http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=5924399

Thought this was interesting. Apparently Mark Cuban is interested in funding a playoff system for Division 1 FBS college football. Any thoughts?

Cuban is a boss. I don't see it happening though.

Mulva;602588 wrote:Cuban is a boss. I don't see it happening though.

This.

Maybe a push from a maverick like Cuban is what it would take to get it done. He thinks revamping CFB to a play-off system is preferable to owning a baseball franchise, so obviously he feels he stands to gain more from it. That will be hurdle #1.

"It's an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it," Cuban said. "The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital, which I can deal with.

an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it...Sure people seem to want a play-off, that goes without saying at least in terms of majority, but other than that what would be "better"? Who gets paid? Mark Cuban.

Lack of capital...c'mon Mark. You hardly expect us to believe there would somehow be less capital for a play-off format, if anything it would be greater, probably by a large margin. I'm seeing an attempt at a money grab.

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban said. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.' "

Hurdle #2 - Now he wants to break all the Bowl tie ins by offering money instead. Traditions be damned. This isn't going to be easy, considering many have nearly a hundred years of history behind them. Pretty presumptuous to think presidents and bowl game promoters and their related stuffed shirts are going to allow themselves to be relegated to back seat drivers.

One way to push school presidents toward approving the idea would be to lobby major donors of college athletic programs, Cuban said. He suggested convincing the donors to cut off their donations until their presidents approved a playoff system.

Right Mark, fuck their Alma Mater, give up the 50 yard line clubhouse seats and have them change the name of the engineering building you just paid for, again a wee bit presumptuous.

Well, if anyone might have a shot at it it might be him, but he won't be getting any welcoming committees speaking the way he is here imo.

Big Ten, Pac-12, Texas 10, and SEC will never let this happen. The Big East is probably the only one who would even listen, maybe the ACC (but I doubt it).

Is Mark Cuban a President or AD of a university? If not, it does not matter.

Same thing I was thinking. Mark Cuban can STFU

Cuban is good for sports, I wish he owned an MLB team. Didnt he try to buy the Rangers, had the highest bid, and still didnt get the team? And the Cubs turned em down as well correct? Hell, he should buy the Marlins or the Royals or Indians or somebody with low low payroll and make them contenders

I love owners like Cuban. They are good for sports.

Pick6;602698 wrote:I love owners like Cuban. They are good for sports.

too bad he has no association with the ncaa

Sadly as great as this sounds I don't think Cuban could ever make the playoffs happen the way hes talking about.

Hb31187;602664 wrote:Cuban is good for sports, I wish he owned an MLB team. Didnt he try to buy the Rangers, had the highest bid, and still didnt get the team? And the Cubs turned em down as well correct? Hell, he should buy the Marlins or the Royals or Indians or somebody with low low payroll and make them contenders

If Cuban bought the Marlins that would be incredible.

I would definitely want Cuban to own the Indians. Fuck yeah! That'd be awesome.

Long shot...but Cuban is the kinda guy that can make shit happen. Not having association with the NCAA might be a good thing, sometimes it takes someone from completely outside an issue to see all the obstacles and resolve the problem. Guys with Cuban's kind of clout just talking about being in favor of a playoff is movement in the right direction. But I still think its 5 - 10 years away.

Why is everyone forgetting about the money. If Cuban can give the universities more money than they get now and still make a profit him self then why would they not at least listen to him? Only 14 of 120 D1 schools made money from athletics last year and you guys don't think the Presidents would listen.

Also this year the Big 10 will be making $37 million on bowl games before the Roughly $12.65 million that will be spent to cover the expenditures associated with sending teams to their bowls. So each school after it is all said and done will get $2.2 million each. Your telling me that giving Wisconsin maybe two more home games, give Ohio State one more home game and send the rest of the Big 10 to their crappy bowl games won't make more than $2.2 million each. I don't believe that one bit.

ytownfootball;602633 wrote:Lack of capital...c'mon Mark. You hardly expect us to believe there would somehow be less capital for a play-off format, if anything it would be greater, probably by a large margin. I'm seeing an attempt at a money grab.

I think what he means is nobody who wants a playoff is willing to put up the capitol and he is. I agree that he might be trying to get a piece of the pie, but why not? All of the bowls are already making cash, so if he can do it better I say have at it.

I am not sure one guy saying he'll throw in a lump sum of money for a playoff system is a serious business plan/model that will convince anyone to consider it as a long term solution.

He says it is inefficient business, which I don't necessarily agree with either. The whole point is that the current business works for the bottom line and the "lack of capital" to which he refers actually exists because so far there isn't a more efficient manner of doing business that would bring in the bank they've got running now.

I take this as nothing more than a rich guy saying he wants a playoff, which holds about as much weight as the other whiners.

enigmaax;602863 wrote:I am not sure one guy saying he'll throw in a lump sum of money for a playoff system is a serious business plan/model that will convince anyone to consider it as a long term solution.

I agree with that, but the article sort of covered it. He is just getting opinions right now, and said it would take 3-4 years to actually enact a working plan. This isn't supposed to be a serious business model.

I think a playoff will happen... eventually. But this isn't going to be the way it gets done. The NCAA/college presidents are not going to want to split their money with Cuban. If they want a playoff, they could spend a week in a conference room and they could figure out something that would work. They don't need Cuban leading them around by the nose.

jordo212000;602952 wrote:I think a playoff will happen... eventually. But this isn't going to be the way it gets done. The NCAA/college presidents are not going to want to split their money with Cuban. If they want a playoff, they could spend a week in a conference room and they could figure out something that would work. They don't need Cuban leading them around by the nose.

Maybe the threat of someone else doing it will motivate them to get it done so they don't have to share any of the money?

ptown_trojans_1;602644 wrote:Is Mark Cuban a President or AD of a university? If not, it does not matter.

agreed

Mulva;602947 wrote:I agree with that, but the article sort of covered it. He is just getting opinions right now, and said it would take 3-4 years to actually enact a working plan. This isn't supposed to be a serious business model.

Yeah, I get that and obviously the guy knows a little bit about business. But even as an initial idea it doesn't sound very solid to me - I just do not think that he's going to come up with a model that gets sold. Just my opinion, he isn't the guy that is going to get it done, at the very least, with the approach that he's put out there so far.

enigmaax;603067 wrote:he isn't the guy that is going to get it done, at the very least, with the approach that he's put out there so far.

This is where I'm at also. He assumes that providing the payout is the only issue that needs overcome, when in fact it's only a small portion of the issue he'd be facing. I also fail to understand how this proposition would gain a sanction from the NCAA, which, in reality, is what is needed.

FatHobbit;602954 wrote:Maybe the threat of someone else doing it will motivate them to get it done so they don't have to share any of the money?

He isn't a threat to the college presidents because he can't do it without their approval.

Emmett Brown;602792 wrote:Why is everyone forgetting about the money. If Cuban can give the universities more money than they get now and still make a profit him self then why would they not at least listen to him? Only 14 of 120 D1 schools made money from athletics last year and you guys don't think the Presidents would listen.

Also this year the Big 10 will be making $37 million on bowl games before the Roughly $12.65 million that will be spent to cover the expenditures associated with sending teams to their bowls. So each school after it is all said and done will get $2.2 million each. Your telling me that giving Wisconsin maybe two more home games, give Ohio State one more home game and send the rest of the Big 10 to their crappy bowl games won't make more than $2.2 million each. I don't believe that one bit.

I think the flaw in your thought is that you're talking about making up the money with only the top schools and you're also talking about making up the money with a significantly lower number of schools. Wisconsin and Ohio State don't have to earn $2.2 million for a couple of games, they have to make that whole $37 million (or $25 mil or whatever the final number being split between all the schools ends up being) so that Minnesota and Indiana still get their $2.2 million as well. Also, just because Ohio State may be able to pull in a shit ton with a home game, doesn't mean that say, Purdue is going to command the same in a year where they may win the Big Ten and be tasked with supplying money to the entire rest of the conference.

The issue remains the same, any switch from the bowl system where the NCAA invests nothing and gets guaranteed money to a system in which the NCAA forks out up front cash and hopes they've got a good market just isn't going to happen. You already see this principle for bowl games. Why is it common knowledge that any time OSU is eligible for a BCS bowl they are going to get a bid, even if there are other teams who are "better"? Because they draw. With a playoff, you aren't certain that the best teams are also the best draws and that isn't going to be good for business.

Look at the BCS TV ratings for bowls that don't have two powerhouses (or even one, for that matter). Iowa and GT drew less than a 7. Ohio State-Oregon nearly doubled that. Both the Sugar and the Fiesta tanked, and the Sugar took a major hit in live attendance as well. The possibility exists in a playoff that you end up with a couple rounds of non-marquee match-ups and again, that isn't going to be good for business overall.

Predictably, Bill Hancock is having none of this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=5927151&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines