Is the BCS a "Public Accommodation"?

[silverfox]

'tis a legal term that warrants discussion.

Is it a "Private Group"? Or, since it is made up largely by publicly-funded educational institutions, a "public group"?

In essence I am referring to the constitutionally protected "freedom of association". Are football student athletes of Non-AQ Schools being discriminated upon by being denied access to the system in favor of "member" AQ schools? Is one "athlete" considered "superior" to another simply because of the rules of "association" and membership in the BCS?

[billybud]

Oh jeez!

Athletes in BCS programs may or may not be superior. What is beyond a doubt is that BCS teams beat non BCS teams 86% of the time in the last two years. That tells you something about how competitive the two sections are with each other. Without a doubt, on the whole, the BCS teams are superior to Non BCS teams.


OMG...call in a fleet of lawyers.

Is it "fair" that Harvard grads and other "Ivy" grads make more than Coastal Carolina grads? Is it some "freedom of association" discrimination?

Is it fair that superior students gravitate to universities and not community colleges?

Is it fair that a Shetland has never won the Kentucky Derby? Something should be done for the Shetland breed.

Soooo many things to worry about!

Why aren't dacshunds allowed in field trials...can't they associate with Labradors?

[silverfox]

http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2010/1 ... rror_lack_

[Spence]

'tis a legal term that warrants discussion.

Is it a "Private Group"? Or, since it is made up largely by publicly-funded educational institutions, a "public group"?

In essence I am referring to the constitutionally protected "freedom of association". Are football student athletes of Non-AQ Schools being discriminated upon by being denied access to the system in favor of "member" AQ schools? Is one "athlete" considered "superior" to another simply because of the rules of "association" and membership in the BCS?

Since the BCS is not an NCAA sanctioned body, I don't see the rub here. The BCS was created by the AQ schools. for those schools. It is a marketing tool to hype the " big " bowls. There is still no real national champ. It is silly to try and take all the big schools to court. What will end up happening is they will restructure who plays in that division and the small school will end up being left out entirely. If the big schools decide to take their ball and go home the smaller schools stand to lose lots more cash then they are giving up.

As badly as some of the non AQ schools are treated in this system, they are getting paid pretty well. The big schools are always gong to drive the market-so to speak. The only thing raining on that parade is going to do in the long term is hurt the schools crying foul.

The only game that even pretends not to have an agenda is the championship game. The other Bowls are there to make the host cities money. If you have ever been to a BCS game you can see how the streets are paved in gold for these games. The are money making events and they help generate the revenue that pays for all the bowl games - not just the BCS teams. Losing a game an being out of the championship picture isn't unusual. It happens to lots of teams.

[Cane from the Bend]

Yep;

If West Virginia would have won their conference, the Big East representative would be appearing in the Orange Bowl. However, the Orange Bowl Committee had a choice between UConn & Stanford. They chose the team who would likely generate the bigger rake-in.

And so, UConn will be playing in the Fiesta Bowl.



Also, Boise State knew they had to finish the season undefeated to play in one of the BCS games. So this point is moot... I do wonder, though; had Boise State finished with no losses, with a Rose Bowl bid, would this same e-mail have been sent anyway... just, with the lack of "fairness" being tagged for not being allowed to play for the National title... or has Boise State shown they are actually more $$$ sign green with envy, than Blue/Orange.

Bronco Nation wants respect & recognition.
Bronco Office wants Christmas Bonus.

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[armchairqb]

As much as teams in FBS AQ conferences have contempt for athletic programs in non-AQ conferences, they still need to schedule games against them.

$700-800K+ to play an FBS regular season money game on the road is almost never passed up by a non-AQ team. It is the only reason why some low-end FBS football squads dont revert to FCS.

[Cane from the Bend]

Again, yep.

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[Spence]

As much as teams in FBS AQ conferences have contempt for athletic programs in non-AQ conferences, they still need to schedule games against them.

$700-800K+ to play an FBS regular season money game on the road is almost never passed up by a non-AQ team. It is the only reason why some low-end FBS football squads dont revert to FCS.

I agree, but It also works the other way. The teams from the non-AQ conferences also need teams from the AQ conferences.

[donovan]

Non AQ schools are free to withdraw from the BCS. Boise's President was correct about one thing...when the college Presidents start taking charge....they are the ones that abdicated their responsibility.

[Spence]

Non AQ schools are free to withdraw from the BCS. Boise's President was correct about one thing...when the college Presidents start taking charge....they are the ones that abdicated their responsibility.

I really agree with that. It would be nice if the presidents would take the athletic programs seriously and not just as a fund raising tool.

[billybud]

There are 120 teams...

They will fall on a Bell Curve distribution is terms of "how good they are. For the most part, the non BCS make up the back part of the curve.

The problem is that there are a few, Boise, TCU, and some others that fit up on the front part of the curve ( the two mentioned, well up). But they play the back side of the curve as their primary scheduled opponents.

[donovan]

There are 120 teams...

They will fall on a Bell Curve distribution is terms of "how good they are. For the most part, the non BCS make up the back part of the curve.

The problem is that there are a few, Boise, TCU, and some others that fit up on the front part of the curve ( the two mentioned, well up). But they play the back side of the curve as their primary scheduled opponents.

The smartest kid in the third grade does not belong in the 8th grade.....I am just guessing....my third grade teacher liked me...she liked having someone her own age to talk to.

[Cane from the Bend]

The smartest kid in the third grade does not belong in the 8th grade.....I am just guessing....my third grade teacher liked me...she liked having someone her own age to talk to.

Not that this means much to the rest of you; I do find it however ironic you used the grades that you did.

My best friend from second grade skipped 3rd grade, and our friendship faded because of it.

And yet, I skipped 8th grade, spending only one year in middle school, and my friendships with all of my school friends faded, as I was no longer attending at the same academic level.

I was in three different schools, of three successive scholastic levels, in three successive years; Elementary - Middle - High. ( didn't leave me much room to transition, that's for sure )

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[Spence]

There are 120 teams...

They will fall on a Bell Curve distribution is terms of "how good they are. For the most part, the non BCS make up the back part of the curve.

The problem is that there are a few, Boise, TCU, and some others that fit up on the front part of the curve ( the two mentioned, well up). But they play the back side of the curve as their primary scheduled opponents.

The smartest kid in the third grade does not belong in the 8th grade.....I am just guessing....my third grade teacher liked me...she liked having someone her own age to talk to.

There are eight grades? I thought they ended at sixth.

[armchairqb]

This could likely be a new topic, but it still fits this thread.

In Manhattan NY, the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum was held yesterday with commissioners from the AQ conferences making it plain that the non-AQ conferences should not ask for anymore BCS opportunities that they are already getting...with a non-AQ conference commissioner sitting next to them.

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/09/jim-delany-warns-non-aq-leagues-dont-expect-more-than-youre/