The great benefit of TV networks throwing Trump Cash at college sports is an alumnus of almost any school can watch his or her beloved teams.
The downside is sometimes you flip to a sports channel and find “Rocky V” or synchronized swimming or, well, synchronized swimming.
NBC, and recently launched NBC Sports Network, have thought outside the box and might have found a broadcasting diamond. The two networks will televise eight hours of pool play, the semifinals and finals of the 2012 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship this weekend from PPL Park just outside of Philadelphia.
Those who have been around the sport are falling all over themselves that a network is giving Sevens rugby a platform. But ultimately the sport will thrive only if those not familiar with the sport tune in and get the Sevens rugby bug.
It creates a broadcasting challenge: NBC and NBC Sports Network will have to educate a new audience without dumbing down the sport to the point where rugby fans feel alienated.
“The first time I saw Sevens rugby it literally took my breath away,’’ NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network president Jon Miller told The Post. “And I didn’t know exactly what I was watching. I grew up watching ‘The Big 3’ [baseball, basketball, football].
“I’m not big on predictions but Sevens has everything a sports fans likes — speed, hitting, scoring. And it’s the quickest way for an American athlete to get to the Olympics.’’
Ah, yes, the Olympics — another NBC property.
Sevens rugby (and golf) will make its Olympic debut in the 2016 games in Brazil. Athletes in almost every other Olympic sport have been playing and training for most of their lives.
Sevens is just four years from the Olympics. It’s a sport with a fan base for the future — future Olympics, future amateur and pro leagues, future sport on college campus, both sexes and coed, club, varsity and intramural.
It’s easy to see why Sevens should be an easy sell. It’s not your father’s rugby, which is played with 15 players per side.
Sevens rugby is fast and furious. Instead of the 80-minute matches played in 15-player rugby, Sevens is two halves of seven minutes, running time, with a one-minute halftime.
Sevens is played on the same size field but with less than half the players. Miller said it’s like softball with no center fielder. I see it as Quidditch with no brooms.
“Our cameras are going to capture high and low [angles], so viewers can appreciate the speed and athleticism,’’ producer David Gibson said. “You have small guys hitting guys 50 pounds heavier, and heavier guys hitting lighter guys.’’
Dartmouth, the defending champ, has a strong chance to repeat. Cal is a threat every time out. Delaware could be a dark horse. Army and Navy will take no prisoners.
Georgia-based Life University, which specializes in chiropractic medicine, is in this event for the first time. The Eagles hope to win it all, or at least drum up more patients in need of back care.
Brian Hightower, a former captain of the USA Eagles, which competed in the 1999 USA Rugby World Cup, will handle the analyst duties. He said he never dreamed of a day when the sport, founded in 1883, would be aired on a major network.
“I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around where the sport has come,’’ he said.
Gibson said coaches and referees will wear microphones. Viewers will hear refs explain what’s going on during a scrum. Graphics and overhead shots will enhance the coverage, but it’s the action itself that NBC and NBC Sports Network believe will sell the sport.
“There are going to be close ups on the big hits, the great side steps,’’ Hightower said. “You’ll see the hits on player’s faces.’’
lenn.robbins@nypost.com