Well, there goes the Belk Bowl

[NewEnglandBull]

And Big12 wants the Russell Athletic Bowl too...

Honestly, I'm just thinking aloud, but, what if this is a subtle indicator of the B12 coming into Florida with one or more geographically close teams?

Easy travel and high attendance for FSU/Miami -or- USF/UCF fans if selected. If one of the FL teams doesn't get the spot, then it's excellent exposure to possible recruits on 1-4 and elsewhere in the state for the other B12 teams AND they can tell recruits they would be playing close to home at least once a year.

I could be completely full of s*** about this, but it does make me wonder if the B12 is being proactive, playing chess and setting up some pieces.

The Big Eight (now B12) had ties to the Orange Bowl (B8 Champs played there) that began in 1968. They never added any Florida teams, so why now?

The landscape from the time of the Big Eight compared with the current landscape isn't exactly an apples-to-apples comparision now, don'tcha think?

Still many bowls seem hell bent on making sure that people travel from further away in order to increase the economic impact.

[BiggTipp]

This is all crap...eliminating virtually half of the D1 schools from a chance to ever win a National Title...I agree with the lawsuit that is going to break this Monolopy up...these money hungry schools and Networks are going to price the "lower teir" football schools out of the sport

[BaltoBull]

 

And Big12 wants the Russell Athletic Bowl too...

 

Honestly, I'm just thinking aloud, but, what if this is a subtle indicator of the B12 coming into Florida with one or more geographically close teams?

 

Easy travel and high attendance for FSU/Miami -or- USF/UCF fans if selected. If one of the FL teams doesn't get the spot, then it's excellent exposure to possible recruits on 1-4 and elsewhere in the state for the other B12 teams AND they can tell recruits they would be playing close to home at least once a year.

 

I could be completely full of s*** about this, but it does make me wonder if the B12 is being proactive, playing chess and setting up some pieces.

The Big Eight (now B12) had ties to the Orange Bowl (B8 Champs played there) that began in 1968.  They never added any Florida teams, so why now?

My theory is to ensure attendance, build interest and expose the conference to recruits - pretty much the same reason why Florida is supposedly a target of the B12 - television sets.

 

Work with me here, I've seen a reason for preferring the B12 because it will bring travelers into town. Okay. But, I think the attendance of bowl games will change once practically every 'power team' has a shot at the post-season, judging by the way the conferences are accumulating these bowls. 

 

Maybe. And again, I'm going off on a wild tangent here, what if you set up geographically close 'bowls' to conferences and their teams and they served as the first round of a future playoff system? Then, once your team won that game, you could be expected to travel further for another? 

 

And remember, bowl game 'success' is measured in part by butts in seats, right? Another tangent, but, okay, the bowl host cities might not be thrilled about the hotel impact, but the people selling the tickets to the game would be, which could lead to maybe a bigger payout for the game, which eventually means more money for the conference. I don't think the 'power conferences' care about being known as a conference that brings people to distant cities as much as they would prefer to be known as a conference that fills stadiums.

 

If it's about insuring attendance and television showing full stadiums, I think this is what you would want. The bowls might not be happy about not bringing in a bunch of out-of-towners, but eventually the conferences could say, "Okay, our overlords at ESPN will create a new bowl for us close-by, thanks."

 

So, under this admittedly wild premise, it would make sense for the B12 to plant seeds with a bowl game in Florida. Like always, I could be full of s*** and some of what I'm thinking might not make sense. But, right now, I'm enjoying looking into the future and asking hypotheticals.

Edited March 8, 2013 by BaltoBull

[Joe]

This is all crap...eliminating virtually half of the D1 schools from a chance to ever win a National Title...I agree with the lawsuit that is going to break this Monolopy up...these money hungry schools and Networks are going to price the "lower teir" football schools out of the sport

It's crap now but when we were part of that big boy group it was fair...no wait it wasn't. It's amazing how much differently our fan base views things now that we aren't gifted an opportunity to play on the highest stage every year.

That being said its what college football has always been. Even if the Feds find some antitrust violation what makes anyone believe it will even up? No one is paying the A-12 or MWC close to the money that these other conferences make.

[Joe]

And Big12 wants the Russell Athletic Bowl too...

Honestly, I'm just thinking aloud, but, what if this is a subtle indicator of the B12 coming into Florida with one or more geographically close teams?

Easy travel and high attendance for FSU/Miami -or- USF/UCF fans if selected. If one of the FL teams doesn't get the spot, then it's excellent exposure to possible recruits on 1-4 and elsewhere in the state for the other B12 teams AND they can tell recruits they would be playing close to home at least once a year.

I could be completely full of s*** about this, but it does make me wonder if the B12 is being proactive, playing chess and setting up some pieces.

The Big 12 was tied into that game a few years ago, but the game elected to take a Big 10 team instead of a Big 12 team when the contract came up.

I don't think it means anything as far as expansion. It's a bowl game in Florida.

[CPR]

And Big12 wants the Russell Athletic Bowl too...

 

@McMurphyESPN :

Big 12 in discussions w/Russell Athletic Bowl to replace Big East, source tells @espn. Big 12 would play ACC in bowl starting in '14

[gobulls83]

This is all crap...eliminating virtually half of the D1 schools from a chance to ever win a National Title...I agree with the lawsuit that is going to break this Monolopy up...these money hungry schools and Networks are going to price the "lower teir" football schools out of the sport

It's crap now but when we were part of that big boy group it was fair...no wait it wasn't. It's amazing how much differently our fan base views things now that we aren't gifted an opportunity to play on the highest stage every year.

 

The BCS system that is now going away is/was imbalanced but still infinitely more equitable than the set up that the powers of college football are trying to broker.

[inTransit]

America 12 is going to get muscled out of several things the Big East had access to.  Id call them vultures but thats not fair, its just business.  Its going to be tough adjusting my expectations to the new reality of post-Big East athletics.

[Joe]

This is all crap...eliminating virtually half of the D1 schools from a chance to ever win a National Title...I agree with the lawsuit that is going to break this Monolopy up...these money hungry schools and Networks are going to price the "lower teir" football schools out of the sport

It's crap now but when we were part of that big boy group it was fair...no wait it wasn't. It's amazing how much differently our fan base views things now that we aren't gifted an opportunity to play on the highest stage every year.

The BCS system that is now going away is/was imbalanced but still infinitely more equitable than the set up that the powers of college football are trying to broker.

...because we are on the good side right now...

the new system is the same as it is now. "BCS" type bowls. Access for one non-auto school. The difference is the playoff, which I'd argue makes a non-auto school MORE likely to win a National Championship than the current system. Still bleak, but more opportunity.

[BiggTipp]

This is all crap...eliminating virtually half of the D1 schools from a chance to ever win a National Title...I agree with the lawsuit that is going to break this Monolopy up...these money hungry schools and Networks are going to price the "lower teir" football schools out of the sport

It's crap now but when we were part of that big boy group it was fair...no wait it wasn't. It's amazing how much differently our fan base views things now that we aren't gifted an opportunity to play on the highest stage every year.

That being said its what college football has always been. Even if the Feds find some antitrust violation what makes anyone believe it will even up? No one is paying the A-12 or MWC close to the money that these other conferences make.

The BCS was never fair...never thought it was...but it was nice having a reserved seat to the show....now we will just have to be like Boise St every year