ESPN/SEC Television deals (unbalanced reporting)

Looking at the new SEC television deal with ESPN, I place my bet now that we are going to be force fed one season long tirade on how great SEC football is. The banter has already started with ESPN analysts crowing about how 3 out of the last 4 national championships have gone to SEC schools. The problem is neither ESPN nor college football for that matter will admit how much the constant pro SEC chatter on the network has affected the rankings that determine who gets a chance to play in the BCS games. Any school or conference not completely under the ESPN/SEC system is sure to find itself on the outside looking in come bowl time.

Case in point,

Truth of the matter is ESPN has a lot ($3 billion to be exact) riding on the success or apparent success of SEC football and they are willing to do anything to create the illusion that the best football outside of the NFL is played in the SEC. Never if this greatness is achieved by scheduling Charleston Southern and Troy State as the University of Florida has done to start the year, or Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana Tech as LSU has done, or Florida International, North Texas State and Chattanooga as is the case in Alabama. According to the ESPN/CBS/SEC deal, this is the best football in the country. Really?

This same network will spend the entire season telling us that the PAC-10 and BIG 10 conferences don't match up even in the face of a USC team with the greatest collection of talent in the nation and a won loss record that doesn't contain a loss in the Pete Carroll era. So why not schedule a home and home. USC vs. Georgia, or USC vs. Florida, Alabama, LSU or one of the other over hyped SEC schools. The most likely reason is for this to happen it would have to come early during the season and USC has a habit of dismantling early season opponents especially of the SEC variety. Case in point, the Trojans outscored Auburn and Arkansas 167-38 in a home and home that ruined both teams highly anticipated seasons. Remember this was an Auburn team with Cadillac Williams and an Arkansas team with Mitch Mustain, Damian Williams, Felix Jones and Darren McFadden.

So for ESPN to see college footballs version of Lebron James,"the untested (HGH) likeable personality of over-hyped ability," exposed in a nationwide primetime matchup would be disaster. ESPN's credibility would take a hit with the group it cares most about. The cable companies. They've convinced alot of folks that they can make a success of this college football deal even if it means undermining the credibility of the sport with the fans. That is why USC's senior associate athletic director Steve Lopes can say with all honesty that they have been in talks with "alot, if not all of the SEC schools about playing in the future," but the answer has always been no thanks. The soonest the SEC/ESPN is willing to say they would be willing to meet USC headup is 2015. So until then, we just have to get used to ESPN sweeping Alabama's recruiting scandals under rug and continue to hear praises sung to athletes who get themselves dismissed from their team before the biggest game of the year only to show up at the scouting combine a bloated mass of jelly.

Surely the dominance of the Trojans on draft day means nothing in terms of football quality. But who knows maybe by 2015 after we've all be subjected to a half decade of 70 to 3 victories over the Florida Internationals, North Texas States and Chattanoogas, we to will believe the (E)-(SEC)(P)(N) brand is the superior version of network televised football or perhaps the SEC will find out as is the case with Notre Dame, that exposure doesn't always translate into success.