A while back, I introduced a thread attributing the downfall of Nebraska football, at least in part, to Lucy Ricardo, Rod Serling, Archie Bunker, Heathcliff Huxtable, and even self-professed Husker fan Johnny Carson, himself
It seems to have been met with mass confusion and didn’t really go anywhere…
Perhaps this will clear things up?
My intention was to stimulate discussion upon the impact that television has had on college football in general and, specifically, Nebraska football
Once upon a time, TV was a dear friend to the Huskers
From the earliest days of the medium there was a great reticence to televise college football games
Conventional wisdom held that it would be bad for the sport – that it would detract from attendance
Consequently, the NCAA, which controlled TV rights for every school, allowed only a relatively very few college football games to be shown on TV
Those that were shown invariably featured at least one of college football’s 9 ‘blue blood’ programs and/or at least one of the additional dozen or so programs that are regarded as, more or less, historically elite, but not quite to the level of a blue blood
As a result, if you were a fan of a program like Nebraska or Oklahoma, you could expect to see your team on TV, including the bowl, anywhere from 2-3 to 4-5 times per year – depending on the schedule in a given season
And no team benefited from this exposure more so than did Nebraska!
Reason being, we were able to use it as a recruiting tool whereas our peers really couldn’t
The unfortunate fact of the matter is, due our unfortunate geography, we have never been able, at least not on a consistent basis, to recruit, on par, with our peers
Whereas Oklahoma has always competed against the likes of Texas, Alabama, and Notre Dame for the services of the high 4 and 5 star athletes, we have, historically, targeted the 3 and low 4 star players that schools like Missouri, Oklahoma St, and Colorado have gone after
Subsequently, we were able to say to the kids that we were recruiting:
“Hey, if you want to play on national television 3-4 times a year, then you need to come play for us because if you go to Missouri, Oklahoma St, or Colorado, that ain’t happening!”
Oklahoma, though, couldn’t very well say the same thing to the kids they were recruiting because those players knew full well that they could go to Texas, Alabama, or Notre Dame and still be on TV just as often as they would at OU
In 1981, however, Oklahoma sued the NCAA, fighting for the right to negotiate their own TV contracts
The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court and, in the spring of 1984, the Supreme Court of the United States of America, in the Case of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents V the National Collegiate Athletic Association, ruled in favor of OU and determined that the NCAA was, in fact, guilty of violating multiple federal anti-trust acts
That Fall, for the 1st time ever, conferences and individual schools were allowed to negotiate their own TV contracts
And the number of televised college football games nearly doubled between 1983 and 1984
The Big 10 and the Pac 10, right away, went out and secured their own TV contracts
Meanwhile, the rest of college football banded together and created the CFA {College Football Association} which was then charged with negotiating TV contracts on behalf of their member constituents
It was around 1990, or so, when Notre Dame blew up the college football landscape by withdrawing membership in the CFA and then securing a massive, record breaking TV contract all to their very own
Suddenly, everyone in college football began scrambling to position themselves in order to negotiate a massive TV contract
The SEC drew 1st blood by poaching Arkansas from the SWC and adding formerly independent South Carolina
And just like that, college football’s independent programs began falling like dominoes:
Penn St to the Big 10
Florida St to the ACC
Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Virginia Tech all came together to form the newly created Big East football conference
The Big 10 and Pac 10 conferences renegotiated massive TV contracts
Then the SEC dealt the death blow to the CFA by withdrawing membership and inking a massive TV contract of their own
And suddenly the Big 8 conference found itself in deep crap!
Although arguably, or perhaps inarguably, the nation’s premier football conference at that time, the Big 8 realized it was screwed because there was no way it was going to be able to command a TV contract comparable with that of it’s peers
The Big 10 had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located in the highly populated upper Midwest
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
The Pac 10 had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located on the highly populated West coast
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
The SEC had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located in the highly populated deep South
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
Notre Dame had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s Notre Dame
Tons of eyeballs – tons of TV sets
But the Big 8 was screwed because the Big 8 was located on the sparsely populated Great Plains
Not many people – not many TV sets
And, so, a plan, that seemed great at the time, was hatched:
“Let’s throw a lifeline to 4 of the schools from the now dying SWC – we’ll expand, rebrand as the Big 12, and with the state of Texas now within the conference footprint, we’ll have no problem inking a TV contract on par with our peers”
Only one problem, though
The University of Texas!!
UT, consistently ranked as not only the nation’s most valuable college football program, but also, overall, as the nation’s most valuable athletic department, is, like it or not, a hot commodity and, despite it’s baggage, always ‘at play’
As such, Texas was being wooed by the Pac 10 at the same time that the Big 8 was negotiating with them
And the Longhorns used this leverage to their advantage
Texas essentially blackmailed the Big 8 into getting their way on almost every single issue
Vote after vote coming up 11-1
UT spearheading the 11 and Nebraska being the lone dissenter
And our Big 8 brethren, some of whom we had been in partnership with for well over 100 years, sided with Texas due to a fear of losing out on the Texas money
{and also, I’m sure, due to a desire to stick the knife in and drop Husker football down a peg or two}
And so, thanks to Texas and their sniveling sycophants, we were forced to abandon our use of Prop 48 players {a previously invaluable tool towards mitigating our inherent disadvantages in recruiting}
This hurt Husker football badly
And thanks to Texas and their sniveling sycophants, we said goodbye forever to the Big 8 conference and embarked upon life in a brand new conference that has no official history prior to 1996
This, too, hurt the Huskers over time
And I won’t even go into NIL which is, I believe, a direct result of the obscene amounts of money that television has pumped into college football as a whole
Money that has allowed even those programs that have traditionally ranked among the bottom feeders of the game to suddenly offer facilities every bit as enticing as that of the blue blood programs
Yep, the way I see it, TV absolutely has impacted college football – and especially Nebraska football
And not really for the better…
It seems to have been met with mass confusion and didn’t really go anywhere…
Perhaps this will clear things up?
My intention was to stimulate discussion upon the impact that television has had on college football in general and, specifically, Nebraska football
Once upon a time, TV was a dear friend to the Huskers
From the earliest days of the medium there was a great reticence to televise college football games
Conventional wisdom held that it would be bad for the sport – that it would detract from attendance
Consequently, the NCAA, which controlled TV rights for every school, allowed only a relatively very few college football games to be shown on TV
Those that were shown invariably featured at least one of college football’s 9 ‘blue blood’ programs and/or at least one of the additional dozen or so programs that are regarded as, more or less, historically elite, but not quite to the level of a blue blood
As a result, if you were a fan of a program like Nebraska or Oklahoma, you could expect to see your team on TV, including the bowl, anywhere from 2-3 to 4-5 times per year – depending on the schedule in a given season
And no team benefited from this exposure more so than did Nebraska!
Reason being, we were able to use it as a recruiting tool whereas our peers really couldn’t
The unfortunate fact of the matter is, due our unfortunate geography, we have never been able, at least not on a consistent basis, to recruit, on par, with our peers
Whereas Oklahoma has always competed against the likes of Texas, Alabama, and Notre Dame for the services of the high 4 and 5 star athletes, we have, historically, targeted the 3 and low 4 star players that schools like Missouri, Oklahoma St, and Colorado have gone after
Subsequently, we were able to say to the kids that we were recruiting:
“Hey, if you want to play on national television 3-4 times a year, then you need to come play for us because if you go to Missouri, Oklahoma St, or Colorado, that ain’t happening!”
Oklahoma, though, couldn’t very well say the same thing to the kids they were recruiting because those players knew full well that they could go to Texas, Alabama, or Notre Dame and still be on TV just as often as they would at OU
In 1981, however, Oklahoma sued the NCAA, fighting for the right to negotiate their own TV contracts
The case went all the way up to the Supreme Court and, in the spring of 1984, the Supreme Court of the United States of America, in the Case of the University of Oklahoma Board of Regents V the National Collegiate Athletic Association, ruled in favor of OU and determined that the NCAA was, in fact, guilty of violating multiple federal anti-trust acts
That Fall, for the 1st time ever, conferences and individual schools were allowed to negotiate their own TV contracts
And the number of televised college football games nearly doubled between 1983 and 1984
The Big 10 and the Pac 10, right away, went out and secured their own TV contracts
Meanwhile, the rest of college football banded together and created the CFA {College Football Association} which was then charged with negotiating TV contracts on behalf of their member constituents
It was around 1990, or so, when Notre Dame blew up the college football landscape by withdrawing membership in the CFA and then securing a massive, record breaking TV contract all to their very own
Suddenly, everyone in college football began scrambling to position themselves in order to negotiate a massive TV contract
The SEC drew 1st blood by poaching Arkansas from the SWC and adding formerly independent South Carolina
And just like that, college football’s independent programs began falling like dominoes:
Penn St to the Big 10
Florida St to the ACC
Miami, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia, Virginia Tech all came together to form the newly created Big East football conference
The Big 10 and Pac 10 conferences renegotiated massive TV contracts
Then the SEC dealt the death blow to the CFA by withdrawing membership and inking a massive TV contract of their own
And suddenly the Big 8 conference found itself in deep crap!
Although arguably, or perhaps inarguably, the nation’s premier football conference at that time, the Big 8 realized it was screwed because there was no way it was going to be able to command a TV contract comparable with that of it’s peers
The Big 10 had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located in the highly populated upper Midwest
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
The Pac 10 had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located on the highly populated West coast
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
The SEC had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s located in the highly populated deep South
Tons of people – tons of TV sets
Notre Dame had no problem landing a massive TV contract given that it’s Notre Dame
Tons of eyeballs – tons of TV sets
But the Big 8 was screwed because the Big 8 was located on the sparsely populated Great Plains
Not many people – not many TV sets
And, so, a plan, that seemed great at the time, was hatched:
“Let’s throw a lifeline to 4 of the schools from the now dying SWC – we’ll expand, rebrand as the Big 12, and with the state of Texas now within the conference footprint, we’ll have no problem inking a TV contract on par with our peers”
Only one problem, though
The University of Texas!!
UT, consistently ranked as not only the nation’s most valuable college football program, but also, overall, as the nation’s most valuable athletic department, is, like it or not, a hot commodity and, despite it’s baggage, always ‘at play’
As such, Texas was being wooed by the Pac 10 at the same time that the Big 8 was negotiating with them
And the Longhorns used this leverage to their advantage
Texas essentially blackmailed the Big 8 into getting their way on almost every single issue
Vote after vote coming up 11-1
UT spearheading the 11 and Nebraska being the lone dissenter
And our Big 8 brethren, some of whom we had been in partnership with for well over 100 years, sided with Texas due to a fear of losing out on the Texas money
{and also, I’m sure, due to a desire to stick the knife in and drop Husker football down a peg or two}
And so, thanks to Texas and their sniveling sycophants, we were forced to abandon our use of Prop 48 players {a previously invaluable tool towards mitigating our inherent disadvantages in recruiting}
This hurt Husker football badly
And thanks to Texas and their sniveling sycophants, we said goodbye forever to the Big 8 conference and embarked upon life in a brand new conference that has no official history prior to 1996
This, too, hurt the Huskers over time
And I won’t even go into NIL which is, I believe, a direct result of the obscene amounts of money that television has pumped into college football as a whole
Money that has allowed even those programs that have traditionally ranked among the bottom feeders of the game to suddenly offer facilities every bit as enticing as that of the blue blood programs
Yep, the way I see it, TV absolutely has impacted college football – and especially Nebraska football
And not really for the better…
