Biggest "beat 'em up" CFB cupcake payouts?

People paying for this dreck through season tickets, who A) won't go and B) can't give those tickets away for a hobo to use as toilet paper.

More importantly (which is sad), the media outlets who are expected to produce ever-larger golden eggs for both football and basketball, but are finding increasing portions of their potential inventory rendered useless.

 

People don't need to buy season tickets, then. Who the fuck cares about them? They either want the shit or they don't.

 

Some SEC opponents THIS season alone:

1. Buffalo; 2. Florida Atlantic; 3. Wofford; 4. Jacksonville State; 5. Presbyterian; 6. SE Louisiana; 7. Louisiana Tech; 8. Louisiana Monroe; 9. Louisiana Lafayette; 10. Georgia Southern; 11. East Carolina; 12. UMass; 13. UCF; 14. Georgia State; 15. Kent State; 16. Western Kentucky; 17. Samford; 18. W. Carolina; 19. Towson; 20. North Texas; 21. Idaho; 22. Sam Houston; 23. South Carolina State; 24. Jackson State; 25. So. Alabama; 26. Middle Tennessee; 27. Central Arkansas; 28. Alabama A&M; 29. Bowling Green; 30. UAB.

That's not each SEC school playing one patsy. That's 2+ per school.

 

At least two of the teams on your list were ranked in the AP Top 25.

 

Yes. Greatest sports day of my life.

Some programs play these games to give their players the experience of playing a BCS power. Truth is, some of the FCS elites, like Appalachian State, Montana and Georgia Southern, make more money by staying home and hosting a non-scholarship FCS (that's a loophole -- D-I FCS win at a D-III price), than they do when playing a guarantee game at LSU or Georgia. In the case of Appalachian State, where about 20,000 of their 28,000 per game is paying an average of $30 per ticket (students get in free, or rather, fee), the school clears over $600,000 on ticket sales alone. Of course, those programs reside in a gray area between Western Carolina and Middle Tennessee State.

Alabama can get away with paying Western Carolina, which averages about 9,000 per game (roughly 6,000 paying $20 a head) at home, to take a beating for under $500,000. Lower level FBS programs generally get $800,000-$1,000,000 -- if not more -- to travel to Tuscaloosa. That's why these games take place. Not because Florida State feels charitable toward Savannah State, but because every lower level FBS and FCS program has a price, and Savannah State's happens to be half that of Middle Tennessee's.

 

Just looking for insight for my column. We had today that it might be the largest ever, citing the CSU AD, and it didn't sound correct to me so I wanted to make sure. Among the largest, but not the record.

 

Then some I-AA (still ain't saying FCS) schools develop a reputation as I-A (still ain't saying FBS) killers and get avoided like the plague. That's the fate that befell Arkansas State in the mid-1980s and Boise State later. Forced both to go FBS, and Boise obviously did better.

 

North Dakota State has won four consecutive games against FBS schools. Colorado State, Minnesota, Kansas and someone else, I believe.

 

Sure it isn't Minnesota twice?

 

I believe so. Minnesota has lost to a FCS school recently. New Hampshire is good at pulling off the FBS upset. Then they choke in the playoffs.

 

Er, OK.

Here's the list for the Big 10. Remarkably enough, it adds up to 30. And I didn't include Navy.

Western Michigan, Charleston Southern, Louisiana Tech, Indiana State, UMass, Ball State, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Central Michigan, UMass, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, UNLV, New Hampshire, Western Michigan, Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Idaho State, South Dakota, Miami (Ohio), UCF, UAB, Ohio, Temple, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Marshall, Northern Iowa, Utah State and UTEP.

 

The Big Ten Conference has 12 teams. The Southeastern Conference has 14.