The Athletic: Vanderbilt left behind? It’s unthinkable, except it’s college football
- Thread starter swagdog
- Start date
That article is interesting, but I still see it as pretty flawed. Seems to base college football fan counts on Google search results and it's 12 years old.
Trying to determine the percentage of Mississippi's population that follows college football based on how often college football is put into a Google search engine in 2011 seems, as i said, flawed.
Man I was hammered to a pulp when I posted this about a year or so ago…hope it doesn’t happen but I just don’t see us having the outcome we want
No - because 60% or more of the players who come to State that are 3-5* ‘s would then go to the “super league” programs leaving State even further behind
I don’t give a 17
IF it comes to that then 17 it.
I’ll watch the Saints on Sunday and free up a bunch of time on Saturday
Okay.
1. That article is from 2011 which I guess would explain why it said Auburn had more fans since they were coming of a NC. There is no way in hell Auburn has more fans than Alabama.
2. It’s Nate Silver. His data hasn’t exactly been spot on lately.
3. What is his classification for a fan? He has Rutgers as the number one team in the NY market with 600,000 fans. Are none of those fans watching college football, because I don’t see them listed in any of the higher rated games of 2022. They did have 97k watching the Maryland game.
If it ever happened, I’d quit watching too. The only reason I ever watch Alabama games is because of the delusional belief that if they lose Mississippi State can sneak into the SEC Championship. The longer we go in a season where State still has a mathematical chance, the longer I’ll watch other games. Take that away and I’m done
Alabama doesn't want to play a Ohio State, Michigan, Clemson, Notre Dame, etc every week and neither do any of those other schools. They do not want a level playing field league. They do not want PARITY. If that was the goal, there would be ways to make that happen now. They want a few pretty good teams that aren't too much of a threat but are overall winning programs. A few easy ones. Then one or two tough games. They already have it in the SEC.
It's the same asshats that want to show the Cowboys, Yankees, Boston, Lakers, Celtics, Patriots, Dodgers, Giants every week instead of letting sports tell it's own story that are behind these super leagues idea. If it was up to them only a few teams would win every year and they already have that in College Football.
It's the same asshats that want to show the Cowboys, Yankees, Boston, Lakers, Celtics, Patriots, Dodgers, Giants every week instead of letting sports tell it's own story that are behind these super leagues idea. If it was up to them only a few teams would win every year and they already have that in College Football.
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This is pretty naive thinking, though. And why I specifically said our top 40 budget needs to go to work NOW so when it gets washed in 10 years we get an ROI.
Ultimately, the great lords of the future 50-60-70 team (whatever) league don't care about our history, success, geography or anything. It's dollars. Execs in NYC do not know or give a 17 about the difference in State and Ole Miss. They've heard of Ole Miss, and know that that Mississippi commercially has only one viable team. Ole Miss has the same acceptance standards as we do, but they actively recruit dumb rich students from Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia who can't get in and leave and evangelize Ole Miss in Dallas and Atlanta.
State needs to get to winning in revenue sports only (ditch everything else) and make our facilities and donations/national support surpass Kentucky. Winning records and rivalries don't matter anymore, it's who will bet you in Vegas.
EDIT: I'm on the side thinking that SEC bringing all rights under one banner (ESPN) vs. Big 10 and 12 spreading the riches allows us to be the first to prop up a monthly streaming service with additional TV support (the area that Pac 12 Network failed). When cable folds ESPN/Apple can say $15/mo for all SEC. Big 10 fans won't pay for that, and wouldn't have the option. SEC fans would.
Also, Vandy is in Nashville. They're safer than both State and Ole Miss. Corporate czars today basically just tossed the Mississippi schools both 1 knife and said whoever is left standing.
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What's crazy those teams in the Big 12 next year will be in a good position for the playoff. That P4 is wide open. No dominate team. Several of those team that would finish 3 and 6 in the new SEC are going to make the play off when it goes to 12 teams. Yeah, they don't get the conference pay out we get but they have a way easier road to the play off. You got to ask is less money better if you have a really good shot at making the play off than more money with your chances really low?
I am not advocating moving. I like being in the SEC. We would probably get the same guys we get now while in the SEC but with a way easier conference schedule. The Big 12 will remain in the P5 or P4 status.
I am not advocating moving. I like being in the SEC. We would probably get the same guys we get now while in the SEC but with a way easier conference schedule. The Big 12 will remain in the P5 or P4 status.
This is all gonna' get stupid crazy before it's all said and done. Regardless of what happens, the question remains that I have asked MSU fans many times before......"Will you support MSU sports in buying tickets and donating money regardless of what level of sports we end up in?" I know I will. We will still be a part of the SEC along with Vandy and maybe SC & KY. However, don't be surprised to see a USM and Memphis and others like them added to the New SEC. We might as well face it.....Ole Miss will be invited to leave the SEC before we will. Not much we can do about it. It that indeed does happen, I say END the battle for the Golden Egg game. No more playing Ole Miss. We can start a new rivalry with new SEC member, USM.
My god man. Just find a moon landing or flat earth debate site if these are the roads you want to go down.
In the numerous threads about NIL, I’ve seen so many of you guys say that you watch state because of state and not the talent level or playing at the highest level. Now that you read a hypothetical made up article, you’re bailing on college football and state because we are getting left out of the “super group”? I’ve said numerous times before that the only difference between southern miss and state/ole miss is the level of talent. People at southern don’t have any less school pride than we do. They simply don’t support the football team because they know that team simply does not have the talent to compete at the highest level.
State's in the South, that helps, it's in the Southeastern Conference now, that helps but that hardly means it matters if some super conference is created. The "we are a founding member" and "look at our baseball stadium" types should recognize that money and capitalism don't care about tradition. I have no idea what will happen, but if State's in a new conference in the not-far-off future or still in the SEC with the top teams gone, I'll still be a State fan. I didn't graduate from a conference. "Alabama wants an easy win" appears to be replacing "look at our baseball stadium."
and they are all still turning left. Not sure whats worse, watching NASCAR or soccer
I was going to post the exact same thing. In the middle of the NIL/ Social Justice kerfuffle, there were so many saying they’d rather a bunch of student athletes even if it means us playing D2. My how quickly the turntables turn.
Exactly. And to take it even further, does USC want to play top 25 teams 9 games a year? They had a 2-3 record against top 25 teams in one of their best years in the last decade. Do you think USC wants to win between 5-7 games every year in a super conference? Same with Wisconsin, Washington and other 20-30 ranked teams.
If a super conference was formed, it seems like the TV Execs would have a lot of sway. Say what you want about SEC leadership, but they have done a good job at convincing the Alabama’s of the conference that it’s in their best interest to share their revenue with us welfare queens. Look at the ACC. There is no unity or leadership. I think that’s where the TV execs are getting their power. FSU back dealing Tv contracts to get out of there. That doesn’t happen in the SEC, we dictate the Tv conversation through the SEC office. You get 30 teams with absolutely no affiliation with each other they are not going to work cohesively. Think about this. We know our pecking order so we understand we are going to get 11 Am kickoffs and play on Thursday sometimes. In this super conference you are going to tell Bama, hey, UGA and Clemson are playing at 7, we want TN vs Michigan for the 2:30 game. You and Kentucky are going to be the 11 am kick on Sept 10th in Bryant Denny. Nick Saban says 17 off!
Yep. I personally don’t believe what is discussed in that article will ever happen. But if it does, state will do good to average 20k fans at a game. That’s a fact. Baseball would still likely be well attended and we could continue to be a good program in the same manner that southern miss, east Carolina and Dallas Baptist and others are.
It would leave us further behind the teams that left for the super league but that wouldn't matter anymore because those wouldn't be the teams we'd be playing. We'd be playing the Texas Techs and Central Floridas and the other 80-90 schools left behind. And yes, if we got left out of a super league of 40 teams, we'd immediately be a top 10 team in the new left behind division of college football even with some regression. Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, etc. leaving for a super conference wouldn't hurt our recruiting because we don't get those recruits anyway. A team like Ole Miss going would hurt us, but I don't think it'd be so significantly that we'd turn into what is now a team ranked 60-133.
I doubt it. The majority of CFB fans in Nashville will have ESPN subscriptions because of UT. I don’t think the conference would want to revenue share with a team that brings nothing athletically to the table and a viewership from a couple of whistlers and guys that talk Math Bowl smack.
You and I are in complete agreement here. I've tried. I've really tried with both NASCAR and soccer. I don't get the fascination.
And I even played soccer. I understand the game. It's only interesting if you're playing it in my mind. Like watching 17ing racquetball.
Some good points here, but ultimately what has killed college football (and make no mistake, it is already 100% dead) isn’t conference realignment or teams getting left out of some elite group. It’s still NIL, the portal, and the fact that there is no longer the same connection from players to the school or region that the fans can share and empathize with.
Alabama / UGA / LSU, etc. are 100% buying titles. Their players give-a-17 stops with their paycheck and their NFL payday. They don’t give a śhit about the schools, the cities / states they are in, the rivalries, the fight songs, none of it. At MSU, we’re doing the same thing. We have less money, so we can only afford players that aren’t as good, but our players don’t give any more of a 17 about MSU than those other players care about theirs. Sure, every now and again you get a Tebow or a Dak….a rare breed of dedication, loyalty, and talent that makes for a special guy you can get behind for the long haul….especially in today’s times. But the schools don’t make those guys special. They just are special people. The whole thing has been revealed as a facade, one that was partially there before but now is just open kimono.
That’s why I personally think its funny when people ask “would you still support MSU if we weren’t in a future super-conference”. Well, we are in a super-conference now. The only real one, actually. And I and many others still don’t give a 17, because it is no longer college sports anymore.