Odds and Ends 8/21/19

Welcome back!

Today I start my weekly feature called Odds and Ends.  For most of the season, I will mention interesting facts about the current season.  These may be statistical, anecdotal, or just whimsical.  However, since the season hasn't started, I am going to talk about what I would do to improve college football for the schools, players, and fans.  These will not based on anything I've heard (I have NO inside sources.  Anywhere...), but is just my opinion based on over 40 years of observing college football as a fan.  Oh... and I will also list my pick for this year's College Football Playoff! So let's get started!

If I were named "Czar of College Football", here are the things that I would change:

First, I would allow student athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness (known as NIL).  There is no reasonable argument to be made for the school profiting, and not the athlete.  Now, I believe a case could be made for putting the funds in escrow, allowing the student to withdraw funds only when they leave the school, either through graduation, transfer, dropping out, or early entry into the NFL.  I could also see some kind of formula being developed, based on what items are sold, and distributing a percentage to all student athletes who contribute to the selling of that item.  For example, a percentage of profits from a UGA football t-shirt or jersey, unless it was a particular player's jersey, would be split among all the football players, and this could be based on playing time, service time, or whatever the school, conference, or NCAA decides.  This would allow all players to benefit from the selling of "generic" items for their sport (this would also apply to basketball, swimming, soccer, etc.).

Second, I would allow all student athletes one "free" transfer.  This would allow any student to transfer once without the penalty of sitting out a season, regardless of the reason.  The student could still elect to sit out a season and take a redshirt, but they wouldn't have to.  Again, I know that not all players transfer for good reasons, but the NCAA needs to get out of the decision making business as far as transfers are concerned.

Third, while I would keep the 85 player scholarship limit, I would allow some flexibility on the 25 per year limit.  This could be done by having 2 year cap of 45 or 50 or 55, or by having some kind of rolling cap, such as a 3-year cap.  You could also have a formula to allow more for those programs that are below the 85 limit while keeping the 25 hard cap for those at 80 or 85.

Fourth, I would do away with all preseason awards and watch lists.  While I realize these create interest and conversation among many fans, it's seems silly to name these based on nothing other than hype.  They might as well just call these hype lists.  I don't think any award "watch list" should be published before mid-season, much like the playoff ranking doesn't happen until the last 6 weeks or so of the season.

Finally, I would expand the playoffs. As the playoff is set up now, half of the 130 teams are effectively eliminated before a game has even been played.  There are 64 Power 5 conference teams, and if you add in Notre Dame, that means that 65 teams, exactly half, are the only ones with access to the playoff.  Before I talk about how to fix the access problem, let's compare the CFB Playoff with other sports and divisions.

League          # of teams          # in playoffs          % of teams in playoffs

MLS                24                       14                            .583

NBA                30                       16                            .533
NFL                 32                       12                            .375
MLB                30                       10                            .333
NCAA BB       351                     68                            .193
FCS FB            125                     24                            .192
NAIA FB         92                       16                            .174
Div II FB         169                     28                            .166
Div III FB        250                     32                            .128
FBS FB           130                      4                              .031

Notice the huge difference between FBS and EVERY other major sports league.  Even if the playoff grew to 8 teams, that's still only 6.2%.  16 teams? 12.3%, still below every other league.

My proposal (or mandate, since I'm Czar!) is for a 16 team playoff, which would at least be in line with the other NCAA divisions in football, though it would still be lowest.  I would have the 10 conference champions, plus 6 at-large teams.  I would allow the conferences to pick their champion however they like and present that team to the seeding committee, who would then pick the at-large teams and seed the playoffs.  The playoffs would be held at the home stadium of the higher seed until the Championship game, just like in the NFL.  With 4 rounds, they would start the 2nd Saturday of December, continue the next week, have a week off for Christmas, and then conclude the next 2 Saturdays, but that schedule could be flexible depending on the calendar- maybe 3 weeks, then the week off?  If this would necessitate a reduction from the 12 game schedule, I'm ok with that, but I would leave that up to the individual schools.

So let's address the reasons given for not expanding the playoff.  Many want to keep the bowls.  Fine.  They're not regulated by the NCAA anyway, and they can continue to put them on or not, their choice.  But the playoff does not have to include them.  In fact, I see no reason to outsource the profits to the bowls.  Profits from these playoff games should only go to the NCAA member schools

Another reason given is that college football has the greatest regular season in football, and expanding the playoff would devalue that.  With an expanded playoff, teams with 2 or more losses may be admitted, which many people take to mean that not every game would count as much.  But seriously, how important is every game when only the games of 5-10 teams truly count?  Once a team has 2 losses, they're eliminated.  However, 65 teams are already eliminated before the 1st game is even played.  Expanding the playoff would mean that MORE games matter, not less, and that MORE teams would have hope until the last few weeks of the season.  Suddenly, the winner of the Sun Belt Conference would be of great interest to the #1 seed, be that Alabama, Clemson, or some other team. All of a sudden, people across the country are very interested in who wins the Mountain West Conference Championship Game, should the MWC choose to continue that.  Suddenly, non-conference strength of schedule matters to EVERYONE fighting for an at-large spot.  However, one drawback may be that the talent would spread out a little more.  Now, EVERY coach could sell EVERY recruit on a chance to make the playoff, not just the coaches at Alabama, Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington, USC, and Michigan.  Because EVERY team would have a shot at a playoff berth, not just the traditional powers.  I think this would be a good thing!

Now it is time for my playoff picks.  This is kind of an unusual season.  It seems to me that 3 programs are ahead of all the rest, which leaves only one spot open for the playoff.  Clemson and Alabama have battled for the championship 3 of the last 4 years (4 of the last 4 if you count the semifinals), and many feel they will again.  Georgia is the 3rd team I feel completes the triumvirate, as they are absolutely loaded on both offense and defense.  So who gets the 4th spot?

Last year I went out on a limb and picked Washington and Wisconsin to make the playoff.  Boy was I wrong!  Washington has a decent chance this year, as does Oregon, but I think the Pac 12 gets left out for the 3rd consecutive year (and they'll be pushing for an 8-team playoff soon).  The Big Ten has several candidates, but with there being such a balance of power, I don't see any team making it through undefeated or with one loss, so they get left out for a 3rd consecutive season, too.  That leaves the Big 12.  Even though I think QB play will suffer with Jalen Hurts at the controls (kind of hard to be as good as Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, though Hurts is no slouch, either...), Oklahoma's defense HAS to be better than it has been recently (it couldn't possibly be worse... could it???), so they have a great chance to finish with one or no losses, so they are my 4th pick.

National champion?  I have to go with my Dawgs!  They'll finally shed the Alabama demons and get it done!

That's all for today!  Feel free to leave me a comment as to what you think I got wrong.

Until next time, may you and your loved ones be blessed!