UAB dropping football?

[whaler11]

You would think these geniuses would have at least figured out where they could put all the other teams before they went public.

 

[dbmill]

So UAB drops football and they have to leave CUSA. What conference do they end up in?

 

[TRest]

CUSA commish is trying to get support to keep UAB in without football, but doesn't have the votes. They'll need to find a new home for everything else.

That's really lame on the CUSA part. It's not like it's the SEC. UMass football only to CUSA, done and done.

 

[zls44]

That's really lame on the CUSA part. It's not like it's the SEC. UMass football only to CUSA, done and done.

So many new members, none of them have any ties to UAB and their historically solid BB program- Georgia Southern, App State, ODU are all about FB

 

[billybud]

Wichita State gave up football...had great baseball and good basketball for a while...now baseball has fallen off and they fired their legendary coach...and it is basketball or not much else.

It is kind of silly to think that a UAB can play at the same level as Alabama...and since Alabama and UAB come under the same board (the board that nixed UAB hiring Jimbo Fisher as too expensive), the decision is not surprising. Resources for football go to the University of Alabama. Any splitting off of funding for football for UAB is counterproductive to Alabama football.

 

[Dooley]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...est-reports-of-football-program-shutting-down

 

[epark88]

And thus begins college football's slow descent into becoming the NFDL.

Sad...

 

[Ha Who]

And thus begins college football's slow descent into becoming the NFDL.

Sad...

Don't worry. Look at OPEC. That is the future of the P5. Unfortunately, it may be too late for us.

 

[whaler11]

There are new programs every year and one jerkoff kills a program out of spite and that's the end of college football?

 

[epark88]

Yes, the beginning of the end.

The main appeal of CFB - and what differentiates it the NFL and imho makes it better than the pros - is the college feel, the rivalries. If you're just catching on (and it seems like a couple of folks around here haven't yet), the collegiate model for this sport is now dead. It's now all about the the 'Power 5', autonomy, TV money and sucking up to ESPN and FOX. The essence of CFB as we currently know it will be gone within the next decade or so, and so will a significant portion of its fanbase.

I wish I had more time to delve into this, but honestly: in the present landscape, if a school is starting a new D1 CFB program and it's not in a P5 league already, it is DOA...

 

[whaler11]

Yes, the beginning of the end.

The main appeal of CFB - and what differentiates it the NFL and imho makes it better than the pros - is the college feel, the rivalries. If you're just catching on (and it seems like a couple of folks around here haven't yet), the collegiate model for this sport is now dead. It's now all about the the 'Power 5', autonomy, TV money and sucking up to ESPN and FOX. The essence of CFB as we currently know it will be gone within the next decade or so, and so will a significant portion of its fanbase.

I wish I had more time to delve into this, but honestly: in the present landscape, if a school is starting a new D1 CFB program and it's not in a P5 league already, it is DOA...

I agree about the loss of rivalries being a huge problem.

That UAB dropped their program isn't a symptom of anything greater - it's one guy driving the process out of spite.

Nothing has really changed for the G5 schools except UConn, Cinci and USF. Everyone else was always an afterthought and continues to be.

You'd have to explain to me why the prospects for UTSA, or Georgia Southern or Old Dominion have changed. They weren't going to be any more relevant if they started their programs 10 or 15 years ago.

 

[Kolumbo]

I agree about the loss of rivalries being a huge problem.

That UAB dropped their program isn't a symptom of anything greater - it's one guy driving the process out of spite.

Nothing has really changed for the G5 schools except UConn, Cinci and USF. Everyone else was always an afterthought and continues to be.

You'd have to explain to me why the prospects for UTSA, or Georgia Southern or Old Dominion have changed. They weren't going to be any more relevant if they started their programs 10 or 15 years ago.

Things have changed for the G5. Sure, none of those schools are going to win a national championship no matter the landscape. But now there is more incentive for good players to avoid G5 schools even if it means going to Indiana or Kansas. The gap will continue to grow until there is a total split.

 

[whaler11]

Things have changed for the G5. Sure, none of those schools are going to win a national championship no matter the landscape. But now there is more incentive for good players to avoid G5 schools even if it means going to Indiana or Kansas. The gap will continue to grow until there is a total split.

We'll see. Playing time is still the most important and scarcest commodity.

 

[noeynox]

We'll see. Playing time is still the most important and scarcest commodity.

You would think so, but at any given time Alabama and Ohio State have 3-4 players at QB that are light years ahead of anything we have as a starting at QB.

That Tyler Murphy kid at QB was a back up that would have never seen the field at Florida if not for injury, at BC he looks all world, at UConn against the AAC he would look all universe.

 

[The Funster]

Yes, the beginning of the end.

The main appeal of CFB - and what differentiates it the NFL and imho makes it better than the pros - is the college feel, the rivalries. If you're just catching on (and it seems like a couple of folks around here haven't yet), the collegiate model for this sport is now dead. It's now all about the the 'Power 5', autonomy, TV money and sucking up to ESPN and FOX. The essence of CFB as we currently know it will be gone within the next decade or so, and so will a significant portion of its fanbase.

I wish I had more time to delve into this, but honestly: in the present landscape, if a school is starting a new D1 CFB program and it's not in a P5 league already, it is DOA...

And yet, when it suits them, the P5 coalition wants to preserve the illusion that tradition still exists. And this isn't just about power and money. The third leg of that stool are the egos that have driven it all. The saddest thing is that by the time the schools discover that they have lost what made college sports special it will not only be too late to get it back but the perpetrators will have already left the scene.

 

[Kolumbo]

We'll see. Playing time is still the most important and scarcest commodity.

A kid can get just as much playing time at a cellar dweller P5, if not more, than at a very good G5 program. Now. But G5 schools will fall farther and farther behind. It's a shame.

 

[B1GEast]

Terrible for non p5 schools, may set a precidence

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I agree about the loss of rivalries being a huge problem.

That UAB dropped their program isn't a symptom of anything greater - it's one guy driving the process out of spite.

Nothing has really changed for the G5 schools except UConn, Cinci and USF. Everyone else was always an afterthought and continues to be.

You'd have to explain to me why the prospects for UTSA, or Georgia Southern or Old Dominion have changed. They weren't going to be any more relevant if they started their programs 10 or 15 years ago.

The difference is that under the 4 team playoff, G5 schools are not allowed to even compete with the P5 schools. And P5 schools have also locked the other schools out of access to any reasonable television revenue. Unless you really believe that Purdue or Wake is really worth about 125x what Northern Illinois is worth to television.

 

[HuskyHawk]

UAB is a directional school. It's the equivalent of Southern Connecticut State. It never should have been playing D1 football. It really should have been an FCS program. I understand the trustees decision not to bankroll another FBS program (though Bama is pretty much self funding). Will this be a trend? Maybe, but not for schools like UConn, Colorado State, Utah State, New Mexico, Nevada, the G5 programs at major universities will survive. I could see issues at Southern Miss, Louisana Lafayette, Western KY, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee etc. I don't know why these schools are trying to play FBS football.

 

[whaler11]

The difference is that under the 4 team playoff, G5 schools are not allowed to even compete with the P5 schools. And P5 schools have also locked the other schools out of access to any reasonable television revenue. Unless you really believe that Purdue or Wake is really worth about 125x what Northern Illinois is worth to television.

They weren't really allowed to before. And the G5 television revenue is up for everyone but the 3 Big East castoffs.

To your point about Wake - you know quite well that their worth is exactly what someone is willing to pay them.

 

[epark88]

https://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=eAvSuQEh6lI ...

 

[Kolumbo]

Some passion right there. Just a shame.

 

[noeynox]

UAB is a directional school. It's the equivalent of Southern Connecticut State. It never should have been playing D1 football. It really should have been an FCS program. I understand the trustees decision not to bankroll another FBS program (though Bama is pretty much self funding). Will this be a trend? Maybe, but not for schools like UConn, Colorado State, Utah State, New Mexico, Nevada, the G5 programs at major universities will survive. I could see issues at Southern Miss, Louisana Lafayette, Western KY, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee etc. I don't know why these schools are trying to play FBS football.

That's like saying Eastern, Western, and Central Michigan should be FCS schools. Central Michigan had the #1 pick in the draft two years ago. Paul Bryant Jr. set out to sabotage that program every chance he got. The school was set to hire Jimbo Fisher when he put the kabosh on that because they preferred he be the OC for Nick Saban at Alabama. It is effed up what happened to them.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That's like saying Eastern, Western, and Central Michigan should be FCS schools. Central Michigan had the #1 pick in the draft two years ago. Paul Bryant Jr. set out to sabotage that program every chance he got. The school was set to hire Jimbo Fisher when he put the kabosh on that because they preferred he be the OC for Nick Saban at Alabama. It is effed up what happened to them.

They aren't truly competitive with the big boys most of the time. This is where it is heading I think. The P5 may expand, and form its own division.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

They weren't really allowed to before. And the G5 television revenue is up for everyone but the 3 Big East castoffs.

To your point about Wake - you know quite well that their worth is exactly what someone is willing to pay them.

You can't argue that Wake is being priced in a free market when it isn't a free market. When the P5 collude to brand, restrict access to competition, coordinate on TV contracts, and now simply write their own rules, how do we know what the market price is? If not for the collusion, I am quite certain that Wake or Purdue would not have a materially better TV deal than Northern Illinois. It is the collusion that drives the market power, just as it does in any oligopoly. The same collusion that drives up the revenues of the P5 serves to drive it down for everyone else, because the other schools are restricted from competing on an even playing field.