Author:
An Observer
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Date Posted: 13:11:02 05/31/24 Fri
GG, your post speaks to my question and my related point.
First, to nobody's surprise, ESPN is calling the shots, but the Ivy League does have some say. I strongly suspect that the Ivy office says, "Every one of our eight members must appear at least once. Beyond that, you decide in Bristol."
Second, is ESPN making decisions based upon the quality of the football or the academic brand name of the university institution? I would guess that ESPN's broadcast ratings for Friday night games are driven less by whether a League contender is playing and more by whether the random channel surfer recognizes the name of the school as he or she surfs by. That would give the edge to Harvard, which I think most Americans would recognize over Yale or Princeton.
If it were based upon quality of the football on the field combined with HYP appeal to the casual viewer, I would think Yale and Princeton would get the nod, at least in terms of the last few seasons. Princeton is a few missed placekicks from being back-to-back-to-back Ivy League champions in 2021, 2022 and 2023. If I were the scheduler at ESPN and my boss asked me to schedule the best television product within the constraint of the HYP brand names **before** the season started, I'd go Princeton 3, Yale 2 and Harvard 2.
But ESPN prefers the Elis, which I can also understand.
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