Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
Except now you're doing it in a landscape where the revenue potential of football is dramatically reduced. How do suddenly (at best) I-AA football programs (in terms of interest, eyeballs, donations, et all) fit with traditional D1 everything else?
I think what happens in this scenario is that the quality of everything drops a notch below what D1 non-revenue sports have been accustomed to, most noticeably in basketball.
And, sooner than later, we see basketball demanding to breaking away the same way football has, just with a bit larger pool for their "superleague"
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I don't see the revenue needle moving much one way or the other below the major level, except for the annual farce (the Big Ten and Pac Twelve have phased this out for the most part, and Michigan never indulged, except when RichRod was faring so badly they needed a rout to convince those who don't know the difference that the program still had a pulse) where an FCS school travels to a major in order to get half its budget for the year while the players get their asses kicked.
A big difference with the majors who won't make the cut. But maybe they've incurred costs they shouldn't be incurring, trying to keep up with the real powers. This is where the most impact will be felt, and, I think, a big reason why this arms race is taking place right now.
Now that people acknowledge these are essentially professionals and a scholarship is meaningless, things have to change. And what changes is that a line has to be drawn between professional and amateur in the college ranks. Below that line, they will have to reduce a bit, and they've never made money anyway.
I don't see how to keep the talent and eyeballs the same throughout the FBS. Clinging to that doesn't seem realistic if we're setting up a league with a CBA for the professionals. I don't think we'd see the Big Ten and the SEC at 16 with a high threat of further expansion if this wasn't where it was headed.
Should men's basketball go along? It doesn't have to lose its structure the way football does. The NBA already takes the players with the most potential after one year. Players can still get paid and have a contract as professionals. Given the NCAA tournament, the money works either way. Since the crazy money is there, yes, it probably should, only instead of a super-league, it could follow Division I when it goes back to conference sizes that work for every other sport. Basketball won't wag the dog, like football, but the amount of money warrants the switch to professional contracts.