Tulsa in best possible position for BCS bowl access

[Harry]

Tulsa may already be in the best position possible for the new BCS formula and playoff.

In 2014, just one slot will be available to the highest ranked team from five conferences, the so-called "group of five." That group includes
Conference USA, the Big East, Mountain West, Mid-America and Sun Belt.

The five power leagues will each be guaranteed one slot in the new BCS bowl and playoffs. Those leagues are the Big 12, Big 10, Southeastern,
Pac-12 and ACC.

The "group of five" conferences will get an average of about $17.25 million (25 percent of the new contract's payout) each, and the five
power conferences will each receive an average of about $91 million (75 percent of the payout), according to an ESPN report.

So it begs the question: If moving conferences doesn't involve moving up to one of the five power conferences, why do it?

That's the question facing Houston, SMU, Memphis, Boise State and the others that have jumped from one "group of five" league to another.

In other words, what's the advantage? Answer? None.

Maybe you'll get a little more television revenue, but even that is in question. There is no way anyone with the Big East can predict what the
new television deal will be for the Big East or how it will stack up against the Conference USA deal.

It might be wise for TU to follow the path of Northern Illinois, which turned a Mid-America Conference championship into an Orange Bowl
invitation. Or Boise State, which beat up on a weak WAC to become the darling of the non-BCS leagues.

Read More: http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?articleid=20121224_203_B1_TULSAM110266

[Arkstfan]

18 teams have been eligible to bust since the creation of the BCS. Some failed before the criteria was reformed because the automatic bust was at 8 or better but teams were still in the at-large pool. Some failed because they were not the highest rated eligible buster.

1998 Tulane CUSA. This was the 8 football team version of CUSA. Army and ECU were outliers but the rest of the league was pretty compact in football. Of those 8, only USM remains in CUSA, Army returned to independence, the other six are in nBE.

1999. Marshall MAC. The first year Buffalo was in the league, three years before UCF would come in. Their non-conference wins were Clemson, Temple, and Liberty.

2003. Miami (OH), MAC. Second year of the 14 team MAC circuit.

2004. Utah MWC First successful buster Rated #6.

2004. Boise State WAC Rated #9

2004. Louisville CUSA. Rated #10 This was the last year before the Big East raid. An 11 team CUSA had added UAB, TCU, and USF.

2006. Boise State WAC. First buster under the current rules that go away after next year.

2007. Hawaii WAC

2008 Utah MWC Rated #6

2008 Boise State WAC. Rated #9

2008 TCU MWC Rated #11

2009 Boise State. WAC. Won took the auto spot.

2009 TCU. MWC selected at-large

2009 BYU. MWC

2010 TCU. MWC Probably would have made the four team field under 2014 rules.

2010 Boise. WAC rated #10

2011 Boise State. MWC. Didn't win conference so went to at-large pool rated #7

2012 Northern Illinois. MAC.

[shaft]

The Big East TV deal is going to be worth more than the other Group of 5 deals. But gone are the days of the Big East deal being double the value of the MWC deal.

The new playoff & access bowl isn't so much of a win for the other mid-majors, but a blow to the Big East. We aren't competing for an extra access slot, we all simply have access to the former Big East auto-bid.

[Arkstfan]

The Big East TV deal is going to be worth more than the other Group of 5 deals. But gone are the days of the Big East deal being double the value of the MWC deal.

The new playoff & access bowl isn't so much of a win for the other mid-majors, but a blow to the Big East. We aren't competing for an extra access slot, we all simply have access to the former Big East auto-bid.

Based on what is floating right now, it will be roughly double the announced numbers for CUSA, where it falls vs. MWC depends on whether Boise and SDSU return and what sort of deal they cut for the second tier.

I think with the added travel and the inherent marketing disadvantage of having teams split between two leagues Boise has a hard time justifying BE membership. SDSU actually can. They have their other sports in an all California league (or all Cali except Boise if Boise stays).

If you are Houston though, BE footprint doesn't look much different from the CUSA footprint so the extra dollars really matter.