14 Years:Is the BCS the Reason for College Football's Expansion?

[PortCityProphet]

I've been thinking about how much the BCS has to do with CFB becoming the country's 2nd most popular sport. Due to my age I can't speak much about pre BCS so old heads correct me if I'm wrong.
Seems like the BCS gives CFB a reason to be talked about and discussed every week of every year. Who's still in, who's done etc etc. That leads to interest which leads to eyes on the screen every Saturday.
Just a thought. CFB heads let's discuss...

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I still remember CFB being huge prior to the BCS but the system before that was still sort of like a BCS type system called the Bowl Coalition. It was designed to get better bowl match-ups but IIRC it didn't include the Pac-10 or Big Ten because the Rose Bowl obligations. That was about the time I started watching CFB. I don't know how popular the sport was before that..

Bottom line, I would say the BCS has been a huge factor in CFB ratings because people view the season as one big playoff. If you started allowing say a 16-team playoff it would water down the regular season a bit.

 

[Carlos Huerta]

College football was just as big pre--BCS as it is today. Not sure what you mean by "expansion". If you mean economically, then yes it's expanded in that way because now you have over half of the teams actually playing in some dumbass bowl games and bringing in more sponsor money. From a fan's perspective, I don't think this has helped rein in more fans of those teams.

I think the reason it may seem larger to people is simply because it's discussed far more than it used to be, but that's true for just about every sport. Everything is specialized now, so you have year-round discussions. That's not something people experienced back in the day. The weekly battles discussed today and their importance towards crowning eventual finalists have always been part of game for sure.

 

[FTBS]

If there wasn't a BCS then they would just be going on and on about the Polls. The BCS just happened to coincide with the explosion of 24 hour sports and the internet and sports talk radio. People in this country just flat out love them some football at all levels.

 

[Spaceman Piff]

i think the enormous rise in the popularity of football has more to do with it than the bcs.

cfb was always huge from what i remember. it just got bigger and bigger along with the nfl.

 

[AVXL]

I would say lucrative television contracts & the rise of sports networks like ESPN combined with the growing popularity of sports has contributed to the expansion of college football. These mega conferences deals were done with network deals (SEC, Big 10, PAC 12, Longhorn Network, etc) in place. The BCS was a byproduct of that , but not the driving factor IMO

 

[CrimsonTider]

SEC-CBS

Is responsible for the expansion.

Before that the country was stuck watching Nebraska play Colorado or some shyt as the big game of the week

 

[MegaTronBomb!]

if you're talking "expasnsion" as in more schools jumping to the highest levels of football....i'd say yes. we've seen more and more schools make the jump from FCS to FBS because of how much it can do for a school and it's athletic department.

But for the fact that the BCS really did make each game actually matter in most conferences....and gave us such Match Up's like Boise vs. Oklahoma...and ESPN dikkriding Alabama,USC,Notre Dame and LSU, and the entire SEC to the point of absurdity did help alot.

 

[The ADD]

And with the new system its going to get bigger

 

[Ed MOTHEREFFING G]

SEC-CBS

Is responsible for the expansion.

Before that the country was stuck watching Nebraska play Colorado or some shyt as the big game of the week

word, theres no way a #1 NE vs. #3 colorado could compare to the epic matchup of Vanderbilt vs. Ole miss, or even better the challenge of Alabama facing Mississippi State at home. Thats epic tv right there, especially for a national audience.

 

[Jplaya2023]

word, theres no way a #1 NE vs. #3 colorado could compare to the epic matchup of Vanderbilt vs. Ole miss, or even better the challenge of Alabama facing Mississippi State at home. Thats epic tv right there, especially for a national audience.

Vandy and Ole Miss games were NEVER airing on CBS when they play eachother, they would be on SEC network or some sheeit probably not even that.

 

[PortCityProphet]

By expansion I mean in popularity.
I mean I don't know if it's just part of the growth of football in general or what. I don't wanna give NFL all the credit cause fantasy football has a lot to do with NFL growth but college doesn't have that.
Also they're getting more money cause they have more eyes on the screen but also more butts in the seats

 

[Ethnic Vagina Finder]

I honestly thought more games mattered during the regular season before the BCS and teams scheduled better non conference opponents. The BCS has the same poll bias from a human element but I will say one thing, bowl games mattered a lot more 3 or 4 different bowl games could decide who won the national title. Bowl games in general were more exciting because they were more exclusive.

BCS apologist like to point to every regular season game mattering but that's always been the case especially if your team is In the top 10. I think the old system was better. All they needed was an extra game after the bowls that matched 1 vs. 2. The BCS tried to do it based on way too many variables.

 

[CrimsonTider]

I honestly thought more games mattered during the regular season before the BCS and teams scheduled better non conference opponents. The BCS has the same poll bias from a human element but I will say one thing, bowl games mattered a lot more 3 or 4 different bowl games could decide who won the national title. Bowl games in general were more exciting because they were more exclusive.

BCS apologist like to point to every regular season game mattering but that's always been the case especially if your team is In the top 10. I think the old system was better. All they needed was an extra game after the bowls that matched 1 vs. 2. The BCS tried to do it based on way too many variables.

All of this shyt is horrible if the most important factor is being undefeated.

 

[chuckifubuck]

I'm young too so i can't really speak on it but my idea is CFB was as popular relative to other sports back then as now, its just sports in general are bigger today