Does Jamie Pollard have a point?
- Thread starter swagsurfer02
- Start date
Nah. These teams all need foes that they can beat on a regular basis along with broader revenue streams. Otherwise they're just a bunch of .500 teams.
Pretty sure the schools are not the ones making these decisions. Media money is the driving force and if getting rid of Mississippi State or Northwestern makes financial sense, it will happen.
If Pollard is willing to say this publicly it’s a good bet these are actual discussions taking place.
Translation: We're better than Iowa, they're just lucky they were in the B1G.
What's going to happen? No more conferences? A super conference of the top 16 teams? If so, who's in it? Outside of Bama, Georgia, tOSU, teams bounce up and down in the standings quite a bit. Does every school negotiate a separate TV deal? That would be a cluster of epic proportions and nearly impossible to execute. Uneven revenue distribution within conferences (see the old big12)?
You have to have teams to play against and consistent viewership and conferences supply just that. I could see shaving off the lower end (Northwestern is a good example and that's kind of what just happened to Washington State and Oregon State) but some sort of competitive groups need to exist.
Thinking locally, if Iowa wouldn't make the cut on a shift like this... the whole thing gets blown up. Iowa is the perfect example of a second tier program that is big and successful enough to sustain itself and be competitive. Programs like Wisconsin, South Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Okie State, Arkansas and Iowa...wouldn't just go away.
What's going to happen? No more conferences? A super conference of the top 16 teams? If so, who's in it? Outside of Bama, Georgia, tOSU, teams bounce up and down in the standings quite a bit. Does every school negotiate a separate TV deal? That would be a cluster of epic proportions and nearly impossible to execute. Uneven revenue distribution within conferences (see the old big12)?
You have to have teams to play against and consistent viewership and conferences supply just that. I could see shaving off the lower end (Northwestern is a good example and that's kind of what just happened to Washington State and Oregon State) but some sort of competitive groups need to exist.
Thinking locally, if Iowa wouldn't make the cut on a shift like this... the whole thing gets blown up. Iowa is the perfect example of a second tier program that is big and successful enough to sustain itself and be competitive. Programs like Wisconsin, South Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, Okie State, Arkansas and Iowa...wouldn't just go away.
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rather than booting out the weak sisters, i could easily see a scenario where the big ten poohbahs tell them to either accept a reduced payout from the tv revenue or hit the road...every conference needs their own washington generals, but their slice of the pie could be shrunk....
If they get kicked out, do we become the Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Indianas of major college football?
Everything within the last 5-10 years has been expansion, expansion, expansion...yet we are supposed to believe there will come a time in the near future where these conferences start contracting? Not seeing it.
Wouldn't the same question apply to the BIG12?
No way it can survive as a national sport with only a dozen or two teams. They need at least 40, more likely 50ish teams that blanket the country to keep the ratings and interest up. College football is way too connected to individual school fandoms to just try to compete as a replica/competitor of the NFL.
They really blew it by adding Memphis/Rice/whomever nobodies and massively diluting their value, when they could have waited and ultimately merged with the remainder of the Pac-12.
Jamie is butt hurt that Clown U is no longer part of a Power Conference.
I didn't name them this but this is what the 4 conferences are now being called:
The Power 2: SEC, B1G
The Other 2: ACC, Big 12
I didn't name them this but this is what the 4 conferences are now being called:
The Power 2: SEC, B1G
The Other 2: ACC, Big 12
Kind of a confusing interview. He made it seem like it was the bottom rung teams
need to watch over their shoulders and then he alluded to It’s the conference administration that needs to. I don’t see a merger between the two power conferences. If they did decide to merge then you don’t need two commissioners, but I still am skeptical whether there would be any blood letting of bottom teams.
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This. If you prune the tree too much, it will begin to die. You'd need 40-60 teams from the old P5 to keep viewership and TV$ up.
Yeah, it was kind of aimless.
If his point is that the blue bloods are going to break away from the NCAA to form their own league, that thought has been bandied about for the last 15 years. Nothing novel there.
If his point was something else, he'll have to clarify it for me.
I think it will eventually be a top 32--4 groups of 8---Iowa is in the top 30 for sure by all of the metrics--the deal is would they want to be at the lower tier of the top 32 or be in the upper tier of the rest--
Iowa's history says go for the gusto--
If that happens, I say there is leverage in threatening to walk.
I'm not sure a smaller slice of a large pie is worth it.
A weak sister is already as a disadvantage vs the big dogs, and if you take away the equitable share of the pie, why stick around?
What is the benefit of getting a little bit more $$$ while having no real chance of ever making the CFB vs getting a little less $$ but having a much better chance of making the CFB in a lesser conference?
Example:
Current slice of pie in B1G (for everyone): $75M/yr
- slim, but real chance of making CFB
Reduced slice for the 'Weak Sisters' (bottom 10): $25M/yr
- no real chance of ever making CFB
Move to a lesser conference
Slice of smaller pie for everyone: $15M-$20M/yr
- legit chance to make the CFB once in a while
If Iowa falls int the 'Weak Sisters' category, then I'd prefer a move and let the big dogs play with themselves.
If an AD from a BT or SEC school was talking like this then you might have some smoke. Jamie is just butt hurt and talking out his arse......again.
But I hope he stays in Ames as their AD for as long as he is alive.
But I hope he stays in Ames as their AD for as long as he is alive.
The tricky part in all of this is where do you draw the line? The "second tier" programs (meaning solid P5 but not Bama, tOSU) move up and down quite a bit from year to year. Look at the B1G for example. Where would you draw the line? Look at the B1G. Mich St, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota were all near or at the bottom last year, but have all competed for a division title recently.
Cutting the classic P5 list of 69 teams down to 32 would be tricky. Plenty of teams that hover around that midline.
I think the most likely scenario is bigger teams saying, we'll take a bigger share of the pie.
So like I said. They still need other teams to play, and they need media markets nationwide. That's how all of these people make money. Pollard is trying to get support for his schools and schools like his that are getting shut out.
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That day might come, but not in my lifetime. I do look for the SEC to gobble up UNC & Clemson and B1G acquires FSU and Miami. More growth in the next decade for both of the twosuper conferences.
I would've thought that same thing until recently. Look at all the non-sports things that have shifted dramatically in a very short period of time that would have been unthinkable just 5 years ago. It's easier than ever to manipulate people and systems in a big way. Shit can fall apart pretty fast...and it is.
32 teams is way too few. Literally creating NFL 2 but with only 20% of the fans.
You need at least 50ish schools to keep the majority of cfb fans invested.
It would seem the original P5 with a 16 team playoff. Still the best solution.
The best solution would have been for the P5 to drop to a P4 of 12-16 schools each, and losing the 12ish weakest programs from the bottom conferences in the process for a total of around 56 schools.
Problem is the top schools from those conferences were all poached by the SEC & B1G, and then the B12 doubled down by foolishly adding a bunch of G5 schools as well.
Most likely will end up with the P2 adding 4-6 teams each according to the needs of advertisers and forming a new division.
any "pruning" or shuffling of lower tier P5 teams would also be affected by the outcome of House V. NCAA..under the mediation currently pending, each school would budget a minimum of 20-25 million right off the top for player compensation/revenue sharing..without the revenue generated by being a member of the big ten/sec, teams in the big 12 and acc are going to face serious cash crunch to balance the books..interesting times indeed..
prowess on the field is only a fraction of what will keep most of the P2 together. it’s also brand and fan following.
Jamie knows that he's not in the "big leagues" and it eats him up inside every day.
Sorry I didn’t read the whole thread, but in case no one else said it, this is nothing but big fat sour grapes from JP, and not exactly original, either, as I’m sure I’ve heard other wannabes say some similar b.s. to make themselves feel better.
He's upset because his program is a have not and that disparity will only go over the coming years. Iowa, on the other hand, is a top 20 money maker in college football. Iowa is at no risk, and never will be, of being left out of a seat at the table. Now, some small teams may be at risk in large conferences but Iowa certainly isn't one of them. Small program fans and ADs will only become more incensed in time as there is a very clear echelon, like there always was, but now it means those programs likely just won't be able to afford existing any longer. That's Capitalism baby! Love it or hate it...
No, it won't.
Let's assume Pollard's statement actually came to fruition. Iowa State would still be chuck roast at Ruth's Chris. So why even say it? STFU already, Jamie.
He absolutely has a point. The day U$C and UCLA were announced, everyone not named O$U, UMich and P$U became "lesser". Who will have a bigger say and more influence, CA schools (plural), Iowa or WI? Every smaller-market B1G school became expendable. Just ask Wazzu and OR State.
The guy is projecting. What he wants is not what will happen.
B1G*
Notre Dame, Stanford, Cal, UNC, Virginia, and either Miami or Texas A&M (rumored to want out of SEC with TX joining)
SEC
Florida State, and who really gives a shit, repeat ...
*All additions will have to be AAU or Presidents will veto
LOL. Might want to compare revenues of those schools’ football programs (and athletic departments) compared to Iowa.
