The snooze fest that was the opening weekend to the 2008 college football season got me thinking.
Why do powerhouse schools waste everyone’s time?
I spent most of my days rubbing my eyes, trying to figure out if ESPN’s bottom line was showing football or cricket scores, as nearly every team of some importance trounced its opponents by video game-like deficits.
Oklahoma beat Chattanooga 50-2. A Beanie Wells-less Ohio State slammed Youngstown St. 43-0. Auburn pummeled Louisiana-Monroe 34-0. Texas and Kansas dissected Florida Atlantic and International, respectively, 52-10 and 40-0. Penn State scored nine touchdowns and had more points than Coastal Carolina did rushing yards for heaven’s sake.
Remember in the original “Mighty Ducks” when Coach Riley says, “It’s not worth winning if you can’t win big?” This weekend felt like every coach in Division 1 took that sentiment to heart.
I understand that all these directional schools for the hearing impaired are getting big-time funds to come get their jocks handed to them. But what good is it doing for college football as a whole?
Sadly, nearly every top 25 Division 1 team features schedules with three to four cupcakes in the first few weeks of the season. This means fans have a couple more weeks of watching backup quarterbacks take over in the second quarter, mediocre tailbacks scamper untouched from 65 yards and potential National Football League receivers burn guys twice their size and speed.
One of the primary reasons the powers in college football maintain that the Bowl Championship Series is the best way to do things is because a tournament would take too long. But what if we eliminated the first three or four blowouts on each team’s schedule? Think of the time we could save.
We could abandon the idea of giving teams an extra long hiatus between the conference championships and its bowl games and use the empty, college football-free weeks to play the opening rounds of the tournament.
By implementing a national tournament at the conclusion of a shorter college football season, there would be no ambiguity as to whether the correct team is crowned National Champion. Championships would be won on the field, not inside a computer processing unit.
It would also eliminate the problem the NCAA faces every few years when more than two teams are undefeated. Rather than the third best team in the nation getting shafted out of the opportunity to play for the title, it would be the 17th best. Or the 33rd, depending on how many teams we let in the tournament. We could even cater to the crybabies at the BCS by letting them rank and select the teams involved!
The most unique aspect about college football is the significance of every game. By shortening the season, every game becomes even more important – especially the opening weeks of the year. What is the result? Closer, more exciting college football. What more could we ask for? <br/>&#160;