schools? That smacks of communism. What's the incentive for getting to a BCS Bowl game if the school that gets there doesn't get to keep all the winnings, or at least a large portion of them. What a bunch of crap. Why would any major program want to join one of these communist conferences?

If I was an admistrator of one of the power schools in the conference, I would be pissed. Why should Michigan or OSU subsidize Minny, Indiana, or Northwestern?

No wonder Nortre Dame blows off the Big 10. If I was the president of the university, the B10 wouldn't get anywhere near the Virgin Mary.

You're using "tunnel vision". The stream of dollars is far bigger than just football Bowl money. That's actually peanuts in the overall picture.

You need those other schools to be a "conference" and the Big 10 has a tremendous amount of history and prestige that they trade on. That turns into a money printing machine when it comes to their TV Network which is where the real dollars are.

I am a firm believer that the future of Major College football is a 4 conference structure with their own playoff system that the NCAA has no input into. Those conferences will be the BIG, PAC, SEC, and Big 12. Everybody else will be outsiders without a spot at the table. FCS football will be far more competitive than it is now because all those MAC, WAC, Sunbelt, Big East, and even most ACC teams will be at our level. If that happens, Notre Dame will be forced to choose in a way that has never been forced on them to this point.

[THEsocalledfan]

I am a firm believer that the future of Major College football is a 4 conference structure with their own playoff system that the NCAA has no input into. Those conferences will be the BIG, PAC, SEC, and Big 12. Everybody else will be outsiders without a spot at the table. FCS football will be far more competitive than it is now because all those MAC, WAC, Sunbelt, Big East, and even most ACC teams will be at our level. If that happens, Notre Dame will be forced to choose in a way that has never been forced on them to this point.

I've heard this same theory from my brother. I am very skeptical, mainly because of the issue of who decides the "haves" and "have nots." For example, what becomes of Colorado and Colorado St? (Colorado is a major state now.) My point being that this could get really, really messy, even messier than now. Further, would the NCAA ever draw a line in the sand and tell them you need to work with them or you are out? (Unlikely, I think, but who knows.) And what about the political angle? You get the wrong Senator pissed off and you could have some major anti-trust investigation started.....

Not saying you are wrong at all, but I see a lot of hurdles.......

[KSBisonFan]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but, according to the article, after the B10 is done buying out all the small bowl ticket guarentees, the revenue gets split evenly among all the conference schools? That smacks of communism. What's the incentive for getting to a BCS Bowl game if the school that gets there doesn't get to keep all the winnings, or at least a large portion of them. What a bunch of crap. Why would any major program want to join one of these communist conferences?

If I was an admistrator of one of the power schools in the conference, I would be pissed. Why should Michigan or OSU subsidize Minny, Indiana, or Northwestern?

No wonder Nortre Dame blows off the Big 10. If I was the president of the university, the B10 wouldn't get anywhere near the Virgin Mary.

I heard the BIG is going to change their division names from Legends and Laggards to North Korea and China....They'll put all the red teams in the China division.

[Hammerhead]

My guess is that they will be forced to join the FCS if they can't get an invite to one of the new super conferences. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider having 3 levels of Division I football and put a minimum scholarship limit on the current FCS with the bottom feeders in a new 3rd division.


I've heard this same theory from my brother. I am very skeptical, mainly because of the issue of who decides the "haves" and "have nots." For example, what becomes of Colorado and Colorado St? (Colorado is a major state now.) ...

[mnriverbison]

That article is a bit of a hatchet job and provides really zero context or knowledge of why these bowls exist and how they make money. Virtually none of the teams going to those lowly bowls sell tickets. Particularly the bowls which are not in Florida or Arizona (and obviously the Rose Bowl) where mid-westerners congregate in the winter. The money, as always, lies on TV revenue and as long as sports media continues to be an insanely profitable thing to broadcast they'll continue having lame bowls with few in attendance. The league knows going in that they will eat those empty tickets, that is the fee for using the facility. and it is peanuts compared to the revenue generated. As for sharing TV revenue (including bowl revenue), that really only makes sense from a business sense. While MN does not put teams in BCS bowls, they bring a top 15 media market and the rest of the upper midwest for money. The Big Ten in any other year will get two teams in those bowls specifically because their TV footprint is so big and includes so many lucrative TV markets. It is easy to criticize Jim Delaney with cheap shots, but he has been extremely savy at driving up the bottom line for his bosses and anyone who thinks MN isn't a vital part of the plan is out of their minds.

The fair game to criticize here, is what is happening to college sports? Why is top line revenue the most important thing? Why are Iowa and Rutgers in the same conference? To bring it home, why aren't UND and NDSU? College sports have been *changed* by money. Not ruined for me (yet), but changed dramatically.

Also, what does this have to do with being a Bison? Do people really hold a fantasy that some day Bison sports will be front page news in MSP? Gopher sports barely are. The big-brother/resentment towards MN borders on comical around here.

[THEsocalledfan]

My guess is that they will be forced to join the FCS if they can't get an invite to one of the new super conferences. I wonder if the NCAA would ever consider having 3 levels of Division I football and put a minimum scholarship limit on the current FCS with the bottom feeders in a new 3rd division.

The issue will still be "who gets to decide?" This has been my criticism when Boise St. had those big runs and the major conferences said, "Well, they didn't play anyone." My response was, "Then why don't you invite them in your conference; I am sure they would take the invite." That usually shuts them up.

What I am getting at, if you let the conferences shut the door on teams like Colorado and Colorado State, just because they don't get an invite, it then become political and the feds will get involved. It really needs to be up to the individual schools what level they play at or this gets bloody.

[NorthernBison]

I've heard this same theory from my brother. I am very skeptical, mainly because of the issue of who decides the "haves" and "have nots." For example, what becomes of Colorado and Colorado St? (Colorado is a major state now.) My point being that this could get really, really messy, even messier than now. Further, would the NCAA ever draw a line in the sand and tell them you need to work with them or you are out? (Unlikely, I think, but who knows.) And what about the political angle? You get the wrong Senator pissed off and you could have some major anti-trust investigation started.....

Not saying you are wrong at all, but I see a lot of hurdles.......

I understand the political angle but the NCAA has no real power in this. They already lost their anti-trust battle in court. That's why the BCS exists at all.

Maybe they won't go so far as to specifically exclude the "little guys". Just set up the AQ's and criteria so that those little guys have almost no chance of making the playoff field. That way you might have a 16 team bracket where one or two little guys might make it every year and only if they are unbeaten. Remember that the BCS doesn't have to follow the NCAA tournament rules because they get to make up their own.

[THEsocalledfan]

I understand the political angle but the NCAA has no real power in this. They already lost their anti-trust battle in court. That's why the BCS exists at all.

Maybe they won't go so far as to specifically exclude the "little guys". Just set up the AQ's and criteria so that those little guys have almost no chance of making the playoff field. That way you might have a 16 team bracket where one or two little guys might make it every year and only if they are unbeaten. Remember that the BCS doesn't have to follow the NCAA tournament rules because they get to make up their own.

But will the smaller schools be smart enough to NOT want to play this game? And the politicians as you stated could still be a factor if it looks "unfair."

[NorthernBison]

But will the smaller schools be smart enough to NOT want to play this game? And the politicians as you stated could still be a factor if it looks "unfair."

Depends on how you want to pose the question. You make a good point if the BCS was to choose to stay the same size as it is now.

Suppose the 4 BIG Conferences get together and decide to opt out of the BCS system but still play football at the FBS level. They could do the same thing the Ivy League does at the FCS level. Decline to participate in an NCAA or BCS post-season playoff. Then they could set up their OWN 16 team playoff bracket with teams from their conferences and call it whatever they want to call it. Make up some goofy trophy and declare the winner the Champion of "Whatever".

End result? Everybody will understand that the winner of that tournament is the best college football team in the Nation. Viewers will watch that playoff more than any other. More importantly, THAT PLAYOFF BRACKET will draw TV rights like nobody else will.

The above is why the small schools have no real power. Maybe you end up with Boise State and Central Michigan in the BCS Championship Game. Nobody will care because Alabama and Oregon are playing in the Title game of the "Whatever" Tournament which isn't sponsored by the NCAA or the BCS.

Here's the ultimate kicker: Suppose that happens and some clown in Washington wants to fight it. Imagine how dumb that would look to fight the long awaited real playoff structure that everybody has been asking for for years.

[SDbison]

That article is a bit of a hatchet job and provides really zero context or knowledge of why these bowls exist and how they make money. Virtually none of the teams going to those lowly bowls sell tickets. Particularly the bowls which are not in Florida or Arizona (and obviously the Rose Bowl) where mid-westerners congregate in the winter. The money, as always, lies on TV revenue and as long as sports media continues to be an insanely profitable thing to broadcast they'll continue having lame bowls with few in attendance. The league knows going in that they will eat those empty tickets, that is the fee for using the facility. and it is peanuts compared to the revenue generated. As for sharing TV revenue (including bowl revenue), that really only makes sense from a business sense. While MN does not put teams in BCS bowls, they bring a top 15 media market and the rest of the upper midwest for money. The Big Ten in any other year will get two teams in those bowls specifically because their TV footprint is so big and includes so many lucrative TV markets. It is easy to criticize Jim Delaney with cheap shots, but he has been extremely savy at driving up the bottom line for his bosses and anyone who thinks MN isn't a vital part of the plan is out of their minds.

The fair game to criticize here, is what is happening to college sports? Why is top line revenue the most important thing? Why are Iowa and Rutgers in the same conference? To bring it home, why aren't UND and NDSU? College sports have been *changed* by money. Not ruined for me (yet), but changed dramatically.

Also, what does this have to do with being a Bison? Do people really hold a fantasy that some day Bison sports will be front page news in MSP? Gopher sports barely are. The big-brother/resentment towards MN borders on comical around here. Hey, when your big brother is a loser there is no resentment, actually closer to embarassment. Most people in the midwest that didn't go to Minnesota or have relatives that went there or employed there could care less about the goofers. They just plain suck. Big write up in the Star Trib today about dwindling attendance at Goofer football and basketball games. Season ticket sales are also going down. Ha Ha 2000 seats sold for their meaningless bowl game!

[THEsocalledfan]

Depends on how you want to pose the question. You make a good point if the BCS was to choose to stay the same size as it is now.

Suppose the 4 BIG Conferences get together and decide to opt out of the BCS system but still play football at the FBS level. They could do the same thing the Ivy League does at the FCS level. Decline to participate in an NCAA or BCS post-season playoff. Then they could set up their OWN 16 team playoff bracket with teams from their conferences and call it whatever they want to call it. Make up some goofy trophy and declare the winner the Champion of "Whatever".

End result? Everybody will understand that the winner of that tournament is the best college football team in the Nation. Viewers will watch that playoff more than any other. More importantly, THAT PLAYOFF BRACKET will draw TV rights like nobody else will.

The above is why the small schools have no real power. Maybe you end up with Boise State and Central Michigan in the BCS Championship Game. Nobody will care because Alabama and Oregon are playing in the Title game of the "Whatever" Tournament which isn't sponsored by the NCAA or the BCS.

Here's the ultimate kicker: Suppose that happens and some clown in Washington wants to fight it. Imagine how dumb that would look to fight the long awaited real playoff structure that everybody has been asking for for years.

Solid points, Northern, and I have not good argument against it. It could be the ultimate "freeze out" and ultimate proof the NCAA has lost all control. The more I think about it, the more I think this actually may come to pass. Yes, there will be some mad politicians, but not sure they can do much as you make an extremely strong argument.

EDIT: good thing the NCAA has other important work to do like going after hostile and abusive universities..... :)

[NorthernBison]

Solid points, Northern, and I have not good argument against it. It could be the ultimate "freeze out" and ultimate proof the NCAA has lost all control. The more I think about it, the more I think this actually may come to pass. Yes, there will be some mad politicians, but not sure they can do much as you make an extremely strong argument.

EDIT: good thing the NCAA has other important work to do like going after hostile and abusive universities..... :)

I just wish it was all original thoughts that I had. Then I'd really feel smart.

The recent round of conference shakeups (or shakedowns) is something I did not see coming. The Big East dissolution wasn't on my radar to the extent that it happened.

What I posed earlier was the "nuclear option" the big conferences have. I'm not 100% convinced they will use it. The fact that they have it will keep the little guys in line to get the spillage from the gravy train.

The good news in all this for Bison fans is that I HIGHLY DOUBT that the big boys are happy about more and more programs wanting a piece of the their action. I think that means there are plans to slice some of the fat off the BCS as time goes on. It will probably be subtle to keep Politics out of it. The end result, IMO, is programs like GSU who move up will find themselves bounced right back down along with some current FBS programs/Conferences. FCS will get stronger and that's a good thing.

[THEsocalledfan]

FCS will get stronger and that's a good thing.

Boy do I hope so and that you are right. Purely from a financial standpoint, I can't but help and admire the Big 10 is what they did with that cable channel. It was pure genius, and made it possible for them to continue to compete with the SEC and any other power conference for the most important schools. Yes, it is crazy, but think of how much money they are going to bring in adding Rutgers and Maryland. My goodness.