The Ugly Economics of College Football Exposed - Savannah State To Be Slaughtered by Oklahoma State and Florida State for the Money

And So OSU and FSU Can Get Easy Wins

Despite all the TV money and all the fan money and all the other money, one awful aspect of college football is that except for the large national programs, almost all the other schools lose a ton of money fielding a team.  This has, of course, contributed to the rising cost of higher education as student fees and other revenue sources must be raised to make up the shortfall.

Another ugly fact of college football is that a team must play in a bowl game to be considered to be successful and the save the job of the coaches.  In order to play in a bowl game the team cannot have a losing record (yes there are exceptions) so in order to insure a winning record many teams schedule a couple of cupcake opponents just to put a couple of sure wins in the bank.

These two rather nasty characteristics of college football come together early in the season when Savannah State plays games against college football powerhouses Oklahoma State and Florida State.

it opens this season with two games that are expected to produce resounding defeats: at No. 19 Oklahoma Stateon Saturday and at No. 7 Florida State the next week.

As to the why of this, one can apply the universal answer, “For the Money”.

For the Tigers, these are hunger games.

Payments from Oklahoma State and Florida State will total $860,000, which represents about 17 percent of the Tigers’ modest athletic budget.

And notice the total lack of generosity on the part of Oklahoma State and Florida State.  The payment are just a small fraction of what the schools will make from the games which are guaranteed wins to put them on the road to a high national ranking and a sure bowl game appearance.

No This is Not a High School Football Stadium
It is Where Savannah State Plays Its Home Games

As for Savannah State, well their football history is not filled with glory.

“They don’t call them money games for nothing,” said Coach Steve Davenport, who supported the scheduling decision by Athletic Director Sterling Steward.

Despite his team’s struggles, Davenport, in his second year, remains at least outwardly confident. In the annual poll of coaches and sports information directors of the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, his first-place vote went to the Tigers. That was even though they are coming off a 1-10 season that included losses by scores of 63-6, 41-6, 47-7, 45-3 and 59-3, in addition to a defeat at the hands of a team that had lost 29 conference games in a row. Most other voters listed Savannah State no higher than 10th.

It would be nice if the school suddenly woke up and realized its mission was education.

Update:  Oklahoma State won 84 to 0. No fatalities were recorded.