Postseason Constraint #15: Avoid competing with the NFL for viewership
[Editor's note: This is part of a series examining the real world constraints on any proposed postseason design. For the previous entries is is best to start at the introduction of the series. This is derived from pages 94 and 95 of my plan to fix the BCS]
FBS football currently generates less than half the revenue that the NFL makes with four times as many teams. Cooperate sponsors will favor NFL over college football any day. Fans don't want to have to choose between NFL games and college games when they can watch both.
NFL is also played mostly on Sunday and some schools refuse to play on Sunday for religious reasons. I have yet to see a playoff design that failed to accomplish this ideal.
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113 Team's til Kickoff: Miami (Ohio)
The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks have garnered my interest due to the 2003 season. In 2003 the Redhawks lost their oppener to Iowa and then tore through their remaining scheudle to a 13-1 record and a final top 10 spot. By today's rules they would have been in a BCS bowl in 2003.
The other Miami was 11-2 and was about to deboard from their regular perch at the top of the standings. In 2004 the Redhawks might have ecclipsed Miami at the start of the season, before dropping a couple of late season games and clearing the path for Utah's historic run.
Since then the Redhawks have sunk hard and fast, once again falling below their tropical partners who are having problems of their own.
Head Coach: Michael Haywood (Second Year)
Offensive Coordinator: Morris Watts (Second Year)
Defensive Coordinator: Carl Reese (Second Year)
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Dominoes: MAC Edition
The MAC has been mentioned once or twice as possible targets, especially for Big East or C-USA replacement options. The likelihood of this is slim as, frankly, the MAC has suffered lately in the performance of its marque teams.
With an unbalanced division structure the MAC would be well off to lose a member and would not be compelled to find a replacement. The chances of losing more than one are extremely remote.
All in all the MAC is sitting solid for the next round of expansions.
At least as solid as they are now. The real focus here needs to be winning with what you have now.
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114 Teams 'til Kickoff: Kent State
The Kent St. Golden Flashes play in Kent Ohio and participate in the MAC. That is all I really know about them of the top of my head.
Ok, I lied. I looked up the city they play in. I can unsympathetically summarize this program's history by stating that they trail there rival, Akron, 20-27-1 in the all time series. Their status in the FBS has changed as often as the NCAA changes names of this collection of top teams. They have played in the FBS since 1983, when it was still Division 1-A.
If the pattern continues, the FBS will change their name and requirements to exclude teams like Kent State, and Kent State will find a way to get their name back in the pot.
Head Coach: Doug Martin (Seventh Year)
Offensive Coordinator: Jerry McManus? (Sixth Year)
Defensive Coordinator: Pete Rekstis (Seventh Year)
A look at Kent State's actual BCS numbers over the past few years next.
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Should College Players by Paid?
I have posted this thought before, and it usually gets shot down pretty quickly. If the BCS leagues are planning to break away from the NCAA, as I am entertaining here, this is a question they will have to consider. The idea of paid college players is not as horrible as many make it seem.
Never mind the systematic breach of contract our institutions of higher education make with our inner city youth who are told that athletic success can be their ticket to a higher education and a better life, only to have those scholarships and dreams stripped away after an unfortunate injury. That should almost be criminal when signed letters of intent are in play.
Back to paid players...
First you have the question of fair market value. The NFL minimum salary is $250,000. The average NCAA full ride scholarship has a value of roughly $40,000. That is a factor of 6 between what elite athletes could make in the NFL vs. the NCAA. If an independent league formed they could not pay what the NFL pays, but certainly could compete or exceed $40,000. Especially for the premium positions.
Simply put, several players are worth more than a full ride NCAA scholarship. Forcing these players into an NCAA mold that presumes they should be prepared for some other discipline than sports fails to adequately prepare many for the high profile role model positions our society cast upon them.
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Postseason Constraint #14: Reduce Controversy to a Managable Level
[Editor's note: This is part of a series examining the real world constraints on any proposed postseason design. For the previous entries is is best to start at the introduction of the series. This is derived from pages 90 and 91 of my plan to fix the BCS]
The controversy surrounding the BCS has become toxic. The two primary sources of controversy relevant to a tournament are the failure to give all teams a chance to earn a national championship and having to choose between arbitrarily close teams at the #2 and #3 spot. Moving this to a lower spot actually decreases the consensus of the selection and increases the number of teams claiming they were deserving of a spot.
The old bowl system avoided this by not even pretending to be interested in determining a true national champion. If more games could claim to be a part of the championship picture the better for them all.
Undefeated teams can be managed by requiring any tournament to select undefeated teams prior to teams with a loss. At least five spots would be needed to cover the past twelve years.
Only using gaps instead of a set cutoff addresses the cutoff consensus issue.
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115 Teams 'til Kickoff: Tulane
The Tulane Green Wave, who play in the New Orleans Super Dome, are not recovering as well from Katrina as their NFL stadium mates.
Tulane was the first team to go undefeated without a BCS invite (not even to a BCS bowl) in the BCS era in 1998. "You should have stayed in the SEC to prove your strength" people said at the time (though it was in 1966 that they left the SEC).
Head Coach: Bob Toledo (Fourth Year)
Offensive Coordinator: Dan Dodd (Fourth Year)
Defensive Coordinator: Steve Stanard (Second Year)
A look at Tulane's actual BCS numbers over the past few years next.
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