The powers that be are finally hammering out a deal for us to have a
college football playoff in The Football Bowl Subdivision. The potential
four-team playoff could be worth an estimated $400 million to $500
million which will once again leave “student-athletes” out in the cold
as far as seeing some of this money entering their pockets. College
presidents and conference commissioners wanted a system that would
preserve the bowl games and they got it, but now the bowl games appear
to have lost some luster.
In the old days a national champion was decided on New Year’s Day as
The Cotton, Fiesta, Rose, Orange, and Sugar Bowls culminated the
college football season. Now those games have been lengthened out with a
champion not being decided until the second week of January which
coincides with the beginning of The National Football League Playoffs.
The next thing would be determining how long potential teams would have
to prepare between their bowl game and the national title game.
The conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack
Swarbrick wanted a system where it was all about the money and they got
it. If it wasn’t about the money then the two semifinal games could be
played at the higher seeds home field between the end of the regular
season and the bowl games. One excuse that was thrown out was the
potential of a warm weather team from The Atlantic Coast Conference or
The Southeastern Conference being forced to travel to a cold weather Big
Ten school or vice versa. This theory was rendered to much of an
advantage to the higher ranked team and it would not allow for a large
contingent of fans from the lower seeded team to travel to the game.
As the higher seeded team, you have earned the right for your fans
to give you a home-field advantage that has been earned because that is
one thing that makes college football go. I would love to see The
Michigan Wolverines have to travel to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in
Gainesville to take on The Florida Gators in a playoff game or The Miami
Hurricanes having to go to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks. In The
NFL, with the exception of The Super Bowl all playoff games are played
at the higher seed’s home field which is the way that it should be. In
college football home crowds have been known to be a deciding factor in
outcomes as well. What makes a rivalry such as Notre Dame versus USC so
compelling is the fact that these teams must travel across the country
each year to play each other whether it is in South Bend, Indiana or Los
Angeles.
Aside from this, the student-athletes will not see the money for the
hard work that they put forth. College football is the number one
moneymaker for collegiate athletics and these players go through a lot
to be at this level. For every head coach that gets a new contract or
every college president to makes a backroom deal to switch conferences,
we will see at least five stories about college football players such as
former Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Terrelle Pryor that sold game
memorabilia for money. This is partially due to the fact that these
players are not compensated properly for what they do on the football
field. If The NCAA continues to sit by blindly as this “glorified
robbery” continues to occur, then how can they really be helping the
student-athlete?
In order to pay these football players, all student athletes must be
paid accordingly based on Title IX. I say you cannot pay all
student-athletes the same being that football brings in the most revenue
that allows the other sports to exist. So we are on the verge of a
college football playoff that will more than likely be tweaked down the
road because it is not great, but it is better than the current Bowl
Championship Series system that is in place which has sometimes left
multiple teams undefeated. Four teams will qualify while a fifth team
will beef about not being selected while The NCAA will fill stadiums
around the country to see these games. Whether it is The Rose Bowl or
Cowboys Stadium that will host the potential title game, the players
will once again be left out of this big payday from the gates.
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