The Future State of College Football

[RedTails]

I spent a bit of time yesterday reading about The Knight Commission's recommendations on forming a new association named the National College Football Association which would govern D1 football while the NCAA governed the rest of the sports.

I kept seeing that NCFA membership would rely on certain criteria but seemed like a placeholder for a to-be-determined set of criteria. Also seemed like they were assuming all of D1 FBS would be part of this new NCFA, while NCAA retained FCS and below. But I'm seeing less mentions of that in social media and more of the mythical "P5" split.

Just thought it would be an interesting discussion to have on here. What do you guys see happening?

[ZoomZoom]

Hold the line, stay part of the party, shove all the rats (FCS wanting to move up) back off the ship.

UL was on the right side of the A/AA split years ago, keep staying with the group that controls the money.

Big boys finally see the antitrust issue, basically recreate the A/AA split over again more or less. Have to keep some G-5 to win in court.

[Boomer]

Hold the line, stay part of the party, shove all the rats (FCS wanting to move up) back off the ship.

UL was on the right side of the A/AA split years ago, keep staying with the group that controls the money.

…..the only hope for our future is the B-12……we need to be with the Cinn, Houst, Cen Fla., etc and the remaining……so we are there academically and we can play in just about all sports on their level…..not always but ask Houston!!!! But what happened to our attendance? So shocking after the success!

[cajun4life]

Hold the line, stay part of the party, shove all the rats (FCS wanting to move up) back off the ship.

UL was on the right side of the A/AA split years ago, keep staying with the group that controls the money.

Big boys finally see the antitrust issue, basically recreate the A/AA split over again more or less. Have to keep some G-5 to win in court.

We are part of the rats now.

[cajunjayhawk]

…..the only hope for our future is the B-12……we need to be with the Cinn, Houst, Cen Fla., etc and the remaining……so we are there academically and we can play in just about all sports on their level…..not always but ask Houston!!!! But what happened to our attendance? So shocking after the success!

I fear our average attendance in Football & MBB has held us back from an invitation to the Big 12 and may be the nail for no invitation in the future.

We pulled out all the stops for the 2021 SBC Championship game and barely cracked 31k. 2022 Home vs. Troy under 8k.

Football
Louisiana Football
2021 average Home attendance (SBC Championship excluded): 21,073
(Hi: vs. TXST 28,794 | Lo: vs. Georgia State 16,007)
2022 average Home attendance: 14,997 (Hi: vs. USA 20,671 | Lo: vs. Troy 7,888)
Two-year average: 18,035

Houston Football (for comparison)
2021 average Home attendance: 25,073 (Hi: vs. Memphis 28,712 | Lo: vs. Grambling 22,998)
2022 average Home attendance: 24,793 (Hi: vs. Kansas 30,317| Lo: vs. Temple 21,731)
Two-year average: 24,933

Men's Basketball
Louisiana Men's Basketball
2021-22 average Home attendance: 2,708
(Hi: vs. Troy 3,150 | Lo: vs. West Florida 2,069 | Lo D-1 opponent: vs. McNeese 2,524)
2022-23 average Home attendance: 3,172
(Hi: vs. Marshall 5,351 | Lo: vs. LCU 2,475 | Lo D-1 opponent: vs. Arkansas State 2,615)
Two-season average: 2,940

UCF Men's Basketball (for comparison)
2021-22 average Home attendance: 4,977 (Hi: vs. Michigan 9,358 | Lo: vs. Temple 3,268)
2022-23 average Home attendance: 5,274 (Hi: vs. Houston 9,383 | Lo: vs. Evansville 3,752)
Two-season average: 5,125

Of course difference in competition matters and attracts more casual viewers, however, attendance matters, arguably more than product on the field/court (see: Nebraska Football attendance vs. record over the past 10 years). Markets have an impact too. Orlando & Houston are much larger than Lafayette.

[Turbine]

I don't think UL has ever pulled out "all the stops."

They've coasted to a few.

[MelRock]

Good or bad attendance will not get you into the next conference.

[RaginCajun77]

I don't see the benefit of a move from the NCAA to the National College Football Association for FBS. You'd still see the P5 schools calling shots because $$$.

As far as the "mythical P5 split" goes, can the P5 schools co-exist as a unit of their own? In a P5 split you will see conferences jockeying for power and I'd expect it to become the P4 when all is said and done. Now here is the dilemma, if the P5 splits will the G5 and FCS become allies and tell the P5 to pound sand? If so, many P5 schools will lose their shine and you will see a lot of .500 football. I think for some of these schools it is more important to present the illusion of being a power football school.

[Duckster]

Historically, its been hard to kill off a conference so chances are PAC 12 will remain in business one way or the other. There's no reason they can't soldier on with Oregon and Washington as their lead dogs, much like Oklahoma and Texas did with a smaller Big 12 ten years ago. Oregon and Washington have easier paths to the 12 team playoff now. Even CUSA recently survived and they suck. If football does split off from NCAA, its in the P5 and college football national best interest to bring along all the FBS conferences, even sucky CUSA. Seems like in this expanded playoff era about to get underway, every conference should be playing 9 game conference schedules.

[CajunVic]

They will always want to get 3 or 4 easy wins. Where will they get those if they jettison . . .

[cajunfan96]

Good or bad attendance will not get you into the next conference.

It's a serious commitment to Athletics.

[Bandwagon King]

It's a serious commitment to Athletics.

Did UL collect from Florida yet? If so, what did they do with that money?