hypotheticlee speaking

Two big announcements in College Football are forthcoming possibly today.

1.) Nebraska will leave the Big-12 for the Big-10

2.) USC will be handed heavy penalities

Nebraska leaving the Big-12 is no surprise. The conference is heavily weighted at the front end by Texas and Oklahoma. And although Nebraska has a proud football tradition, like Notre Dame, they have maintained this without actually winning much in the last 15+ years.

The Big-10 can offer them more money, and a more level playing field where even though OSU and Penn State at the moment are at one end of the conference, Nebraska is closer to them and can outmatch many of the other programs. It also brings another big name program to sell out the non OSU and Michigan stadiums, which will help programs like Minnesota, Illinois, and Northwestern.

This might also trigger a sequence when the Big-12’s other programs leave for Pac-10, etc. Leaving some schools like Kansas stranded. Kansas has a top 5 all time basketball program, but because they lack a competitive football program they aren’t worth a thing, sad. I heard that Kentucky’s football program makes more money then their basketball…and they do not have a good football history.

The bigger story to me is the punishment of USC for past transgressions.

1.) Vacate previous wins and possibly title…this means NOTHING. No one cares, and when you ask who won the title that year, everyone will still remeber USC. You can’t take away memories.

2.) Cut scholarships down. This will hurt but not that much, schools like USC, Texas, OSU, Florida, have so much depth at every position, even cutting scholarships in half will not greatly effect the team.

3.) 2 Year Bowl Ban….BINGO! This is how you hurt programs and make sure others do not want to do the same. This will cost USC a fortune, as they have been a lock for Bowls in recent memory. This is a great decision and I hope it holds up (not reduce to 1 year)…. finally an incentive that will actively show other schools why they must behave.

Overall, this is a good day for a football fan, especially if you are a fan of the freemarket. Both of these occurrences are direct results of economics and that is the way college football works and provides such a great product on the field year in and year out.