re: The political economics of college athletics

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NCAA must be kicking themselves for letting College Football go to the bowl format.

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Do people even know the history of the NCAA anymore?

Started out as a government mandate and Dr Dudley (who started what became the SEC) was an original member. After WWII the NCAA used the point shaving scandal in NYC to gain monopolistic control of both football and basketball. This monopoly became the tool of the B1G and to a lesser extent the PCC (now the PAC) and national football on TV was doled out to few teams with heavy favoritism. Walter Byers ruled as a dictator and conferences like the SEC suffered greatly for over a quarter of a century until the revolt in the 1970's.

Schools not in the B1G or PAC revolted in the 1970's and 3 events broke the monopoly forever :

#1 ESPN formed and the ACC and Big East benefitted
#2 NCAA vs Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma
#3 CFA formed to the benefit of the SEC, Big 8, SWC, and IND's

Had Walter Byers not pimped the B1G and PAC for a quarter of a century at the expense of the rest of CFB the NCAA would probably still have control of football the way they still do in college basketball. Rupp was so furious at what happened in the NIT that he vowed never to go back and the NCAA used him as a cornerstone to make March Madness what it is today.