A Jersey Guy: College FB Leadership Disappearing
What's that saying, "When the going gets tough...
In the area of college football leadership that phrase should end with: we either disappear or make bad decisions.
Let's look at some examples of what we have seen.
The Big Ten
The Big Ten started late and is now making decisions on the fly with one intent--do anything possible to keep Ohio State alive in the Final Four CFB playoff picture.
The Big Ten cancelled its season early, reversed its decision and is now finishing late, with half the amount of games of its Power 5 conference brethren in the ACC and SEC.
To be fair (ha ha), the Big Ten said each team needed to play a minimum of 6 games to qualify for the Big Ten title.
That was fine until Ohio State, everyone's consensus to be the one Big Ten team with a Top 4 pedigree, turned into the team that might come up short in total games.
No problem said the Big Ten. We will lower the minimum number of games played and Ohio State now can cruise into next week's Big Ten championship game against Northwestern well rested, pretty much untested.
The ACC
Outrageous is the only word to describe what this conference has done by giving Notre Dame and Clemson a bye week before their conference championship rematch in Charlotte next week.
Why?
It wanted both teams, ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the country, to have a better chance at BOTH qualifying for the Final Four, which is likely to happen if Clemson wins the rematch.
It doesn't matter that if Miami, which still has two games remaining against North Carolina and Georgia Tech had won out, it would have finished the season with one loss, while if Clemson had been forced to reschedule its postponed game at Florida State it could have had two losses and been out of the race.
Not only did the ACC not make Clemson play the Seminoles, it made the assumption that if they did play, Clemson would win easily--so why play and take a chance on having Clemson NOT be in the championship game.
Why play any games Let the ACC office play a college version of Madden football (does it even exist?) and settle the championship that way.
As for ND, the ACC decided not to take a chance that the Irish could lose its final regular season game this week at Wake Forest, so it cancelled it, giving Notre Dame a bye, but made Wake play Louisville.
Whatever.
The Pac 12
One of the most screwed up conferences, with almost NO leadership being displayed in most areas and rules and schedules made up on the fly.
Granted, the pandemic has created havoc through California, with no teams escaping consequences.
Schedules have been changed, at times, almost on an hourly basis.
Here's the mistake that the Pac-12 made and refused to correct--deciding its championship game participant by division winners--and then refusing to adjust when the Pac-12 South has produced the only two unbeaten teams, USC and Colorado, who do NOT face each other in the regular season.
Instead of merging it into one conference with the two best teams playing--as the ACC, Big 12 and AAC have done, the Pac-12 is very likely to keep an undefeated team out of its championship game.
***
Can we please cut the sham about the reason why there will be bowl games OTHER than the New Year's Six group, which have some significance.
It is strictly an ESPN deal since the network needs to fill programming during Christmas week with its assortment of bowl games.
Here's the problem.
These aren't really bowl games in the classic sense.
There will be almost NO amenities, players will be flown into the game, isolated in their hotels, play the game and then shipped out.
Few if any fans are expected to attend.
Sounds like a fun way to spend the holidays for football players who have had to endure a major change in their life style for the past six months.
Small wonder that teams such as Boston College, which deserved to go to a bowl game this season, has opted not to play one at all.
ESPN/ABC, which is scheduled to telecast 23 bowl games between Dec. 19 and January 1, has changed all of the parameters and the colleges have gone along with the nonsense by passing nonsensical rules like team do not have to win a minimum of 6 games or be at .500 to qualify.
Which is why Navy, with a 3-6 record with only its game against Army remaining, will play in the Military Bowl (in Annapolis) against an Atlantic Coast Conference team.
It has been an historic and strange college football season which started in chaos and threatens to end the same way.