articles, and I'm no lawyer, but is the behavior of the TV Networks veering into Cartel territory? The oh-so-definitive Wikipedia entry says "A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals." While the ACC's on-field football product leaves much to be desired right now, ESPN sure is helping keep that TV contract low. And CBS and Fox Sports -- if the rumors that they're driving all of this are true -- certainly seem to be intentionally endangering the livelihood of many universities, public and private, and the jobs of the people associated with them. Is this an angle being discussed? Do we have potential antitrust/anticompetitive activity going on here that's going to be squashed? Could the squashing make things even worse? Who even are the anticompetitive parties? Certainly the TV Networks, but could conferences themselves be held accountable for this? My brain is swirling with questions and interdependencies and I think I need a nap.