College Football: Paying the price to keep the team at home

Paying the price for those valuable home non-conference football games. Colleges are paying more and more for home games:

1. LSU $2.9 million in '08
2. Nebraska $2.7 million in '08
3. Ohio State $2.2 million in '08

Source: Des Moines Register

Non-BCS teams or other non conference teams are receiving a record $63 million from the six BCS conference teams, including Iowa and Iowa State. Who said College Football isn't big business.

The money game will have athletic directors re-examining philosophies, as this article out of Texas mentions.

It isn't going to get any easier in the future. Ohio State has agreed to pay Navy $1.4 million for a visit to Columbus in 2009.

The University of Iowa is still looking for their fourth non-conference opponent for 2009. I doubt they will keep it as a bye game, since Kinnick Stadium holds 70,585 in Iowa City. Right now, they will have to settle for To Be Announced!

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