College Football 2011: 16 Teams That Get Way More TV Exposure Than They Deserve

The college football television scene has grown rapidly in the past few years to where every season I ask myself if "these" two teams are really playing on prime time television. Too many teams are seeing the spotlight in the new age of television. Whether it is a pay per view or a regional network, lots of face time is given to teams that just a decade ago were lucky to make the highlights at the end of SportsCenter.

With the new television contracts that continue to pop up and the national exposure that college football seems to be receiving these days, can there be an overexposure to the masses? Is there a point when networks will stop lobbying for more college football on television? Not likely considering the rabid following numerous teams have.

Since the growth of sports on the ABC family of networks, CBS and Fox, we have witnessed the explosion of televised teams. With a mid-tier television package you can view games throughout the day on any number of channels where just a few years ago three to four games was the fill.

With numerous teams increasing their television revenue as of late, there have been some teams that have received a lot of face time, but have shown little for the exposure. There are also some teams that are marketed well and have some good success, but ultimately finish with let downs on national television.

Who are the teams that are overexposed in college football? Here are the 16 teams that show up on the guide too much.

Boise State Broncos

Look, the Broncos have won their fair share of games as of late and have even pulled out some big victories, including a BCS victory over Oklahoma. They have made one of the most successful transitions to FBS in history.  

In no way is this shot to downplay the success that the Broncos have had, but it is to simply save the viewing audience from a headache.

The only reason the Broncos are on this list is for the ridiculous field that they call home in Boise. The smurf turf has to be the most annoying playing surface in college football. I understand that it is a way to set the university apart, but come up with something else please.

This season, Boise starts the season with a neutral-field game against Georgia in Atlanta, which will be a nice relief, as they will play on a normal surface. 

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Greg Schiano has done a fabulous job turning around the Rutgers program and getting it some much-needed attention. Last season, however, the Knights went 4-8 and played six of those games on national television. Every game for the Scarlet Knights was televised.

In their final two games, Rutgers was routed by West Virginia and Louisville by a combined score of 75-27. There is plenty to like about Schiano and the feel-good story that was the Ray Rice years, but those days look long gone, and ESPN may want to leave it to the locals to broadcast the Scarlet Knights this season.

Washington Huskies

The Huskies have one of the richest histories in the country when it comes to winning football games, but their last conference title came in 2000. Jake Locker brought a lot of hype and focus last season, but the Huskies still finished with a 7-6 record.

Washington played seven games last season on the major networks—they won four of those seven. The Huskies were a middle-of-the-road football team a year ago, yet they received premier exposure, largely due to Locker, most will attest. Despite their past success, there has been little as of late.

The Huskies will undoubtedly show up on one of the big three networks multiple times this season, but the exposure will sure to be less than in 2010.

After all, it is what they have earned.

Arizona Wildcats

Arizona finished the season at 7-6 in 2010. There were big wins over Cal and Washington, and a heartbreaker against USC. The Wildcats have played consistently inconsistent in the past, but look to turn the corner this year with Nick Foles at the helm of the offense again.

Already this coming season, the Wildcats are scheduled to play on ESPN three out of the first four weeks. Talk about exposure for a mediocre.

Granted, Arizona has a chance this season to utilize the new PAC-12 to win some ballgames and possibly become nationally significant, but as of now, they are overexposed.

Michigan Wolverines

Michigan has a rich history in college football. They have won National Championships and have had Heisman winners.

As of late, however, they have been a bit disappointing. The Rich Rodriguez years are soon to hopefully be forgotten by the Wolverines faithful.

In 2007, one of the most embarrassing losses occurred on national television for the Wolverines when they lost to lower divisional team Appalachian State. After that loss, they should have received a television ban. Michigan did regain confidence, finishing 9-4 with a bowl win over Florida, but no one will forget that loss.

The Wolverines played 11 of their games from last season on national television. It’s quite a shame, as they finished 7-6. As of late, the Wolverines have been overexposed to the nation. Maybe Brady Hoke can pull a turnaround.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame is the only college with an exclusive contract to have every game nationally televised by a major network. NBC took on that role during the 1991 season, and the contract is set to run through the 2015 season.

Notre Dame is almost like the New York Yankees of college football. There is a national following, but you either love or hate the Irish; there doesn’t seem to be any in between. Despite their past success, nothing has been done lately to deserve the best television deal in college football.

The Irish finished 8-5 last season with a bowl win, but finished 6-6 the year before. Simply put, the quality of the product has been lacking lately, placing the Irish in the overexposed category.

Baylor Bears

Baylor finds itself in great position since the Big 12 is appearing more and more like the new Big Ten after the new conference realignment. Baylor only played three games on a major network channel last season, but they were hosted on Fox Sports five additional times.

Baylor finished the season at a modest 7-6, losing to Illinois in the Texas Bowl. With the loss of Colorado and Nebraska, the Big 12 will have televised spots that will open up this season. Baylor already finds itself scheduled on a major network channel three times for 2011. There will be a need for Baylor to increase the win column to earn their keep nationally.

Vanderbilt Commodores

Vanderbilt finished the 2010 season 2-10. To think that any of those games made it to national television is amazing. Vanderbilt played four games that reached a national audience on major sports networks, but they also have the advantage of the SEC Network.

The SEC Network is a television package that is covered by ESPN regional networks. The feed is pumped all over the country through the ESPN GamePlan pay per view package and other regional networks with cities as far as New York picking up the games.

James Franklin hopes to turn the tables for the Commodores in his first year, but until he does, Vanderbilt may be the most overexposed team in the country to date.

Ole Miss Rebels

Ole Miss is another member of the SEC that has not earned its national stripes as of late. Houston Nutt was assumed to be bringing a new blood and focus to the Rebels team, but his regime has had the total opposite fall from grace.

The Rebels finished the 2010 season with an abysmal 4-8 record and 1-7 in conference play. The Rebels played eight games on national television, winning only two of the eight. With the assistance of the SEC Network, the Rebels were able to reach more homes through the television while falling apart by losing six of their last seven games.

Unless the tide turns quickly for Ole Miss, which looks unlikely in the constantly growing SEC West, the Rebels will continue to embarrass on the national stage.

Kentucky Wildcats

To follow with the SEC theme, the Wildcats from Kentucky find their way onto the list. 

Kentucky had seven of its games televised nationally last season, and finished with a 6-7 record and bowl loss. Kentucky is yet again another school that benefits from conference alignment.

To Joker Phillips' credit, last season was his first year in the program, but if he wants to earn his keep in the SEC, he needs to start winning some ballgames now. Kentucky will play some tough games this season in the conference, but will need to win one or two to ensure the televisions stay on for the final quarter.

Tennessee Volunteers

The fourth and final SEC team on the list is the Tennessee Volunteers.

The Volunteers are another storied team in the best conference in football, but lately the Vols have disappointed. With the disappearance of Phil Fulmer and the disaster that was Lane Kiffin, it is easy to understand why the records have been less than up to Tennessee standards.

The Vols finished with six games televised nationally last season in Derek Dooley’s first year, but the Vols managed to lose five of those six. Dooley will look for some more production in his second year and hope the Volunteers can earn their keep in conference and on television.

Miami Hurricanes

Miami played 10 games in 2010 on national television—the Hurricanes lost six of those games. 2009 was an equally televised year, but a better record by two games. Their record was 7-6 in 2008, just like 2010, and the Hurricanes got the same amount of face time on national television.

Miami has been a mediocre team the past few years with the expansion of network coverage of college football. Finding a better team to perform on the networks on Saturdays would not be difficult in the past few years, but still the Hurricanes play on.

The Miami faithful have to hope that Al Golden can return the 'Canes to ACC dominance again. They better start fast in 2011, because Florida State appears to already be there.

Illinois Fighting Illini

The Fighting Illini finished the 2010 season with a 7-6 record. With seven appearances on national television, that seems a bit excessive. They also are a member of the Big Ten (or new Big 12), which has its own network carried by most major television providers.

With the premier network comes exposure and, for some reason, losses. The Fighting Illini have been a mid-tier program in the Big Ten as of late, but have earned plenty of face time nationally. If Zook and co. don't turn up the wins, it will be a continued waste of television time for viewers.

Now with Nebraska added to the conference, the demand for the Big Ten Network will grow and so will its reach. This will do nothing more but continue the overexposure of the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas was one of the worst teams in FBS in 2010. Turner Gill was going into his first season with the Jayhawks looking to follow up on some recent success. But in his first year, Gill led the Jayhawks to a disastrous 3-9 record.

The Jayhawks played one game on ESPN and six more that were nationally televised by Fox Sports. The question has to be, why did anyone put these games on television? Even though Kansas has had success lately, last season they seemed to return to the bottom of the Big 12.

Gill better work and hope for a brighter future, or they may be looking for a regime change in Lawrence. Yes, he has only been there one year, but the expectations are ones that were reached in his magical season at Buffalo.

Win now or lose those television dollars.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota is a member of the Big Ten, earning the benefits of, again, conference affiliation. The Golden Gophers played their way to a 3-9 record last year while six of those games made it to national television.

The rest of the games on their schedule were picked up by the Big Ten Network, which reaches a large portion of the college football viewing footprint. Minnesota has a rich history, claiming six National Championships (the last of which was in 1960). The Golden Gophers need to return to dominance to earn their dollars in the future.

Syracuse Orange

Syracuse is a member of the Big East and has been at the middle or bottom of the pack in recent years. The Orange finished the 2010 season 8-5, much improved over the 4-8 season a year prior. Somehow, through all the ups and downs, Syracuse finds its way onto the national television scene.

The majority of the team's games are picked up by the Big East Network, but the over past two seasons the ABC family of networks have taken a liking to the Orange as well. Syracuse will be in its third season under Doug Marrone and will be hoping the exposure it receives will be because of wins—until then, it is yet to be warranted.

Solutions to the Television Problem

So if these teams are overexposed, what would be the solution to provide exposure to those less fortunate?

The first step would be to ensure that the games carried nationally were not based on conference alignment, but rather record and rankings.

This seems so simple, but the major money players in the big conferences would never let that happen.

Add to that the addition of television packages that include regional network tie-ins to national coverage. More teams in major conferences are being televised nationally because of the television contracts.

As long as the viewers are tuning in, the games will go on, but there are times when the oversaturation builds to lack of interest. A perfect example seems to be the overextended bowl season. At some point, the expansion will slow with viewership.