As far as SC making the NCAA money, I have no inside information. However, I can try and guess why SC is worth so much to the NCAA by cobbling together whatever I have learned from years of procrastinating and surfing the internet.

Once again, let me note that I am no expert. I have no inside knowledge, I have never worked in television, marketing, or advertising. I have never taken any practical classes as a part of my education: I majored in Classics in college and then went to law school. Everything here is merely conjecture and uninformed, poorly reasoned opinion based on my dislike for all things NCAA and SC. My only claim to knowledge is that I have read too much sports news and opinion on the internet for the last 9 years while I was supposed to be working.

There are plenty of celebrities and other high profile SC fans (Will Farrell, Snoop Dog, Jessica Simpson’s Ex Husband whose name I can’t remember since he really isn’t famous anymore, any celebrity with a movie coming out during football season see celebrities at Laker games). When people see their favorite celebrity wearing SC gear, they tend to buy it for themselves in the belief that an SC jersey makes them look cool. This would explain why you find SC jerseys in sporting goods stores around the country and not just in LA.

On top of making a ton of money on Bush and Leinart jerseys around the country (I still see more Bush jerseys than I do Tebow jerseys), there are also the bandwagon fans. SC fans are the biggest bandwagon fans ever. They show up in droves when SC wins, but disappear completely when things are not going so well. In 1999, buying a ticket to a game at the coliseum was very easy – walk up on game day, buy a ticket, sit on the 50 yard line. Plenty of SC “fans” could not even name the coach, or one player. But as soon as SC won something, all those people suddenly became diehard, lifelong fans who scoffed at and complained about the millions of new bandwagon fans. When the “school” cheats its way to a good season, the “fans” start showing up and spending money to be a part of the herd.

The final factor is ESPN. ESPN drives college football ratings and, for some reason, loves SC. Remember, at one point they talked about how a 2nd place SC team was one of the 10 best college football teams of all time. ESPN also forgets that the west coast exists, try watching Sportscenter or Baseball tonight for an Angel highlight during baseball season, it will make you more frustrated than trying to find UCLA basketball highlights on a Thursday night when the ACC, Big 10, and Big East don’t have any games scheduled. Broadcasting SC games is their way of acknowledging the PAC 10 and the rest of the west coast. Naturally, we suckers out here, desperate for decent coverage of our conference after watching FSN broadcasts, watch every minute. If SC is ranked and the game is a good one with plenty of celebrities on the sidelines, ESPN wins. If the game is not that great, ESPN still wins since the West Coast will still watch and the East Coast has nothing better to watch on TV at 11:00.

When ESPN can get bigger national ratings by taking west coast eyeballs away from FSN, they can get more advertising revenue. More advertising revenue translates into more money for the NCAA. Put that together with the bandwagon fans and a national market for SC merchandise (because people always want to look like their favorite celebrity), and you have the mafia the NCAA pretending to want to fix the problem in the south central.

Although another school might easily step in to fill SC’s role and prevent the NCAA from losing any money, what if they don’t? The NCAA just doesn’t want to take that risk. Their attitude regarding any form of change makes your castrati reference seem even more fitting. We don’t have a college football playoff for this same reason. Advocates of the idea claim that it will increase fan interest in the sport, raise television and merchandising revenue, and increase the overall appeal of the sport, but the NCAA wants nothing of it. They have something that works right now and there is a possibility that decreased fan frustration with the BCS might lead to lower attendance and TV ratings, why risk it?

Now after torturing anyone with the patience to read all of that, I will finally stop and hope someone with more knowledge and insight says something smart.