Suggestion for Mark Emmert

Wouldn’t it save the NCAA money to relocate its investigative staff to Birmingham on a permanent basis?  It sure would cut down on the travel time.

Things I didn’t learn in law school.

I’ve read this bit by ESPN Legal Analyst Lester Munson three times and I still can’t figure out his argument.

“The Bowl Championship Series obviously is a monopoly. It has total control over the market for a college football championship. As a monopoly, it is vunerable, very vunerable (sic) to this kind of anti-trust attack. If somebody, somewhere were to file the lawsuit, it would be an easy win and it would be the end of the Bowl Championship Series.”

First off, the BCS doesn’t have total control.  There’s nothing stopping a bunch of schools from running out there right now and starting a new association with its own postseason and championship.  Nothing.

But here’s what I really don’t understand.  Let’s say for the sake of argument that he’s right and the BCS has that control.  How is that different from any other sport?  Major League Baseball controls that sport’s championship through the World Series, the NFL does it with the Super Bowl, et cetera, et cetera.  Seriously, what am I missing here?

Cupcakes: a lesson in economics

It’s pretty amusing, really.  College presidents wring their hands and whine about the laws of supply and demand when it comes to the dollars of college athletics.   Meanwhile, the athletic directors they employ who live with those same laws don’t whine.  They adapt.

So here’s a question for you realists out there.  What would you expect to happen in a world where the cost of scheduling home football games with mid-major schools has steadily spiraled upwards and the NCAA enacted a rule change which allowed FBS (formerly Division I) teams to count a victory over a FCS (formerly Division IAA) team toward bowl eligibility every year, not just once every four years?

If you answered that the big schools would start shopping at different bakeries, you’d be right.

Games between FBS and FCS teams have spiked 70 percent since a 2005 NCAA rule change made the games more attractive, according to analysis by The Oregonian. The matchups have increased nearly 600 percent in the Pacific-10 Conference and 358 percent in the Big Ten, even adjusting for conference expansion…

FCS games in the powerful Southeastern Conference surged 140 percent since the rule change. This season all 12 SEC teams will host a lower-division opponent.

Actually, it’s not just the big schools who are indulging their sweet tooth.  As this chart indicates, every conference except the WAC has seen an increase in games against lower division opponents:

Conf.                       ’04-’11
% change*

Pac-12……………………. 570

Big Ten…………………… 358

SEC……………………….. 140

C-USA……………………… 83

Mountain West…………… 75

ACC………………………… 57

Big 12……………………… 41

Big East……………………. 40

MAC………………………… 35

Sun Belt…………………… 33

WAC………………………. -29

Total……………………….. 76

*Adjusted for changes in conference size

(h/t Jerry Hinnen)

Shoe on the other foot

I’m struck by the quotes in this article about Georgia’ season opener as to how the measuring stick has completely flipped since the last time these two teams met.

McGarity said scheduling the game put “some juice in our program,” and Richt said it was needed “to let the college football world know that Georgia is still alive and kicking.”

Well.  Of course, that only works if Georgia wins the game.

Thursday morning buffet

No scheduling conflict with ESPN here:

• Keyshawn Johnson’s doing the 7-on-7 thing now.
• More stupid wishful playoff thinking here.
• “So I said, ‘Write me a check on my buyout, and I’m outta here.'”
• Shakin the Southland tackles a subject near and dear to our hearts.  (See how I did that?)
• In case you’re interested, here’s a DUI arrest and suspension roundup.
• Yes, BCS, nothing says taking action like “task force”.  Next, they’ll probably appoint a commission to study the task force’s recommendations.
• Chris Brown’s look at Cam Newton, Gus Malzahn and the “one read” passing offense is worth checking out.
• There’s not really much I can add to this:  Les Miles kissed a pig the other day.