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Hate the BCS? Well, college playoff isn't the answer
Wed Dec 12, 12:15 AM ET
By Tim Wendel
Link
Everybody seemingly wants a playoff in college football. Now that Ohio State (11-1) and Louisiana State (11-2) have risen from the ash heap to reach the title game, we again have the hue and cry from colleges, coaches and fans for something better.
But how about the players? Is an extended playoff in their best interests? At least one former student-player doesn't think so.
Elwood Reid came to the University of Michigan in the early 1990s with one goal — to play football. Like many scholarship athletes, he was convinced that success at the collegiate level would lead to a chance to play pro football.
"I was 20 years old, big and I liked to hit people," Reid says in an e-mail interview. "Football is fun.... Communications 101 — not so fun."
For Reid, an offensive lineman, playing football in the Big Ten soon proved to be a full-time job. Cracking a textbook for class was often an afterthought. That's the lifestyle for many student-athletes enrolled at football powerhouses. Look for that lifestyle to grow longer and more stressful if a playoff in college football ever becomes reality.
Lure of money
In addition, the money could lure more midlevel and academically inclined schools to ramp up their football programs. Several years ago, USA TODAY estimated that a playoff plan would gross nearly $376 million annually, more than double the current bowl payouts. Those who decide to chase a football championship "would favor coaches who see the game only as wins and losses," Reid says.
Already this offseason, coaches at several Division I schools have been shown the door. This inane merry-go-round only becomes worse if more teams think they can compete in a playoff format.
We do know most coaches at football powerhouses are more concerned about X's and O's than making sure their players excel in the classroom. According to a new study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, graduation rates for football players have climbed in recent years but remain mediocre at most schools. At Ohio State and LSU, barely 50% of their student-athletes graduate. Such graduation rates are about 20% lower than the percentages for other student-athletes at those institutions.
One-semester sport?
Major college football is the only NCAA sport without a year-end playoff to decide a champion, and, in many ways, it only has itself to blame. Many of the power conferences have postseason championships. They are huge money machines and make it nearly impossible for football powerhouses to emulate the Championship Subdivision schools (Appalachian State, Delaware, Wofford), who began their playoffs Thanksgiving weekend and will play the championship game on Friday. Unless the bowl system is dismantled, major college teams participating in an 8- or, worse yet, a 16-team playoff would find it difficult to keep football a one-semester sport.
Former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, who opposes a playoff, says unless you win it all, "it's just one more game to get ready for and to play." Just one more game.
And, of course, scholarship athletes don't receive a paycheck. They receive a free education, but what good is it if you don't have much time to pursue it?
After two years playing football at Michigan, Reid's playing career ended when he ruptured a disc in his neck. Without football, he discovered what a top-flight educational institution he was enrolled in. Reid was recognized as one of the most promising writers on campus. Since his debut novel, If I Don't Six, an autobiographical take on his football career, he has gone on to publish three more books.
Thanks to some time away from the field, he became a bona fide student-athlete. If we go ahead with a postseason playoff for college football, far fewer will ever be afforded such an opportunity.
Tim Wendel teaches writing at Johns Hopkins University. His books include Red Rain: A Novel and Buffalo, Home of the Braves, which will both be published this spring.
Wed Dec 12, 12:15 AM ET
By Tim Wendel
Link
Everybody seemingly wants a playoff in college football. Now that Ohio State (11-1) and Louisiana State (11-2) have risen from the ash heap to reach the title game, we again have the hue and cry from colleges, coaches and fans for something better.
But how about the players? Is an extended playoff in their best interests? At least one former student-player doesn't think so.
Elwood Reid came to the University of Michigan in the early 1990s with one goal — to play football. Like many scholarship athletes, he was convinced that success at the collegiate level would lead to a chance to play pro football.
"I was 20 years old, big and I liked to hit people," Reid says in an e-mail interview. "Football is fun.... Communications 101 — not so fun."
For Reid, an offensive lineman, playing football in the Big Ten soon proved to be a full-time job. Cracking a textbook for class was often an afterthought. That's the lifestyle for many student-athletes enrolled at football powerhouses. Look for that lifestyle to grow longer and more stressful if a playoff in college football ever becomes reality.
Lure of money
In addition, the money could lure more midlevel and academically inclined schools to ramp up their football programs. Several years ago, USA TODAY estimated that a playoff plan would gross nearly $376 million annually, more than double the current bowl payouts. Those who decide to chase a football championship "would favor coaches who see the game only as wins and losses," Reid says.
Already this offseason, coaches at several Division I schools have been shown the door. This inane merry-go-round only becomes worse if more teams think they can compete in a playoff format.
We do know most coaches at football powerhouses are more concerned about X's and O's than making sure their players excel in the classroom. According to a new study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, graduation rates for football players have climbed in recent years but remain mediocre at most schools. At Ohio State and LSU, barely 50% of their student-athletes graduate. Such graduation rates are about 20% lower than the percentages for other student-athletes at those institutions.
One-semester sport?
Major college football is the only NCAA sport without a year-end playoff to decide a champion, and, in many ways, it only has itself to blame. Many of the power conferences have postseason championships. They are huge money machines and make it nearly impossible for football powerhouses to emulate the Championship Subdivision schools (Appalachian State, Delaware, Wofford), who began their playoffs Thanksgiving weekend and will play the championship game on Friday. Unless the bowl system is dismantled, major college teams participating in an 8- or, worse yet, a 16-team playoff would find it difficult to keep football a one-semester sport.
Former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione, who opposes a playoff, says unless you win it all, "it's just one more game to get ready for and to play." Just one more game.
And, of course, scholarship athletes don't receive a paycheck. They receive a free education, but what good is it if you don't have much time to pursue it?
After two years playing football at Michigan, Reid's playing career ended when he ruptured a disc in his neck. Without football, he discovered what a top-flight educational institution he was enrolled in. Reid was recognized as one of the most promising writers on campus. Since his debut novel, If I Don't Six, an autobiographical take on his football career, he has gone on to publish three more books.
Thanks to some time away from the field, he became a bona fide student-athlete. If we go ahead with a postseason playoff for college football, far fewer will ever be afforded such an opportunity.
Tim Wendel teaches writing at Johns Hopkins University. His books include Red Rain: A Novel and Buffalo, Home of the Braves, which will both be published this spring.
