This Is the Most Important Statistic for Oklahoma State’s Athletic and Football Future

Thanks RA. So what's your crystal ball - are we in or out of the super league? I know this proposal guarantees all power 4 , so obviously we're in under that scenario. What if it gets cut to 60 teams for big time football? I think we're in - but my glasses are orange.

Looking at the TV numbers , OSU is well inside the numbers at 25th ! I'd say our Pokes are in baby !

Got to keep winning and hope this happens sooner than later to make sure the current football success wave we are riding continues. Get it done! This current mess is untenable.

There are two super leagues. The B1G & SEC. They aren't giving up any of their pie by adding 20-40 teams. Ross Dellinger had quotes from those leagues leaders and those at ESPN & FOX that hold the current rights in his article this week on the CFP negotiations that there is no super league in the works or being considered by anyone that has a say in College Football.

IF ESPN & FOX had wanted a super league all they had to do was tell OU/UT & USCLA to stay put and here's what we'll pay the Big XII & PAC 12. There's your super league, and they chose not to, and are working hard to take out the ACC to add the few teams they want to the P2.

There is nothing about the super league that makes any business sense. Will we eventually be down to 2 or 3 top leagues? Probably, but the only thing that blows the current conference structure is if Florida weighs in for FSU and bully clubs the ACC with Sovereign Immunity. That would kill GoR's with state schools for any time beyond the current season. But that end result is probably just the UT's and ND's signing extra lucrative contracts and the Indiana's and Mississippi State's wind up making a fifth of what they pay the top 10 or so teams which is what ESPN/FOX would prefer.

Although word came out of the CFP talks that all the conferences were preparing for a tiered handling of the lawsuit settlements if/when they hit. So at least the schools making the most aren't going to expect UTSA to bale them out.

OSU's TV numbers are strong. If there is any hope in getting into one of the two leagues we need to win big games and in the playoff.

If we don't want to get stuck in the SEC we need to combine all our campuses (so the Med School is considered), like NU is trying to do to get as close to AAU level as possible so the B1G might consider us.

NJAggie said:

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OSU's TV numbers are strong. If there is any hope in getting into one of the two leagues we need to win big games and in the playoff.

If we don't want to get stuck in the SEC we need to combine all our campuses (so the Med School is considered), like NU is trying to do to get as close to AAU level as possible so the B1G might consider us.

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I agree with you, I will add that I have never liked Altimore and think he is a bit of a charlatan and was somewhat exposed when the PAC 12 collapsed even though he kept saying it was leaps and bounds ahead of the ACC and Big XII even after Yormark swept in and sucked up all the remaining TV money out from under the PAC!!! It was those guys at that 365 Baylor site on YouTube who called him out first and he refused to go on their show anymore!!! LOLOL!!! Robert for some reason is under this guys SPELL!

Here's my abbreviated take.

1. The TV viewer numbers are interesting and likely directionally correct with regards to ranking, but I'm cautious to put too much stock in utilizing the numbers to determine how many teams would makeup a super league. A fan attached to a particular school will watch his/her school plus whatever game or games that just happen to be on tv at convenient times. If magically Arizona got Ohio State's time slots, networks and opponents, and Ohio State was given Arizona's time slots, networks and opponents, the viewer numbers would look a lot different for both schools. Just look at Colorados numbers. There's no way they're in the top-30 without the massive boost they got in 2023. And that boost was largely fueled by the networks forcing them down our throats - not a sustainable desire to be viewed week in week out by the public. There's also no way TCU is top-30 without their single game with tOSU 3 or 4 years ago, and their participation in the CFP last year. Bottom line, any school's viewer numbers are significantly impacted by who the networks want us to watch and when.
2. I don't know what the right number of teams (32 or 48, 64, 80, 96…) would be to populate a super league, but I do know this. Too few teams won't generate enough national interest to support SEC/B1G kinda money in total. Too many teams won't generate SEC/B1G money for every team.
3. If you're looking for a qualitative measuring stick to simply illustrate the tremendously complex math problem college football faces, just ask yourself this question: Will I be a consumer of a new super league if OSU does NOT make the final cut? I know I won't. Now, how am I accounted for by the people making these decisions?

Robert Allen said:

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Talking to leaders in the OSU athletic department and also in the President's office the feeling is Oklahoma State is in. This number is the main reason, but also the football program's ability to be competitive with top 25 teams and put on a good show that draws viewers to the games. Oklahoma State was competitive in every game played last season but two. Those, South Alabama and UCF were against teams that aren't considered top 25 material. Oklahoma State was competitive in all others except the Big 12 Championship. That wasn't just awful. Texas got off to a good start but Oklahoma State still competed.

Viewers and wins added up will get you in the Super League and currently Oklahoma State has the resume' that will. They need to keep it there until the decisions get made and executed.

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Robert I think that's pretty evident, we are defiantly a top 25 athletic department. And, staying there is the key.

I here a lot of moaning about the money gap, but money isn't in and of itself a key. We've competed with schools with twice or more the resources we have, and I don't see it stopping us in the future. But we have no room to sleep in any of our sports.

I'm hopeful that the new league lineup will get us more prime network slots. FOX is going to be looking to the Big XII for most of their 2nd slot going forward. And if OSU starts getting that then our numbers will go up.

I also think Brett Yormark is going to be the leader that keeps the Big XII in the pack. And, I'd bet he's got somethings in the works that will benefit all the Big XII schools. But the most important thing is going to be winning playoff games, particularly the champ, but also any at large schools need to win at least one each year. That keeps the Greedy 2 from spreading their propaganda.

Personally, I scoffed at this proposal (of 10 conferences, etc.) as pie-in-the-sky ramblings by some drunk on the back of a napkin when it came out weeks ago, and I still hold that position. Nonsense. Just nonsense, IMHO. They/them could never ever figure out a way to break the existing conferences into 10 conferences geographically, politically, monetarily or otherwise.

I still believe that the proposal suggested by the NCAA prez about a super-subdivision of "money" teams is the eventual outcome. Each team pays every athlete at the school a minimum of $30,000/yr, and there are currently only about 20-30 teams that could afford that initial ante. The "other" teams would need to form some other type of secondary market and playoff.

A$M just yesterday fired most of their athletic departments executive staff to "prepare" for the eventual change to the collegiate football business model of paying players.

RodeoPoke said:

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Personally, I scoffed at this proposal (of 10 conferences, etc.) as pie-in-the-sky ramblings by some drunk on the back of a napkin when it came out weeks ago, and I still hold that position. Nonsense. Just nonsense, IMHO. They/them could never ever figure out a way to break the existing conferences into 10 conferences geographically, politically, monetarily or otherwise.

I still believe that the proposal suggested by the NCAA prez about a super-subdivision of "money" teams is the eventual outcome. Each team pays every athlete at the school a minimum of $30,000/yr, and there are currently only about 20-30 teams that could afford that initial ante. The "other" teams would need to form some other type of secondary market and playoff.

A$M just yesterday fired most of their athletic departments executive staff to "prepare" for the eventual change to the collegiate football business model of paying players.

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Yeah all the we'll get everyone to pool everything and make it nice for everyone crowd are non-starters.

Nothing gets done that messes up the B1G & SEC conditions and advantage. They have the contracts and the media partners.

The super league guys have power point presentations.

And with Altimore i's all about saving Cal.

The NFL is doing just fine with a 32-team league, but they are spread around the country which creates regional interest and rivalries. The BIG picking up west coast schools is ominous - could they have been looking this far down the road to a super conference with teams from across the country?

We are down to big money final elimination, which could mean a few of the bottom feeders of both the BIG and SEC don't make the cut. If they cut the fat, the remaining teams would gain share per team. It's all about $.

Pistolp said:

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The NFL is doing just fine with a 32-team league, but they are spread around the country which creates regional interest and rivalries. The BIG picking up west coast schools is ominous - could they have been looking this far down the road to a super conference with teams from across the country?

We are down to big money final elimination, which could mean a few of the bottom feeders of both the BIG and SEC don't make the cut. If they cut the fat, the remaining teams would gain share per team. It's all about $.

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If OSU was excluded from a 32-team league, would you watch and support a super league?

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Pistolp said:

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The NFL is doing just fine with a 32-team league, but they are spread around the country which creates regional interest and rivalries. The BIG picking up west coast schools is ominous - could they have been looking this far down the road to a super conference with teams from across the country?

We are down to big money final elimination, which could mean a few of the bottom feeders of both the BIG and SEC don't make the cut. If they cut the fat, the remaining teams would gain share per team. It's all about $.

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GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

If OSU was excluded from a 32-team league, would you watch and support a super league?

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I really don't watch much college football other than OSU. I'll watch other Big XII games or MAC, SBC, or MWC games on days I'm not busy. I never watch SEC, B1G, or ACC games they are boring. As for the CFP I watched some of the two games TCU was in. I do watch some of the smaller bowls if I happen to decide to watch TV in December. So no a super league without OSU would get no viewership from me.

The NFL (another league I don't watch) is also set in major markets only and the broadcast method is set up to maximize people watching.

ESPN/FOX want to pay the fewest number of schools possible big money. The G2 (for Greedy) don't want to kick out their tackling dummy schools so I'd say only about 6-10 schools will eventually be added to them.

Those schools seem most likely to start with are FSU, Miami, to B1G, and Clemson, UNC, to SEC, then ND to the B1G if they can't find a way to avoid it. Stanford has a shot as ND might pull them along like they forced the ACC to take them and Cal. After that its a scramble with NCState, VT, possibly UVA (they may or may not have any interest they really don't care about sports). So OSU, TCU, & WVU would be in that pool to be considered. Not sure any of the three make it, but they'll be considered.

I think OSU's best bet is to help build the Big XII and see it ascend than look to the G2 for a life line.

There may be enough money left to fund the Big XII at about half of what they get, but TV money is going to be getting tighter. It's really hard to see some major transformation and influx of money that would fuel any of these concepts people outside cfb are floating. The streaming services are wanting bargains, they aren't coming to the table with big money. Streaming will be dominant when the networks and ESPN are simply streaming services.

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Pistolp said:

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The NFL is doing just fine with a 32-team league, but they are spread around the country which creates regional interest and rivalries. The BIG picking up west coast schools is ominous - could they have been looking this far down the road to a super conference with teams from across the country?

We are down to big money final elimination, which could mean a few of the bottom feeders of both the BIG and SEC don't make the cut. If they cut the fat, the remaining teams would gain share per team. It's all about $.

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GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

If OSU was excluded from a 32-team league, would you watch and support a super league?

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I would not, but then, I don't really watch the B1G or SEC now, nor the playoff.

There are usually enough B12 games on to fill my TV watching day, or maybe I'll tune in a Service Academy game, and occasionally some local team