I can't figure out why the Big 12 isn't begging FOX to get a few of the Friday night spots or begging ESPN for a full Friday slate on ABC. Those games rate well and save the networks from having to fill Friday prime time with expensive content that nobody watches anyway. Sports are the only proven Friday night draw.
Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)
- Thread starter ISUcyclones11
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No it is, looking at week to week the media numbers show its games on ABC, CBS, Fox and ESPN are leading every week. Basically every game on one of the four major networks draws over a million, put them on BTN or FS1 or any other station they drop off like a rock.
College Football TV Ratings
College football TV ratings for the 2025 regular season, bowls, College Football Playoff and National Championship.
www.sportsmediawatch.com
If my math is right and with the exclusion of the ESPN + game we are averaging just over 1 million/viewers per game. Not great but not bad considering the games (mentioned in an earlier post) we have been up against plus we have not had a ranked vs ranked game yet either.
I tried to tease this out using regression a couple years ago to get solid ideas of which teams impacted the viewership more than others.
It was really hard.
In addition to controlling for the channel, and the timeslot, and the team 'brand' - you also have the teams ranking, the opponents ranking. Getting all the data, even proxies for the data, wasn't really feasible for an amateur.
But my takeaway was VERY ROUGHLY, the channel/timeslot drove probably 60% of the ratings, and the teams involved (all mixed up as brand, rating, opponent) was 40%.
So ABC at 2:30 game, a mid ISU vs mid opponent would get say 3M viewers. But a top 10 matchup with Ohio St would prob get more like 5M. Again these are back of napkin type numbers.
Alternately, the same matchups on ESPN+ might be 600k and 1M.
FIAP
www.cbssports.com
'College football needs an Iowa State right now': Amid best start since 1938, 'Clones tap 'culture' sign again
Iowa State's Matt Campbell has built one of college football's best developmental program since Bill Snyder's Kansas State
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IMO the P2 will add somewhere between 6-14 more schools to have 40 or 44 or 48 teams. The main driver will be brands that bring TV audience.
Also having teams in all large media markets will be a filter. aka a Bay Area team. It's no coincidence Game Day went to Berkeley.
And then there might be spots for Top 25 teams that might not meet the viewership or media market filters.
IMO if there are 20-24 P2 conference games a week, that is sufficient inventory for 4-5 media partners. And they save money by relegating the Big12 & ACC.
Take the best 12 teams. No quotas!
Greed is going to turn fans off. IMO there is no reason college football playoff should extend season until Jan 20.
Assuming they don’t hurt their revenue by doing so. They are getting to the point of losing a lot of fans by consolidating.
You’d have to have more data points of top teams playing in the FS1 timeslot to get a good idea of whether it is the team or timeslot. Problem is, that this year even when you have a team like Alabama get relegated to a lesser timeslot and channel, they lose which drives up viewer numbers.
OU has won only one game against a ranked opponent in eight games under BV. Firing a co-OC is just window dressing for a team that is becoming like Nebraska every game.
second longest active streak in college football.
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No. "12 best" is way too subjective of a metric. We've already seen how committees will pick whatever definition of "best" is most convenient to get the big brands in, and give the shaft to everyone else.
The Big 12 will never resource wise be on the same plane as the 2 big conferences. It's time to drop the illusion and embrace what we are: the most exciting and competitive conference in the nation. Getting 2 guaranteed slots will cement our status as a legitimate and relevant conference. On the other hand, having the ESPN/B1G/SEC influenced suits collude to keep our teams out using the "12 best" metric will put us in danger of being reduced over time to a G5 league (in terms of perception, not reality).
Sign me up for the 4-4-2-2-1. And then let's re-evaluate it if the ACC ever implodes.
#s 1 & 3:
www.si.com
Forde-Yard Dash: Blueblood Angst for Six Proud Programs
Other fan bases decry lack of respect and officiating (hello, Georgia) after a busy Week 8.
www.si.com
So you've raised the white flag before the battle!
When I say 12 best teams, I'm saying get rid of the committee. The 12 best is based on a computerized ranking system where the criteria are transparent. You've bought into the Big10 & SEC Commissioner mantra that money and brands automatically means every year they each have 4 or 5 teams that deserve a playoff bid. Before the 1st snap of the season!
You're carrying over the mindset that existed when we had 4 playoff teams. A playoff where only the elite got bids. The paradigm is different with 12 teams. The Big10 & SEC want you to automatically believe their 3rd/4th & 5th best teams are better than the Big12 and ACC's 3rd/4th & 5 best teams.
Part of the problem with college football is SOS is so subjective because there are only a handful of games played between 2 ranked teams during the non-conference schedule! In 2024 there have been 6 games. And in 2023 there were 5 games. I might have missed a game or so, but that just shows how few games there are between top 25 ranked teams.
Maybe before ceding that the Big10 & SEC should get a fixed number of teams every year, the Big12, ACC and G5 should require there be conference challenge games during the first 3 weeks like we see in college hoops. One year have Big12 play the SEC and the next have Big12 teams play the Big10. If the Big10 & SEC dominate such a series over a 4-6 year period, then go with quotas.
I hate to tell you, when the ACC implodes- that will just mean more bids for the Big10/SEC. If the Big12 settles for 2 bids now, that will be our max go forward.
And the Big10 & SEC won't stop at football. When they are flush with TV money and dominate football playoff bids, the will move to dominate college hoops talent and Tournament bids.
Your computer system won’t be better as like you mentioned their isn’t enough cross competition to actually make a realistic comparison. Similar to the downsides of having the cross matchups at the beginning of the year. Teams grow and change over the season with injuries and experience.
I like this line#s 1 & 3:
Forde-Yard Dash: Blueblood Angst for Six Proud Programs
Other fan bases decry lack of respect and officiating (hello, Georgia) after a busy Week 8.
Oklahoma’s playoff chances: Please. The Sooners are in an uphill fight just to be bowl eligible. But fans can cheer for that SEC revenue while their team languishes in 13th place.
Looking at their remaining schedule it is going to be close.
Hope their fans enjoy chanting SEC while losing.
If you can get the B1G and SEC to agree to get rid of their stacked committees in favor of an unbiased computer model, then absolutely do that.
I'm not convinced that's going to happen though. I think 4-4-2-2 might be a palatable enough win-win for both sides to agree on. The B1G/SEC get a set amount of slots that they can budget around, and we cement our place above the rest of college football as a multi-bid league.
Like CW always says, there's too many good players for the Big 12 to not be competitive, so long as a we have a seat at the table. Such a structure would be great for the conference, and great for ISU. We should be able to make the dance relatively frequently.
Nebby also faces an uphill battle to be bowl eligible. You have to love it. I hope both teams enjoy their irrelevance.
The Big12 and ACC already turned the 4-4-2-2 down, if they come back and ask for it now I would be worried that the SEC would try to press the advantage even farther. Turning it down in the first place might have been a mistake
