One word: Cartel
The P5’s are the cartel. The G5’s are not. We have no power. The only way to change this is through litigation. The public Schools that are part of the P5 get subsidies from us, tax payers. Why should our tax hard earned money go to them? Let’s hit the P5’s where it hurts them the most: their pocketbook.
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If you can prove they are spending taxpayer funds to prop up athletics, you may have a case.
If a state school in the P5 has a deficit in its athletic budget, and is making that up through student fees, or other means without resorting to using taxpayer funds, your argument becomes weak.
However is that any different from Sam Houston State complaining about UH being a public university, supported by tax dollars, and use the argument against UH that you want to use against UT, A&M, and Tech.
Besides the alumni of P5 schools own the halls of power, they can and will block any law or regulation that negatively impacts their alma maters. Plus in Texas, is it not already illegal for state schools to use taxpayer funds to support non-academic activities e.g. athletics? How is UH able to supppet spending millions more on athletics than it the revenues the athletic program earns.
Anti-trust is the way to go, but even there I am not sure if the case would be a slam dunk. The P5 aren’t telling the media networks to pay G5 less. What G5 earns for its media rights is what the media providers want to pay for it. So is there and anti-trust case here? If someone with a legal background can comment that would be much appreciated.
Ultimately it comes down to this: do P5 and media providers have any legal obligation to G5? Is there a legal reason that that the P5 should add G5 programs? If so, where is the line to be drawn? If UH and other top G5 programs are added, what’s to keep the remaining G5 from demanding their place? The argument does not go away just because the top 4-6 G5 programs get invited to join the P5.
Next, do the media providers have any legal obligation to pay G5 more than they currently are?
Ah, ok so that’s where the G5 playoff nonsense originated. Still the point about G5 playoffs being comparable to Div I-AA playoffs remains valid.
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Agreed. If you institute a G5 playoff, you might as well be a separate level or move down to FCS and compete there.
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so you are saying that it was not anti-competitive to bribe the b12 to not expand. ESPN is much a price fixing cartel as OPEC was in the 1980s. ESPN owns the product (the games), the producers, (the conferences), the bowl games, and the playoffs, If you try to challenge them you will be punished (please see the Big East). Until this cartel is busted up by either emerging technologies or the government we will
continue to see this unjustifiable disparity in payment for the same product.
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Different AAC coaches had different solutions to the problem in the roundtable session. Tulane head coach Willie Fritz suggested an eight-team playoff, USF head coach Charlie Strong suggested a six team playoff (“for the Power Six” he said).
Edsall had maybe the most radical pitch of them all: if you win your tournament, you get into the college football playoff, and figure the rest out from there.
“Why do you play a full conference schedule and a conference championship game, if winning won’t guarantee a spot in a playoff,” Edsall said.
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CFP crowns the so called National Champion. National Champion of what? National Champion of false advertising. The National audience is being forced fed a National Champion that is not one. This is the only college sport with such a biased/corrupt system. Why in the world compete then if you have no shot at the biggest prize? What’s the point? Again and again this is the only college sport that operates this way. Too long of a season you might say with 16 Teams? You adapt and you make it work. I pointed out the P5 & G5 Schools benefiting from our taxes. How do we really know how Schools pay for athletics? Have you seen a real audit? Call me suspicious? You bet I am when you know that the cartel pulls the strings. You bet UCF is a deserving National Champion. Why should we believe the CFP? Because they say so???
P5 or Bust:
I don’t quite get you… your name seems to indicate you advocate for UH inclusion into the p5, yet you argue non-stop (at least to me) in favor of the rationale of the P5 keeping us down. Don’t quite follow you. What am I missing?
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They were in a contract with ESPN. The contract said ESPN had to pay X dollars more if the B12 expanded. Then the B12 openly gave the appearance they were going through an interview process to select teams for expansion even though they never voted yet to expand. Then the B12 strikes a deal with ESPN to remove the X dollar bonus for X amount of cash. It doesn’t matter if the B12 approached ESPN or vice versa, no court would ever call that a bribe.
We had a contract with Herman. Rumors were that he was getting job offers. We renegotiate the contract to pay him more and build facilities. Did we bribe him not to sign with other schools or renegotiate a contract?
Now of course, if there was some sort of email sent between presidents of the B12 to invite other school presidents to interview purely to get ESPN to pay them more, then you have a lawsuit.
I hope I can do a decent job of explaining my thought process.
To start out, I have never once argued against UH being included in the P5. I also believe that UH brings at least as much (if not more) value than 50% of current P5 programs. In the Big 12 alone, UH would probably be worth more than TT, BU, TCU, KSU, ISU for sure, and no worse than on par with OSU and WVU.
Firstly, it’s a given that every UH fans wants, and believes that UH deserves a place among the P5. Of that there is no argument. However it also does not matter. It won’t get UH into a P5. What matters is how the TPTB in the P5 view UH. What UH rightfully deserves does not mean it will get it.
I have always been a contrarian, add to that 20+ years, as a game theorist consultant, it’s almost 2nd nature for me to look at the “other” side of any argument.
When someone offers a possible solution to solving the P5/G5 power imbalance and financial inequality. My immediate thought is to look at the argument and see it’s strenghts, weaknesses, validity of supporting facts, how the other side would view the argument.
I am sorry if others are offended by my way of looking at things. I will never blindly applaud or agree with any arguemnt that supports my position, unless the argument is supported by incontestable facts and unimpeachable logic.
To simply say we should demand our tax $ not be used to support state schools that are not supporting UH membership in the Big 12, is not a good argument.
I have always maintained it’s about money. Both any P5 looking to add UH and the networks have to be convinced that supporting UH membership in the P5 is worth more to them than letting UH stay in the G5. This is the hurdle that UH needs to overcome.
The powerful Wisconsin athletic director told CBS Sports he would like to see the College Football Playoff expanded to six teams. That is doubly significant because Alvarez served as a member of the first CFP Selection Committee from 2014-16.
This makes him one of the highest-profile figures close to the decision-making process to advocate for expansion of the bracket. Alvarez, 71, has been in the room for three out of the four years the CFP has been in existence picking the teams for the four-team field.
“I would now be open to six,” Alvarez told CBS Sports. “Two byes [for the top two teams]. … Maybe give one spot to the … [Group of Five champion].”