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

[Sportsbiz]

The issue is not simply one of money although it would seem to be so on the
surface.  Football is actually the only sport that is mostly outside the
NCAA's control at least on the Division I-A level.  Eligibility and
recruiting restrictions and the like are controlled by the NCAA but the BCS,
the bowls and TV are controlled by the conferences, the bowls and the
schools; the NCAA has nothing to do with them.

So, breaking away would not be a problem if football were the only
consideration, but it's not.  Every BCS member school runs a complete
athletic department fielding upwards of 20 men's and women's teams.  In most
cases, those all compete in the same conference, but not in all, as we know
out national champion lacrosse team competes in a lacrosse only league not
the Big Ten.  Without the NCAA, the BCS schools would have to organize and
govern all of these sports, including the ones in which its members are only
a portion of the total competing schools, like hockey and water polo.  If
the BCS schools breakaway, the remaining schools would likely not play the
BCS schools, nor agree to share governance of sports with them.

In addition, there is one other major factor - the CBS basketball contract,
which is roughly $6 billion over the next seven years.  While much of that
may be attributable to BCS schools, there is no denying that the Cinderella
factor has helped to make the tournament a national success.  I suspect that
CBS would not be too terribly thrilled at the prospect of March Madness with
only BCS member schools.

It's not an idle thought as it has bounced around BCS schools for a number
of years.  Each time it gets raised, however, all of the above
practicalities as well as many more too numerous to go into here , get put
on the table, and the thought goes away only to come out again the next time
the NCAA comes up with some totally stupid idea; usually about every 6
months.

Mark

Mark S. Ament
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On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 4:43 PM, Jonathan Hodges
<jonathanwhodges at gmail.com>wrote:

> > 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
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