Terry, if that game was on Fox then this one exceed it, at least according to the article. That was the best BCS Championship game from a viewer standpoint. Not the best to fans of other winning schools though. The one two years ago when we played Ohio State and this one are personal favorites for obvious reasons. The Texas and USC game was the most enjoyable one to me where the Gators were not involved.
You're right, Terry. Texas vs. USC posted a record-setting 21.7/35 on ABC. - King of the search engine
Ok it was on ABC. That is some audience, like Terry said it wasn't even close. I gotta still love my Gators though!
That 2005 game was set up with so much national interest, so many mega stars, Vince Young had captured the nations fancy with his play in big televised games with Ohio State and Oklahoma as well as a few others. Reggie Bush and Matt Lienart were huge media stars and USC had played the game of the Century in beating Notre Dame at South Bend. As compelling as this years game was, it just couldn't hold a candle to that game in terms of national interest. Tim Tebow sure, but the rest of UF stars including Percy Harvin weren't all that well known and as great a player as Sam Bradford winning the Heisman and all he just didn't have any pizzazz. Terry
Great. But of course in the other divisions of football the games are hosted by teams playing in the games. That would mean if the same method were used, Alabama may have to play in December in Omaha or Florida might have to play in Columbus. Face it, LSU playing in the Sugar Bowl, Fla playing in the Orange Bowl and USC playing in the Rose Bowl is really nice for the warm weather teams. Just wait until Ga. has to play in the Happy Valley or Texas has to go to Ann Arbor. The whining will be intolerable. And then there's trying to make plane reservations and hotel accomodations with a week lead time. Media need lead time to get their production teams in place. The logistics are a nightmare. Major college football is NOT every other division of college football, not even close.
I know that the media coverage of some sports has 'seasons' and regional 'teams'... they put guys/teams on rotation that has them traveling across the country. If you use the 16 team format, you're talking about having to cover 8 games in one weekend.. That is quite easy to do. The task gets easier as you go, as the next week there is only 4 games, then only 2 and there is a chance that your coverage team won't have to travel anywhere if the host team wins and maintains home field the next week. I am not dismissing the claim that logistics is a nightmare, but I do not that it isn't that big of a stretch from the regular college football season. They often choose the coverage schedule of these games on Sun/Mon and then dispatch the coverage teams from there with the 'talent' showing up a bit later in the week.
This is a huge issue. I have traveled a lot in the past....making my own arrangements....and I can tell you that these days a week's notice will get you nothing but a big fat bill from hotels and airlines alike. The average fan would just stay home for these playoff gigs and most of the time the local fan base doesn't always fill the stadium without alumni flying in to do it. The media is another issue but I'm sure those guys might work that out somehow.
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about this. After checking with Bliss and some others, the media angle is a non-issue. The fans will show up.... I can't even believe that is being suggested. Also, we have bowl games now that are owned by ESPN in which they don't even care if a single person attends....they are making their money already on TV coverage.. The seats being filled is just gravy. Something tells me that for a national semi-final between USC and Florida, the fans would find a way...
Corey do you know that in December a seat bought weeks in advance between Det and LA can be as little as 380.00 but that same seat bought with less than 7 days advance purchase can be as high as 1180.00? The same goes for hotel rooms. What could be had for as little as 135.00 a night in downtown LA might go for 220.00 a night with no notice. Joe fan isn't going for that crap.
I've never understood that about airline pricing, it makes no sense. It would be like Macy's charging one thing for merchandise in Oct and Nov but if you wait till the week before Christmas you have to pay more.
The airlines can, and do, have discount fairs for such events. Which airline would be the official sponsor of the event could have discounted rates. You can fly into ONT and book a hotel for FAAAR less than you are quoting... Doesn't anyone fly Southwest??
You ever try it within the time frame I have given? Listen...the airlines and hotels these days are not out to give bargains when they don't have to. Yes...you can find deals that can be better but when travel is peak forget it and thousands of fans going last minute from one city/state to another city is about as peak as it gets. Throw in the holiday travel prices you see in December and it is exorbitant.
Interesting discussion re the travel, etc. Just as a point of reference ... the last 4 games played by Montana had the following attendance: H - Texas St - 19.5K H - Weber St - 21.6K @ - J Madison - 16.0K @ - Richmond - 19.5K Will the logistics of a 16-team FBS playoff system be overly burdensome and costly? Would it be expected that each team would travel all of their ancillary and allied units?
Well what are the usual attendance figures for Montana home and road. I'm not suprised that we aren't seeing big numbers for Div1AA or others in their playoffs. I think in Div1 they would/should play on campus for the 1st round of a 16 team playoff with the higher seeded team being the home team. The following rounds could be at neutral sites around the country. Maybe in NFL Stadiums. Equally divided by region. Make Southern Schools come north to play just like the Texans had to go to Green Bay or the Dolphins to Foxboro.
Montana home attendance: Sept So Utah - 25.2K UC Davis - 25.2K Cen Utah - 25.3K Oct Sacramento St - 25.5K Nov Nor Ariz - 23.5K Idaho - 25.6K montana St - 25.6K Interesting, a 10-20% drop off for the 1st two playoff games @ Montana. maybe it was the weather - Montana after Thanksgiving!!!!!! I've always heard that they have a great summer season in Monatana .... on July 4th. 8)
If you are hosting these games at home sites in the first 2 rounds, are you telling me that people still won't come??? I have a hard time believing Alabama (that drew 90k for a Spring game) would have a hard time filling the stadium. Typically road teams get, at best, 10k tickets for road games and often don't fill that allotment. You'd be talking about 2 neutral sites for the Semis and Finals. That is all you'd need for a 16 team playoff..and that is assuming you even want to go neutral site for the Semis.