Ticket Mania Week 3

Saturday, Sep 18, 2010

Georgia Tech at North Carolina

Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC

Section Lower Corner 100 Row C

Price:$29.99 per ticket

South Dakota State at Nebraska

Memorial Stadium (Nebraska) in Lincoln, NE

Section End Zone 32 | Row 78

Price: $75.00 per ticket

Maine at Syracuse

Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY

Section Lower Sideline 129 Row

Seats: 113, 114

Price: $37.00 per ticket

USC at Minnesota

TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN | Driving directions, parking, & more

Section Upper Corner 222 | Row 32

Price: $46.00 per ticket

Kent State at Penn State

Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA | Driving directions, parking, & more

Section Upper Level End Zone NEU | Row 93

Seats: 9, 11

Price: $21.50 per ticket

Towson at Villanova Football Tickets

Villanova Stadium in Villanova, PA | Driving directions, parking, & more

Section SF WITH TAILGATING PARKING PASS | Row 25

Seats: 30, 31

Price: $55.00 per ticket

(Only listing)

Vanderbilt at Ole Miss Football Tickets

Vaught Hemingway Stadium in University, MS

Section North End Zone 103 Row 33

Price: $16.00 per ticket

Iowa at Arizona Football Tickets

Arizona Stadium in Tucson, AZ

Section Family Zone F 28 | Row 8

Seats: 15, 16

Price: $45.00 per ticket

North Carolina Central at Appalachian State

Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC

Section 110 | Row C

Price: $50.00 per ticket

No Ticket on Sale Saturday, Sep 18, 2010

Northwestern Oklahoma State at South Dakota

Holy Cross at Harvard

Saturday, Sep 25, 2010

Liberty at James Madison

Bowl Look Ahead

Alamo Bowl Tickets

Wednesday, Dec 29, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. (CST)

Location Alamodome in San Antonio, TX

Section Upper Level End Zone 303 Row 21

Price: $62.00 per ticket

Champs Sports Bowl

Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL

Section Upper Level Corner 326 Row B

Price: $49.99 per ticket

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl

Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA

Section End Zone View 16 | Row 17

Price:$64.00 per ticket

Thursday, Dec 30, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. (PST)

Not good for East Coast viewers

JMU Running Parade (Tech Game Aftermath) Pt.1 9/11/10--To the Quad and Beyond

Language Warning

Bowling for Tickets 2009-10 #1

Texas Bowl Tickets (Navy vs Missouri)
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 2:30 PM at Reliant Stadium in Houston, TX
278 ticket listings
Gridiron Endzone 647 Front Row 1 $1.95 each
Gridiron Endzone 618 g Up to 4 $3.00 each

Sun Bowl Tickets (Oklahoma vs Stanford)
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 12:00 PM at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, TX
69 ticket listings
GA GA Up to 4 $45.00 each
20 53 2 $50.00 each



Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Tickets (SMU vs. Nevada)
Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 3:00 PM at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI
11 ticket listings
Red Sideline M 4 & 5 Up to 12 $45.00 each

Poinsettia Bowl Tickets (Utah vs California)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 5:00 PM at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, CA
35 ticket listings
Plaza 57 18 Up to 4 $25.99 each

Papajohns.com Bowl Tickets (Connecticut vs South Carolina)
Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 1:00 PM at Legion Field in Birmingham, AL
12 ticket listings
13 A-31 23 Up to 4 $80.00 each

Outback Bowl Tickets (Auburn vs Northwestern)
Friday, January 1, 2010 at 11:00 AM at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL
52 ticket listings
Lower Level Sideline 106 G 2 $49.00 each

Music City Bowl Tickets (Kentucky vs Clemson)
Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 7:15 PM at LP Field in Nashville, TN
525 ticket listings
Upper Level 329 HH Up to 5 $2.97 each

Meineke Car Care Bowl Tickets (Pittsburgh vs North Carolina)
Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 4:30 PM at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC
140 ticket
Upper Sideline 509 6 Up to 8 $50.00 each

MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Tickets (Oregon State vs BYU)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 5:00 PM at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV
13 ticket listings
Corner 201 11 Up to 2 $59.99 each

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Tickets (Ohio vs. Marshall)
Saturday, December 26, 2009 at 1:00 PM at Ford Field in Detroit, MI
15 ticket listings
Lower Level Corner 134 31 2 $29.50 each



Liberty Bowl Tickets (East Carolina vs Arkansas)
Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 4:30 PM at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, TN
48 ticket listings
Corner 116 58 2 $72.00 each

King Espn XVI

After watching Mike and Mike this mourning and hearing Harvey Perlman respond to Senator Hatch's comments from the prior day's show on the BCS, the truth of the matter became clear; this may look like a power struggle between Congress and the BCS but the king makers her is ESPN. And then the news that the Mountain West Conference had signed an agreement with ESPN confirmed the theory, the "Boys from Bristol" are running college football and the rest of use are just along for the ride.

This is not a new idea on this blog or for those that take a few minutes to pull themselves away from the ESPN teat long enough to realize that they are a cold mechanical business and not the warm maternal mother's milk of sports. Like a weed ESPN has woven itself into the fabric of sports to the extent that they can lay claim to stealing from King Louis XVI and say, "We are the sport".

This control of college football extend from the power to dictate the date and time of the game to having the most powerful person on the field that comes out during the commercial breaks to enforce the will network. In the need to fill up the time between games ESPN sets the agenda and molds public opinion shamelessly promote the upcoming slate of games. The $495 million comes from ESPN/Disney with the expectation that they will profit from the deal by having high profile games with match up that will deliver rating. Easy to sell rating such as Texas v. USC or Florida v. Ohio State not Georgia v. Hawaii or Pitt v. Uath.

In a game of chicken the Mountain West blinked and the rebellion has be squelched.
The Mountain West returns to an unhappy existence with a chip on there shoulder, a broadcast deal with CBS College Sports, the Mtn. cable channel, and because of this one of the lowest broadcast profiles in college football. The non-BCS school will need to stay at the outside hoping for a chance to change the system.

Parting question: "How did the Boys from Bristol get their way with the Mountain West?"

Big East Game of the Week

Conference game of the week--mark your calendars now.
Rules: Every team must make the list at least once
Guideline: The most important game is not always the most interesting

The Big East has two other issues--they are the smallest conference with eight members and with no championship game the conference has a long season with game on December 5th. Given this their may be a "none" week or an away OOC game included.

Saturday, September 5
Cincinnati at Rutgers
A Disney arranged game between two contenders for the wide open conference crown.

Saturday, September 12
North Carolina at Connecticut
East Carolina at West Virginia
Carolina comes to the Big East: Are the Pirate able to take two in a row? UNC v. UConn in football rather than hoops?

Saturday, September 19
Northwestern at Syracuse
Will the Orange look any better than one would expect with a new coach and an ad hoc group of players.

Saturday, September 26
Pitt at North Carolina State
Rutgers at Maryland
USF at Florida State
Almost half of the conference is on the road against the ACC with, "We aren't the worst BCS conference." bragging right in the balance.

Thursday, October 1
Colorado at West Virginia (ESPN)
The Buff's are one of those rare teams that will travel. This game went to overtime last year.

Saturday, October 10
Connecticut at Pitt
If there must be a game
NONE

Friday, October 16
Pitt at Rutgers (ESPN)
Make an excuse not to go to that high school game. Can? Set the DVR!

Saturday, October 17
Louisville at Connecticut
Marshall at West Virginia
NONE

Saturday, October 24
USF at Pitt
Bully?

Saturday, October 31
Rutgers at Connecticut
Are these two really rivals?

Saturday, November 7
Louisville at West Virginia
Never going to be the 2005 game.

Thursday, November 12
USF at Rutgers (ESPN)
Can Rutgers have another season where they capture a sliver of attention from the NYC Metro area.

Friday, November 13
West Virginia at Cincinnati (ESPN2)
Can the Bearcats repeat? They are winless at home against WVU. WVU leads the series 11 to 2.

Saturday, November 14
Notre Dame at Pitt
The Irish are almost always interesting the watch. Losses to Pitt and Cuse sent Notre Dame to Hawaii last year.

Saturday, November 21
Louisville at USF
Rutgers at Syracuse
Connecticut at Notre Dame (NBC)
NONE

Friday, November 27
Pitt at West Virginia
Not an elite rivalry game but near the top of the second tier.



Saturday, November 28
Illinois at Cincinnati
Miami at USF
Not one but two unusually interesting late season OOC games.

Saturday, December 5
Cincinnati at Pitt
West Virginia at Rutgers
One of these two will determine who gets the conferences BCS bid.

Connected to the Dollars

James Burke is know for his late 1970's show called Connections in which he shows how unrelated events come together for something entirely new. Think about the multitude of different technologies that went into the first automobiles--just the marriage of refining oil into gasoline and metal casting for the modern internal combustion engine is a miracle.



Our story will start in fall of 1966 with the debut of both Star Trek showing how advance technology would change the world and Joe Paterno who would show how a guy from Brooklyn could change college football. James T. Kirk when facing a dilemma would consult either the very local Mr. Spook or the mechanical female voice of the computer. Captain Kirk would then ignore good sound advice, doing something rash, make out with a green (1960’s) space babe, and come out smelling like a rose. Coach Paterno has also been know to act rashly with a variety of smells as a result. Just this week Joe was quoted as saying, "I've tried to talk to the Big Ten people about, 'Let's get a 12th team -- Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt -- we could have a little bit of a playoff.'" http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4118848



Spike TV started in 1983 as The Nashville Network, morphing into The National Network before becoming testosterone focused channel it is today. Other organizations evolve overtime in an attempt to stay relevant; the March of Dime now devoted to preventing birth defect began life with the task of curing polio repurposing itself to stay alive. The Big Ten and the Big Ten Network will need to keep evolving in the constantly changing environment of college sports.



This blog recognized early the potential power of the Big Ten Network and the change that this could bring to the college football landscape. While Joe was looking at the practical idea of a championship game, the more profitable plan would be to add the right team to the Big Ten to boost the dollars beyond what the SEC is currently raking in. Paterno looked to his past a rashly suggested three east coast teams two of which could add the populace New York City metro TV market to the BTN footprint (and the associated dollars). Mr. Spock would look at the numbers and look to push BTN national in one fell swoop by taking another run at adding Notre Dame to the Big Ten.



South Bend, the home to Studebaker (the late car maker) and Notre Dame is the final piece to our puzzle. Those that say, “Notre Dame will never join a conference.” might be the same that said, “GM will never file for bankruptcy.” With the NBC contract running out in 2015 and the range into at which schedules are made BTN might want to be looking that far into the future and make a rash Kirk like move. In one move BTN could transform itself and the college football landscape.

Irish Bowl Part II--Body Heat

Norte Dame hater delighted in seeing lower than lowly Syracuse comeback to defeat the Irish last Saturday. Unless USC fails to show Notre Dame will end the season at 6-6 which is bowl eligible and both the Sun and Gator bowls would just love to have the Catholics in for the holidays. These two bowls split inviting Big 12 or a Big East/Notre Dame. Notre Dame is the hot step sister of the Big East and both bowls hope that they can position themselves to get some of the ND action and do not really care how.

The Sun Bowl is playing the part of the dim lawyer from Body Heat that loses his moral way in lust for Kathleen Turner (in 1981 she could carry it off). So allure is the prospect of having Notre Dame that you will do or say stupid things:

"When we went into the arrangement with the Big East, we did it solely so we'd have an opportunity for Notre Dame. Period," Folmer said. Going on to say that extra personal will be needed to sell tickets.

Remember that the bowl game is merely a trick to have out of towners to fill up hotels during the holidays and spend money.

Mr. Folmer is of the opinion that a 6-6 Notre Dame is there for the taking but the pnly way that can happen is if USC beats the Irish AND Rutgers loses the Louisville. A Rutgers wins means that the step sister Big East will have six teams with 7 or more wins. And as the commisioner of the Big East pointed out

Teams that complete their regular seasons with 6-6 records may be selected only after it is assured that teams with winning records have received a bowl invitation under the conference’s affiliated bowls.

The Sun Bowl now looks foolish...lust will do that.

Or we could just blame Otto.

Tickets Galore #5

Rhode Island at Boston College Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA
Upper End Zone XX 4 $7.00
The XXX zone will be on pay per view if U R I are interested.

Troy at Oklahoma State Boone Pickens Stadium at Lewis Field in Stillwater, OK
Upper Corner 310 19 $35.00
High price for ticket to the other OSU. With or without windmills.

Pittsburgh at Syracuse Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY
Upper Corner 333 Q $8.00
The right price to say goodbye to Greg?

Illinois at Penn State Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA
Upper Level Corner SKU EE $100.00
Kind of steep...the location and the price.

Central Florida at UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, TX
7 11 $1.99
Near the 20 yard line. Not bad seats and the price can't be much lower.

Purdue at Notre Dame Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN
Upper Level Corner 115 22 $94.99
3:30 PM?For ND or NBC? The 2:30 game time starts in October.

Tennessee at Auburn Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL
Upper Deck Sideline 100 33 $59.00
2:30 PM ? Regional TV only? No 3:30 kick off on CBS.

Colorado State at California Memorial Stadium (Cal) in Berkeley, CA
Gold Zone A 73 $15.00
Soon to be renamed the multicultural, rainbow, nuke free section of color.


More money coming for the other OSU?

Look Out for Pirates

Which ACC Bowl game should East Carolina go to? Should a 13-0 record put them in the Orange Bowl? Can they do a worse than the ACC teams in recent memory? Or let’s imagine that ECU goes 11-2 losing in the C-USA Championship game, but winning their three games against Virginia Tech, Virginia, and NC State. Is it fair that the Pirates will go to the GMAC Bowl while a lesser team from the Atlantic Coast Conference goes to the Chick-fil-A, Gator, or Champ Bowl by virtue of the conference membership?

Much has been made of the “BCS Busters” where a deserving team from a lesser non-BCS conference gets the dream of a life time and is allowed to sit at the big money table. That’s nice and makes good PR but this still leaves the Mountain West, WAC, and C-USA thin on their slate of bowl games. With the current bowl ties the casting director for the bowl games hands are tie to what they have already signed up for.
Keeping with ECU (but there may be several other teams that could fit this bill) might a match up of the Pirates and Alabama (using the projections from Scouts.com) make for a more interesting Chick-fil-A Bowl that a 8-4 Boston College?

As stated before on this blog bowl game are all about bring people to your city to fill hotel and restaurant during the slow holiday season. Organizers are then keen on lock in the best chance of bring people to town for the game and not particularly interesting in the most intriguing games at the end of the season.

Maybe we need a second tier bowl to become a free agent and be willing to gamble on presenting the fans with a interesting game rather than the current locked slate of “if there is nothing else on” games.

Note: When thinking of a tile for this post I remembered a book that I read in 2nd or 3rd grade and putting the title into Google found that you (and maybe me) can buy at copy from Amazon. At $48 cherished memeories are getting expensive.

Tickets Galore Week #1

And some say there is nothing on TV.

Week #1 of Tickets Galore 2008, where BCF looks at the StubHub.com prices for select games. Listed is the lowest price for tickets with the requirement that there be at least two at that price. Also auctions will not be listed although they do give the best

Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 6:00 PM at Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, AL
Upper Deck Sideline sec. 59 $23.00 each
Corner endzone. Expected a higher price

Fresno State at Rutgers Football Tickets
Monday, September 1, 2008 at 4:30 PM at Rutgers Stadium - NJ in Piscataway, NJ
Upper Deck Sideline 218 $45.00 each
What would be the price have been five years ago?

Utah at Michigan Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, MI
End Zone 8 82 2 $43.00 each
ESPN will be all over this one but the Wolverine faithful?

USC at Virginia Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 3:30 PM at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA
Upper Corner 527 $55.00 each
Plenty of good seats for the UVA Richmond game the following Saturdaystarting at $1.99

Wake Forest at Baylor Football Tickets
Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 7:00 PM at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, TX
Sideline sec. H $20.00 each
Look like pretty good seats to one of the more interesting opening weekend games

Northern Illinois at Minnesota Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 6:00 PM at Metrodome in Minneapolis, MN
Upper End Zone 219 $6.99 each

Northern Iowa at BYU Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 4:00 PM at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, UT
Sec 127 $14.00 each
And two weeks later seats in section 128 will cost you $58.00

Stephen F Austin at TCU Football Tickets
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 6:00 PM at Amon G Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX
Lower Sideline sec. A $24.00 each
Firm price for a non-BCS school v. a 1AA school.

Virginia Tech vs East Carolina Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Upper End Zone 527 21 2 $32.23 each
Note this game is being played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC

Tennessee at UCLA Football Tickets
Monday, September 1, 2008 at 5:00 PM at Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA
Bruin Reserved 13 $25.00 each
Seats in row 77; may be the rim of the bowl.

Georgia Southern at Georgia Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA
Upper Level Sideline 326 $109.00 each
The new Uga is frothing at the mouth for the season to start.

Youngstown State at Ohio State Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH
End Zone 14 $149.99 each
Why yes the game will be on BTN.

Coastal Carolina at Penn State Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 1:00 PM at Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA
Upper Level End Zone NHU $35.00 each
If it is a nice day, why not take in the game.

San Diego State at Notre Dame Football Tickets
Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 3:30 PM at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN
Upper Level Corner 133 $100.00 each
See ND on the way the being 1/3 the team they were last year. SDU is a D1 school but may not be much better than YSU

Appalachian State at LSU Football Tickets
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 5:00 PM at Tiger Stadium - Baton Rouge in Baton Rouge, LA
West Upper 619 $85.00 each
Lighting never strike the same place twice.

Kentucky at Louisville Football Tickets
Sunday, August 31, 2008 at 3:30 PM at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, KY
Upper End Zone 219 $123.75 each
For two teams of which little is expected much is asked for a ticket.

Buffalo Bulls

Positioning themselves to fill the void if and when the Bills move on UB can now boast the all their games will be on television for the upcoming season. Yes, they are moving up in the world of college football but given that they last had a winning season during Nixon's first term there is still lots of room for improvement.

Big East Game of the Week 2008

Game of the week rules: looking for the most intriguing (not always the most important) game, home conference games only, every team must appear at least once.

Saturday, August 30
Syracuse at Northwestern
The continuing story of trying to find the bottom BCS football team.

Monday, Sept. 1
Fresno State at Rutgers
A big challange for the BullDogs that are living up to their anywhere anytime attitude.

Saturday, September 6
Cincinnati at Oklahoma
The Bearcats are an interesting up and coming team that has been scheduling up in their OOC games (Ohio State and Virginia Tech in recent years) and while this may very well be an win for the Sooners Brian Kelly is bring this team along to respectability.

Saturday, September 13
Virginia at Connecticut
How does the Huskies and Cavs match up?

Thursday, September 18
West Virginia at Colorado
A Thursday night coming out party for the Buffs or will the Mountaineers prove their name in the shadow of the Rockies?

Saturday, September 20
Iowa at Pitt
How far down is Iowa after the off the field problems?



Friday, September 26
Connecticut at Louisville
The Cards have quickly gone from contenders to also-rans. Steve Kragthorpe entered 2007 with high expectations and UConn was the surprise 2nd place in 2007.

Thursday, October 2
Pitt at South Florida
This game will determine who has a more meaningful game late in the season. At minimum this will determine #2 maybe even #1.

Saturday, October 11
Rutgers at Cincinnati
Jockeying for position in a conference where their maybe a lot of parity.

Saturday, October 18
Connecticut at Rutgers

Thursday, October 23
Auburn at West Virginia
National showcase game for the WVU and the conference with an interesting twist: IF WVU wins this game finishing 12-0 and the Tigers then go on the win the SEC finishing 12-1 (assuming loses by other top teams), could this add up to a rematch in the BCS Championship Game?

Saturday, November 1

Louisville at Syracuse
The battle to not come in last place? Greg Robinson’s game preparation might include updating his resume and figuring out how to put the best spin on his years in upstate New York.

Saturday, November 8
Cincinnati at West Virginia
The Bearcats last won in Morgantown in 2003 against another first year coach.

Saturday, November 15
Rutgers at South Florida
Expect the unexpected. The Bulls are 1-2 v. the Scarlet Knights.

Saturday, November 22
Pitt at Cincinnati
The scramble for second place continues.

Friday, November 28
West Virginia at Pitt
Which team will have more fans in the stands at ketchup stadium?

Thursday, December 4
Louisville at Rutgers
This will not be a repeat of 2006.

Saturday, December 6
South Florida at West Virginia
Looks like the key game of the season here in July but six months have a way of changing things.

SEC Game of the Week 2008

Game of the week rules: looking for the most intriguing (not always the most important) game, home conference games only, every team must appear at least once.

Thursday, August 28
North Carolina State at South Carolina
The Old Ball Coach is not getting any younger. Can the other USC be a contender? Heavy tune up against an ACC school.

Saturday, September 6
Miami at Florida
Will the Canes be able to make this much of a game

Saturday, September 13
Georgia at South Carolina
The Old Ball Coach is not getting any younger. Can the other USC be a contender? The real test.

Saturday, September 20
LSU at Auburn
December preview?

Saturday, September 27
Mississippi State at LSU
Last year this game was uglier than _____________ (reader’s choice). Can Sly narrow the gap?

Saturday, October 4
South Carolina at Ole Miss
“We may not be #1 but we’re better than those guys game.”


Saturday, October 11
LSU at Florida
Can Tebow lose here and win a second Heisman?

Saturday, October 18
Ole Miss at Alabama
Arkansas at Kentucky
Vanderbilt at Georgia
LSU at South Carolina
Mississippi State at Tennessee


Saturday, October 25
Georgia at LSU
Championship game preview?

Duke at Vanderbilt
So if Duke beats Northwestern and Vandy beats Duke then Vandy is the king of …

Saturday, November 1
Arkansas State at Alabama
Florida vs. Georgia (Jacksonville)


Saturday, November 8
Alabama at LSU
Saban returns

Saturday, November 15
Georgia at Auburn
Championship game preview?

Saturday, November 22
The Citadel at Florida
A true cupcake put at the end of the season.

Saturday, November 29
Auburn at Alabama
Like Army v. Navy the next week this is the season in one afternoon.
Georgia Tech at Georgia
How ugly will this game get?

ACC Game of the Week 2008

Game of the week rules: looking for the most intriguing (not always the most important) game, home conference games only, every team must appear at least once.

Saturday, August 30
Alabama vs. Clemson (Atlanta)
Time for Tommy’s Tigers to start strong…or stumble out of the gate.
Saturday, September 6
Northwestern at Duke
Two teams looking for the right to say they’re the worst BCS program.
Saturday, September 13
California at Maryland
The Bears make a rare trip east for a match up with the Terps. This will be a more competitive game than the USC at UVA game last week.
Saturday, September 20

Virginia Tech at North Carolina
Tech starts strong but the Tar Heels might be able to Butch up and stop that trend.
Saturday, September 27
South Florida at NC State
A rematch of the 2005 Tire Bowl. Has Tom O’Brien’s team turned the corner? Can USF be a consistent team?
Saturday, October 4

Florida State at Miami
Two teams looking to assert their relevance in 2008 and beyond.

Thursday, October 9
Clemson at Wake Forest
Time to check in on Tommy. Is this another feather in the cap or another trip up?
Saturday, October 18
Virginia Tech at Boston College
Can this be anywhere as entertaining as last year?
Saturday, October 25

Virginia at Georgia Tech
A battle for the middle. Neither team is a contender but you just want to become bowl eligible while avoiding being the last ACC school to visit the Smurf Turf in late December.
Saturday, November 1
Duke at Wake Forest
But basketball season is still a month away.
Thursday, November 6
Maryland at Virginia Tech
The game is not as interesting as the pattern that ESPN has set up. Tech plays on Thursday November 1 and 8. Then Miami plays on November 8 and 15.

Saturday, November 8
Notre Dame at Boston College
Irish on Irish action…Brilliant.

Thursday, November 13
Virginia Tech at Miami
The hand off game.
Saturday, November 15
Duke at Clemson
North Carolina at Maryland
Wake Forest at NC State
Basketball is getting closer.

Thursday, November 20
Miami at Georgia Tech
The big ACC Thursday night finish? Paul Johnson did a great job at Navy but it is doubtful his first season at GT will be smooth sailing.
Saturday, November 22

Clemson at Virginia
Tommy watch #3
Saturday, November 29

South Carolina at Clemson
Florida at Florida State
Vanderbilt at Wake Forest
Time to test the ACC against the SEC, “Are we a power conference yet?” Also Georgia Tech at Georgia.

Not Piling On

You notice the failings or silliness of your close neighbors more than that bunch down to the street. Given the proximity of the University of Maryland their silliness is not any worse than other major program just easier to see. That explained, Coach Friedgen et al. have a promotional tool called Terrapins Rising which is moving into its second season as chronicle of the team.

A couple of observations about the recent Baltimore Sun article:

The school says it has resisted the impulse to delete scenes such as one last year in which coach Ralph Friedgen chastised a complaining player by snapping: "This is football, son. Not soccer." Edgy stuff? Play fill in the blank with the new offend no one perspective on the world, “This is football, son. Not ______________.” What if coach had said field hockey? Yes, this would have moved into the realm of sexism and the scene would have deleted.


The show cost $50,000 which is underwritten by Under Armour and is widely shown on regional sports channels (you have to fill the time up with something) and is seen as a recruiting promotional tool by the program. Viewing is restricted to those 25-30 recruits, devout fans, and those that have already mastered the secrets of real estate riches sporting rock hard abs.

Yesterday's News

The past tends to become a jumble as we get further away. A normal person has a healthy habit of a memory dump (or more accurately deterioration) unless the event is repeated or significant it is all but forgotten quickly. Recently, there was a story going around about a women unable to forget and let things slip quietly into the past.

The Internet has a sharp memory only some of those memories come with a price tag. This post was original to be a epic of the events of the 2003 ACC Raid. We will have to settle for some selective snapshots.

Tranghese says ACC tries to lure Big East teams Saturday, April 19, 2003
By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

"They have made two presentations to the University of Miami -- and have been turned down -- but they continue to come back, hoping to get the right answer. They've gone to Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech." (Tranghese)

Never happened, Swofford told the Durham Herald-Sun.

Johnny boy you need to use language that allows you an out.

---

At Miami's mercy Big East's fate hinges on 'Canes, ACC expansion
Posted: Thursday May 15, 2003 7:24 PM

"It behooves all of us to do what we can to keep the current Big East as it is," Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said. "I'm not sure just what it is that's driving it. If it's money, then we'll discuss that in the Big East meetings this weekend and try to do everything we can to keep our current conference intact."

Jimmy you will soon be playing footsie with Johnny.

---

Let the Big East courting begin
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

"If the ACC adds Miami, Boston College, Syracuse and/or Virginia Tech, then its basketball product will be a bit diluted -- much like the Big 12 and SEC.

A long article with multiple "what if's" but the above was correct the football money was not free."

---

Option play--QB-turned-senator Allen playing tough with ACC
Posted: Thursday June 19, 2003

"So Allen, Gov. Mark Warner and Attorney General Jerry Kilgore played hardball, putting the squeeze on University of Virginia president John Casteen to vote against the expansion plan.

With seven votes needed and Duke and North Carolina likely to vote against expansion, Virginia is in position to kill the latest would-be super conference."

Everything is better when the politicos help out. The original plan was for Syracuse to be the third invitee and then Virginia Tech got in via the UVA vote.

Weeknight College Football Ratings

So how does that Thursday Night ESPN compare with the traditional Saturday afternoon offerings as far as delivering the eyeballs. The banter around the Friday water cooler would suggest the popularity of the weeknight game although often the discussion is preceded by the. "I only caught part of it but..."

Information from http://sportsmediawatch.blogspot.com/
All ratings are final national ratings.

Thursday, September 13
2.5 : W. Virginia at Maryland

Thursday, September 20
2.2: Texas A&M at Miami (FL)

Friday, September 21
1.4 : Oklahoma at Tulsa

Thursday, September 27
1.2 : S. Mississippi at Boise St.

Friday, September 28
2.3: W. Virginia at USF

Thursday, October 11
1.9: Florida St. at Wake Forest

By comparison:
3.6: SEC on CBS, Florida/Kentucky (3:30 PM Saturday)
3.2: Saturday Night Football on ABC, Michigan/Illinois (8:00 PM Saturday)
2.1: Notre Dame football on NBC, USC/Notre Dame (3:30 PM Saturday)


15.9: NFL on FOX, Vikings/Cowboys (4:00 PM Sunday)
9.4: Sunday Night Football on NBC, Steelers/Broncos (8:15 PM Sunday)
(About the same as the three 3:30 p.m. college games combined)

The Irish, once the toast of college football, have fallen to the point where the marquee match up with USC fail to garner strong ratings than a Thursday night game (despite the clever SNL promotion). An principal of marketing that gets lost in the desire to work wonders by seeking nothing for something is the need for a real product with value to the consumer.

The Florida/Kentucky game was good reality television being presented live with an uncertain outcome. Such a product will attract and keep views while the USC domination of Notre Dame only holds appeal for the USC fan faithful and those that enjoy seeing the destruction of Notre Dame football.

The problem with the Saturday game and the Monday water cooler discussion is the fact the a whole day has come in between.

Cartoon From http://www.nicholsoncartoons.com.au/

Hidden Beauty

Rarely do you find someone else that takes the ideas seeming from your head and puts them to paper or at least the ideas you wish you had thought. College football journalism has a true hidden jewel in Matt Zemek at CollegeFootbalNews.com (http://cfn.scout.com/) that writes about the sport in a poetic and insightful manner missing form most other reporters. Perhaps that is the difference Matt is a true writer where the others are reporters. This is not to belittle the reporter as the transmittal of the facts is of vital importance but the voice on the Weather Channel will tell you the forecast without any passion, depth or real insight. Matt, by comparison, does not rush nor dumb down the story rather paints the complex picture at the heart of the tale.

ESPN tries to complete the story in college football before that story has ever been written in the first place. Last year, the Michigan-Ohio State game was hyped on the final Saturday of September, almost two months before the game…

...No one at ESPN, though, seems to have paid any attention. Throughout August, and especially as the season approached, ESPN did extensive week-by-week projections of how the season and its rankings would play out. Can't anyone in Bristol realize how this poisons the well and predisposes people to cognitively frame the season before it has even begun?

In a moment of honesty Robert Smith appearing on ESPN’s College Football Live in the 25 hour build up to the LSU v. MSU game voiced the family secret (that only those that are blind or in deep denial have not already figured out) when he told us the advice given to him by Lee Corso, “Sell the game, sell the game.” ESPN is neither in the information like a reporter nor even the entertainment business they are existence to sell the fact that your eyeball are looking at that screen. Returning to our Weather Channel example there is no real reason Jim Cantore is on the beach in North Carolina other than the visuals (and people will stay tuned to SEE).

Anyone watching ESPN for the past five days knew that the two marquee game they were selling: Notre Dame v. PSU and VT v. LSU. Most consumers had the choice of close to a dozen games even before getting to the pay per view tier. Among those other games were some great stories such as the overtime games of Fresno State v. Texas A&M or La. Tech v. Hawaii and many others obscured by the birght light from Bristol. Even on the day ending wrap up the focus was on a few games and not much outside the Disney Sports universe.

Getting back to the topic of Matt Zemek invest your limited college football time reading everything he writes and turn off the infomercial that is ESPN.

Weekly Affirmation Sep 4, 2007
http://cfn.scout.com/a.z?s=451&p=2&c=557922
Instant Analysis: Virginia Tech-LSU
http://cfn.scout.com/2/677410.html
Instant Analysis: TCU-Texas
http://cfn.scout.com/2/677408.html
Instant Analysis: South Carolina-Georgia
http://cfn.scout.com/2/677368.html
Instant Analysis: Oregon-Michigan
http://cfn.scout.com/2/677304.html
Instant Analysis: Miami-Oklahoma
http://cfn.scout.com/2/677262.html

College Business News

For all those CAA -- Colonial Athletic Association fans Comcast will have your football needs covered with CN8, Comcast Sports Net and on demand tape replays. Those with Comcast can watch a college game on those nights ESPN does not have a game on.

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"We can negotiate almost anything," Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said in a meeting with The Capital Times on Thursday. "The only thing we can't negotiate is (placement). This network will not be on a (digital) sports tier. Our goal is to bring our network to as many fans as possible."

How about price? Hey Charter offer BTN 25 cents per subscriber for the next ten years as the price for being on basic cable.

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NFL Network Expanding Beyond Pro Football to College, Preps
”The NFL Network can be seen in 44 million of the 97 million U.S. households with cable, according to Nielsen Media Research. It is available on basic cable, the industry’s lowest- cost package, in 35 million of the 44 million households, according to a league spokesman.”
Does this take into account Comcast’s recent move to put Channel NFL as part of the premium package? And does this new programming mean they will show fewer NFL Cheerleader profiles?

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Mark your calendars! For Mars Hills College football.
Mars Hill College football game to be nationally televised

There are nice photographs of the football stadium construction.

Learn more about this college here.

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Sun Belt football keeps getting hotter
Conference still making strides against others
Maybe the Sunbelt Conference should be given more credit than merely just as cupcake games for BCS schools. Remembering to be respectful of the youth of these programs in D1 arena they have only one way to go which is up. Watch out Conference USA!

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Speaking of life at the bottom: Escaping college football's basement easier said than done. Mr. Forde missed the opportunity to discuss how BSU beat the odds.

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He was told that he would have to forfeit the season tickets that he had held for almost 30 years unless he donated $2,000 per year to the Flynn Fund in addition to the price for the season tickets.

Interestingly, Notre Dame is ended their series with Boston College and beginning a long series with Syracuse which make you wonder if they Athletic Department can command such a payment after 2008.

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Quick Hits

According to www.Indystar.com--Purdue football ticket sales surgeand, really going out on a limb here, ticket sales will slump next year ()except for that November 1st game against Michigan. Why does it take a column to point out the obvious? See Ticket Futures--Purdue

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Benson: WAC has surpassed MWC amounts to, "We're #7 and we try harder." Both the Mountain West Conferences and Western Athletic Conferences play entertaining football so trying to pick your favorite is difficult. Okay, mostly the problem is that most fans aren't quite sure what teams are in which.
Sort out the conferences, it's like Jumble in the newspaper
Boise State, Brigham Young, Fresno State, New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, TCU, Nevada, New Mexico State, Wyoming, San Jose State, Colorado State, Utah State, San Diego State, Air Force, UNLV
No shame (for you) in opening up another window to look up the answer. The shame is that these two conferences lack any real identity.

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No more Colt 45 for Mr. Slive of the SEC. Dennis Dodd print this quote from last weeks meeting, "When I talk to our coaches I try to use a metaphor. The SEC is like a big aircraft carrier, it was the preeminent aircraft carrier, then other aircraft carriers were manufactured that had funny names like the ACC and the Big 12. There was a lot of competition." BS-damus has taken note and likes the Naval reference and the oddity of the quote.

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Just the opposite of the Purdue situation the University of Pittsburgh's home schedule lacks both elements needed to sell tickets: a successful team and opponents that will sell tickets. With the likes of Eastern Michigan, Grambling, Connecticut, Navy (moved to Wednesday), Cincinnati, Syracuse and South Florida the tickets are now at buy one cheap $120 for all seven games and get a second for $10. While this shows some weakness it also shows that someone at Pitt realized that it cost next to nothing to for the second ticket so $10 is better than zero. While Mr. Smizik's Pitt football-ticket sales in bad shape, mocks the strategy he appears not to understand business.

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Uncomfortable might be the best description of the recent situation for Tom O’Brien the new head football coach for N.C. State. The recent article at Forbes.com tried to paint it as the problem of being picked last for the first time in his coach career (Temple and Rutgers really enjoyed the nice fruit baskets) but that is not what most of use would be made uncomfortable by. The elephant in the room at the ACC recent media day meeting was the slap in the face given to Boston College by Mr. O’Brien’s departure. The lateral move sent a message to BC, “I can be more success elsewhere (because the athletic department here is not committed to being successful.)”

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The Cotton Bowl was at all of the recent media days for the BCS conferences trying to sell themselves are relevant and ready to go if there is a new BCS game. See Faded Beauties.

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News Flash: U-M, Notre Dame to play through 2031--film at 11. Will the Michigan home games be on BTN?

Revitalized Big East football taking aim at another big season

“Last August, the Big East and ABC/ESPN signed long-term deals for both football and men’s and women’s basketball. The football deal, worth a reported $36 million annually, doesn’t kick in until next fall.”

This is the first dollar figure published on last years deal.

Big East $36 million per year / 8 teams = $4.5 million
ACC $37.6 million / 12 teams = $3.13

ACC figure form: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/acc/2004-02-10-tv-deal_x.htm

Confirming an observation made by the BCF (Business of College Football) the salvation and money for this league is in Rutgers and the New York market.

“The school that’s driven the ratings surge is Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey that’s always been a marked underachiever in football. Last year, the Scarlet Knights captured the fascination of the country’s largest TV market for the first time ever.”

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Brian Kelly from University of Cincinnati called the local media to task for being no shows at this years event. The local Cincinnati Enquirer did not send a reporter but did publish a story. Mr. Kelly’s complaint may have been a call for attention in a town dominated by pro teams and any college football attention directed towards Columbus.