ESPN Bias

The NCAA was formed in the early part of the 20th century with the help of the most bad-ass president to ever live, Teddy Roosevelt.  Basically, Teddy wanted to reform college football practices due to the high number of injuries and deaths, so he ushered in the NCAA.  Today, the NCAA is responsible for awarding championships in every collegiate sport (except it does not officially recognize a champion in Division 1-A football), monitors wrongdoings, and punishes wrongdoers.  Their biggest responsibility is to make college football recruiting equal for all programs by limiting scholarships and making rules for recruiting practices such as limit in-home visits from coaches and disallowing paying players.  For a long time, they did a decent job of giving all schools equal footing when it came to recruiting (other than the obvious unequal recruiting tools like prestige, history, and facilities).  Today, the NCAA is not only failing to do that job, they have lost their grasp on college football altogether.

ESPN is now the largest and most influential sports network in America and when it comes to college football coverage, they are the king.  In 2008, ESPN signed the SEC to a 15-year/$2 billion contract which allows ESPN to broadcast SEC games on their network.  Because of this contract, ESPN has basically become the SEC's biggest promoter, so much so that on gamedays they show SEC highlights first on any of their halftime shows or on Sportscenter even if the match-up was terrible.  But that pales in comparison to what ESPN did to the BCS National Championship Game.  Going into the final weekend of the season, Alabama and Oklahoma State were fairly close in the standings for the chance to play LSU in the NC game.  However, after the completion of the SEC Championship Game, ESPN talking-heads brainwashed America into picking Alabama over Oklahoma State by saying and showing headlines like "Alabama projected to play re-match against LSU" and "Bama/LSU National Championship Game inevitably" and "Kirk Herbstreit is dreamy" and "It looks like Alabama will get their chance to revenge only loss of the season against LSU in championship game".  Not once did a single ESPN employee even utter the words "Oklahoma State".  Not once.  Due to their influence and their contract with the SEC, they made sure that it was going to be an all-SEC championship.  The only good news that came out of ESPN fixing the championship game was that it had the worst ratings of any BCS championship to date.

What does this have to do with the failings of the NCAA?  Well, ESPN has given the SEC a recruiting tool that can't be said by any other conference.  They have guaranteed that the SEC will play their games in prime-time on every gameday on the biggest sports network in America, games that will be seen by every potential recruit.  They have given the SEC unlimited coverage and hype that they do not give to other conferences (besides a select few other elite programs), coverage which potential prospects will watch while making their decisions on which school to choose.  ESPN's influence and power have literally given the SEC an unequal recruiting tool, you know the sort of thing that the NCAA is supposed to monitor.  For example, next year's consensus #1 recruit is a kid out of Atlanta and he has listed his Top 5 college choices as Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Clemson.  Four SEC schools and one ACC school and that ACC school is one of his choices because it is close to home (and super awesome, Go Tigers!).  Sure, you can say that all conferences are allowed to sign a TV deal with any network they want, but when that deal gives them an unfair advantage over the rest of the conferences, the NCAA should step up and level the playing field.  So tell me exactly what it is the NCAA does do?  Obviously it is not the job they set out to do.

"The only thing ESPN produces that I agree with."

Granted, the BCS is supposed to match up the two best teams in college football for their championship and LSU and Alabama probably were the two best teams last season, but they had already played and one team lost and since there is not a playoff, Alabama should have already been eliminated from the conversation, but b/c the BCS is retarded, we don't have a playoff even though the BCS claims the regular season is the playoff and yet they still let Alabama in the championship, which proves they are not only idiots but hypocritical.  (P.S.  As you can tell, I am not a fan of a team in the SEC, but I personally have nothing against the conference, I just can't stand ESPN and loath the BCS.  Just thought I should clarify.)