During the so-called BCS era the football factories were increasingly forced to include schools from non-BCS conferences like the Mountain West in the national championship discussion. Schools like Boise State and Utah repeatedly ruined the BCS dance by appearing, and then again by winning against teams that they should not be able to compete against.
With the end of the Bowl Championship Series as we know it ad a true college football playoff on the horizon, a new day is dawning. Even if the college football playoff isn't fully matured yet it is still mature enough to be able to tell the massive dollars that it will generate. This time around there won't be any sharing with the have-not's of the world. It's estimated by many that ESPN will pay out at least $500 million dollars to televise the college football playoffs in their current configuration. When the playoff expands from four teams to eight teams expect that amount to double as well.
With so much money on the line the football factories realize that they are in the drivers seat to maximize their share of the pie. In order to do this there will have to be a divorce from the have-nots. What does this entail? Well, for starters it means that college football programs that have legitimate aims to try and compete at the highest level need to sequester themselves from those that do not. I've identified 72 teams that all have a few key things in common. Although there is great disparity even among this group of 72, these are programs that have the ability maximize the value of big-time college football. What are these qualities? Name recognition, participation in a BCS conference or the demonstrated ability to compete in one had they been afforded that opportunity, merchandising & licensing appeal, stadium and facilities, fan support and quality of program. Not every school among these 72 starts out every year expecting to win the national championship. It merely aims to identify the programs that are committed to pursue big-time college football and can demonstrate that desire. By satisfying that requirement they will contribute to the highest possible quality of the product that gets placed on the field.
The 72 teams would be divided into six divisions each consisting of twelve teams each. Those teams would play a rotating group of nine games against the other teams in their division. Additionally they would play two games against a rotating group from the other regional conferences. It will take years to rotate through but eventually every team in the big-boy group will play every other. Finally, each team will have the ability to choose one historic rivalry to preserve each year.
You've no doubt noticed that the big-boy club is totally self-contained. The proposed schedule allows only for these teams to play other members of the Elite 72. No FCS warm-up games against Sam Houston State and no playing San Jose State and claiming that they are a Division 1 team and that your strength of schedule shouldn't suffer as a result of playing them. In order to maximize the value to television audiences this practice would have to end. The country will tune in to watch LSU play Kentucky in their opener. That game has some appeal and value. Is it a marquee matchup? No. Kentucky and LSU are miles apart as programs. However, Kentucky has enough cache, enough following and enough talent as a member of the Elite 72 that this is a real game with real risk to a major contender like LSU and a serious opportunity for Kentucky to show that it can rise up and beat one of the marquee names in the Elite 72. Conversely, no one cares about LSU opening against Troy. The fans will pack Tiger Stadium simply because they've been football starved since the previous February and are hungry to see their Bayou Bengals play.....against anyone. But can you really expect ESPN or anyone else to pay out big money to televise a game that will be over before the end of the first quarter? No. Remember, the possible $1 billion price tag we talk about earlier is just for the seven games that comprise the playoff. Additional money would be on the line to televise the games of the regular season.
Is this a completely fair method? Of course not. There is no way to have every team play an equal schedule each year. There will be years when one of the teams in your conference that you skip is the odds-on favorite to win the conference title. That may ease your path one year and cloud it the next. Additionally, there are years when schools are just better than they are in others. Would it stink to have played a historically poor Kansas team four years ago when they were very, very good? Sure. Those things will happen regardless of what anyone tries to do.
However, if your team doesn't win one of the six spots in the playoff that go to each regional conference champion you still might have the chance to win one of the two at-large spots that brings the field to eight.
Here's how staggering the money could possibly get. Although it's highly unlikely that any one network could or would be able to bid on televising all of the regular season like they could the playoffs, the money spent would would still be enormous. As it stands now, college football broadcasts rake in about $1.1 billion in television revenues right now. That number could easily jump to $2 billion just to televise the much more appealing games from the Elite 72.
Regular Season Payout ( $2 Billion)
NCAA or Governing Entity $200,000,000
Each Elite 72 Team $25,000,000
Eight Team College Football Playoff
NCAA or Governing Entity $100,000,000
Each Elite 72 Team $9,000,000
Teams Finishing 3-8 $25,000,000
Runner Up $40,000,000
National Champion $60,000,000
The eventual national champion could receive $94 million. Even the team that theoretically finishes dead last in the Elite 72 would still receive $34 million. That is roughly equal to what the highest conferences such as the Big 10 and SEC now payout.
I've listed my Elite 72 teams below along with suggested regional affiliations. I do not pretend that they are perfectly balanced.
1.California
2.Stanford
3.Arizona
4.Arizona State
5.Washington
6.Washington State
7.Oregon
8.Baylor
9.Colorado
10.Utah
11.Nebraska
12.Illinois
13.Purdue
14.Indiana
15.West Virginia
16.Oklahoma
17.Texas Tech
18.TCU
19.Oklahoma State
20.Minnesota
21.Oregon State
22.Northwestern
23.Iowa State
24.Kansas
25.Kansas State
26.UCLA
27.USC
28.Texas
29.Wisconsin
30.Michigan State
31.Michigan
32.Penn State
33.Ohio State
34.Louisville
35.Boise
36.Cincinnati
37.Notre Dame
38.BYU
39.Connecticut
40.Boston College
41.Iowa
42.Rutgers
43.Maryland
44.LSU
45.Alabama
46.Ole Miss
47.Mississippi State
48.Auburn
49.Georgia
50.Florida
51.Arkansas
52.Missouri
53.Texas A&M
54.South Carolina
55.Tennessee
56.Vanderbilt
57.Kentucky
58.Virginia Tech
59.Virginia
60.FSU
61.Clemson
62.Duke
63.Wake Forest
64.North Carolina
65.North Carolina State
66.Pitt
67.Syracuse
68.Georgia Tech
69.Miami
70.South Florida
71.Nevada
72.Houston
Below are twelve additional teams that I believe have merit and should receive consideration. There could be a few schools that decide that they want to bow out of the Elite 72 and return to a more academic standing. Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest and Stanford all could potentially fall into this category.
73.East Carolina
74.Fresno
75.Wyoming
76.New Mexico
77.Utah State
78.Colorado State
79.Memphis
80.Marshall
81.UNLV
82.Rice
83.SMU
84.UTEP
Washington State
Oregon
Oregon State
Cal
Stanford
UCLA
USC
Nevada
Arizona
Arizona State
Boise
Florida
Florida State
South Florida
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Alabama
Auburn
South Carolina
Clemson
Mississippi
Mississippi State
West Virginia
Syracuse
Pitt
Boston College
Maryland
Rutgers
Virginia Tech
Virginia
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Connecticut
Michigan
Michigan State
Tennessee
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
Louisville
Duke
Wake Forest
Notre Dame
Cincinnati
Northwestern
Nebraska
Utah
BYU
Missouri
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Purdue
Indiana
Illinois
Iowa
Iowa State
Texas Tech
TCU
Baylor
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Houston
LSU
Arkansas
Kansas
Kansas State
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