same thing that influences almost the entire season of MBB TV coverage, i.e., preseason hype, prognostications, and rankings? To maintain that none of that influences TV execs and their coverage is silly.

They actually do it more rationally for FB and don't set the TV coverage for more than week or so at a time after the first 3 weeks. It's MBB where preseason hype, prognostications, and rankings plays a much bigger role, and for much of the season.

And they take it to an extreme for baseball and lacrosse where the TV coverage is actually set and announced for the entire season during the preseason.