[NU Sports] could the BCS form its own division?

[Jonathan Hodges]

> My memory is hazy on this, but aren't we speaking of something akin to the
> College Football Association, formed in the early 80's after Oklahoma and
> Georgia sued the NCAA for violating the Sherman Anti-trust act ?
>


The organization you're talking about was actually the NCAA's attempt at
regulating the college football television market, essentially allowing just
a handful of teams on TV every week and distributing money to all members
equally.  The courts ruled that this was an anti-trust violation (I think
this came down in 1986 or so) and instead allowed individual teams or groups
of teams (conferences) arrange their own TV deals independent of the NCAA.
This actually led to most major independents joining conferences, like Penn
State to the Big Ten, Florida State to the ACC, and the formation of the Big
East conference.  Notre Dame, of course, got its own deal and we all know
that is the primary reason that they remain independent.

Note that there was never an effort to separate from the rest of Division
I-A, but instead just some conference alignment changes to accommodate
better TV deals.  The formation of the BCS was on par with this - not
affecting NCAA/I-A membership but instead a move made within the NCAA
regulations to generate more revenue.

The problem is that they're now stuck and in order to generate an even
bigger payday by starting a playoff, they would have to break ranks with the
NCAA or pass substantial changes (not likely given the current makeup of
Division I).

Jonathan