How Far We've Come (Or Not)

Let me tell you a story.

It starts with a truth you already know: the driving force behind advances in college football is money. It always has been, and dare I say, always will be.

In the 1940's, some schools were convinced that radio broadcasts of games were eating into their ticket sales (though there was no proof of this), and they were none too pleased. When games started to be broadcast on that new fandangled television set, schools again became jumpy for the same reason (money). The NCAA stepped in and it agreed that they would limit the number of games shown on television. But though there was overwhelming support for this, some schools dissented, namely Penn and Notre Dame, whose teams were already reaping the benefits of playing in televised games. The usual words were bantered about with regard to the NCAA's controlling actions - "communism", "socialism", and the like. (Sound familiar?)

A few decades passed, and the NCAA became a financially stable institution. As the number of programs grew, so did the NCAA's organizational structure. At first they divided schools into two categories - College or University - and this lasted for a while. But the growing continued, and eventually in 1973 the division format came about. This helped slightly, but it also shined a light on the fact that teams still weren't happy with what they saw as not getting their fair share of the increasing revenue the sport generated. At the time, there were over 230 schools in Division I, all sharing the money that just a handful of them generated.

A few dozen of the largest football powers got together and formed the College Football Association (CFA) with the main goal of having the top programs all in one division - around 80 would be good, they thought. That way they'd all get a bigger piece of the pie they contributed to. Stadium size, attendance, and other considerations were the categories they'd use to separate themselves from the others in Division I. But they didn't have the numbers to get this legislation passed. In the end, they had to accept some of the smaller schools proposals, such as attendance examptions for schools that sponsored 12 sports, but the split into I-A and I-AA was made official. There were still over 130 Division I-A schools, but it was victory for the CFA.

But they didn't stop there. Made up of mainly the current BCS schools minus the Big10 and Pac10, the CFA stayed banded together to try to wrest control of their organization from the NCAA. They tried to set up yet another division, Division IV, which would have been made up of the major football powers (another attempt to get their numbers down to the 80 range), but this failed. Their other venture, getting control of the television contracts away from the NCAA (in order to get more money, of course) ended in a victory though. In 1985 they succeeded when a federal court found the NCAA in violation of the Sherman Anti-trust Act, paving the way for the conferences and teams to negotiate their own television contracts.

And that's just what they did. The CFA dissolved in the early 1990's when the conferences started to rise to power. The Bowl Coalition was formed in 1992, made up of the old CFA members, and then the current BCS started in 1998 when the Big10 and Pac10 were brought into the fold. The football powerhouses finally got what they'd been fighting decades for: control over their revenue streams and fewer partners to share it with. Oh - and vast sums of money too. Let's not forget the vast sums of money.

They wanted a split between the top revenue & attendance programs and the smaller, less profittable teams, and they basically got it, as the following table shows. Of course, there are some non-BCS schools who bring in crowds, and some BCS schools who don't. Things get a little mixed up in the middle there. But the dividing line doesn't have to be just attendance based. The last column on the right lists each teams record from 1998 to the present against members of the opposite division - BCS teams have records against non-BCS listed and vice versa. Go ahead and click a couple times on the column header... only 2 non-BCS teams have a winning record vs the BCS, and only 2 BCS teams have a losing record vs the non-BCS. As I'm often fond of saying, parity schmarity.

Things really haven't changed much, have they? In fact, if you think back at all college football has been through, the powerhouse programs have been pulling away from the rest of the pack for a long time now. That's the direction college football has headed for decades. And as much as all the yelling over fair competition and a "true" national championship might try to pull it in a more inclusive way, it's just fighting the tide.

Team Attendance Average by Year
Team	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	vs non/BCS
Michigan	110,822	109,908	110,576	110,918	111,025	110,915	110,026	110,264	108,571	non: 21-02
Penn St	095,543	107,576	107,239	105,629	103,111	104,859	107,567	108,917	108,254	non: 19-01
Ohio St	097,757	103,532	103,488	104,870	104,876	105,017	105,096	105,110	104,976	non: 24-00
Tennessee	107,595	106,843	106,705	105,038	106,644	107,593	105,789	103,918	101,448	non: 26-01
Texas	082,216	083,062	083,150	083,339	083,094	083,333	088,505	085,144	098,046	non: 29-00
Georgia	084,487	086,520	086,520	092,058	092,746	092,746	092,746	092,746	092,746	non: 17-00
LSU	087,815	090,491	090,307	090,974	091,209	091,580	092,212	092,619	092,383	non: 25-02
Alabama	083,770	082,312	082,857	082,388	081,870	081,018	092,138	092,138	092,138	non: 27-07
Florida	085,253	085,432	085,185	090,177	088,409	090,406	090,409	090,388	090,544	non: 20-00
Auburn	082,435	085,449	082,943	085,203	083,085	084,161	085,063	084,689	086,915	non: 22-00
USC	057,339	057,743	066,853	077,804	085,229	090,812	091,480	087,476	086,793	non: 14-02
Oklahoma	075,075	075,384	075,104	083,202	084,532	084,331	084,561	084,858	085,075	non: 24-03
Nebraska	077,878	077,555	077,802	077,754	077,692	077,485	085,044	084,501	085,071	non: 22-01
Texas A&M	077,579	082,711	080,198	076,243	074,498	079,732	075,985	082,207	082,193	non: 26-02
Wisconsin	078,711	078,333	078,023	078,486	082,368	082,551	081,368	081,747	081,088	non: 26-03
Notre Dame	080,302	080,795	080,818	080,795	080,795	080,795	080,795	080,821	080,795	non: 20-03
S Carolina	081,904	082,614	082,138	080,844	080,367	079,867	075,630	078,467	080,529	non: 17-02
Clemson	081,214	078,883	075,714	075,286	079,667	078,232	081,000	081,335	078,571	non: 13-02
Florida St	080,831	081,441	081,766	083,149	082,841	082,724	080,532	080,597	077,968	non: 10-01
Michigan St	074,023	073,715	073,942	072,830	073,602	075,183	070,819	070,540	074,858	non: 17-04
UCLA	067,280	064,613	065,396	056,636	060,515	064,218	064,955	076,379	072,795	non: 15-06
Iowa	061,123	064,665	064,643	065,798	070,397	070,585	070,585	070,585	070,169	non: 15-02
Kentucky	065,462	063,480	064,155	064,922	062,334	062,450	057,330	068,824	069,434	non: 14-06
Arkansas	050,779	060,705	060,752	063,588	066,418	063,678	069,328	066,033	066,784	non: 27-01
Virginia Tech	056,272	053,662	063,344	065,115	065,115	065,115	066,233	066,233	066,233	non: 24-01
Missouri	053,600	052,556	052,723	055,833	059,571	053,364	055,918	060,232	064,520	non: 19-04
BYU	060,619	058,950	062,176	061,501	058,475	058,204	060,524	064,497	064,102	BCS: 15-20
Arizona St	050,612	049,285	045,837	054,248	062,641	061,157	054,562	062,875	063,837	non: 16-04
Washington	071,638	072,469	071,435	071,906	064,737	058,920	057,483	067,732	063,640	non: 14-08
Illinois	055,976	054,949	055,199	050,961	048,626	047,852	043,445	054,872	061,707	non: 12-05
California	046,100	033,443	037,103	038,305	064,019	060,377	064,318	063,136	061,634	non: 13-06
Oregon	045,093	045,926	056,341	057,701	058,059	058,434	058,378	058,845	058,444	non: 19-04
West Virginia	051,993	048,323	052,413	052,205	056,545	056,287	058,773	060,400	058,085	non: 21-04
N Carolina	050,500	052,583	050,292	047,133	052,458	051,667	048,857	057,417	057,829	non: 08-06
Purdue	065,319	062,584	056,430	058,597	063,549	062,996	055,457	059,326	056,702	non: 18-03
NC State	046,787	049,254	049,477	053,274	056,200	052,925	056,540	056,356	056,665	non: 13-05
Virginia	056,271	056,283	056,428	060,424	061,494	060,973	057,732	059,824	053,815	non: 12-08
Texas Tech	042,215	046,268	043,126	049,608	052,823	050,972	050,874	048,348	053,625	non: 27-05
Mississippi	048,046	045,740	057,217	056,509	058,373	054,225	053,801	049,704	053,005	non: 24-04
Arizona	049,439	044,383	045,005	042,765	050,111	053,613	055,798	052,161	052,440	non: 19-06
Kansas	032,217	039,493	036,083	038,750	041,067	043,675	044,137	046,784	050,907	non: 21-05
S Florida	000,000	025,817	026,304	030,512	027,060	038,865	030,222	053,170	049,690	non: 10-00
Colorado	049,990	047,475	049,219	050,423	047,895	050,409	046,048	050,509	049,476	non: 17-07
Pittsburgh	040,868	048,915	044,424	059,197	041,600	040,272	043,305	033,315	049,352	non: 20-06
Minnesota	047,352	043,485	041,785	044,148	047,573	049,025	052,207	051,791	048,958	non: 26-04
Oklahoma St	039,813	040,360	043,238	044,872	046,805	044,861	040,954	040,024	048,261	non: 20-07
Maryland	034,129	043,564	046,251	051,236	051,411	052,426	049,393	051,263	047,954	non: 14-03
Georgia Tech	042,671	041,685	043,156	052,862	046,817	051,607	050,617	050,280	047,489	non: 11-04
Iowa St	042,020	045,172	043,961	044,822	041,518	046,705	046,171	049,462	047,429	non: 15-08
Miami (FL)	058,430	047,162	069,539	058,135	059,134	045,310	041,908	043,589	046,299	non: 16-01
Utah	039,121	034,458	035,429	041,478	044,112	041,536	043,279	042,593	045,542	BCS: 18-11
Kansas St	050,260	048,541	048,082	047,110	048,405	045,961	046,693	047,383	045,190	non: 20-04
Oregon St	033,649	036,412	036,436	036,142	036,334	042,190	040,830	041,374	044,931	non: 19-06
Mississippi St	042,958	042,351	048,291	047,667	043,792	047,688	041,527	049,296	043,453	non: 17-08
Rutgers	024,556	020,455	019,818	027,339	030,994	033,184	041,113	043,663	042,378	non: 21-08
E Carolina	036,290	037,337	029,629	033,012	030,684	033,046	037,168	041,537	042,016	BCS: 14-29
Boston Coll	039,327	042,481	039,587	042,604	043,190	039,429	038,843	041,990	041,037	non: 27-02
Hawaii	037,340	036,245	038,759	041,308	036,801	032,735	036,589	043,514	040,338	BCS: 09-18
Louisville	038,547	037,682	036,473	036,771	040,531	041,001	041,482	039,881	039,680	non: 06-02
UCF	027,277	019,793	017,268	020,225	019,952	028,462	031,569	044,018	039,596	BCS: 02-33
UConn	014,166	014,536	015,807	037,059	039,304	040,000	038,939	038,205	039,331	non: 11-01
Vanderbilt	038,744	033,990	032,192	028,282	028,472	036,031	034,861	034,629	038,460	non: 08-09
Air Force	042,560	038,439	042,713	039,210	038,043	035,981	038,034	038,068	038,134	BCS: 08-09
Fresno St	041,369	042,803	037,800	038,603	039,777	039,307	038,551	036,291	037,864	BCS: 14-22
UTEP	044,715	028,360	028,310	020,009	041,209	047,899	042,444	036,569	037,296	BCS: 00-18
Navy	029,329	030,307	027,808	029,936	031,017	033,013	033,275	034,617	034,775	BCS: 16-43
Stanford	037,980	051,534	038,770	044,870	035,942	043,550	041,742	039,332	034,258	non: 10-07
Baylor	028,910	030,601	028,018	029,851	030,586	038,899	037,080	034,378	034,124	non: 12-08
Syracuse	043,062	041,103	042,259	041,167	037,068	040,252	037,263	035,009	033,474	non: 17-06
Boise St	026,493	023,831	027,533	028,098	030,499	030,048	030,453	030,338	032,275	BCS: 06-12
Cincinnati	022,235	023,055	028,071	021,827	021,255	022,423	020,373	030,246	031,965	non: 14-01
Indiana	030,560	032,605	031,248	034,983	028,377	039,536	033,063	037,972	031,782	non: 15-05
Wake Forest	023,600	023,092	026,537	028,273	030,763	028,924	032,515	032,595	031,666	non: 14-04
TCU	032,634	027,722	027,813	036,155	029,413	031,254	031,926	030,018	030,389	BCS: 17-08
S Miss	028,509	025,649	026,961	028,641	028,964	027,862	028,994	026,721	030,102	BCS: 07-24
New Mexico	023,656	031,268	030,512	035,124	037,282	038,341	028,633	029,673	029,713	BCS: 05-16
Duke	022,116	019,391	023,222	020,026	022,505	017,486	019,580	020,064	028,727	non: 05-09
Northwestern	034,267	034,743	028,032	028,763	028,408	032,527	027,996	024,589	028,590	non: 15-11
Army	038,516	031,048	032,606	030,794	031,963	030,935	030,694	031,712	027,752	BCS: 01-23
Wash St	026,642	028,309	038,131	036,128	038,430	034,506	034,671	033,045	027,367	non: 20-05
Memphis	031,676	025,722	029,257	040,622	041,175	039,991	032,440	029,670	025,003	BCS: 02-24
Marshall	027,884	025,455	027,789	027,837	025,933	026,510	026,031	030,020	024,766	BCS: 04-19
Tulsa	020,805	019,509	018,986	022,132	016,906	022,826	021,364	024,539	024,639	BCS: 01-19
San Diego St	023,449	022,518	025,263	022,626	035,995	036,223	029,227	027,940	024,376	BCS: 01-28
Tulane	020,845	023,198	027,901	025,635	022,829	000,000	018,942	026,112	022,750	BCS: 03-14
C Michigan	018,990	015,861	017,311	013,683	015,043	015,971	021,563	018,771	022,659	BCS: 02-23
LA-Lafayette	014,624	013,323	015,056	013,995	021,401	017,591	014,516	016,029	021,468	BCS: 01-26
Arkansas St	011,514	011,615	013,955	017,488	015,327	015,476	017,882	017,040	021,105	BCS: 01-28
Colorado St	027,532	027,563	030,461	030,631	027,296	029,347	024,183	021,794	021,008	BCS: 08-15
San Jose St	012,103	010,207	010,360	015,080	006,479	012,506	018,854	015,465	020,952	BCS: 05-26
UNLV	020,698	024,503	027,582	025,805	021,870	019,914	019,240	029,281	020,849	BCS: 06-16
Middle TN St	012,165	017,857	011,163	011,021	013,388	015,241	019,347	018,530	020,227	BCS: 05-30
Rice	019,181	016,923	020,069	020,512	012,550	010,072	019,822	013,353	020,179	BCS: 01-25
SMU	021,815	017,386	018,292	017,435	017,706	018,630	015,428	015,211	019,780	BCS: 01-20
W Michigan	025,043	022,396	018,877	018,838	015,997	018,906	018,625	019,494	019,683	BCS: 05-23
Troy	000,000	016,966	013,403	021,091	021,228	019,425	020,810	020,479	019,231	BCS: 03-26
Ball St	014,653	016,481	012,849	014,710	014,300	012,953	015,061	013,085	019,201	BCS: 01-27
UAB	018,500	018,536	016,447	022,704	020,606	020,101	023,139	016,706	019,062	BCS: 04-25
Nevada	017,017	017,573	018,842	022,258	017,314	015,076	016,728	017,087	019,043	BCS: 02-16
E Michigan	010,027	013,276	010,777	011,260	014,387	005,219	015,787	006,810	018,951	BCS: 00-21
Houston	015,795	019,457	014,986	021,807	021,167	015,054	021,910	020,955	018,356	BCS: 07-20
Wyoming	014,822	016,955	013,687	015,702	016,413	020,650	019,109	022,190	018,234	BCS: 05-16
N Illinois	015,757	014,604	020,953	023,575	027,052	022,176	020,771	017,864	018,185	BCS: 05-19
LA Tech	016,636	020,433	018,477	020,778	017,548	016,416	014,586	018,562	018,020	BCS: 04-32
New Mex St	015,826	017,096	022,163	016,069	018,301	012,557	017,596	014,412	017,756	BCS: 01-19
Toledo	026,884	030,014	023,965	021,920	024,025	021,817	020,311	018,668	017,008	BCS: 10-16
North Texas	014,180	013,248	015,260	018,694	015,184	016,446	015,650	016,356	016,956	BCS: 02-28
Buffalo	009,765	012,251	011,244	009,414	012,185	008,914	016,417	013,568	016,924	BCS: 01-23
Western KY	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	016,697	BCS: 00-06
Florida Atl	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	011,476	009,182	015,741	015,962	BCS: 01-17
Bowl Green	008,464	017,772	017,836	021,002	017,423	014,929	016,834	016,080	015,701	BCS: 10-15
Temple	018,612	018,440	019,077	024,137	016,456	012,735	015,810	028,859	015,582	BCS: 00-16
Miami (OH)	016,160	019,168	018,285	025,132	015,742	015,241	015,244	016,186	015,435	BCS: 07-23
Idaho	016,853	012,513	010,931	012,064	010,540	015,175	014,543	011,479	015,340	BCS: 02-25
Ohio	020,231	020,897	018,078	015,824	015,979	018,033	016,724	016,500	015,276	BCS: 04-23
Utah St	019,910	021,784	020,992	014,921	019,500	010,896	011,360	013,131	014,736	BCS: 00-20
Akron	010,637	013,479	011,600	013,812	015,849	010,893	016,132	019,021	014,342	BCS: 04-21
Florida Intl	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	000,000	015,477	014,201	008,544	013,852	BCS: 00-16
LA-Monroe	009,826	007,664	008,470	011,298	014,717	014,617	014,036	016,651	012,414	BCS: 01-30
Kent	007,638	007,195	010,086	010,546	012,877	006,658	017,004	008,999	010,609	BCS: 01-18

Sources:
The NCAA's First Century: In The Arena, by Joseph N. Crowley
"The College Football Association television broadcast cartel", by John J. Siegfried and Molly Gardner Burba