Jan. 9, 2011
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By Marc Daniels
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The continuous story in college sports may be conference movement, but don't kid yourself. It is all about television dollars. Nebraska moved to the Big 10 because it meant more money. Colorado and Utah bolted to the Pac-10 because of money. And Texas stayed in the Big 12 because it got more money to stay.
When Conference USA recently announced a new television contract with FOX Sports, many wondered if the deal was a good one since the league would no longer have a presence on ESPN.
First, it means more money for each league member and therefore it is a good deal. Yes, exposure on ESPN is good. UCF football made the most of its appearances on the four-letter network, but playing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays just does not sell well to the rest of the nation. And ESPN was in the position to not offer much money because it simply didn't need to. ESPN has many conference partners and C-USA was not high on their pecking order.
The FOX Sports deal gets more national televised games in football and basketball and they will be played on more traditional days. FOX Sports also gets the league's title game in football.
FOX Sports stepped in and provides needed money for league members. Combined with the existing deal the conference has with CBS College Sports, member schools will receive a reported $1.2 million a year
For UCF, the new revenue is good but there are other pluses to the new deal. It will mean more opportunities for state exposure through FOX Sports Florida and Sun Sports. That is a big plus for UCF which recruits south Florida.
Back to the money aspect for a second. As I have stated many times anyone tries to argue that UCF or Boise State cannot compete in the SEC, you need to make it a balanced field before answering that question. Compare the television dollars and you will see C-USA schools will make around $1.2 million next season. Do you know how much each SEC school will make? About $18 million. Care to guess what Big 10 schools will make with their Big 10 Network and other television deals? About $22 million per school.
So over the next five years under current dollars connected to television, UCF stands to make about $6 million. Vanderbilt will make $90 million and Indiana, whose football or basketball programs have not had a decent season in years, will make about $110 million. If UCF had an additional $70-90 million to invest in its athletic program over the next five years, do you think they could contend with a lot of BCS schools?
Some other items of note:
UCF men's basketball lost its first game Saturday at Houston. The team will not go 29-0 in the regular season. Although I do not believe losing is a good thing, there are some things for Knights to take from the setback. Everyone now brings their best game against you. It's actually a good thing the Knights do not play until Saturday at Southern Miss. It will give Donnie Jones a full week to get his team ready and focus on things they do need to improve on. UCF had things go their way in every game they played before Houston. Now the Knights get to respond after a loss and show they can bounce back. Despite the loss to Houston, UCF holds a solid RPI position. As of Sunday night, the Knights sat 16th in RPI.
Speaking of C-USA basketball, UCF has helped raise some attention to a solid league. I've said for years, the league is more than Memphis. I will take UCF, Memphis, Southern Miss, Marshall, UAB and UTEP and put it against any non-BCS league and I would argue no one is as deep as that six. In fact, I would take that six and match up with any BCS league, except the BIG EAST, and say the group would more than handle their own against the middle-to-lower half of those leagues.
C-USA teams did not fare well in bowl games. The league went 2-4 with UCF and Tulsa the only winners. You cannot talk about more the need for more television exposure if you do not justify the request.
Knights notes and more: Congrats to Joi Williams team. The women's basketball team is off to a 2-0 league start with impressive wins over Rice and Southern Miss...Kudos to Bruce Miller and Jah Reid for being named to play in the East-West Shrine College Football All-Star Game at the Florida Citrus Bowl on Jan. 22...Speaking of football, spring practice opens March 18th and the annual spring game will be on April 16th...Final Thought: Is it ever a good sign when in a fast food drive thru line the person at the window asks you to move forward a bit and someone will bring your food out in just a few minutes?
Marc Daniels' From the Press Box runs several times per month on UCFAthletics.com. Listen to Marc during UCF football, men's basketball and baseball radio broadcasts on the UCF Sports Network. Each weekday, Marc hosts "The Beat of Sports" on ESPN 1080 in Orlando from 9-11 a.m.