In Reply to: Analyst predicts Michigan and Ohio State will leave Big Ten with 24-te posted by mh on October 19, 2026 at 12:28:47
if everybody goes independent, imagine how difficult it will be to construct a schedule.
"Are you free Friday the 13th?"
"Maybe. Depends. What are you offering?"
"Ummm...dinner and a movie?"
"Hmmmm...let me get back to you. I have LOTS of interested parties, donchano."
Tennis in the 70s had a major problem in that the highest ranked pros would duck out of tournaments at the last minute if the competition got too stiff. The stars were much more afraid of competition then than they are allowed to be now. The result is that fans got turned off because they were getting fooked by buying tickets, expecting to see X, and then X backs out last minute.
Boxing is another example. The heavyweight world champ fights once every year or two. Why? Duck a dude in his prime, negotiating tactic, etc. As a result, the sport of boxing is dead.
I could see CFB scheduling become this horrible game of musical chairs that results in a shiit slate of games that nobdy wants to watch.
In addition to the Ucla game, I usually watch some or all of another 1, 2 or 3 games each week, depending on the attractiveness of the matchup. I watched the IU/tOSU game this week, and the UF/TX game once I heard TX lost :-)
But if every game is Oregon v Portland St...I'm not wasting my time. I'll do something else.
So I think schools should be very cautious about making the move to go independent. I think a lot of alumni of trad B10 and SEC schools will react negatively to this move.