The Math, Money, and Scheduling Mayhem Behind College Football's 12th Game

August is the cruelest month for football fans. Heat, humidity and sweat sweep over the dead land in two-a-days, catching us between memory and desire, mingling historical ghosts and anticipatory future greatness with the specters of past failed expectations lingering over our shoulders.

We can begin to see the sprouts that summer rain, perspiration and summer workouts and conditioning programs bring to our favorite teams.We are less than two weeks away. We are all delusional in anticipation—without the brakes of retrospection.

The 12th Game

So, for now, let’s look back on how the college football landscape has changed over three years with the introduction of the 12th game.

Opposition to the 12th game included some heavy hitters—the football coaches (the AFCA), the ACC, the Knight Foundation and the Coalition of Intercollegiate Athletics, which represents 47 FBS schools. FCS schools (D-IAA at the time) rejected the proposal. The D-1 Board passed the proposal 8-2.

“An overwhelming majority (of coaches) are against this, and their rationale is the student-athlete,” Grant Teaff, executive director of the AFCA said in 2005. “But we’re realists. Even though we came out and said we’re against it, we knew it was a financial issue for institutions.”

Unbalanced Schedules

This year, of 66 BCS schools (the 65 conference schools and Notre Dame), only 15 (23% or less than one in four) will play a 6-6 schedule balanced between home and away games. The other 77% (51 teams) have utilized the 12th game to increase home games and/or include big payday neutral site games.

• Seven schools will have 8-4 schedules (Michigan, Penn State, Tennessee, Auburn, North Carolina State, Oklahoma State, and Syracuse).
• The first three will maximize the home game benefit from stadiums whose capacity is greater than 100,000—more than neutral site venues. Auburn’s home game capacity is 87,000.
• LSU with a stadium capacity of 92,000 reportedly makes $3-4 million per home game. In two of the last three years, the Tigers have had an 8-4 schedule.
• 26 schools have a 7-5 schedule.

“It was quite clear that the motivation for mounting a 12th game was financial,” said Bob Eno of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics in 2005. “Well, the motivation for having intercollegiate athletics is supposed to be for educational enhancement.”

Neutral Site Games (Plus More Home Games)

Neutral site games are becoming common. 18 BCS

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