Author: rickro51 Page 25 of 36

Pre-season projections were unanimous in one regard in the Big 12.  Kansas State, West Virginia and Kansas were going to bring up the rear, almost always in that order.

Last weekend was an absolute revelation for the conference!  Perennial doormat Kansas performed a rope-a-dope worthy of Muhammad Ali.  The Jayhawks gave up an early lead to Boston College then, amazingly, dominated the last 40 minutes of the game.  It is hard to recall the last time a visiting 3-touchdown underdog was so dominant for so long.  BC was shut out in the 2nd half.  KU’s QB, Carter Stanley, shut up his numerous critics with a terrific performance that was greatly aided by Les Miles opening up the playbook.  Maybe Les should have “48-24” tattooed on his body as this truly was a signature win.  Or, at the very least, eat two extra helpings of grass.

West Virginia’s projected rebuild in 2019 was deemed so extensive that Dana Holgerson did the virtually unprecedented:  He bolted Morgantown for a Group of 5 program!   West Virginia was coming off a 38-7 blowout at Missouri even more putrid than the score indicated.  The Mountaineers proceeded to spank undefeated NC State 45-27.  This West Virginia team is 2-1 with their other victory coming over FCS power, James Madison, and is officially off the mat.

Kansas State ventured to  Cowbell U. for a daytime sauna and emerged with yet another upset, riding a game-winning kickoff return touchdown for a 31-24 win over Mississippi State.  Road wins over SEC teams are tough to come by. K-State’s 3rd straight impressive performance indicated that the Wildcats were extremely wise to tap North Dakota State’s Chris Klieman (69-6 in Fargo!) as their new head man .

Can this possibly be too much good news for the conference?  Only if one takes a playoff-centric view.  The Big 12 round-robin schedule will be a much tougher gauntlet to navigate than anybody foresaw a month ago.  Going 8-1 and then winning the Big 12 title game will be quite a feat.  Anything short of that and the conference will likely miss the playoffs, paradoxically, for being too good.

No big secret that college football attendance has been declining in recent years.

The biggest reasons:

1. Virtually all the games are on TV or a streaming device.
2. Due to ever increasing technology, the TV experience for couch potatoes keeps improving.
3. Game times often discourage attendance.  In a non-TV world, there would be no day games in the Deep South until mid-October.  In late October and November, beautiful days in the Mountain time zone and the Pacific Northwest morph into chilly nights but this reality does not  stop lots of night games.   Day  games at Alabama, Mississippi State and Baylor have already been played in blazing heat.
4. The actual game times are often “TBA” for power conference games to kowtow to TV’s whims with game times often not set until 13 days (or in some extreme cases, one week).  This is highly problematic for fans who have to drive hours to a game or grab a flight.
5. Ticket cost, especially for season ticket holders who are paying for a couple “less desirable” games on the schedule.
6. The expansion of the schedule to 12 games over the past decade.

The latest evidence as to the attendance malaise: Marquee names such as Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC  were all on the road.  In former days, the hosts (UCLA, Indiana and BYU, respectively) would have all sold out.  No more.  The UCLA situation is easily the most concerning.  The Oklahoma game resulted in an “announced” attendance of 52,578 on a picture perfect day at the Rose Bowl.  This number hides the depth of the problem.  The turnstile count was hugely inflated by Sooner fans.

Saturday’s attendance at the Rose Bowl included free tickets for the 36,951 who watched UCLA’s debacle the previous Saturday against San Diego State (For the first time in 23 tries, the Aztecs prevailed against the Bruins).  The attendance for the Aztecs was the lowest for a UCLA home game in 25 years.  Of course, it might help if Chip Kelly and Company could score more than 14 points in a game but UCLA issues run deeper than the megacontract given to a coach who is already on the hot seat.

However, if athletic directors were watching Saturday, a partial solution was right in front of all of our eyes:  regional rivalries.

Example #1: Colorado.  Pre-season hopes for the Buffaloes were not at Rocky Mountain-high levels. Yet, the Buffs created massive amounts of positive energy on the Front Range during the season’s first 3 weeks.  After its Rocky Mountain Showdown opener with Colorado State, Colorado renewed its Big 8 rivalry with Nebraska.  Cornhusker fans bought tickets in droves and helped generate more energy at a CU game since the McCartney days.  Buff fans were rewarded with a comeback from 17 down and an electric overtime victory that resulted in a passionate field storming.  Normally a fitting encore would be impossible, but another long lost regional rival visited Boulder last Saturday: Air Force.  The last Air Force-Colorado tilt was in 1973.  Yet another CU comeback resulted in overtime.  This time, Air Force prevailed in front of another energetic crowd that was highly entertained.

Example #2:  Pitt-Penn State.  After a hiatus, the 2016-19 renewal of one of the country’s great rivalries resulted in a passionate, exciting 17-10 game.  The 100th installment was more than worthy of annual renewal but, amazingly, there is no 101st installment scheduled.  Massive stupidity.  If anybody needs passionate regional rivalries, the Pitt Panthers do with their tepid fan base in a town that worships the Steelers.  And while Pitt is at it, get the Backyard Brawl back on the schedule.  Pitt football has suffered mightily with the loss of its two grudge games with Penn State and West Virginia.

Example #3:  Iowa-Iowa State.  Kudos for Gameday going to Ames for this always passionate, usually razor-close game.  The intensity of the game leaps off the TV screen.

Example #4:  Texas visited Rice on Saturday night.  OK, this is not really a rivalry since the Longhorns have won 42 of the last 43 but  nostalgia buffs, who still pine for the days of the Southwest Conference, were appreciative.  And Rice’s home attendance for the balance of 2019 will not come close to the 42,000 fans who showed up.

Example #5:  North Carolina visited Wake Forest in a game that was so desirable for both schools that the ACC schools scheduled a non-conference matchup. Excellent!!  This was the 107th meeting for the Tobacco Road rivals who had once met for 85 consecutive years, but not since 2015.  As with Rice, UCLA and Colorado, the home gate was greatly goosed by the many fans for the visitors, which, in turn, created a much more exciting environment.

Example #6:  Oklahoma State visits nearby Tulsa and injects the aging beauty with fans and energy.

For all you AD’s who say that it is just too hard to schedule exciting regional games such as Texas – Texas A&M, Kansas-Missouri, Nebraska-Anybody in the old Big 8, I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for you.

There is little wonder Antoine Winfield Jr. was named Big 10 player of the week.  For the second straight year, the Safety made a game-saving interception in the end zone to derail Fresno State.  Winfield rocketed out of nowhere to snag a pass that would have been a game-winner for the Bulldogs.  Winfield’s grab preserved an exciting 38-35 overtime win for the Gophers.  For Fresno, Winfield’s INT provided some horrific deja vu, as Fresno’s attempt to tie USC the previous Saturday was also extinguished by a killing interception.

Last year, in Minneapolis, Winfield’s end-of-game heroics preserved a 21-14 win over Fresno State.  Two 7-point losses were the only blemishes on an outstanding 12-2 campaign for the Bulldogs.

Junior does have excellent genes!  Daddy had a stellar career, both as a collegian and as a 3-time Pro Bowler during 14 years with the Bills and Vikings.  As an All American and Jim Thorpe winner while attending Ohio State, Antoine Winfield saved some of his very best games against Michigan.  David Boston may have gotten the most pub during Dad’s OSU days, but the best Buckeye against Michigan during in the 1996-98 era was Winfield.

P.J Fleck chortled, “They may never let Antoine back in the state of California.”  In this case, the acorn surely did not fall far from the tree.

The revered host of the 1932 Olympics, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, underwent a much-needed facelift in the off season that was needed every bit as much as those undergone by  60-year olds, living in Hollywood, who were once  starlets.  Job well done!

Yet this transformation was one-upped by another for the Trojans.  USC was implementing the air raid offense, even after Kliff Kingsbury bolted for the Arizona Cardinals (talk about failing forward!!).  Another Texas Tech alum, Graham Harrell, was tabbed as the offensive coordinator after Kingsbury’s unexpected departure.

Except for a goal-line interception thrown by JT Daniels, the Air Raid was humming in the first half to the tune of 300+ yards.  Then, disaster!  Just before halftime, Daniels’ night came to an abrupt end when he was sacked.  After being helped off, worst fears became realized on Sunday when ligament damage ended Daniels’ 2019.

Despite being significantly outplayed, Fresno State managed to go into halftime down by only 17-10.  Knowing that USC would be going with a backup QB in the second half, the Bulldogs had to feel that they were truly a live dog that could potentially add to the glorious first week for the Mountain West (Arizona was upset by Hawaii, Missouri was shocked at Wyoming, Purdue collapsed at Nevada — all were double digit favorites against the Mountain West teams.  In addition, Boise State was physically the much stronger second-half team in the mugginess of Tallahassee as they upset Florida State).

Enter true freshman Kedon Slovis (no, he did not prep in  Fresno’s largest suburb, Clovis) as Daniels’ replacement.  What had happened to Jack Sears?  In Sears’ one 2018 start, he played well against Arizona State.  Sears evidently had a tough camp and was not even clearly designated as the 2019 backup.  He entered the transfer portal last week.  Prematurely, one could not help but think?

To make matters worse for Trojan worshipers, not even the most ardent USC fan would say that Clay Helton was the coaching equal of his Fresno counterpart, Jeff Tedford.  Tedford’s last two years produced the greatest turnaround of the 21st century – easily.  Fresno State won only 1 game in 2016.  Enter Tedford.  In 2017-18, the Bulldogs won 22 games under the helm of the former Fresno State QB.   Tedford previously led another stunning turnaround at Cal, before some recruiting deficiencies did him in at the end of his 11-year tenure at Strawberry Canyon.

Critics of Helton often pointed to his indecisiveness and game mismanagement.  Both issues were borne out Saturday night.  Velus Jones electrified the crowd with an opening 75-yard kickoff return.  After an interminable delay, USC was flagged for having 2 players wearing the same number. Really?  THIS malpractice on the first play of the season?  With 9 months to prepare?

Jones was heard from again.  Was he ever! His 3rd quarter KO return touchdown gave USC’s raw freshmen QB some needed breathing room.  Such room was needed as one of the surprises of the night was the play of unheralded JC transfer, Fresno QB Jorge Reyna.  His elusiveness frustrated the Trojans all night.  Perhaps we should not be surprised as Tedford has had a well deserved reputation as a QB whisperer (Marcus McMaryion was much improved as a QB in 2017-18.  Tedford was also key in the development of Aaron Rodgers and Trent Dilfer).

Nursing a 31-23 lead in the waning moments, USC made a reasonable decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in plus territory.  What resulted was a Keystone Kop play as a USC running back and Slovis collided after the snap.   Fresno ball.  A 30+ yard pass play gave Fresno the ball deep in Trojan territory.  An end zone interception preserved a narrow USC win.

Talent-wise, Fresno had no business staying so close to USC.  Take another bow, Jeff Tedford!   Can USC beat a tough Stanford defense this Saturday night with Slovis?  As Stanford may also be playing a backup QB, this could be a first-to-17 game.   By all accounts, Clay Helton is a nice guy.  Which is a shame, because he is going to need to do well in 2019 against a tough schedule with a true freshman QB.

HAIL WEEK ZERO!!  2 for 2 in compelling games is a wonderful ratio.

While the Miami-Florida game was not a masterpiece, the intensity of the game was breath taking.  As predicted, two young offensive lines were often overwhelmed by two very capable defenses.  If this passionate, dormant in-state rivalry can be revived, will the athletic directors at Texas, Texas A&M, Pitt and West Virginia PLEASE notice and act?

For night owls, the nightcap in paradise was must see TV.  Two former WAC teams, Arizona and Hawaii, produced offensive fireworks that was delightfully reminiscent of the WAC’s heyday.  So many story lines!  Thankfully, the wonderful Khalil Tate is healthy again.  The phenom passed for 361, ran for 108 and almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat in his desperation gallop on the game’s last play that came up one measly yard short thanks to heroic effort from one of Hawaii’s defensive tackles

Despite his health, storm clouds existed in Honolulu for the Wildcats that produced no rainbows.  Hawaii piled up 595 yards of offense, highlighted by Cedric Byrd’s 224 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.  Yep, the Arizona defensive backs may be a problem all year.

Bizarrely, Hawaii’s 45-38 upset could have been a rout if not for 6 turnovers in the first three quarters by the Rainbow Warriors.  How many times does a team bench its starting QB late in the 3rd quarter who has passed for close to 400 yards?  Hawaii did not have to punt until its very last possession.

The UA-Hawaii game resulted in nostalgia for one of the best coaches in the history of both schools:  Dick Tomey.  Kevin Sumlin, you are no Dick Tomey!  Sorry to pile on a seemingly nice guy but nobody in College Station now regrets that Jimbo Fisher is the head man (except maybe for the person actually cutting Fisher’s huge checks!).

For the Rainbow Warriors, we hope Coach Nick Rolovich stays on the Islands and does not repeat June Jones’ fateful mistake of leaving for perceived greener pastures.  Hawaii’s former star QB belongs in Honolulu.

As we eagerly look forward to Week 1, the Odyssey offers a few predictions.  Teams that will exceed expectations:  Virginia, Syracuse, Minnesota and Northwestern (when will Pat Fitzgerald cease to be an underrated coach?).

Teams falling short of expectations:  Mississippi State (loss of too many defensive studs will help remind all that Dan Mullen will continue to be missed), Michigan (tough schedule and loss of too many defensive studs), Stanford (tough schedule) and Purdue (If Minnesota and Northwestern are going to surprise in the Big 10 West, well, college football is a zero-sum game).

In this era of large conferences, there are too many teams to play each conference foe (with the notable exception of the Big 12 — a conference that, ironically, could not do a round robin if they really had 12 teams).  Thus,  conference and division races can hinge on an especially favorable or unfavorable schedule.

To start, scheduling condolences to South Carolina:  The only school to have Clemson, Georgia and Alabama on their schedule.  The playoff committee ought to be on speed dial with the Gamecocks come selection Sunday.

Speaking of the SEC East, nobody thinks Missouri is nearly as good as Georgia.  Few think Mizzou is as good as Florida (despite convincing wins over the Gators in 2017 and 2018).  Look at the trio’s two “crossover” opponents from the West.  Georgia plays Auburn and Texas A&M from the West on consecutive weekends in November.  Florida plays LSU and Auburn on consecutive weekends in October (How nice that Florida and Auburn play this year.  Before the SEC expanded to 12 teams, they played annually in a fun series).  Missouri plays the two rebuilding teams from the West predicted to finish at the bottom:  Ole Miss and Arkansas.  If Georgia and/or Florida stubs its toe, Missouri has a real shot to backdoor into the East championship.  If you think Missouri has a relative breather in their SEC schedule, check out their non-conference schedule (rebuilding Wyoming, rebuilding West Virginia, SE Missouri and Troy).  Mizzou’s schedule is so easy, compared to their SEC counterparts, that they may have less injury attrition to deal with when they play Georgia and Florida in November.

Consider the SEC West.  Phil Steele has listed Auburn’s schedule as the ninth toughest.  There is NO way that there are 8 tougher schedules than that of the War Eagles. NO! WAY! as John McEnroe used to sputter.  In addition to the always tough SEC West and their battles with the two best teams in the SEC East, Auburn’s opener is with an Oregon team with a star quarterback and, arguably, the nation’s best offensive line.

Steele thinks Texas A&M’s is the nation’s toughest. schedule, in no small part to road games at Clemson and Georgia.  However, their other SEC East crossover game is with a good-but-not-close-to- great South Carolina team.

Auburn and A&M would both be getting more support for serious contention for the SEC West title if not for these gauntlets.  Meanwhile, Alabama is getting help (Alabama needs help?!?!?!).  Their 2 crossover opponents are South Carolina and rebuilding Tennessee.  What is clear in the SEC is that when you only play 2 of the 7 teams in the other division, scheduling becomes quite important in the division races.

In the Big 10, the inequity is not quite as bad since you have 3 “crossover” games but the imbalance is still pronounced and could  easily determine the Big 10 West winner.  Wisconsin is looking to rebound from a disappointing 8-5 year.  However, the Badgers face what the Odyssey believes are the 3 strongest teams of the East:  Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State.  OUCH!  Their last two road games are at fellow contenders Nebraska and Minnesota.  If the Badgers can survive and win the West, the division crown will be fully earned and then some.

Scheduling is why nobody should sleep on the Golden Gophers.  Their crossover games are with Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State.  Consider Minnesota to have a  a 2-game lead over Wisconsin in August!  Nebraska’s schedule is also favorable.  While the Huskers do draw Ohio State, their other crossovers are against Maryland and Indiana.  Further, their two November home games are against fellow contenders Wisconsin and Iowa.

In the MAC, Ohio is a clear favorite in the East.  The top teams in the West are projected to be Toledo, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.  WMU and NIU crossover to play Ohio.  Toledo does not.  Advantage, Rockets!

In the Pac 12, fewer scheduling anomalies exist because there are 4 crossover games against 6 teams in the other division.  But exist they do.  While Utah would likely have been the favorite to win the PAC-12 South in any event, missing Oregon and Stanford from the North rates to help.  Meanwhile one of Utah’s chief competitors from the  South,  USC,  has a tougher Pac-12 slate, missing Oregon State and Washington State from the North.

In track, the starting lanes are staggered to insure equality.  In college football, the starting lanes are also staggered but as for equality?  One could view this quirk as one of the maddening and imperfect beauties of college football.

When a coaching change is made, recruiting dictates that such change is made as close to the end of the regular season as possible, especially with recent changes in the recruiting cycle that allows an early signing period in December.

By this new standard, Temple’s hiring of Manny Diaz was late, announced on December 13th.  He tried to keep Temple’s recruiting class intact over the next frenetic week.

On December 30th, Diaz was interviewing an Offensive Coordinator candidate, when he got a stunning call.  Mark Richt had bailed on Miami (or he was thrown overboard after the Hurricanes no-showed in a  35-3 bowl loss in a chilly Big Apple).

For Diaz, the U was his dream job.  His father had been Mayor of Miami.  Plus, he knew the Hurricane’s personnel, being Richt’s defensive coordinator.  Diaz’ tenure at Temple lasted a whopping 18 days.  The Odyssey wonders if Diaz actually cashed any paychecks from the Owls.

For Temple, the Diaz departure was a public relations nightmare.  Four previous Owl coaches had used the Temple job as a springboard to a Power 5 job in the past decade (Al Golden to Miami, Steve Addazio to BC, Matt Rhule to Baylor and Geoff Collins to Georgia Tech) but an 18-day tenure.  Ouch!  Everybody in the college football world had to feel a degree of compassion for the Owls.

The irony is that the previous 4 Temple coaches had lifted the Owls program to a level never before attained on a consistent basis.  Against all odds, the football program had overcome the stigma of being kicked out of the Big East due to years of football follies.  GameDay even made a visit in 2015 when Notre Dame played in Philadelphia.

Almost as surprising as the Miami head coaching vacancy was Temple’s hire, two weeks later, of Rod Carey.  Carey had fashioned a very respectable 52-30 record at Northern Illinois, winning 2 MAC championships and sported a gaudy 4-2 record against the Big 10.

Mind you, Carey certainly has coaching chops (OK, his bowl record was an embarrassing 0-6, but everything else was thumbs up) but successful MAC coaches graduate to the Big 10, a long-standing tradition going back to the days of Woody and Bo.  Carey was a standout offensive lineman at Indiana so his Midwestern ties run deep.

In November, Carey received a 4-year extension which would pay a base salary of $2.4 million over the four years.  His first-year compensation at Temple is reported to be $2 million.  When trying to resolve a mystery, looking at money is often a good starting point.  Mystery resolved.  Carey went out of his way to say that Temple could name its buyout and the brass smartly did so.   To the reported tune of $10 million during his first two years and grading down thereafter.

I hope this unexpected marriage between Carey and Temple works. The repeatedly jilted football program deserves a break.  As for Diaz, the Odyssey understands his U-turn BUT Diaz should never complain if a heralded recruit decommits from the U at the 12th hour.

Even a title game between 2 elite 14-0 teams cannot hide the warts of holding a college game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

A college game should never be hosted again at Levi’s Stadium.  EVER. ANY game.  Not just the playoff.

The San Francisco area is not overly interested in college football.  That prices for tickets fell to roughly 25% of their face value is just the latest piece of anecdotal evidence.  But incredibly far from the only wart:

Stanford, San Jose State and Cal all are saddled with poor attendance.  If you were to graph program excellence relative to attendance, Stanford would be at the top of such list during the past decade.  We were in the press box for Stanford’s opener against a quality San Diego State squad in August.  Stanford’s team was quite hyped, highlighted by “Bryce Love for Heisman” talk.  On 6pm during a picture-perfect early evening, the stadium was half full.  Before the Pac-12 championship game moved to Levi’s in 2014, Stanford hosted a 2012 Pac-12 title game against another California team, UCLA.  The announced attendance was 31,622.  Palo Alto is only a 15-20 minute drive from Santa Clara.

One has to go back decades for the last big crowd at San Jose State’s aging facility. When the Spartans hosted an excellent Army team at nearby Levi’s on October 13, announced attendance was a paltry 16,527.

The Odyssey went to a “Big Game” at Cal in 2014.  We were disappointed to see the game was not a sellout.

The Pac 12’s delusional commissioner, Larry Scott, was so proud to move the Pac 12 championship game to Levi’s in 2014.  The 49ers’ stadium holds 75,000.  The championship game is so lightly attended that parts of the stadium are “tarped off.”

With a Rose Bowl bid on the line, November 30’s Washington-Utah tilt had announced attendance of 35,134. Game time prices were under $15.  Lackluster attendance screams that such games return to campus sites.  Logistic issues haunt Levi’s Stadium.  If you have ever driven in the Santa Clara area at 5pm on a Friday evening, you have all our sympathy.  We have not even talked about turf issues and parking issues.  A composite nightmare.

When Washington played in the 2016 championship game at Levi’s, Alaska Airlines tossed in two free tickets for certain flights from Seattle to San Jose.  What, giving away pretzels was more expensive?

Larry Scott has navigated West Coast football into a ditch.  The Pac12 Network has small exposure (about 18 million households) compared to the SEC Network (70 million) or the Big 10 Network (60 million), in part due to its perceived small value with cable carriers.  Of course, this does not keep Scott and Company from having lush headquarters in downtown San Francisco with annual rent of a cool $7 million.  Compare this rent to the SEC office’s annual rent of $300,000+.

Bear Bryant’s first major bowl bid was not with the Crimson Tide but with his 1949 Kentucky team.  The Wildcats wound up an Orange Bowl loser, 21-13, to Santa Clara.  Despite Santa Clara’s success, they would soon give up big-time football (as did a successful University of San Francisco program that went undefeated in 1951).  Both administrations knew a graveyard when they saw one.

If folks from the area are more interested in how fruity, nutty, dry or full-bodied their wine is, the Odyssey has no problem with this set of priorities.  Just recognize said reality in scheduling football games in the Bay Area.  Getting a Pac 12 commissioner who has clear vision would aid in this process.

Thankfully, both Clemson and Crimson Tide fans were sufficiently fanatical to prevent yet another total embarrassment.

The Odyssey will return in August for our 4th year.  We appreciate any word-of mouth.  Until then, ………

To say that offense has exploded in college football is hardly a news flash.  The median offensive output in 2018 per team was 404 yards.

In Mississippi State’s 5 losses, the defense allowed an average of 280 yards per game.  With this stat, one would have expected the Bulldogs to have won at least 4 of those contests.  Their Tuesday loss to Iowa was the microcosm of an extremely disappointing season.  Iowa wound up the game with negative rushing yardage and was soundly outgained,  yet somehow triumphed 27-22.

Joe Moorhead, a touted offensive guru at Fordham and Penn State, did a faceplant in terms of Hail State’s 2018 offensive production.  True, Nick Fitzgerald sometimes needed a GPS to find his receivers but their running game should have been sufficient to complement their stifling defense.

With the graduation of Fitzgerald as well as defensive line monsters Simmons and Sweat, 2019 looks very iffy for Mississippi State in the savage SEC West.  Dan Mullen left the cupboard full for Moorhead in 2018 (Anybody who does not exult Mullen as a head coach did not pay close attention to developments at 2 schools this year). 

In former times, it would take a couple bad seasons to get a coach canned.  Times have changed.  One really bad game in this year’s bowl season was enough to end the tenures of Mark Richt and Major Applewhite.

The Odyssey likes Joe Moorhead.  Enough to really worry about his 2019.

When powerful Big 10 mogul, Jim Delany, voiced his openness last week to expanding the playoffs, the college football world took massive notice.  The earth moved for than just Carole King.   In college football’s hierarchy, there are few, if any, bigger movers and shakers than Delany.

Delany is the commissioner of a Big 10 conference that has been shut out of the playoff 2 consecutive years.  No wonder he is interested in expansion.  Many think 8 teams is nirvana.  The Odyssey has major reservations.

If the playoff doubled in size, the importance of conference championship games would be greatly diminished.  This year, Georgia-Alabama and Michigan-Ohio State had the feel of quarterfinal playoff games.  Since the inception of the 4-team playoff in 2014, de facto quarterfinal games have existed each year.  The Odyssey would favor elimination of conference title games in Power 5 conferences if the playoffs expand to 8.

The 4-team playoff has never had a 2-loss team get selected.  With an 8-team playoff, 2-loss teams like 2018 Georgia (probably deserving) and 2018 Michigan  (probably not deserving) will dot the playoffs.  The utter importance of each week will be diminished.  Will the SEC be OK with dilution of its  conference championship game that currently is must-see television?  Delany’s Big 10 title games are often of interest.  On the other hand, the Pac 12 would do handstands with an 8-team playoff.  Not only could they get a team in the playoff, their conference title game could humanely receive a mercy killing.  Their Santa Clara site has resulted in an annual tidal wave of no-shows.  Their commissioner, Larry Scott, has often suffered from delusions of grandeur.

The Odyssey would be much more enthusiastic with a compromise:  an expansion to 6 teams.  The 5 conference champions would automatically get in.  If the best Group of 5 team satisfied certain criteria, you have #6.  If not, the best at-large team is tabbed.   We believe this would be a great solution in several regards:  The conference championship becomes critical.  The best two teams would receive a well-deserved bye.  In fact this solution is almost perfect except for two important words:  Notre Dame.  You cannot have 5 conference champions plus Notre Dame plus the best Group of 5:  High math indicates this equals 7.  Notre Dame currently plays 5 Atlantic Coast Conference games.  If the Irish schedule could incorporate 8 ACC games, problem solved.

If expansion ultimately goes to 8, credit the non-stop bleating of the 2017 alternate national champion, Central Florida, as a contributing factor.  The NCAA and the Power 5 might be worried by a successful legal action.  UCF’s 25-game winning streak and their bowl conquest of Auburn have given the Group of 5 much more legal bite than previously existed.

But, please, stop with too much tinkering with by far the best regular season in sports.  PLEASE!