When I say "they" i'm referring to tv networks, conferences, and large power-hungry state schools.

Why don't I watch FCS or DII football? Why doesn't anybody watch the CFL, NFLE or the NBA Dleague?
Because we're not interested in a second-tier product that offers no differentiated value from the next best option.

Right now college sports are successful because they are a different product from the NBA or NFL. Its amateurism, passion, and a personal affiliation with the institution and the student athlete that creates the value proposition for CFB. Each team in the NFL is propped up by regional support making the league a national sport. Fans tune in to the NFL every week to see the very best athletes compete against each other in a game of inches fighting for field goals. CFB is different. Its a wide-open field of wildly different schemes and big play after big play. Teams of disparate talent change drastically from year to year. The passion comes from supporting your alma-mater to which you have a life-long affiliation. Its not just a spectator sport of professional gladiators. It means something.

I'm all for athletes being treated fairly and not being taken advantage of, but we all have to be honest with ourselves and realize that we don't need and probably won't spend money on a tier II NFL-lite product. College football is headed down the wrong path.