A Modest Proposal for College Football
I heard it suggested on ESPN recently that we're heading inexorably towards a national league of college football teams with "reasonable" chances of competing for national championships (however you want to define "reasonable"), and then perhaps second tier of teams with no realistic prospects. As a European soccer fan, it made me start thinking ... how cool would it be to have a European relegation system? (I've long thought American sports would benefit from the tanking-disincentive that system provides anyway).
Imagine the drama for fans of teams near the bottom of the Championship division would feel near the end of each season, and how much meaningful those bowl games would be if relegation were the cost of losing! Imagine the drama for teams competing to move up, and how meaningful those bowl games would be if joining the Championship were the prize!
Just a thought. Discuss. :-)
August 21st, 2021 at 9:59 PM ^
I'm 100% for a system like that. Not sure how it would work in the 'collegiate' setting, where tanking does nothing.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:20 PM ^
Yeah, then I woke up back to reality.
The only drama there is for teams near the top at the end of the season is playing spoiler for those at the top, like Auburn knocking off Alabama.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:26 PM ^
Be careful what you wish for. Michigan would end up getting relegated.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:46 PM ^
We already have been.
August 21st, 2021 at 11:48 PM ^
Touché Vlad.
August 22nd, 2021 at 8:47 AM ^
Get regulated and then be part of exciting competition to get back in the premier league, sounds like a great system to me. Better than having Alabama playing The Little Sisters of The Poor.
August 22nd, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
The way things have been going in Ann Arbor they would end up being relegated to the MAC. Would probably still finish second or third in that conference. I hope they get their shit together this year. Everything you read is sunshine and roses, this team is going to surprise people this year. It’s the same shit we hear every year but hopefully after 7 years of hearing how great they look in practice it shows when it counts during the season. I will give Harbaugh credit for at least being decisive on a starting QB before trotting someone out there game 1 that nobody was sure was going to be the starter. I think it helps QB and team cohesiveness to at least know who the guy is at the most important position on the field. Now Cade doesn’t have to worry every day if he’s going to be the starter or the backup. There’s something to be said for having a plan weeks before the season starts and gives Cade the confidence and will allow him to just worry about executing the game plan and having a clear mind on that situation at least. I think he’s the best man for the job but if things turn bad quickly because of QB play throw the 5 ⭐️ true freshman in there and see what he can do. Apparently he has the “it” factor but I think it will help him a lot to be able to sit back and watch the game and learn from the sidelines. Then get some snaps during garbage time just to get him reps in real game situations.
August 22nd, 2021 at 10:49 AM ^
The way things have been going in Ann Arbor they would end up being relegated to the MAC. Would probably still finish second or third in that conference.
Please tell me you don't really believe this. I wouldn't normally feel the need to ask, but damn, I haven't seen the fans this down on the team since at least 2014.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:31 PM ^
The biggest problem with this idea is that the conferences are immutable and exist ostensibly for reasons other than just athletics (SEC and. Big XII excepted). Also, media contracts have terms that must be honored with respect to schools being guaranteed certain payouts and the broadcaster in turn having rights to certain game inventories (e.g Michigan-OSU). Can you imagine a situation where Michigan is relegated one year—-maybe not so far fetched if we don’t get our stuff together, but I digress—- and then Fox/ESPN/ABC loses the rights, or worse, it is not played at all because Michigan is technically relegated to a lower non-BIG tier. I know this is all hypothetical, but these are the type of issues that would have to be ironed out.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
I heard it suggested on ESPN recently
Fuck ESPN. They are a big part of the problem.
I don't know much about European soccer or the relegation system, but wouldn't this just widen the gap between the haves and the have nots? I mean, any team that gets relegated can basically forget about recruiting 4* (or even high 3*) players. Could they ever dig themselves out of that hole? It's not like they could just invest in (buy) better players, right?
August 21st, 2021 at 11:27 PM ^
I don't think it would change much. I mean, is Rutgers taking talent away from Alabama right now? And sure you could dig yourself out of that hole. I mean, by definition, several teams a year would be moving *up* to the top tier anyway.
In the meantime, this would give the Rutgers, Maryland's, and Vanderbilts of the world something exciting to play for. What do they have now? In fact, as we saw last year, one of the problems with the current system is that players with NFL-level talent are likely to shut it down and skip bowl games once the season is effectively lost.
But yeah, I recognize there are massive problems with it. For instance, I can't for the life of me imagine Michigan actually being relegated (ahead of the Marylands and Purdues of the world?), but just in theory, would the school be willing to give up its game against Ohio State? Difficult to imagine.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:50 PM ^
Not that dissimilar from Jonathan Swift. Eat the children.
August 21st, 2021 at 10:53 PM ^
Irish children*
August 22nd, 2021 at 12:02 AM ^
The OP's suggestion might bring us football being played by college athletes, but it would not be College Football. I think I'll pass (although actually, I'm afraid I'm being passed).
August 22nd, 2021 at 12:22 AM ^
If it were my decision, I would create a "federation" of sorts (or whatever you want to call it), consisting of the top 72 athletic departments in division I. This federation would be split into three mega-conferences consisting of 24 teams, and then 4 divisions of 6 teams within each conference.
Each division would be split up geographically and play their divisional rivals every season (5 games), and then rotationally divisions would matchup against another divisions within their conference (6 games). Last remaining game would be at the school's discretion to schedule.
Setup a 16 team playoff utilizing the pre-existing NY6 bowls, add one more like the Citrus or Outback, etc. to the playoff competition. The remaining bowl games can certainly still exist as well; not like the teams in the Liberty Bowl are under the illusion they're competing for a national championship anyway.
The 16 team playoff consists of the winner of each division (12 teams) and 4 at large bids. Each bracket would include the 4 division champions from the conferences, and the last bracket would be the 4 at large bids. The remaining semi-final would determine each conference champion, then the final four would battle it out for the national champion.
That's how I would do it anyway. Probably some holes to be poked, but I think this format would preserve a lot of what people love about college football, and creates a scenario where each conference can exist in e very major market and make a boat load of money.
August 22nd, 2021 at 1:33 AM ^
Forgot to point out that a relegation system *would* allow teams who might otherwise be excluded from even competing for a national championship (your Boise States, your Central Floridas, your Cincinnatis) to fight their way to a genuine opportunity. Unlike, for instance, now.
Anyway, I don't in principle see a major problem with turning all of Div. I (or whatever it's called now) college football into one big league, a la Major League Baseball, etc. As long as Michigan stays Michigan, plays Ohio State each year, etc., that's ok. Things can change. But I don't like a system where some schools are included, and others simply and permanently excluded.
Hell, Kansas played in the Orange Bowl 15 years ago. Things change.
August 22nd, 2021 at 7:12 AM ^
In a perfect world many things would be very different. Considering that, here, the games are (supposedly) played first and foremost for the benefit of the players one would think that the adults in the room would somehow actually act like adults and make the teams and the playing of the games to be of the greatest benefit to said players.
August 22nd, 2021 at 7:22 AM ^
A decade ago, I called into Paul Finebaum attempting to ask his guest, Oliver Luck, a question, but didn’t get a chance to get on the air until right after his segment ended. When I got on the air, I ended up suggesting a promotion/relegation system to Paul with Big Brother/Little Brother conferences, where the B1G teams up with the MAC, the SEC with the Sun Belt, etc. My big want was to have the two worst teams in each conference play right before the conference championship game, with the loser being relegated, or perhaps have the loser play the champ of the little brother conference in the bowl game to actually be relegated. As I recall, he chuckled and called it intriguing, but didn’t get give it too much thought. Pearls wastes on swine and all lol.
August 22nd, 2021 at 9:48 AM ^
Make the sec, big ten, acc, big 12 and pac 10 their own league, then make everyone else their own league. I'm tired of "power 5" football so make it a totally separate thing from the rest of college football. Give the bowl games back to the "lower level" league where they would still love to play in those games.
August 22nd, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
I used to like the relegation concept in college football, but it's untenable with the new transfer environment. Any team that gets relegated would be instantly cannibalized for its best players and prospects, not to mention coaches. Relegation would have an outsized effect for years, and schools might never have a chance to recover.
August 22nd, 2021 at 7:02 PM ^
These are still college students, 98% of whom will not find careers in sports when their college days are over.
Be careful what you wish for.
August 23rd, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
Relegation could be an interesting twist on a breakup of the D1 FBS system. It has to be the weirdest league in sports, with like half of the teams in it systematically having no real shot at competing for a championship. Above all else I think it needs to split up simply for that reason.
And since you mentioned it, here's a bonus U.S. sports relegation rant: Relegation wouldn't sense for pretty much any professional sports league in the U.S. as they have a draft. People always bring up tanking in U.S. sports like it's some entertainment ruining demon, but you'd have a really hard time explaining how Huddersfield in 18/19, Norwich City in 19/20, and Sheffield United in 20/21 looked like they were trying harder than any last place team in pick-your-U.S.-sports-league. Relegation allows the cream to rise to the top in a system where there's no control over the talent pool. I'll take the draft system in the U.S. every day of the week and the relative level of parity it provides. Not really enthused about seeing Man City and Chelsea put out B teams in the FA and Carabou Cups that still cost more than the total value of the club they're playing.