Notre Dame AD Thinks The Irish Will Rise Like A Phoenix, But Doesn’t Think There Will Be A Playoff
1-liner, College Football January 21st. 2009, 5:30pmQ: What do you think of a college football playoff? Do you like the idea? Do you think we’ll see one in your lifetime?
A: “There is zero momentum for it. I was on a panel recently in New York at a conference with three other athletic directors. We were all asked what percentage of college presidents did we think would be interested in a college football playoff. And among the four athletic directors’ answers, the highest percentage anyone said was 15 percent. Now, if among saving the economy and ending a war, our President-elect (Barack Obama) is serious about it and it’s important to him, then that might change the dynamic. But absent some external force like that, it’s not going to happen.” (South Bend Tribune)
14 Responses to “Notre Dame AD Thinks The Irish Will Rise Like A Phoenix, But Doesn’t Think There Will Be A Playoff”
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January 21st, 2009 at 5:33 PM
Bowls = money tree. A playoff will devalue the lesser bowls even more than they are now. A plus 1 will still piss off many, but it’s the closest thing we’ll ever see to a playoff. Besides, all those pissed off people still watch the games.
January 21st, 2009 at 5:34 PM
et tu, Swarbrick?
January 21st, 2009 at 5:35 PM
well the sd mystery is solved. fmr texas and falcon lineman shane dronett found dead in his home.
January 21st, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Newsflash: Notre Dame still sucks a dick
January 21st, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Reading the thoughts of a Major DI college president’s mind on why I’m against a playoff:
“Football is already bigger (or almost bigger) than my school itself. If a playoff comes into play, does it weaken the school’s image, or my role itself? If so, then I don’t want it.”
“My school already has image problems from lesser academic people gaining entrance on full scholarships when we are leaving others, who are much more academically capable, out in the cold. What happens if a playoff comes? Will the heat come down on me to allow more “fringe” kids in the door? Will my great academic staff be jealous and leave for an Ivy League (or similar) institution?”
To be honest, I can see that point of view. I don’t like it as a fan, but I could see the whole thing getting WAYYYYY out of hand, very quickly. Basketball already has, and it doesn’t have half the following as football around the country (save Tobacco Road and various other hot spots here and there).
January 21st, 2009 at 5:54 PM
TBL, on a scale of 1-10, how much do you want to have Notre Dame’s babies?
January 21st, 2009 at 6:00 PM
.3
my wife’s brains and hotness > ND
January 21st, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Zero, that’s exactly the number of BCS bowl games I watched this year.
TBL or CRM — Did you ever get a look at the TV ratings for those things this year?
January 21st, 2009 at 6:10 PM
Remember guys, the ADs of these schools are old guys. They grew up in an era in which bowls were a tradition. Additionally, the ADs and school prezes are all probably on their final job (ie they’ll retire soon).
Who wants to spend years and years trying to perfect a playoff system while they can just keep things the same and still make a ton of money for their school (and look good at doing their job in the process)?
Until the ratings/game interest/ticket sales decline drastically for bowl games, nothing’s going to change.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:13 PM
Bowl TV Ratings(with increase/decrease from last year)
BCS Title Game, 15.8 (+10%)
Rose, 11.7 (+5%)
Fiesta, 10.4 (+35%)
Sugar, 7.8 (+11%)
Capital One, 6.4 (-30%)
Orange, 5.4 (-27%)
Champs Sports, 4.5 (+41%)
Cotton, 4.4 (+26%)
Gator, 4.1 (+58%)
Emerald, 4.0 (+29%)
Meineke Car Care, 3.9 (+22%)
Alamo, 3.9 (+70%)
Holiday, 3.9 (+5%)
Chick-fil-A, 3.4 (-23%)
Poinsettia, 3.2 (+88%)
Outback, 2.7 (-7%)
Hawaii, 2.6 (+100%)
Music City, 2.4 (-29%)
Liberty, 2.3 (-34%)
Sun, 2.2 (-4%)
New Mexico, 2.2 (+29%)
Las Vegas, 2.2 (+5%)
Motor City, 2.1 (-9%)
Humanitarian, 2.1 (+200%)
EagleBank, 1.9 (New Bowl)
International, 1.8 (+29%)
Papajohns.com, 1.7 (-12%)
GMAC, 1.7 (+70%)
Armed Forces, 1.4 (-18%)
St. Petersburg, 1.1 (New Bowl)
Independence, 0.8 (-50%)
New Orleans, 0.7 (-50%)
Insight, 0.4 (0%)
Texas, 0.1 (-67%)
Average Bowl TV Rating By Conference
Big 12, 6.13 (7 games)
Big Ten, 5.70 (7 games)
SEC, 5.65 (8 games)
Pac-10, 4.80 (5 games)
Mountain West, 3.36 (5 games)
ACC, 3.34 (10 games)
Big East, 2.68 (6 games)
WAC, 2.18 (5 games)
Sun Belt, 1.40 (2 games)
MAC, 1.30 (5 games)
Conference USA, 1.22 (6 games)
January 21st, 2009 at 6:18 PM
Those ratings tell the story. Only BCS bowl to go down Orange because Cincinnati played VT. Biggest increase for BCS bowl, Fiesta because it had Ohio State played Texas, teams with huge fan bases.
The powers that be want to be able to pair teams with biggest fan bases, and a play-off does not necessarily accomplish this. I bet the 4 biggest conferences are pissed that they agreed that the Big East gets an automatic slot. If they knew Cincinnati was going to take that they would love to back out of that.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:24 PM
the Hawaii bowl got a big boost from Notre Dame. I didn’t know they had a New Orleans bowl. So does that mean last year the Superdome hosted three bowl games(BCS Champ, Sugar, and New Orleans bowl)?
January 21st, 2009 at 6:26 PM
what do TV ratings have to do with whether or not the bowl system makes sense?
absolutely nothing.
bowl games are shown at a time when many many people are off work for the holidays. they are sitting around drinking egg nog and eating. TV shows are on hiatus.
we may never know, but i’d guess you could triple whatever the ratings are if some of those games were playoff games.
January 21st, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Well, my hope was that maybe, just maybe there would be a sign of disinterest from the TV ratings. Oops.
The system doesn’t make sense if it’s interested in crowning a fair national champion. Anyone who refers to the BCS Champ as the “national champion” should be flogged.
More than anything, I hate the a-hole college presidents who pretend the system is fair and it’s what most people want.