What I think, know and believe about the college football world, and the new normal we’ll all have to live with, all in the latest College Football Cavalcade.
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– Check out all the past Cavalcades
Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …
Just like getting into an LSU home game, there are no CDC wellness checks – the column wants you to get through it faster and easier. However, there still aren’t any alcohol sales.
– College Football New Normal, Part 2
– College Football New Normal, Part 3
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– 5 Footballey Opinions
– Sure-Thing Picks of the Century
If the “new normal” includes lighter traffic and few people in my way … okay
I’m well aware that “the new normal” is right up there with “it is what it is” and “that’s 2020” and “it’s not you it’s me” as nails-on-a-chalkboard phrases that have to be eradicated from our planet, but it applies.
There is a new normal to college football.
Things had to be worked on and tweaked to get this season up and working, and by necessity, we’re now seeing what’s possible to make things better in a sport whose norms and traditions are equal parts charm and restraint.
So as this weirdest of seasons rolls on, what about the new college football normal should stay, what needs to snap back once we return to the old normal, and what else has to be worked on?
From the playoff, to fans in the stands, to bowls, to a whole slew of other aspects of the college football world, here’s how things have changed this year, starting with the No. 1 most fundamental thing that 2020 has taught us …
College Football Will Always Be Fine
College football people despise change.
They’re not as bad as baseball blowhards, but anything that interferes with what fans are used to – uniforms, fight songs, traditions – gets met with the biggest brick wall of resistance.
However, as we’ve learned in 2020, college football finds a way no matter what.
This virus is ripping through college campuses with outbreaks that aren’t close to being contained – and college football is still played.
Racial unrest, a bitterly divided nation, an economic meltdown, death and destruction, some schools not playing, some players not playing, players rising up with demands, Vin Diesel’s heartthrob dance track – once the ball gets kicked off, it’s college football again and everything is fine.
It’s actually not fine in a whole lot of ways, but the games steamroll on no matter what.
So the next time you hear some old Farty McFarterson whine about how any sort of change or advancement or hair cut or jersey number 0 will be the end of college football as we know it …
College football will still be played. It might be different, but it’ll be fine.
College Football Playoff
There are two sides to this.
On one, just get through the season.
Just getting everyone on the field and hoping the campaign reaches the finish line is hard enough, much less dealing with the post-season logistics.
So for now, don’t get crazy. The College Football Playoff goes on like any other year, and out of whoever is out there and whatever happens, the committee will come up with the four best teams
On the other side, this is the year to blow it out, but not up.
How are we really supposed to judge the difference between the SEC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 teams when they’re only playing conference games? You don’t think it matters?
Sun Belt 3, Big 12 0 in head-to-head matchups.
It’s not happening, but this is the year – of all years – to make the tweak.
Expand it to 8, all Power Five conference champs get an automatic invite, so does the top-ranked Group of Five champ, and then the committee gets to choose two wild-cards.
First round on the home field of the higher seeds, then the CFP goes off as normal. It’s not that hard, and to go off the first blurb, it’ll all be fine.
But the old normal is sticking around … for now.
Longer Season
Not more games, but an actual longer time to get those games in.
The danger here would the greedy athletic director business types who’d see an opportunity to make more money to add more games, but the more stretched out the season, the more time players have to rest and recover.
Coaches love the compact schedules, especially in the Big Ten and Pac-12.
Routine, routine, routine, routine, routine – get into a groove, and keep everyone focused.
However, starting in late August and going through mid-December with more off weeks and more spread out games is a plus. Make it a 16-week regular season to get in 12 games. The teams would be healthier, and TV would love, it.
– College Football New Normal, Part 2
– College Football New Normal, Part 3
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– 5 Footballey Opinions
– Sure-Thing Picks of the Century
NEXT: New Normal, Part 2. Conference Only Seasons, Bowl Games, Fans
College Football New Normal, Part 2
Conference Only Seasons
This is awesome for this one year, but conference-only – or limited non-conference slates – won’t be even close to the new normal.
You think Missouri wants to beat its head against the wall to go 3-7 every year? You think it’s going to be fun when Maryland has to scratch and claw to go 2-5?
There’s a reason non-conference games against Central Creampuff Tech exist – wins make fans happy. Going forward, athletic directors at major football schools will keep paying for that.
Bowl Games
This is one of the biggest, toughest college football norms that has to be exposed, and all it took was a historic plague to do it.
Bowl games … are … exhibitions.
They’ve taken on an outsized importance because bowls are as college football as it gets, but in a College Football Playoff era, it just doesn’t matter who plays in the non-playoff bowls.
Okay, so there should be a pecking order to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl, or the Orange, or some of the other non-CFP bowl games as something teams can shoot for, but if some bowl wants a 3-7 brand-name team because people will actually watch and care, okay.
Of course there’s a certain charm about a Group of Five vs. Group of Five bowl game on a random December Wednesday night, but big programs bring more attention … duh.
This year, records aren’t going to necessarily matter for the bowl games since there won’t be enough winning teams to fill out the bowl slots. It’s just for this season, but this should be permanent.
Fans, Attendance
The athletic departments will need to get used to smaller crowds even when things become fine again.
1) A segment of the world isn’t going to want to be around loads of people, but the bigger issue is the 2) disposable income that’s not going to be there anymore to blow on live events – this will be an issue across the whole sports world. Also, 3) a whole lot of people are getting very used to watching things at home.
Of course all of the big games will be sellouts, but the days of assuming football crowds can pay for everything else in an athletic department might be gone.
Personally, I’m sort of enjoying the no-fan thing to a point. There’s a far more intimate feel to watching the games on TV.
The lack of energy stinks for the big moments – especially in the NBA Championship, the epic US Open men’s final, and others – but hearing the players jawing with each other and feeling like you’re on the field and in on the action has been a fun twist.
And now the biggest new normal to rock college athletics in 2020, the lack of attendance has destroyed …
NEXT: New Normal, Part 3. Non-Revenue Sports, Opting Out, Passion
College Football New Normal, Part 3
Non-Revenue Sports
It continues to be my No. 1 most unpopular take – colleges just don’t need non-revenue sports.
Here’s my question going forward once things become more normal. Some non-revenue sports will return, why?
Athletic department are being slashed left and right, certain sports aren’t able to be played, and universities are still able to function as institutions of higher learning.
This isn’t high school. You don’t need after-school activities that have nothing to do with the educational aspect of a college and the average student can’t be a part of.
2020 exposed just how thin the college athletic department margins are. That’s going to change.
Opting Out
This is definitely part of the new normal, and it’s about time.
Players aren’t eligible to go to the NFL until they’re two years out of high school – it’s an NFL Players Union thing – and opting out is the new hack for superstar sophomores.
First, top NFL prospects left before their eligibility was up, and everyone went crazy.
Then some top players started to sit out bowl games, and everyone went crazy.
Going forward, superstar sophomore pro prospects are going to sit out the season to protect themselves, and everyone will go crazy.
Now, opting out because of COVID concerns isn’t being questioned, but it’s sort of like the old school NBA “hardship” rule – players could leave early for the next level because of family issues – as a cover against a negative reaction for not wanting to risk future earnings.
Coaches will have to prepare for having top players for just two years instead three to five.
“Passionate” Fans
I despite the term “passion” when it comes to marketing. Everyone is passionate – it’s a nothing filler word that never advances any thought.
With that said, passion does tend to be fluid.
I noticed this in 2004, sort of in 2008 and 2012, and big-time in 2016 – past election years when people’s attention was focused on something other than sports.
Nothing, though, compares to the differences I’m noticing in fan attitudes and correspondence from most normal years to this one.
The fan reaction to various opinions, and the general lack of craziness – both fun and psychotic – over silly football things isn’t there at all.
This is obviously observational, but as a political junkie, the same sort of feelings for a candidate or an issue tend to mimic those for a sports team. Passions have been diverted.
As long as there’s this virus, and as long as our political world is off the rails, getting fans jacked up by saying their quarterback sucks or their team isn’t going to win this week isn’t happening.
In the moment, sports fans will be there if there’s a wrong call or in a big game, but as social media shows so well, it all snaps back instantly to the real world.
The news and current events are far more interesting than anything sports can come up with. It’s as if the new normal is the realization that sports are just sports, and they don’t really matter.
They’re not life and death. They’re not more meaningful than real world concerns. They’re games, and they’re an escape.
That’s always going to be normal.
NEXT: I Think, I Know, I Believe …
America’s newest family-friendly fun-time … Think, Know, Believe
I think Spencer Rattler will be a fantastic, Heisman-level quarterback for Oklahoma once the game slows down a bit for him after a bit more experience.
I know Oklahoma could’ve had any quarterback it wanted to transfer in and be the next Baker, Kyler or Jalen.
I believe Oklahoma is the unbeaten No. 3 team in the nation right now if D’Eriq King is the starting quarterback.
I think the MAC and Mountain West are coming back this season.
I know both conferences are supposed to play again soon.
I believe I’m not prepared for the college football sensory overload once all the conferences are back and rolling at once.
I think this is the first really, really, really massive week of big name vs. big name showdowns.
I know Florida State at Notre Dame isn’t really one of them.
I believe Coastal Carolina at Louisiana is a bigger game.
I think the Oklahoma vs. Texas winner will end up being the Big 12 champion.
I know Oklahoma State is just okay, even as the only unbeaten team left in the conference.
I believe there will be at least ten other teams I’d rather see in a New Year’s Six bowl game than whatever champion comes out of the Big 12.
I think Houston is going to finally be able to start its 2020 season.
I know Houston is supposed to play Tulane on Thursday night.
I believe Dana Holgorsen will use 2020 as practice for 2021 by sitting all the starters and playing the young guys after getting down 3-0 in the first quarter.
NEXT: The COW footballey opinions on footballey stuff
Five Cavalcade of Whimsy footballey opinions and, like, other stuff
1. The polls need the Electoral College
To sum up the creation of the Electoral College in one sentence, it was formed because – to be too glib, and to gloss over several massive issues in a fight for a compromise – the founders wanted a backstop in case the unwashed masses and uninformed boobs elected a doorknob.
The college football polls need an Electoral College.
I care, because it offends my sensibilities, and people really do care and pay attention to the polls, even though they have nothing to do with the College Football Playoff now.
Texas is ranked in both polls. TCU isn’t.
Tulsa lost to Oklahoma State a few weeks ago in a close battle. It’s the team’s only loss, and it beat UCF at UCF. UCF is ranked in the Coaches Poll, and Tulsa isn’t.
Arkansas lost to a Georgia team good enough to be ranked in the top four in both polls. It beat Mississippi State in Starkville. Mississippi State beat LSU. LSU is ranked higher than Mississippi State, and both teams are ranked ahead of Arkansas, who isn’t ranked at all.
There needs to be some sort of Electoral College type of check and balance with these polls before they’re released to the public, but I’ve been a part of “expert” polls and those weren’t any better. So there’s only one conclusion …
I alone can fix this.
Let me be the one who throws out the ballots put Oklahoma in the top 25.
2. Your 2020 BYU Cougars
BYU is doing exactly what a team that wants to get noticed is supposed to – be utterly dominant against inferior competition.
The Cougars beat Navy, Troy and Louisiana Tech by a combined score of 148-24, and next up is UTSA. Yippee – I need more.
Boise State, Houston and San Diego State are on the schedule. That’s fine, but that’s not enough for a team that’s been cartoonishly amazing so far. Originally, the Cougars were supposed to play Utah, Michigan State, Arizona State, Minnesota and Missouri.
That. I want that.
3. The quietly interesting team over the next few weeks is …
NC State.
Some programs simply have an off year.
NC State was the model of mid-level consistency under Dave Doeren with four straight winning seasons and two straight 9-4 campaigns before a 4-8 2019. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and it was.
Beating Pitt 30-29 with a last second touchdown for a 2-1 record doesn’t mean the Pack is “back,” but with at Virginia this week, Duke to follow, then at North Carolina, and then Miami, all State has to do is not crash.
The finishing kick? Florida State, Liberty, at Syracuse, Georgia Tech. Get through the next four games 3-1, and look out.
Meanwhile …
4. Has any major program fallen as far as fast as …
Florida State?
The program reracked under Jimbo Fisher, won 78 games and a national title from 2011 to 2016, and now …
This.
Yeah, it woke up in time to beat Jacksonville State, but who’s this team beating?
Notre Dame? North Carolina? Is it winning at Louisville, against Pitt, at NC State, Clemson, or against Virginia? At Duke is possible, and there will be a win or three somewhere along the way, but the mere thought that Florida freaking State going 1-9 isn’t crazy is … crazy.
5. As bad as your day is, at least you’re not a New York football team
I’ll do a bigger blurb on this in the near future, but if you’re the New York Jets, do you ditch the Sam Darnold experience for Trevor Lawrence if you have the No. 1 overall pick?
Uh, yeah.
How about after all the guff the Giants took for inexplicably taking Daniel Jones with the sixth overall selection in 2019?
Duh.
What about the team with the No. 2 pick with Justin Fields on the board? Or KJ Costello? Or Trey Lance? It’s going to be a blast of a draft process.
NEXT: The sure-thing picks of the century for this week
This week’s reason I should be the next Commissioner of the Big Ten …
If I was the Commissioner, I’d use the bully pulpit to make damn sure Penn State wasn’t ranked behind North Carolina in the AP Poll, demand Minnesota is in the Coaches Poll top 25 over a UCF team that lost at home to Tulsa, and no way, no how, no chance would I rest for a single solitary second until someone answered for why and how Ohio State is sixth in both polls.
The sure-thing, 100%, rock-solid lock, sell the house, sell the kids, no doubt about it picks of the century for this week
PICK SO FAR: 9-7 SU, 6-13 ATS
Last week was a punch in the gut.
Oklahoma over Iowa State … wrong. Mississippi State over Arkansas … double wrong. And it didn’t get any better from there.
So what’s the responsible thing to do? Supersize the thing again.
Fortunately, all these picks are correct.
– Louisville -4.5 over Georgia Tech
– Syracuse +2.5 over Duke
– Clemson -14 over Miami
– Texas +1.5 over Oklahoma
– Florida -6.5 over Texas A&M
– Kansas State +9.5 over TCU
– Florida Atlantic -2.5 over Southern Miss
– Coastal Carolina +7 over Louisiana
Bet on any of all these games at BetMGM. Please.
C.O.W. shameless gimmick item …
The weekly five Overrated/Underrated aspects of the world
5. Overrated: Thinking Florida State can’t and shouldn’t be a perennial superpower every single season
Underrated: All well wishes to Bobby Bowden, who tested positive
4. Overrated: Last week’s column gushing about Mississippi State
Underrated: Arkansas at 1-1 under Sam Pittman
3. Overrated: The usefulness of a remote control without batteries
Underrated: The quarterbacks in the Chicago Bear offense
2. Overrated: Miami vs. Clemson this week
Underrated: Miami vs. Clemson in the 2020 ACC Championship (the Hurricanes don’t play Notre Dame)
1. Overrated: Having to wait for November
Underrated: The mad-dash six-game Pac-12 schedule
Sorry if this column sucked, it wasn’t my fault …
Police came in and kicked out the better blurbs – along with the SMU student section – for ignoring the coronavirus guidelines and safety protocols.
– College Football New Normal, Part 1
– College Football New Normal, Part 2
– College Football New Normal, Part 3
– I Think, I Know, I Believe
– 5 Footballey Opinions
