Special Commentary: The Cardinal and the Network

What is the current relationship between college athletics and television networks?  I have been asking myself that question over the last few days. 

We as fans read about how networks like ESPN, CBS, Turner, FOX, and NBC have been negotiating multi-billion dollar contracts with the NCAA and major collegiate conferences over broadcasting rights for college football and basketball games.  Even major conferences like the Big Ten, the SEC, and the Pac-12 have created their own television networks in order to reach wider audiences.  This larger exposure often results in more revenues for conferences and college athletic departments in the form of cable subscription fees, advertisements, alumni donations, and larger game-day ticket sales.  Teams have even changed conferences for the purpose of generating larger revenues for their programs (The recent defection of Maryland, a program carrying $50 million in debt, from the ACC to the Big Ten is one such example).  However, a front-page article from Monday's New York Times has revealed a new kind of partnership that ties the fortunes of singular teams/schools to the scheduling demands of a major network.

Monday's article, At Louisville, Athletic Boom is Rooted in ESPN Partnership, discussed how the University of Louisville's athletic program, in particular its football team, went from national insignificance into a top-tier BCS contender over the last sixteen years.  Back in 1998, Louisville was mainly known for its relatively successful men's basketball program (it won two national championships during the 1980s), but it had an athletic department that was struggling to pay its bills on a meager $14 million budget.  It was also an institution that had only begun to establish itself as a public university.  Indeed, Louisville was only a small, private college when it joined the Kentucky state system back in 1970.  Thus, in 1995, Louisville's president, John W. Shumaker, the college's board of trustees, and its athletic director, Tom Jurich, decided to build the football program as a way to bring national attention to their university.  In so doing, the university invested in new facilities like Papa John's Stadium and hired coaches like John L. Smith, Bobby Petrino, and Charlie Strong to make Louisville into a BCS-level program.  

But where did ESPN fit into Louisville's grand plan?  Well, in the early 2000s, the network was looking for teams who were willing to play on midweek days like Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  Since universities in major FBS conferences were reluctant to host midweek games, mid-major conferences like Conference USA were willing to accommodate ESPN's demands to play on nontraditional days in exchange for national television exposure.  As a result, Conference USA, prior to the 2001 season, signed an agreement with ESPN worth $80 million.  Since Louisville was a member of C-USA at the time, they were "more than happy," according to The Times, to play midweek games on national networks like ESPN and ESPN2.  This exposure, along with the efforts of Coach Smith and his successors to turn the Cardinals into a winning program (Nine bowl appearances between 1998 and 2006, including a win in the 2006 Orange Bowl, and a Sugar Bowl victory in 2012) enabled Louisville to join the Big East in 2005 and ultimately move to the ACC in 2014.  Moving to better conferences meant greater television revenues, and Louisville is currently projected to make $16 million per year when it joins the ACC.

So it seems that Louisville is a success story with the way in which it built its athletic program into a national power.  The increased exposure from its agreement with ESPN, according to The Times, also allowed the Athletic program to hire Rick Pitno as the head coach of its men's basketball program and finance "a $256 million athletic building boom."  Even the university's academic departments have benefited from the rise of Louisville athletics.  Since 1998 the university's research budget has increased, the number of endowed professorships has gone up fivefold, the university has had 36 Fulbright scholars between 2010 and 2012, and donations from wealthy alumni have amounted to $1 billion since 2004.  And it was made possible by Louisville's willingness to play its games in accordance with the scheduling demands of ESPN and its affiliates.

When I read this article, I was very concerned if what was happening to Louisville was going to be the future of college athletics.  Obviously the Cardinals have benefited from their partnership with ESPN and the network enjoys high rankings from its midweek football telecasts.  As one former ESPN executive, Loren Matthews, put it, according to The Times, "As we cleared more homes, bigger conferences saw more dollars and better exposure . . . schools would say:  "We'll play on any night.  Do you want us to start at 9, or do you want us to start at 6?"  But all this new exposure comes at a price, it seems to me.  Universities are deferring to corporate entities over how they should schedule games and a corporation like ESPN is going to set up a schedule that benefits their long-term interests (money and publicity) rather than those of the university and its students.

Speaking of students, how do they benefit from the increased revenues that athletic departments receive from television agreements?  The answer is, not that much.  At a time when athletic departments take in more revenues, college costs are still increasing because many states have cut education budgets over the last several years. Tuition costs go up and students go further into debt by borrowing more money to pay for a college education.  Rather than help the students by using their increased fiscal resources to control rising Tuition costs, athletic departments all over the country have opted for building more facilities, renovating stadiums, and paying larger salaries to coaches and administrators.   Louisville's success, in turn, perpetuates the current national "arms race" in constructing modern athletic facilities designed to attract the best recruits and coaching staffs that money can buy.

But, is Louisville's successful arrangement with ESPN a long-term phenomenon?  I guess as long as people are willing to go see their favorite college teams play at any day of the week, and as long as people pay subscription fees to cable companies, then I imagine it can sustain itself for the time being.  But because money is what drives the relationship between college teams and television networks, which one gets to make the rules over scheduling?  Television stations have the airwaves and they decide who gets aired and who gets preempted.  But universities have the teams that enable the networks to get the ratings they need to sell advertising.  So the business relationship between college teams and television stations can be fairly complicated.  But, at the end of the season, the entity that ultimately wins may not be the one hoisting the crystal football. 

n.b.  When I first posted this commentary, the New York Times' website had been down for the weekend.  Now that their website is back up, I can post a link to the article in question:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/sports/at-louisville-an-athletic-boom-made-for-and-by-tv.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

The Season Begins - First Week Game Schedule

After months of waiting, I am happy to announce that the 2013 College Football season starts Thursday evening!  I can't wait for the games to begin and, with this anticipation in mind, I have decided to start posting the weekly game and TV schedules for all FBS teams.  Most of this information will come from sites like ESPN, CBS Sports, and FBschedules.com  Check local listings for air-times since games may be delayed or unavailable in certain areas of the country. 

Starting Thursday, I will be posting the final scores like I did last November when I began this blog project.  During the season I plan be online every Saturday afternoon starting at 12pm Eastern to answer any questions my readers may have about that day's games.  Or if you just want to say hello and talk about your favorite teams and players or start a debate about a NCAA football-related topic then that is by all means welcome and encouraged.  I look forward to what my audience has to offer and I hope to talk to all of you on Saturday.  Have a great week, everyone!!

NCAA FBS Football Schedule - Week 1 - All Times Eastern

Thursday, August 29th

6:00PM
North Carolina vs. #6 South Carolina - ESPN
Liberty vs. Kent State

6:30PM
Presbyterian vs. Wake Forest 

7:00PM
Indiana State vs. Indiana - Big Ten Network
UNLV vs. Minnesota - Big Ten Network
Tulsa vs. Bowling Green - ESPNU
Illinois State vs. Ball State
Akron vs. UCF

7:30PM
Southern Utah vs. South Alabama
Towson vs. Connecticut
Western Carolina vs. Middle Tennessee

8:00PM
Utah State vs. Utah - FOX Sports 1
Jackson State vs. Tulane

9:15PM
Ole Miss vs. Vanderbilt - ESPN

10:00PM
Sacramento State vs. San Jose State

10:30PM
Rutgers vs. Fresno State - ESPNU

11:00PM
#24 USC vs. Hawaii - CBS Sports Network

Friday, August 30th

7:00PM
Morgan State vs. Army - CBS Sports Network
Samford vs. Georgia State

8:00PM
Western Michigan vs. Michigan State  - Big Ten Network
Florida Atlantic vs. Miami (FL) - ESPNU
Texas Tech vs. Southern Methodist - ESPN

8:30PM
Southern University vs. Houston
North Dakota State vs. Kansas State - FOX Sports 1

10:00PM
Northern Arizona vs. Arizona - PAC-12 Network

Saturday August 31st

12:00PM
Buffalo vs. # 2 Ohio State - ESPN2
Massachusetts vs. # 23 Wisconsin - Big Ten Network
Elon vs. Georgia Tech
Villanova vs. Boston College - ESPNNEWS
William & Mary vs. West Virginia - FOX Sports 1
Southern Illinois vs. Illinois - Big Ten Network
Purdue vs. Cincinnati - ESPNU

12:21PM
Toledo vs. No. 10 Florida

12:30PM
Florida International vs. Maryland
Louisiana Tech vs. North Carolina State

1:00PM
Rice vs. #7 Texas A&M - ESPN

3:00PM
Colgate at Air Force

3:30PM
Mississippi State vs. No. 13 Oklahoma State - ABC, ESPN,  or Check Local Listings
Temple vs. No. 14 Notre Dame - NBC
Central Michigan vs. No. 17 Michigan - Big Ten Network
Syracuse vs. Penn State - ABC, ESPN, or Check Local Listings
Brigham Young vs. Virginia - ESPNU
Northern Illinois vs. Iowa - Big Ten Network

4:00PM
Nicholls State vs. No. 3 Oregon - FOX Sports 1
Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Arkansas
NC Central vs. Duke

5:30PM
#1 Alabama vs. Virginia Tech - ESPN
Eastern Washington vs. #25 Oregon State - PAC-12 Network

6:00PM
Howard vs. Eastern Michigan
Austin Peay vs. Tennessee

7:00PM
Louisiana-Monroe vs. No. 16 Oklahoma
Washington State vs. Auburn - ESPNU
McNeese State vs. South Florida
Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky - ESPNNEWS
Murray State vs. Missouri
Old Dominion vs. East Carolina
Idaho vs. North Texas
Miami (OH) vs. Marshall - CBS Sports Network
Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Arkansas State
Texas State vs. Southern Miss
UAB vs. Troy

7:30PM
Wofford vs. Baylor

8:00PM
#5 Georgia vs. #8 Clemson - ABC
New Mexico State vs. #15 Texas - Longhorn Network
Wyoming vs. #18 Nebraska - Big Ten Network
Eastern Illinois vs. San Diego State
Northern Iowa vs. Iowa State
UTSA vs. New Mexico

9:00PM
#12 LSU vs. #20 TCU - ESPN

10:00PM
#19 Boise State at Washington - FOX Sports 1
Nevada vs. #21 UCLA - PAC-12 Network

10:30PM
#22 Northwestern vs. California - ESPN

Sunday, September 1st.

3:30PM
Ohio at #9 Louisville - ESPN


6:00PM
Colorado vs. Colorado State - CBS Sports Network

Monday, September 2nd

8:00PM
No. 11 Florida State vs. Pittsburgh - ESPN


Other Stories:

Seven Men involved in the Jerry Sandusky scandal have settled with Penn State over claims of abuse:
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9596563/jerry-sandusky-adopted-son-six-other-men-reach-settlements-penn-state-ncf

Iowa names Jake Rudock Starting Quarterback: http://bleacherreport.com/tb/db5wP?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=big-10-football

NCAA reportedly investigating Texas A&M Quarterback Johnny Manziel:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1726952-johnny-manziel-reportedly-being-investigated-by-ncaa?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=college-football

Alabama Tops Associated Press Pre-Season Rankings

The Associated Press has just released their preseason rankings for the 2013 college football season and, like in the USA Today rankings, the Alabama Crimson Tide are the #1 ranked team.  Ohio State, though undefeated last season, is ranked #2 while Oregon, Stanford, and Georgia complete the top five.  The 2013 FBS season starts in two weeks.  Hope everybody is ready!!  Enjoy the rest of the weekend. 

Associated Press Top 25

1.    Alabama            (SEC)
2.    Ohio State         (Big Ten)
3.    Oregon              (Pac-12)
4.    Stanford            (Pac-12)
5.    Georgia             (SEC)
6.    South Carolina  (SEC)
7.    Texas A&M      (SEC)
8.    Clemson            (ACC)
9.    Louisville          (AAC)
10.  Florida               (SEC)
11.  Florida State      (ACC)
12.  LSU                   (SEC)
13.  Oklahoma State (Big XII)
14.  Notre Dame       (Independent)
15.  Texas                 (Big XII) 
16.  Oklahoma          (Big XII)
17.  Michigan           (Big Ten)
18.  Nebraska           (Big Ten)
19.  Boise State        (MWC)
20.  TCU                  (Big XII)
21.  UCLA               (Pac-12)
22.  Northwestern    (Big Ten)
23.  Wisconsin         (Big Ten)
24.  USC                  (Pac-12)
25.  Oregon State     (Pac-12)

Other News: 

West Virginia's Athletic Director Oliver Luck believes that future college football schedules will resemble NFL schedules:  http://www.fbschedules.com/2013/08/wvu-oliver-luck-college-football-schedules-to-resemble-nfl-schedules/

SEC unveils new bowl lineup for the 2014 season:  http://www.fbschedules.com/2013/08/sec-announces-new-bowl-lineup-beginning-2014/

First claim against Penn State in Jerry Sandusky abuse scandal settled:  http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9577906/first-abuse-claim-penn-state-nittany-lions-settled

Breaking News: Wisconsin and LSU will play at Lambeau Field

FBSchedules.com has reported that Wisconsin and Louisiana State have agreed to schedule two non-conference games at neutral sites.  The first game will be played in 2014 at Houston's Reliant Stadium and the second match will be at the beginning of the 2016 season at historic Lambeau Field in Green Bay.  While no dates have been set for either game, LSU's associate athletic director Verge Ausberry told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that “we still have some small details to work out but the contracts should be done next week."  As a fan and a blogger, I am hoping that this series will lead to more Big Ten-SEC games played in stadiums outside of the Southeast.  More information about this story can be found at the following websites:  Fbschedules.com and the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

USA Today Coaches Poll Preseason Rankings Released

Well, the month of August is finally here and that means we in the United States are less than month away from the start of the 2013 college football season.   The start of August also means that the first preseason FBS rankings have been released to the public.  The Top 25 teams in the USA Today coaches poll are listed below and it should come to no surprise that Alabama is the #1 ranked team in the country despite not finishing the 2012 season undefeated.  Indeed, the Crimson Tide's only loss came from a Texas A&M team led by Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel.  Even though Alabama won the BCS championship, again, it was Ohio State that finished last year with an undefeated season.  Unfortunately, NCAA sanctions prevented OSU from appearing in postseason play. Now that the Buckeyes' sanctions have expired, it will be interesting to see how their season will fare.  As for me, I am currently working on the 2nd part of my "Building a Bigger Big Ten" Series of articles.  Enjoy the weekend everybody! 

2013 USA TODAY COACHES POLL - TOP 25

1.    Alabama                 SEC

2.    Ohio State              Big Ten

3.    Oregon                   PAC-12

4.    Stanford                 PAC-12

5.    Georgia                   SEC

6.    Texas A&M            SEC

7.    South Carolina      SEC

8.    Clemson                 ACC

9.    Louisville               AAC (American Athletic Conference)

10.  Florida                   SEC

11.  Notre Dame           Independent

12.  Florida State         ACC

13.  Louisiana State     SEC

14.  Oklahoma State    Big XII

15.  Texas                      Big XII

16.  Oklahoma              Big XII

17.  Michigan               Big Ten

18.  Nebraska               Big Ten

19.  Boise State            MWC

20.  Texas Christian    Big XII

21.  UCLA                   PAC-12

22.  Northwestern       Big Ten

23.  Wisconsin             Big Ten

24.  USC                      PAC-12

25.  Oregon State        PAC-12

Southeastern Conference Releases 2013 Early Season Television Schedule

Today the Southeastern Conference (SEC) unveiled its early season, and primarily non-conference, TV schedule for the 2013 football season.  Most games will be televised on the ESPN family of networks but this season will also feature the debut of the SEC Network, which will televise one game per week for the first three weeks.  Games featured on that network will include Toledo vs. Florida (week #1), Western Kentucky at Tennessee (week #2), and Southern Mississippi vs. Arkansas (week #3).  The SEC's early season schedule will also have four games at neutral sites on August 31st.  These include Mississippi State vs. Oklahoma State in the "Texas Kickoff Classic" at Houston's Reliant Stadium,  Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky at Nashville's LP Field,  Alabama vs. Virginia Tech in the "Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game" in Atlanta,  and Louisiana State playing Texas Christian at Cowboys Stadium.  While I support the idea of playing college football games at neutral sites, especially in NFL Stadiums, I am still waiting to see if Louisiana State will play Wisconsin in Lambeau Field or someplace outside the SEC's geographic footprint.  Here is the early season SEC schedule as of July 16th, courtesy of fbschedules.com:

SEC – 2013, Week 1
Date	Game	Time (ET)	Network
Thu., Aug. 29	North Carolina at South Carolina	6:00 p.m.	ESPN
Thu., Aug. 29	Ole Miss at Vanderbilt	9:15 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Aug. 31	Toledo at Florida	12:21 p.m.	SEC Network
Sat., Aug. 31	Rice at Texas A&M	1:00 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Aug. 31	Miss. St. vs. Oklahoma St. (Houston)	3:30 p.m.	ABC and ESPN2 (RM)
Sat., Aug. 31	UL Lafayette at Arkansas	4:00 p.m.	FSN
Sat., Aug. 31	Virginia Tech vs. Alabama	5:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Aug. 31	Austin Peay at Tennessee	6:00 p.m.	PPV
Sat., Aug. 31	Washington State at Auburn	7:00 p.m.	ESPNU
Sat., Aug. 31	Kentucky vs. W. Kentucky (Nashville)	7:00 p.m.	ESPNews
Sat., Aug. 31	Georgia at Clemson	8:00 p.m.	ABC
Sat., Aug. 31	TCU vs. LSU (Arlington)	9:00 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Aug. 31	Murray State at Missouri	TBA	PPV
SEC – 2013, Week 2
Sat., Sep. 7	Florida at  Miami	12:00 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Sep. 7	Miami (Ohio) at Kentucky	12:00 p.m.	FSN
Sat., Sep. 7	Western Kentucky at Tennessee	12:21 p.m.	SEC Network
Sat., Sep. 7	Toledo at Missouri	3:30 p.m.	ESPNU
Sat., Sep. 7	Alcorn State at Miss. State	3:30 p.m.	CSS
Sat., Sep. 7	South Carolina at Georgia	4:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Sep. 7	Samford at Arkansas (Little Rock)	7:00 p.m.	PPV
Sat., Sep. 7	UAB at LSU	7:00 p.m.	ESPNU
Sat., Sep. 7	SE Missouri at Ole Miss	7:00 p.m.	PPV
Sat., Sep. 7	Sam Houston State at Texas A&M	7:00 p.m.	PPV
Sat., Sep. 7	Arkansas State at Auburn	7:30 p.m.	FSN
Sat., Sep. 7	Austin Peay at Vanderbilt	7:30 p.m.	CSS
SEC – 2013, Week 3
Sat., Sep. 14	Louisville at Kentucky	12:00 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Sep. 14	Southern Miss at Arkansas	12:21 p.m.	SEC Network
Sat., Sep. 14	Alabama at Texas A&M	3:30 p.m.	CBS
Sat., Sep. 14	Tennessee at Oregon	3:30 p.m.	ABC, ESPN or ESPN2
Sat., Sep. 14	Mississippi State at Auburn	7:00 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
Sat., Sep. 14	Vanderbilt at South Carolina	7:00 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
Sat., Sep. 14	Kent State at LSU	7:00 p.m.	ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
Sat., Sep. 14	Ole Miss at Texas	8:00 p.m.	Longhorn Network
SEC – 2013, Other Games
Sat., Oct. 19	CBS Doubleheader	12/3:30 p.m.	CBS
Thu., Oct. 24	Kentucky at Mississippi State	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Sat., Nov. 2	Georgia vs. Florida (Jacksonville)	3:30 p.m.	CBS
Sat., Nov. 9	CBS Doubleheader	3:30/8 p.m.	CBS
Thu., Nov. 28	Ole Miss at Mississippi State	7:30 p.m.	ESPN
Fri., Nov. 29	Arkansas at LSU	2:30 p.m.	CBS
Sat., Nov. 30	SEC Championship Game	4:00 p.m.	CBS

July 1st, 2013 - Let The Conference Changes Begin!

Sixteen FBS schools throughout the United States officially change conferences today.  The ACC gains 2 members (Syracuse and Pittsburgh) in all sports and an associate member in Notre Dame.  The Mountain West gains two new members (Utah State and San Jose State) and the opportunity to establish a football championship game.  Conference USA acquires six members and the Sun Belt Conference adds one school (Texas State).  The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) no longer sponsors football and the old Big East has split into two parts, with the football schools becoming the new American Athletic Conference.  Out of all these changes, it seems that the ACC and the Mountain West are the main beneficiaries.  ESPN's Brett McMurphy has more information about this large shift in the college football landscape in the video found here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9441623.

Happy Canada Day and Happy Fourth of July Everybody!