Mark Cuban exploring BCS alternative

[suh_fan93]

Updated: December 15, 2010, 9:49 PM ET

 

Mark Cuban exploring BCS alternative

By Tim MacMahon

ESPNDallas.com

 

 

DALLAS -- After two failed bids to buy a Major League Baseball team, billionaire Mark Cuban is seriously considering trying to use his money to create a playoff alternative to college football's Bowl Championship Series.

 

Cuban, the outspoken owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, told ESPNDallas.com on Thursday that he is "actively interested but in the exploratory stage" of creating and funding a playoff system to crown a champion for major college football.

 

"The more I think about it, the more sense it makes as opposed to buying a baseball team," said Cuban, who tried to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers within the last few years. "You can do something the whole country wants done."

 

Cuban said he has talked to two athletic directors from BCS conferences who were extremely enthusiastic about the idea. He intends to contact several school presidents and state senators in the coming weeks to determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.

 

Cuban said he envisions either a 12- or 16-team playoff field with the higher seeds getting homefield advantage. The homefield advantage, Cuban said, would ensure the college football regular-season games would not lose any importance.

 

The bowl games could still exist under Cuban's plan, but he said he would make it more profitable for programs to make the playoffs than a bowl.

 

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban said. "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.' "

 

One way to push school presidents toward approving the idea would be to lobby major donors of college athletic programs, Cuban said. He suggested convincing the donors to cut off their donations until their presidents approved a playoff system.

 

Cuban, who is reading the book "Death to the BCS," said he thinks it would take about three or four years of planning before enacting the playoff system. He believes it's a better business opportunity than owning a baseball team, and he admits he's intrigued by the idea of revolutionizing a major sport.

 

"It's an inefficient business where there's obviously a better way of doing it," Cuban said. "The only thing that's kept them from doing it is a lack of capital, which I can deal with.

 

"The one thing every college football fan wants you can probably create for less than it takes to buy a baseball team."

 

Tim MacMahon covers the Mavericks for ESPNDallas.com. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his mailbag.

[mmmtodd]

why is the first thing i thought of was the Garth Brooks rumor that he was going to pay to have Nebraska and, geez i cant quite remember, was it the Michigan year??? meet for a national title game?

 

does anyone else remember hearing this rumor back in the day?

[kansas husker]

Dont remember the Garth rumor, but Im interested to see if this Cuban things pan out

[irafreak]

What a tool. Too much money for his own good. The wealthy BCS won't be pushed around by some guy with some money.

[suh_fan93]

What a tool. Too much money for his own good. The wealthy BCS won't be pushed around by some guy with some money.

Mark Cuban > the BCS

[Landlord]

What a tool. Too much money for his own good. The wealthy BCS won't be pushed around by some guy with some money.

 

 

What's wrong with Mark Cuban? He has his shortcomings like anyone else, but I think the world would be in a much brighter place if all the billionaires on the planet had the same mindset he did.

[corncraze]

As long as there is a true playoff, I don't care who gets it done!

[Lil' Red]

Great idea by Cuban and I hope that he succeeds.

[Ratt Mhule]

I love Mark Cuban. Probably bc the Mavs are my favorite NBA team, but that would be sweet if he does this!

[chamrocck]

Please kill anything more than 8 teams as that could be an additional 3 weeks of playoffs right there. There is a major reason I watch college football intently and watch games from start to finish while I only watch the NFL casually with little interest and flick through channels unless it is close under 5 minutes. In college football, EVERY SINGLE GAME matters. In the NFL, I can care less about a week 12 match-up of the top teams...it doesn't mean anything. Watch the NFL for the playoffs only...the regular season is for gamblers and fantasy leagues and I could frankly care less about both those things.

[VA Husker Fan]

I don't buy that argument that it makes the regular season meaningless one bit. In the NFL, nearly 30% of the teams make the playoffs. That's why some of the games become meaningless for even the top teams. In an NCAA playoff, it would be about 10%, so you're still at risk of missing the playoffs unless you're unbeaten and playing your final game. Plus, if competing for the championship is your reason for watching it, about 90% of the teams were out of that picture by November. Teams not making the playoffs could still be in bowls, so nothing changes there.

[Blaze1up]

This happens all the time.

 

On January 9th, 2003, Ted Waitt, CEO of Gateway Computers offered the NCAA $31 million for a national championship game between USC and Louisiana State. The NCAA did not consider the offer, leaving the year without an unarguable national champion.

[husker_hurdler]

never gonna happen! At least through Mark Cuban that is.

[mmmtodd]

I don't buy that argument that it makes the regular season meaningless one bit. In the NFL, nearly 30% of the teams make the playoffs. That's why some of the games become meaningless for even the top teams. In an NCAA playoff, it would be about 10%, so you're still at risk of missing the playoffs unless you're unbeaten and playing your final game. Plus, if competing for the championship is your reason for watching it, about 90% of the teams were out of that picture by November. Teams not making the playoffs could still be in bowls, so nothing changes there.

 

 

this, times a thousand

 

theres 32 NFL teams. 70 teams make the current NCAA 'postseason', and its sh#t. ill give you a dollar if you can name the teams that played today off the top of your head...i cant, but I know teams left out of the BCS that would wreck most of the field that made it no problem. this is exciting to watch? please. and VA, id say its more like the 3rd week of september that 90% of the teams are out of the current process.