All the G 5 teams fan bases should organize boycotts of the final four playoff until all conferences champions are part of the mix. ESPN is the power but the real power lies in the advertisers and the loss of millions of eyeballs for ads. Don’t watch the games and boycott the sponsors. Because truthfully no school is going to actually challenge the illegality of the monopoly between the power elites and the tv networks.
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How many fans of g5 teams would be willing to give up the beer that’s advertised during the play-offs and switch to a non-advertised brand? Or maybe not purchase the cars advertised, or forgo other products? That might have some swag but a snowball stands a better chance of surviving a trek across Mojave than that happening.
The cfp is a clear example of false advertising:
False advertising is the use of misleading, false, or unproven information to advertise products to consumers.[1] One form of false advertising is to claim that a product has a health benefit or contains vitamins or minerals that it in fact does not.[2] Many governments use regulations to control false advertising. A false advertisement can further be classified as deceptive if the advertiser deliberately misleads the consumer, as opposed to making an honest mistake.
Federal Trade Commission
General Offers and Claims — Products and Services. The Federal Trade Commission Act allows the FTC to act in the interest of all consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair acts or practices. … affect consumers’ behavior or decisions about the product or service.
What is the law on false advertising?
State and federal laws are in place to protect consumers from false or misleading advertising. These laws make deceptive claims illegal. No business may make false, misleading, or deceptive claims about a product regarding its: Price. For this example we can use the cfp.
Where do you go to report false advertising?
Go to website at www.ftc.gov and click on “File a Consumer Complaint.” …
You lost me. Please elaborate.
The cfp advertises itself as: College Football Playoff National Championship.
espn is the flagship of this advertisement.
Do you watch espn for free?
Every cent that goes to your bill watching espn is used for false advertising.
All espn subscribers should be reimbursed.
When you pay for a product that was advertised to do one purpose and does another this is a clear example of false advertising and you get your money back.
Can espn afford losing more subscribers/viewers? Any lawyers that would want to bring their opinion(s) on this? I am not a lawyer and no I did not stay at Holiday Inn last night.
I think you’re confusing the CFP National Champion with an NCAA sanctioned national champion like they have in FCS, DII, and DIII football and every other sport.
The NCAA does not recognize a national champion in FBS football. I bet the great majority of fans don’t know that.
The whole scheme is perpetuated by the bowl game moguls and ESPN, who have a virtual TV monopoly on bowl games.
Even before the BCS, there was no NCAA Division I champion, just the top vote getter in the arbitrary AP poll at the end of each season.
CFP never promised an NCAA champion, and so there is no false advertising, just a bunch of fans who got taken by some fast talking salesmen (no offense if any are reading this) who sold them the Brooklyn Bridge.
So there is no false advertising because they are delivering exactly what they promised - an arbitrary, unsanctioned champion of a four team “playoff”. And the P5 loyalists drink that kool-aid while the G5, fearing they will lose the crumbs they now have, don’t fight it.
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What could not be clearer than THIS
College Football Playoff National Championship Presented By AT&T: Jan. 8 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN App) in Atlanta.
This is directly from espn. What National Championship do you not understand? This is a clear example of false advertising. How is College National Championship supposed to be perceived? College football National champion of “specially invited Teams” maybe?
How deceptive can they be and take us for fools?
Let’s just hope the P5 fans don’t take it personally and counter-boycott our games. We’d be screwed.
Here’s a writer’s perspective on how the rankings should be different. I didn’t understand the formula but I liked the part in the beginning about suing the NCAA for a playoff format that’s not inclusive to G5 programs.
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What they are doing is subtle and clever and most people don’t see it so please don’t be offended. There is a nuance here, my friend, and it is, I believe, designed to be missed.
The winner of the College Football Playoff National Championship, is the CFP National Champion, not the NCAA National Champion (there is none for D-1 football and that is the whole problem). It isn’t false advertising, we ARE getting what they are advertising. It’s a subtle but huge difference and the reason why I’m not in favor of suing CFP Administration, LLC.
Only the NCAA can confer a collegiate national championship on a team or athlete and that’s not what happens here. I doubt the NCAA have the integrity or will-power to take control and it may be too late in any case since they have never, apparently, thought of deciding the champion on the field. If conferences or universities sue anyone, it should be the NCAA for dereliction of duty, negligence, or something of the sort.
The fact that people believe the CFP Champion is the Collegiate Football Champion is proof of the very cunning way they have marketed this farce since its inception.
Here’s some history just because I like history. From 1926 to 1940 a formula created by University of Illinois Professor of Economics Frank G. Dickinson, called the Dickinson System, was accepted by most people as authoritative. I can’t find that the NCAA ever gave an opinion. The AP published one poll in 1934 but not in 1935. In 1935, the Dickinson System found that 12-1 SMU was the national champion by a slight margin over #2 8-0 Minnesota and by a wider margin over #3 9-0 Princeton.
Apparently the AP sportswriters disagreed so the AP published a poll and, surprise, surprise, Minnesota came out on top. The AP started doing weekly polls for the 1936 season. The Dickinson System soon died and for a long time everyone seemed happy with the AP and, starting in 1950, the UPI polls.
Then in 1984 BYU (13-0) is #1 in both polls by healthy margins. The last time a school not in a ‘Power’ conference was voted national champion was Army in 1945. The Holiday Bowl invites #4 Washington to play #1 BYU (#1 the last 3 weeks of the regular season) and they said “No, thank you”. UW went to the Orange Bowl to play #2 OU and won the game but not title. Seems like they gave up a national championship for more bowl money, lol.
The Power Conferences, Notre Dame, and 6 Bowls formed the Bowl Coalition to prevent THAT from happening again. The Bowl Coalition morphed to the Bowl Alliance which morphed to the BCS which morphed to the CFP.
So, there are 33 years of history behind not allowing some upstart football team to ruin the party and to hold on to the power and money. The same Cabal runs the CFP and they are very careful with the language they use. The CFP was very well thought out, not to crown a champion, but to keep BYU, UH, UCF, USF, Boise, et al. from challenging. It’s like watching a magic show. The CFP championship is the distraction so you don’t see how the magician does his trick.
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I just posted my take. It isn’t the NCAA’s format. The should be sued for NOT having a format. Dereliction of duty or something.
Okay, so they change the name of it to “playoff invitational” and continue to operate as if nothing happened. Then what?
I do think that the G5 is going to have to build it’s brand anyway it can. I know people don’t want a separate playoff, but he G5 conferences are going to have to work together to elevate the perception and economic viability of G5 schools.
There is NO WAY to beat or break the current system. The best thing to do is be such a threat that the system, resorts to their usual solution to the problem, by bringing you in to the P5 and making themselves stronger and G5 weaker…Thats what happened with TCU. Thats what happened with Utah. Thats what needs to happen for us and BYU and maybe the Florida schools, UCF and USF…
Thats why its important to cheer for a TCU win and screw OU out of the playoffs, pushing them to BIG or SEC all the easier…Re alignment is the ONLY way we EVER solve our problem…It is coming, and we need to be ready for it when it does…
G5’s are out by design. There is no future for the G5’s into the cfp. It amazes me that even one of you can think that a G5 will be invited to the cfp. On what basis do you believe that?
The words COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP define the message. This take with the ncaa agreeing to it is bigger than the ncaa. The intent is crystal clear. Let’s say they call it the westminster football show invitational, Do you advertisers flocking to it?
By using these words they make themselves LEGIT to the public. This is false advertising. It is a scam. Believe in the scam and keep drinking the cool aid. That is your choice. The only way to fight this is through litigation.
Did you forget? What did Hatch do to get Utah into a P5? He threatened to sue the entire system. A few weeks later Utah went from Mountain West to PAC10/12.
Monte, I am with you. We have to built our athletic program to the highest level possible. uta and ou bolt from the small12? The small will cease to exist or will no longer be a P5. We have to keep the litigation card in our pocket and use it if needed. We do not get invited the next time around? Then what? Wait until 2050? We can’t afford it.
This is from today’s espn
"Time for separate group of 5 playoff?"
This is from the loudmouths themselves. They, themselves are saying that a G5 will never get in to the cfp.
How are we going to accept this?
Every G5 A.D. should be on a conference call right now. Maybe they are already. Why even play DIV I Football? This scam can’t continue. These idiots will kill college football if this continues. Having 5 to 7 Teams winning on a regular basis is a recipe for disaster. People love the underdog. Not having an underdog kills the very essence of sports.
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This. Until a lot of the public starts complaining, we don’t stand a chance. Congress won’t look at the problem until enough people are clamoring for it, and, while there is some noise for UCF, most could care less because they still don’t see UCF as a viable playoff contender. Sure, you can try to sue, but you’re probably looking at a long drawn out process. But, if the G5 conferences are willing to work together, maybe they can get on the map.
And, no, G5 playoff is a bad idea and won’t make money. However, if the conferences get together and try to put the best teams together each year, at least that can boost strength of schedules. Tell the committee that the G5 bid will come from only this grouping and share all profits based on how many teams from each conference are selected.
For example, this year’s “G5 conference” would have probably included (Going off the preseason Massey Composite):
- USF
- Western Michigan
- Western Kentucky
- Houston
- Boise State
- SDSU
- Appalachian State
- Memphis
- Toledo
- Temple
- Tulsa
- Navy
And, yes, I know that UCF didn’t make the cut, but maybe there’s a way to figure out the right way to do it (Make all G5 play the first 4 week’s, and then decide with the next week being a bye). Point is to get as many of the ECU’s, the UCONN’s, the Tx State’s off the schedule as you can. Sure, there may end up being a bad team in the mix like Tulsa was this year, but more than likely, most will be solid squads.
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