As is expected, non-BCS schools do not pull in as much revenue as BCS schools do. Recent statistics from The Orlando Sentinel. TCU brought in the most revenue out of a non-BCS school in 2008 with a little over $43 million. That is about $80 million less then Texas who ranked number one with $120 million.
What is even more of a eye-opening statistic is that Louisiana-Monroe, out of the Sun Belt Conference, earned close to $8 million in revenue. The difference in the amount of revenue between Texas and Louisiana-Monroe is absurd.
I know people may make the case that lower revenue teams are still competitive with higher revenue teams, which is true, but it is still lopsided. Up until the 57th spot, it is all BCS teams who generate the most revenue.
The majority of teams that make bowl games, put up the best numbers and make the BCS are from the six major conferences, and although we get some mid-major teams here and there, it is not an overwhelming or equal amount to the six major conferences.
I know that there is some revenue sharing system that goes on in college football, but maybe it should be reconsidered. Most of it takes place within the conference, and the Big 12 doesn’t even share their revenue equally among members.
This obviously, has some effect on the BCS and the selection process of how teams/conferences get invitations into certain bowls. Maybe it is time to start equaling the playing field financially, so even the little guys get some of the perks of teams that bring in the big bucks!