Conosticator wrote:
The BCS had three goals, 1) control of TV and Bowl revenue, 2) control of who get to play for the mythical NC by controlling the rankings, and 3) control of the NCAA D1-A (FBS) by maintaining a slight majority over the non-BCS schools. They have been wildly successful in all three areas..
Agree with point 1 and 2, but not point 3.
The nonBCS conferences were irrelevant in the formation of the BCS. The bowls care about having access to 10 to 20 teams. These are teams that dominate the college football landscape and are the most popular. In order to get those teams they needed to make deals with the conferences where those teams reside. Since none of those teams reside in nonBCS leagues there was no thought paid to them other than possible antitrust which they paid off the other conferences to keep quiet.
Any improved competitiveness between the BCS and non-BCS is due to the NCAA limitations and football scholarships and academic qualification standards not to any supposed benefit the non-BCS schools received by being left out of the BCS revenue stream.
A prime example of the dark side of the BCS was when the proposed SLC bowl game was not approved this year. The games that guaranted one or both spots to BCS conf members were approved. Of course the BCS continues to take in new schools whenever it is necessary so that they can maintain a voting majority in the NCAA FBS and thereby control the Bowl approvals.
I hate to break your consipiracy theory, but the facts suggest otherwise.
In 1997 the year before the BCS there were 20 bowl games. Only 7 "non BCS teams" participated (6 if you count Cincinatti as a BCS team). In 2007 there are 32 bowl game where 19 of the 64 spots are going to nonBCS teams.
The bowl growth has certainly helped conferences like the MWC as it gives teams a little bit extra revenue, but more importantly practice time and exposure. Look at what the Humanitarian Bowl has done for Boise State and the New Mexico Bowl has done for New Mexico as examples.
The SLC bowl was a bad idea and didn't have much support behind it which is why it was nixed. If the BCS didn't want nonBCS teams to participate in new bowls then there would be no New Mexico Bowl.