That's another good point. I have no interest whatsoever in donating to a collective for UK to win games with players who are basically rented year to year, not that I have enough to make any impact anyway. I would rather spend that money elsewhere.
CBB is a dying sport
- Thread starter HagginHall1999
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That's another good point. I have no interest whatsoever in donating to a collective for UK to win games with players who are basically rented year to year, not that I have enough to make any impact anyway. I would rather spend that money elsewhere.
These past few years have been difficult to watch. UK’s recent struggles and the introduction of the no holds barred version of the transfer portal/NIL that has destroyed the concepts of loyalty, commitment, and development at the college level have sapped my enthusiasm for the game as a whole. I still keep up because I want to see UK succeed and college basketball was one of the earliest sports I started watching but admittedly it is getting harder and harder to watch.
It's been dead for several years for me. Sloppy play, poor shooting, and horrific officiating have turned most games into rock fights. I couldn't tell you the last complete game I watched that didn't involve UK or ETSU. If not for the emotional connections to them, I doubt I'd watch anything except the low & mid-majors during championship week, and the first two days of the NCAAT.
Step #1 is to stop selling UK as a OAD school. CCC has painted himself into a corner, he's not capable of reversing course now. The only way this gets fixed is with the next coach or the coach after that. Just make sure when you hire them that their priorities are in order. WINNING FOR UK IS #1! Make sure they understand that this is what the paychecks are for. ALL OTHER GOALS ARE SECONDARY. That'd be a good start!
You think UK athletics is funded by the state? Most Athletic departments are pretty far removed financially. Most state schools get less and less from tax payers. That’s one reason research/tuition drives a lot of universities academic budgets anymore. Look at Arkansas. They have a very robust and healthy athletic department while being a very poor state. Maybe I’m missing something.
The way the system is set up now...
The coaches get rich, the universities get rich, a lot of the players get rich and the fans get to pay for most of these people to get rich.
Regular season basketball ratings don't even outdraw reruns of Empty Nest. And regular season MAC football outdraws SEC Conference tournament. March Madness still does great though.
3 of last 4 title title games are lowest rated ever.
5 million more people watched Kansas v Memphis in 2008
The entire sport at most every level is becoming unwatchable. That's what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum.
More people watched UConn SDSU than any Warriors Celtics finals game last year. And a lot more people watch Kansas UNC the year before
Regular season CBB is on par with any non-football sport’s regular season, including the NBA. UConn-SDSU had more people watch than any Warriors-Celtics finals game from last year.
Football, both college and NFL, are in another stratosphere than all other sports.
We are still in the Wild West phase of the new era. In about three years things will settle into a more predictable pattern once the covid classes are out of the system. Plus NIL will likely have stabilized in some way. Obviously its going to be different going forward and will simply come down to, "Adapt or Die".
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College basketball could kill it if they had 2 or 3 divisions of 32 teams in each. Play a 40 game regular season and have a college basketball playoff system with best of 3 or 5 series. Pay the players directly more than g league. Teams can move up and down divisions based on performance.
Kentucky
Ucla
Duke
UNCheat (won’t have to chest again)
KU
Nova
UCOnn
IU
Florida
Texas
I could go on. The teams would have to represent a viable market. And some would have to upgrade facilities to have room for enough fans to profit.
Kentucky
Ucla
Duke
UNCheat (won’t have to chest again)
KU
Nova
UCOnn
IU
Florida
Texas
I could go on. The teams would have to represent a viable market. And some would have to upgrade facilities to have room for enough fans to profit.
Constant yearly turnover and money involved makes it feel like the NBA now. It’s harder to care about. I’m to the point that I’ll likely just watch the big games and the tournament (if we even make it lol)
So it’s just as popular as any sport that isn’t the NFL or CFB, just like it has been for decades. Not dying, everything is fine with the sport.
Cal has just done a terrible job adapting so it feels like our program is dying.
I watched entire Nuggets-Heat Game last night and loved it. Jokic is a freak. Dominated the game and didn't even have to score much. Murry played great. The arena was wild with fans going crazy. Miami just never could get it close enough to put any game pressure in the 4th. If they shoot better games will be very competitive. Bam played great. Hustle plays with diving on the floor for loose balls from both teams. Haters gonna hate. Love NBA basketball.
It seems as if we are getting into a habit of making significant changes by whipping everyone into a frenzy to make the change and not thinking things through with proper due diligence.
NIL/Portal is a great example of this in college athletics. It's kind of the Covid response to college athletes demands.
NIL/Portal is a great example of this in college athletics. It's kind of the Covid response to college athletes demands.
I agree Cal is doing a terrible job of adapting. However, Cal cannot fix the issues that are at the heart of the problem...my OP outlines my feelings on the sport and those won't change unless CBB reels in some of the challenges.
Right now is essentially a one year contract for every player. They have zero repercussion for transferring. Larger states with more and/or richer alumni can control NIL. Gambling on the sport will open up more issues with zero oversight that is at play now.
JMHO. I think the fact that ratings are slipping point to the exact issue.
the combination of anytime transfer, g league, and the nil college basketball is becoming unwatchable during the regular season. They better get a handle on things soon.
Well it’s not a 1 year contract, you only get to transfer once for free. We have a lot more grad transfers currently (who also get to transfer for free) because they’re all still riding their extra Covid year of eligibility. Transfers will settle down a lot in a season or two when the Covid year is gone.
And it is not a fact that the ratings are slipping. The title game was down relative to other title games because it was UConn and SDSU. But, as I said, still pretty good compared to other sports’ championships. And lo and behold, there was record-setting viewership for the opening weekend this year.
March Madness: Record ratings prove NCAA scare tactics about NIL were all a show
The NCAA predicted doom and gloom if college athletes were ever paid. Well, they're getting paid, and the NCAA tournament is putting up record numbers.
sports.yahoo.com
And the women’s tourney also set all kinds of viewership records, they still have transfers and players getting paid just like the men.
Glad you posted this. Tried of the same old posters proclaiming that CBB and the NBA are unwatchable. I watch more BBall now than ever mainly because I am older and have more channels and more time to watch. The players are better, more athletic, and more dynamic than ever. I think some of you would rather watch crusty old white guys shoot set shots the entire game as long as they proclaim their undying love for UK after the game. Not me, I want to see the best players play the game at the highest level possible and that is the reason that ratings are higher. I think most normal fans that are not message board jukies feel as I do. They don't want to live in the past.Well it’s not a 1 year contract, you only get to transfer once for free. We have a lot more grad transfers currently (who also get to transfer for free) because they’re all still riding their extra Covid year of eligibility. Transfers will settle down a lot in a season or two when the Covid year is gone.
And it is not a fact that the ratings are slipping. The title game was down relative to other title games because it was UConn and SDSU. But, as I said, still pretty good compared to other sports’ championships. And lo and behold, there was record-setting viewership for the opening weekend this year.
March Madness: Record ratings prove NCAA scare tactics about NIL were all a show
The NCAA predicted doom and gloom if college athletes were ever paid. Well, they're getting paid, and the NCAA tournament is putting up record numbers.
And the women’s tourney also set all kinds of viewership records, they still have transfers and players getting paid just like the men.
@shockey4064
Fwiw, I'm not an old man and I am the OP. If you cannot see that CBB is a mess I don't know what to tell you.
1. CBB still has a waiver process which can be taken advantage of and was happening pre-covid for transfers. There are guys who are playing at 4 different schools in 4 years.
2. It is a bidding war for NIL which is absolute insanity. That is why there are collective bargaining agreements and salary caps in professional sports.
3. Officiating is a disgrace in CBB.
4. There is no control whatsoever. In a sport that used to be monitored and (some) teams punished for the past 10-15 years the NCAA has turned a blind eye to anything and everything.
I won't debate about the NBA. I don't watch it that often. I can tell you MLS pulls larger crowds than the NBA (I know arenas are slightly larger)....that should tell you all you need to know about the sport- in America.
Facts are facts regarding ratings. I think we were both correct to an extent.
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Yeah, I have never bought the CBB is dying narrative. Rating say the exact opposite.Well it’s not a 1 year contract, you only get to transfer once for free. We have a lot more grad transfers currently (who also get to transfer for free) because they’re all still riding their extra Covid year of eligibility. Transfers will settle down a lot in a season or two when the Covid year is gone.
And it is not a fact that the ratings are slipping. The title game was down relative to other title games because it was UConn and SDSU. But, as I said, still pretty good compared to other sports’ championships. And lo and behold, there was record-setting viewership for the opening weekend this year.
March Madness: Record ratings prove NCAA scare tactics about NIL were all a show
The NCAA predicted doom and gloom if college athletes were ever paid. Well, they're getting paid, and the NCAA tournament is putting up record numbers.
And the women’s tourney also set all kinds of viewership records, they still have transfers and players getting paid just like the men.
It is typical almost every year for the NCAA Tournament to have better ratings than the NBA playoffs, and for the Final Four/Championship game to have better ratings than the NBA Finals.
Heck UConn and SDSU had poor ratings comparatively to recent title games (because of lack of star power/name brands/blue bloods) and still pulled in 15M viewers, far exceeding the NBA Finals.
last year the championship game vs 20 years ago the viewership is basically the same. 18.1M vs 18.5M
This year was 14.6M. So no, not way less. CBB is doing just fine.
College basketball is more popular than ever. Calling it a dying sport is hilarious.
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