Competitive?

The 2013-2014 NCAA football season is up and running and during the the first two weeks a few games were exciting, there were a handful of upsets, but mainly were blowouts. Below are a few of the scores from week one and two with the revenue of each program. Revenue amounts was retrieved from FindtheData.

Week 1

19.9x

Oklahoma 34 ($58.8 million)

LA-Monroe 0 ($2.95 million)

17.43x

Texas 56 ($95.7 million)

New Mexico State 7 ($5.49 million)

13.85x

Oregon 66 (revenue of $27.7 million)

Nicholls State 3 ($2 million)

12x

Michigan 59 ($70.3 million)

Central Michigan 9 ($5.82 million)

11.44x

Florida 24 ($72.8 million)

Toledo 6 (6.36 million)

9x

Wisconsin 45 (revenue of $43.3 million)

Massachusetts 0 ($4.77 million)

Week 2

20.82x

Texas A&M 65 (revenue of $45.4 million)

Sam Houston State 28 (revenue of $2.18 million)

18.27x

Wisconsin 48 (revenue of $43.3 million)

Tennessee Tech 0 (revenue of $2.37 million)

8.77x

Louisville 44 (revenue of $25.7 million)

Eastern Kentucky 7 (revenue of $2.93 million)

8.54x

Nebraska 56 (revenue of $54.7 million)

Southern Mississippi 13 (revenue of $6.4 million)

4.45x

Clemson 52 (revenue of 31.7 million)

South Carolina State 13 (revenue $7.11 million)

4.2x

Ohio State 42 (revenue of $60.8 million)

San Diego State 7 (revenue of $14.4 million)

Looking at the above scores along with the revenue and the multiplier of how much more revenue the ‘big’ school has than the ‘small’ school makes me wonder:

- Why do BCS schools play a two or three game preseason; who benefits?

- Is it  good experience for smaller revenue schools to get blown-out by BCS schools? Do their football players learn valuable lessons? Do the smaller schools get a payout?

- During these games, do neutral fans enjoy watching Clemson score 52 points or Wisconsin blank Tennessee Tech?

- Why is the BCS not semi-pro?

In my opinion, the only people who enjoy these games are the fanbases of BCS schools and the media outlets that cannot get enough of Alabama or Michigan. I personally would rather watch a WAC or a Conference USA game than a BCS team play a low revenue non-BCS team early in the season (of the schools I attended, one is BCS and the other is not). These games are not competitive, they pad early season stats, commentators get excited about early Heisman buzz, and worst of all, they are dull and not entertaining.

During the 2013-2014 NCAA football season I will write a handfull of article explaining why big time football (and basketball) needs to stop acting like it is populated by student athletes who are amatures and become semi-professional.

Addendum (added Sept 22):
I am not sure where FindTheData got current revenue numbers since last season’s revenue numbers, 2012-2013 football season, have not been published on the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool yet.