Sun Belt teams are better than they used to be. Upsets last weekend. Three near upsets this weekend.
What happened?
The last 5 years, the price of "buy games" has skyrocketed.
It was 6-7 years or so ago that we were going to pay Jacksonville State $500,000 to play in Starkville and they canceled on us for a higher bid. We got Gardner Webb instead.
I have heard of BCS schools paying Sun Belt type schools $750,000 to $1.5M to play a game on the BCS school's campus.
Some schools like MSU manage that expense by setting up cheaper home & home deals.
Regardless, Sun Belt schools of the world are swimming in money the likes of which they've not seen before. And its been going on for years. Pretty much what you are seeing is a trickle down effect from all the money that ESPN is throwing at the SEC and other conferences.
What are these little schools doing with all this money? I'll tell ya.
U La La is paying Nute Hudsbeth $750,000, a modest sum which they surely make back in a trip to Oklahoma State or Florida.
So clearly, the little schools are hiring better coaches. Instead of paying small salaries to Coach34's of the world, they are pulling quality assistants from BCS schools.
You can bet they are upgrading facilities and all that stuff too.
I have heard that Arkansas State has it in their sites to become the next Boise State. Good idea to make themselves relevant before conferencegeddon breaks college football apart into 4 tectonic plates.
What happened?
The last 5 years, the price of "buy games" has skyrocketed.
It was 6-7 years or so ago that we were going to pay Jacksonville State $500,000 to play in Starkville and they canceled on us for a higher bid. We got Gardner Webb instead.
I have heard of BCS schools paying Sun Belt type schools $750,000 to $1.5M to play a game on the BCS school's campus.
Some schools like MSU manage that expense by setting up cheaper home & home deals.
Regardless, Sun Belt schools of the world are swimming in money the likes of which they've not seen before. And its been going on for years. Pretty much what you are seeing is a trickle down effect from all the money that ESPN is throwing at the SEC and other conferences.
What are these little schools doing with all this money? I'll tell ya.
U La La is paying Nute Hudsbeth $750,000, a modest sum which they surely make back in a trip to Oklahoma State or Florida.
So clearly, the little schools are hiring better coaches. Instead of paying small salaries to Coach34's of the world, they are pulling quality assistants from BCS schools.
You can bet they are upgrading facilities and all that stuff too.
I have heard that Arkansas State has it in their sites to become the next Boise State. Good idea to make themselves relevant before conferencegeddon breaks college football apart into 4 tectonic plates.
