Tag: Power Five

Power Five Conference Commissioners Meet Regarding Fall Football

It appears the 2020 college football season has reached a tipping point as far as playing in the fall.

It appears the 2020 college football season has reached a tipping point as far as playing in the fall. Sources have told ESPN that commissioners of the Power Five conferences had an emergency meeting Sunday. This comes as college athletics officials have expressed concerns about playing football and other fall sports during their typical time of year while COVID-19 remains a heavy presence. Should such an announcement come, it likely will be collaborative.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick is credited in the report as saying the following regarding one issue with the season potentially moving to the spring:

“My view is if we change course, we better be able to articulate the reason for doing so to our student-athletes.”

With the Mid-American Conference already having postponed its fall sports season and major conference athletic directors and administrators talking both in-house and beyond, the announcement that our autumn Saturdays will be quiet this year seems inevitable. The good news is everyone involved seems more on board with playing in the spring than not at all. Of course, this is all uncharted territory for everybody, so who knows what’s going to happen seven months from now? All we know for sure is that if anyone thinks football can just happen as it always has right now, they’re only kidding themselves.

Power Five AD believes cancelation of fall football is ‘inevitable’

There is a strong possibility that college football will not be played this fall, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd

There is a strong possibility that college football will not be played this fall, according to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd. In fact, in the words of one Power Five athletic director, it is “inevitable” that the college gridiron will be empty come autumn.

Dodd offered the following quotes from two Power Five athletic directors.

“It’s not fair what we’re doing to our coaches and student-athletes,” one long-time Power Five AD said. “The sooner we can come to a finality, the better.”

“I think it’s inevitable [the season will not be played in the fall],” said another veteran Power Five AD.

Neither AD wished to be identified due to the sensitivity of the situation.

On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference became the first Football Bowl Subdivision league to cancel its season, a decision that came on the heels of the Power Five conferences’ decision to adopt a conference-only schedule. MAC programs rely on the financial compensation that games with Power Five schools provide for a large part of their yearly revenue.

“I’m of the opinion it’s when, not if [the 2020 season is canceled],” the first AD said. “[The MAC announcement] adds more momentum to the finish line. I think everyone’s medical group is now all telling them the same thing. We all keep having the same conversations.”

Rumors continued to swirl Saturday that the Pac-12 and Big Ten would indeed be the next FBS conferences to cancel their respective 2020 seasons.

Big Ten presidents met on Saturday, though a league source told CBS Sports not to expect an immediate announcement to cancel its season — the feeling being that the league wouldn’t alter its practice schedule and announce a cancellation on the same day.

The Big Ten on Saturday announced it was “indefinitely” delaying a move to Phase 3 of practice that would have allowed players to use pads. The Detroit Free Press reported that Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren is believed to prefer attempting to play a season in spring 2021.

Pac-12 presidents will meet in a regularly scheduled call on Tuesday. However, that timeline could change in “20 minutes” to organize a conference call if the situation continued to shift, according to one league official.

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Gators News: August 3, 2020

As we flip the calendar over to August, the weather and the news continues to heat up as the COVID-19 continues to disrupt our lives.

Welcome to another week on Gators Wire! As we flip the calendar over to August, the weather and the news from the sports world continues to heat up with the novel coronavirus continues to disrupt our way of life.

Major League Baseball continues to battle COVID-19, being forced to postpone several games this week as the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals sort out their outbreaks while the rest of the league looks to clamp down and avoid any further threats to the season. Additionally, New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes opted out for the season in the most dramatic fashion, essentially ghosting the team, which led to an awkward tweet by the Mets organization — basically a bad look for both the player and the organization.

Meanwhile, college football continues to push forward with its varied plans at holding a season this coming fall, but there could also be a push for the Power Five to split with the NCAA. Only time will tell.

Here is the news from the Gators Nation over the past weekend.

Around the Swamp

It’s great to be a Florida Gator!

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Big Ten conference led the Power Five in total revenue in 2019 according to USA Today

There has become a constant debate around the college football world over the past few years about which conference truly holds the title…

There has become a constant debate around the college football world over the past few years about which conference truly holds the title of the best conference in college football.

You go to SEC Network and hear Paul Finebaum rave about the SEC and argue that they’ve always held the title.

You go to FOX Sports and hear Joel Klatt and others explain that with Ohio State’s recent success, the gap between the conferences isn’t as large as many think.

Well, in at least one category the Big Ten can say they reign supreme and that is the total revenue from the 2019 season.

USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz did a deep dive on each conference’s revenue from last season and, according to his numbers, the Big Ten took first place by more than $60 million.

Here are some of the interesting revenue stats noted by Berkowitz (don’t mind his cover photo of one of Chase Young’s countless trips to the Badgers’ backfield).

  • “The Big Ten brought in $781.5 million, which resulted in payouts of about $55.6 million to each of the 14-team conference’s 12 longest-standing members. Maryland and Rutgers received smaller revenue-share amounts, but both schools also received loans from the conference against future revenue shares.”
  • “The Pac-12 reported $530.4 million (payouts of about $32.2 million per school). That figure that does not take into account the equity value of the Pac-12 Networks, the conference’s fully self-owned television and video content provider whose expenses help result in the conference passing less money to its member schools than the other conferences.”
  • “The Atlantic Coast reported $455.4 million (payouts from $27.6 million to $34 million across 14 schools, plus $6.8 million to Notre Dame).”

First, cue the “Notre Dame should be in the ACC” chatter as you can see they received a sizable payout from the conference.

Second, through these numbers it’s clear that the Power Five conferences are doing more-than-well financially and maybe could withstand this upcoming season of no fans and no out-of-conference contests.

Who will be in trouble are programs from Group of Five conferences that rely on their Power Five contests to stay afloat financially.

Take this nugget from Bowling Green losing their chance to play Ohio State and Illinois.

Teams like Bowling Green (literally) bank on playing games against Power Five schools and without those contests their athletic departments will struggle financially in future years.

Yes, the Big Ten led the major conferences in revenue. But the big story here isn’t that, it’s the financial stability of schools in Power Five conferences and the upcoming struggle for smaller Group of Five schools.

Notre Dame and the ACC: Who’s Dependent on Who?

A new piece from Irish Breakdown makes the argument that the ACC needs the Irish more than the other way around.

A new piece from Irish Breakdown makes the argument that the ACC needs Notre Dame more than the other way around. The issue of the Irish’s independence arose again over the past week with the Big Ten and Pac-12 announcing conference-only schedules for 2020. But the aforementioned piece showed why that independence likely won’t be going away anytime soon, and it has everything to do with where the ACC is.

The ACC and Pac-12 both pulled in $29.5 million for each school last season, but those figures were behind the three other Power Five conferences. And in spite of Clemson’s dominance, it typically drew fewer TV viewers than Notre Dame did. What’s more, the ACC title game had its lowest ratings ever, and it was the fifth straight year that viewership for the game fell.

Notre Dame isn’t struggling for relevance, and a TV deal other schools only can dream of helps ensure that. So why do the Irish need to do something to appease the mass of critics? They’re only jealous. Right?

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey’s concern for the season is ‘high to very high’

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he is concerned about the prospect of playing football in the fall during an interview on ESPN Radio.

In light of rising COVID-19 cases across the south and decisions made by the Big 10 and PAC 12 over the last several days to move to conference-only football schedules this fall, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said he is concerned about the prospect of playing football in the fall during an interview on the ESPN Radio show Marty & McGee on Saturday morning.

“We put a medical advisory group together in early April with the question, ‘What do we have to do to get back to activity?’ and they’ve been a big part of the conversation,” Sankey said. “But the direct reality is not good and the notion that we’ve politicized medical guidance of distancing, and breathing masks, and hand sanitization, ventilation of being outside, being careful where you are in buildings. There’s some very clear advice about — you can’t mitigate and eliminate every risk, but how do you minimize the risk? … We are running out of time to correct and get things right, and as a society we owe it to each other to be as healthy as we can be.”

Sankey pointed out that since what one league does affects every other league, the decisions made by two of the Power Five conferences will impact the SEC’s decision-making. But he also said the league will cater to the individual needs of its member institutions above all else.

“That literally is playing out in front of us every day,” Sankey said. “That’s why I don’t feel any pressure because of somebody else’s decisions. We’re trying to make the right decisions for us, for the Southeastern Conference. It does have an impact because I’ve said publicly we’re all linked nationally, so when other people make decisions, yup, there’s an impact, but also we’re going to look at our situation and make a decision that’s appropriate for the Southeastern Conference and most importantly for the health of our student-athletes.”

“What I’ve tried to do is both keep a focus on what’s ahead but provide reality, which has been I’m going to focus on preparing to play the season as scheduled but acknowledge the circumstances around coronavirus are going to guide us in that decision-making,” Sankey said. “And the reality right now is the trends in our region, in our nation, are not in the positive direction for being able to have normal experiences.”

In the interview, Sankey confirmed that the late July deadline for final decisions regarding the season hasn’t changed and that he believes it beneficial to wait as long as possible before making an informed decision. The other two Power Five conferences, the ACC and Big 12, have both also said that they will wait until the end of the month to make decisions about scheduling.

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Ivy League cancels fall sports, could FBS conferences follow suit?

It was reported on Wednesday that the Ivy League has decided to cancel all fall sports.

Discouraging news continues to flow in regarding fall sports this year due to the current landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the State Fair of Texas was canceled for the first time since World War II. How this may impact the classic Red River Rivalry game is yet to be seen as this is a fluid situation. However, both the Texas and Oklahoma athletic directors have voiced their optimism that the game will be played as scheduled.

On top of that, it was reported on Wednesday that the Ivy League, part of the FCS, has canceled all fall sports. CBS insider Jon Rothstein stated via Twitter that the conference will not entertain any sports until the beginning of next year.

While this isn’t necessarily an indication of what is to come for the FBS, it’s certainly worth noting. What could potentially save the Power Five conferences in terms of allowing them to play football this fall is the financial strain.

The FBS and FCS are quite different in terms of the national spotlight. The main indicator between the two is how a final winner is determined. The FBS hosts a four-team College Football Playoff while the FCS hosts a 24-team playoff for the NCAA D-1 Football Championship. FCS teams can only have 63 players on scholarship, while FBS teams can have 85.

The Ivy League has the freedom to make such a decision since they’re built on their educational superiority, while the FBS could suffer substantially. However, it’s still too early to determine what the FBS will consider.

There are several avenues to explore such as moving the college football season to the spring, shortening the schedule to conference opponents only, limiting fan attendance, etc.

Regardless of which route is ultimately taken, the public’s health and safety measures should be the ultimate priority.

Notre Dame Named 11th-Most Dominant Program of Past 50 Years

A story from The Athletic has sought to determine college football’s 25 most dominant programs over the past 50 years.

A story from The Athletic has sought to determine college football’s 25 most dominant programs over the past 50 years. Rankings in 23 categories were averaged together to construct the list. All 65 Power Five teams, plus BYU, were eligible for consideration. When the list was completed, Notre Dame made the cut at 11th with a dominance score of 7.26 (Alabama, which topped the list, had a dominance score of minus 6.22).

In the past half-century, Notre Dame has three national championships, a .689 winning percentage and an average national rank of 10.26. Over the previous 50 years, the Irish earned eight national titles and the country’s best winning percentage at .760. If this list had been constructed for the 1920-1969 era using the same criteria, it’s likely Notre Dame would be at the top.

Alas, the past quarter-century hasn’t seen many dominant Irish teams. The 2012 and 2018 teams came close to national titles, but they were anomalies among seasons that either disappointed or featured losses in big games that could have pushed the program over the top had they turned out differently. The Notre Dame entry on this list concludes by saying that the Irish remain prestigious and capable of being great, but the true glory days continue to become more distant over time.

It’s hard to disagree with the ranking. While we should be grateful that the Irish are as relevant as ever, they aren’t the intimidating force they were when our parents and grandparents were growing up. If we’re lucky, the next 50 years of college football will be kinder to Notre Dame.

Opposing Coaches Anonymously Critique Notre Dame

As part of Athlon’s 2020 college football preview issue, Notre Dame was analyzed by some anonymous opposing coaches.

As part of Athlon’s 2020 college football preview issue, Notre Dame was analyzed by some anonymous opposing coaches. For those not interested in buying the issue, 247Sports did the work for you. However, once you see what these coaches had to say, you might change your mind.

The first quote had to do with the Irish’s coach:

“The last two seasons have been an impressive resurgence for Brian Kelly. It seemed like everything was going to fall apart and that job was going to eat him up, and he re-emerged by doing the hard things. They blew up the staff, and from what we hear, he’s been willing to change a lot, too.”

Another had to do with the schedule the Irish will tackle to try and make the playoff:

“If their standard is playoff or nothing, it could be hard with the schedule. When we prep for these guys, you have to look at their entire schedule. Are they playing to stay healthy? Are they in a lighter stretch? It’s different than a [Power Five]. They’re going to face more athleticism late in the year with the ACC teams. That could help them get further along on offense.”

Do you agree with either of these assessments? These are from folks who have made football their lives, so their opinions carry some weight. Even if you don’t care with the chosen words, you have to respect what was said here.

Did Notre Dame Deserve a Spot in the ’18 College Football Playoff?

Deshaun Watson set Twitter on fire Wednesday by dismissing Notre Dame as a 2020 national title contender.

Deshaun Watson set Twitter on fire Wednesday by dismissing Notre Dame as a 2020 national title contender. One reply to the tweet came from the user @LudoBags, who sang the oft-repeated refrain from the anti-Irish crowd that the football program should just join a conference like almost everyone else.

I retorted by explaining how Michigan kept the Irish out of the Big Ten for years and had no reason to seek entry again. Little did I know that I had gotten myself into a two-day debate with this person over Notre Dame’s independence and the apparent unfair advantage that’s granted it when it comes to the College Football Playoff.

I won’t explore the conference argument because it’s been done to death. Nor will I show the whole conversation I had with @LudoBags because it’s not really worth it. I will, however, show you a couple of tweets that highlight how @LudoBags is so married to the idea of conferences and conference championship games that it’s simply unacceptable for any program to have the opportunity to play for a national championship without them.

Notre Dame’s schedule is not as custom as @LudoBags might think. Five ACC games a year through 2037, plus the annual meetings with USC, Navy and Stanford, mean only a third of the schedule is up for grabs. To complete the season, most of the remaining four games are taken up by other Power Five opponents. When that happens, chances are you’re going to have a high strength of schedule, and when you run the table in that case, it’s hard for the CFP committee to ignore you.

OK, so Notre Dame’s 30-3 loss to Clemson in the 2018 Cotton Bowl wasn’t the program’s finest hour. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t belong. Aside from the fact that it was the third seed out of four in that year’s CFP, it really did earn that spot. It just so happened that it was the Tigers’ year, and their dominance against Alabama in the title game proved it.

According to Sports Reference, Clemson and Notre Dame were ranked 19th and 20th, respectively, in strength of schedule. For the record, Alabama was third, and Oklahoma finished eighth. Georgia, the first team out, was sixth in strength of schedule but suffered its third loss of the season to the Tide in the SEC title game, and three of the four teams that made the playoff, including the Irish, entered the field undefeated. Ohio State was the second team out thanks largely to ranking 31st in strength of schedule in spite of a Big Ten title and matching the Sooners’ 12-1 record.

Of Notre Dame’s 12 regular-season games in 2018, four came against teams that were ranked at the time the Irish played them. They opened with a win over a Michigan team that was ranked fourth going into the final three weeks of the regular season. Stanford was at its highest ranking of the season at seventh before losing to the Irish, and Virginia Tech was ranked for four of the first five weeks until the Irish dealt it a home defeat that helped send it into a tailspin. The Irish also defeated Syracuse in November when the Orange had their season-high ranking at 12th.

Notre Dame also played schools that weren’t ranked when they played them but were at some point in the season. In 2018, Pittsburgh, Northwestern, Florida State and USC all got love from the AP. Add it all up, and that’s eight opponents the Irish couldn’t sleep on, or two-thirds of their schedule. By comparison, Clemson also had eight of its pre-CFP opponents ranked at some points, though only two were ranked when they played the Tigers.

So @LudoBags, spare me your tweets about Notre Dame getting dominated when a national title is on the line or that their independence should disqualify them from the opportunity. The journey always outweighs the destination. As the only Power Five independent, the Irish have to show the world twice as hard that they deserve a seat at the head table, and you know what? They did in 2018.

If hating Notre Dame’s independence gets you through the day or helps you sleep at night, you do you. Nothing is going to change anytime soon, and Irish fans are perfectly OK with that. The Irish require no validation by being a conference member, and they require no preaching from an outsider who hates them because the program and fan base don’t share their beliefs about the top level in college football. They’ve been independent since 1887, and they know what’s best for them, so what do you know?