GP1

I'm of the opinion that if G5 schools snap out of it and begin to use their athletic departments to benefit the athletes students alumni fans and general community around their schools, their greatest days could be ahead of them. Further, I believe there is room for only one professional football league dominating the attention of Americans in the fall and winter. That league is the NFL. I believe over time Americans will grow weary with the pro football of the P4 schools when they realize only 3-4 schools are capable of winning the league. It won't happen overnight, but interest will erode. When that happens, people will look for other ways to spend time with their family and friends. OSUlike games are out of reach for most families. Why can't G5 schools provide games at a time and day of the week when families can attend? Get people to the games and everything else the school offers is on display for the taxpayers. Make it a great day for them and then you have something.

There were several seasons prior to 8 years ago we were guilty of it. Scheduling is way more than who you play. It's also about what time you play and what day of the week you play. Both of these can be out of a schools control and can only be solved if G5 programs come together to solve their problems. Our problem is when we get to pick the day and time, we fall flat on our face.

Maybe every decision at a public university shouldn't be driven by money.

This is worthwhile read. Thanks for posting. I would have some questions then comment. First, why would the Big Ten and SEC share their revenue? They could create a super conference on steroids. At this point they don't need the ACC or Big 12. Second, wouldn't it be better if schools outside of the P4 engage in problem solving that doesn't focus on money as the primary driver of the problem? NonP4 schools have been chasing money for decades. It isn't working. I know we need money, but the pursuit of it while excluding everything else has been a fools errand. I've been saying it for years. NonP4 schools need to focus on making their athletic departments benefit the athletes students alumni fans and the general community around their schools. If they can do this, they could garner more public support for the athletic departments the taxpayers are basically supporting. Do we really need Tuesday night football so bad that we forego any benefit to the greater society that should benefit from public universities? If we do, the failure is truly complete. There were a couple of paragraphs in the article where the man from Texas Tech looks back on his time in college. Those paragraphs really stood out to me. His experience was one that many experience and I think is badly missing today. College athletics used to be a means to an end. It was where young adults went to college to matriculate through a university, meet some lifelong friends, create a book of memories to share at reunions, maybe meet a spouse, get a degree and move into young adulthood as a productive citizen. Now, it's the end and a job. It's all so gross now.

How about those less than manly modeling photos Dr. Jellyfingers took of him? Another very disturbing part of the documentary was the doctor was telling the athletes he was giving them vitamin B12 shots and mixing in anabolic steroids into the injection without the athletes knowing. Around that time, the sports he oversaw had massive increases in team performance.

Two things can be true at once while not having a direct relationship.

I'd be interested to know if they were only exploring for themselves.

OU's reasoning is sound. Weeknight games are killing the MAC. I hope the other schools reach out to see if there is room for the rest of the league. Maybe this is the start of a meaningful run towards sanity.

A lot of people will roll their eyes at a sixth place finish in the Big Ten believing it's a failure. A sixth place finish in a league with OSU, Michigan, USC, Washington, Wisconsin, PSU Michigan State, etc is a pretty good accomplishment. Nebraska isn't the program it used to be and is being overwhelmed by the changing landscape of college football. 6-8 wins and a bowl is a good season moving forward for them and a lot of programs in the Big Ten whose best days are behind them. I just looked at Nebraska's schedule. They have a really good home schedule if you are a season ticket holder. Lots of opportunities for wins. It could be one of those seasons in which a team is better than the previous season but doesn't win anymore games than the previous. Nebraska will smash Akron. Conference and momentum is important and smashing us will help to provide some of each. Nebraska 56 Akron 17

I like the Zips I'm this game. Wyoming was bad last year. I'm assuming Akron will be better than last year. Road game across the country for Wyoming is also a handicap for them. My way too early prediction, given no injuries during training camp for either team, Akron 33, Wyoming 28.

Excellent management by the University. They made all the right, necessary cuts and increased performance. That's called success. Getting back to the basics is a good thing.

If G5 schools started their own division, even OSU wouldn't be shameless enough to schedule a school two divisions below them. But then again, I did see the Surviving Ohio State documentary. There seems to be no limit to their shamelessness.

It isn't supply and demand. It's a simple question. How much are P4 schools willing to pay for one tune up game a year that almost guarantees a win? $5 million is a lot to Akron, but considering TV money it's a drop in the bucket for P5 schools. I would bet schools like Alabama and OSU could get a sponsor to pay the $5 million.

Excellent question! P4 schools won't want to give up a glorified scrimmage each season. There is strength in numbers. The G5 schools could negotiate higher paying paydays as a group instead of individual, desperate ADs negotiating bad deals to make it look like they are doing something. With the amount of money now in college football, I don't think it is unreasonable for G5 schools to get a minimum of $5 million per payday game. It's a drop in the bucket. Instead, they settled for peanuts in comparison. For a lot of P4 schools, paying $5 million for a guaranteed win makes more sense than scheduling another P4 school that could result in a loss.

I do and there's a name for them. They are called "taxpayers".