Good an interesting post, IMO.
B1G slayed it, no doubt. 1.3 million plus CFP money puts them at the $100 million+ per team.
If NBC did get ND at 3:30, then top 1 or 2 game for B1G to follow, that is a coup. But, at what cost? Seems like a win, but we need details to know that.
Totally agree on CBS ... man, paying $350 million for the B1Gs 2 or 3 game? ESPN paid $50 million less for the CBS game, although it's not in any way tied to being the no. X game of the week. Because ESPN and ABC are all Disney, they will decide where to slot games without anyone else being able to tell them what to do. BTW, CBS was a loser on this a decade ago when they failed to renegotiate with the SEC.
ESPN - not sure they are a loser. What the B1G was willing to offer was way too expensive for half of what they have now. They only have so much bandwidth, and with the B12 and PAC coming up, they could get the late night slots there, as you point out.
ND seems to be a winner. This should give NBC the lead-in scenario they need, even though it's ND that is the lead-in. They might still go after a B12 package that would enable them to go noon in the B12, ND at 3:30, B1G prime time. That's a great line-up for a non-sports network. With ND squeezed in between, they could be seen as the anchor of NBC's line-up and that would be worth a lot.
TBD - SEC. They (1) tied themselves to Disney (ESPN and ABC), and (2) went with a 10-year deal. The B1G went with multiple carriers and a shorter deal. Time will tell who made the better deal and a lot of that will be determined by whether ESPN will or has to renegotiate when OU and TX enter the SEC. I presumed they did, but evidently it's not that clear.