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How would you add parity to college football?

HailtoPitt

HailtoPitt

Board of Trustee
Jun 18, 2001
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Or would you not want changes?

It was inevitable that a clustering of a few top programs would have happened. I think the only way to fix it is some sort of intervention. I don't foresee Alabama and Ohio State dropping the ball and ending their reigns at the top. The NFL has a team salary cap, but that won't work in college.

Should coaching staffs have a salary cap?
 
College football has always been a clustering of a few programs at the top.

Go back as far as you want. It’s a few teams fighting it out year after year. The 80s were Miami, ND, OU, Penn State. BYU is the only team that doesn’t belong.

The 90s were Miami, UF, FSU, Nebraska. The UVA-CU year was the only one that doesn’t belong.

2000s were USCw and UF. Every national title winner was a power.

Then Bama and the rest of the SEC powers with Clemson and Ohio State.

That’s the landscape.

There is no golden era of parity. Domination wasn’t “inevitable.” It’s the status quo.
 
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cashisking884 said:
College football has always been a clustering of a few programs at the top.

Go back as far as you want. It’s a few teams fighting it out year after year. The 80s were Miami, ND, OU, Penn State. BYU is the only team that doesn’t belong.

The 90s were Miami, UF, FSU, Nebraska. The UVA-CU year was the only one that doesn’t belong.

2000s were USCw and UF. Every national title winner was a power.

Then Bama and the rest of the SEC powers with Clemson and Ohio State.

That’s the landscape.

There is no golden era of parity. Domination wasn’t “inevitable.” It’s the status quo.
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You are right. Pitt, GT, Colorado, and BYU are the only real outliers to win a title over the past 50 years.
 
I think change is coming. With California passing the law that players can make money off their names is going to be a huge change in the landscape imho. Beyond facilities schools that can create the best digital media platforms are going to have an advantage because that will translate into to money to the player. Miami in the 1990’s figure out the poll grant scheme. And this goes beyond the common channels such as Facebook etc. The direct connection with fans can turn into a wealth of data value which turns into $$$ for the player and the schools.
 
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Here's who made the 6 Final 4s in football and basketball. Its a problem.

Football
Alabama
Ohio State
Clemson
ND
Georgia
LSU
Oklahoma
Michigan State
Washington

9 teams

Basketball
Duke
Wis
MSU
Kentucky
Nova
OU
UNC
Syracuse
Gonzaga
Oregon
South Carolina
Michigan
Kansas
Loyola Chicago
UVa
TT
Auburn

17 teams
 
Put the top 36 teams into a Tier 1 division.
-Play four regional conferences with 9 teams.
-Play an 8-game conference schedule.
-Schedule crossover games like the NFL (South division winner plays the division winners of the North, East, and West conferences, second place plays all of the second place teams, etc.).
-Each team is designated one "rivalry" game. Basically, it can't be against a cupcake.
-No conference championship games.
-16 team playoffs. Division winners get automatic bids, best records of the rest make it. NFL style tiebreakers.
First week of December is the first week of the playoffs.
-Title game is New Year's Day.

Make as many tiers as you want, but at this point everyone else in Tier 2 is fine.
-Similar setup with 9-team regional conferences. Obviously there will be more conferences with more teams.
-Similar schedule format. Teams in Tier 2 can play a Tier 1 team in a "rivalry" game.
-16 team playoffs.

Relegation System
-I don't know if I want to see a yearly model. Probably a two-year model either based on a point system or win total.
-At the end of a cycle, bottom 8 teams in Tier 1 move to Tier 2. Top Tier 2 teams move up to Tier 2.

The powers will always be present in Tier 1. Blue bloods like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma are probably always safe. However, I don't care how good they are. Those teams are not going to make the final four every year playing a legit schedule like that and having multiple rounds of playoffs. There would be upsets.

Imagine the final week of the season between two of the worst teams, loser drops to Tier 1. Doug Pederson is coach so he tanks the game because he knows his team can win in Tier 2 then gets fired a few days later.
 
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Burgh15 said:
Put the top 36 teams into a Tier 1 division.
-Play four regional conferences with 9 teams.
-Play an 8-game conference schedule.
-Schedule crossover games like the NFL (South division winner plays the division winners of the North, East, and West conferences, second place plays all of the second place teams, etc.).
-Each team is designated one "rivalry" game. Basically, it can't be against a cupcake.
-No conference championship games.
-16 team playoffs. Division winners get automatic bids, best records of the rest make it. NFL style tiebreakers.
First week of December is the first week of the playoffs.
-Title game is New Year's Day.

Make as many tiers as you want, but at this point everyone else in Tier 2 is fine.
-Similar setup with 9-team regional conferences. Obviously there will be more conferences with more teams.
-Similar schedule format. Teams in Tier 2 can play a Tier 1 team in a "rivalry" game.
-16 team playoffs.

Relegation System
-I don't know if I want to see a yearly model. Probably a two-year model either based on a point system or win total.
-At the end of a cycle, bottom 8 teams in Tier 1 move to Tier 2. Top Tier 2 teams move up to Tier 2.

The powers will always be present in Tier 1. Blue bloods like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma are probably always safe. However, I don't care how good they are. Those teams are not going to make the final four every year playing a legit schedule like that and having multiple rounds of playoffs. There would be upsets.

Imagine the final week of the season between two of the worst teams, loser drops to Tier 1. Doug Pederson is coach so he tanks the game because he knows his team can win in Tier 2 then gets fired a few days later.
Click to expand...
If you are going to do this why not just eliminate conferences. They create artificial value blocks. Everyone is an Indy and everyone builds out their own digital network. The failure of the Pirates was nobody in Pittsburgh develop and super cable channel like WGN back in the day. If I were Pitt I would be looking to see where I could exploit google video delivery. One thing Heinz has is an NFL digital data capture, Pitt needs to use it.
 
Raise the minimum academic requirements for eligibility and have an oversight committee approve the validity of the majors they are studying. Mac Jones has a degree in sports hospitality for crying out loud. Did he get credits for being a greeter at an Alabama basketball game? That wipes out half of the athletes on Alabama’s team.
 
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chirurgo said:
Raise the minimum academic requirements for eligibility and have an oversight committee approve the validity of the majors they are studying. Mac Jones has a degree in sports hospitality for crying out loud. Did he get credits for being a greeter at an Alabama basketball game? That wipes out half of the athletes on Alabama’s team.
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In his defense, I believe he graduated with a Business Communications degree in 3.5 years and pursued Sports Hospitality as a graduate student this past season. Also, I believe that is just another name for Sports Management.
 
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Burgh15 said:
Put the top 36 teams into a Tier 1 division.
-Play four regional conferences with 9 teams.
-Play an 8-game conference schedule.
-Schedule crossover games like the NFL (South division winner plays the division winners of the North, East, and West conferences, second place plays all of the second place teams, etc.).
-Each team is designated one "rivalry" game. Basically, it can't be against a cupcake.
-No conference championship games.
-16 team playoffs. Division winners get automatic bids, best records of the rest make it. NFL style tiebreakers.
First week of December is the first week of the playoffs.
-Title game is New Year's Day.

Make as many tiers as you want, but at this point everyone else in Tier 2 is fine.
-Similar setup with 9-team regional conferences. Obviously there will be more conferences with more teams.
-Similar schedule format. Teams in Tier 2 can play a Tier 1 team in a "rivalry" game.
-16 team playoffs.

Relegation System
-I don't know if I want to see a yearly model. Probably a two-year model either based on a point system or win total.
-At the end of a cycle, bottom 8 teams in Tier 1 move to Tier 2. Top Tier 2 teams move up to Tier 2.

The powers will always be present in Tier 1. Blue bloods like Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma are probably always safe. However, I don't care how good they are. Those teams are not going to make the final four every year playing a legit schedule like that and having multiple rounds of playoffs. There would be upsets.

Imagine the final week of the season between two of the worst teams, loser drops to Tier 1. Doug Pederson is coach so he tanks the game because he knows his team can win in Tier 2 then gets fired a few days later.
Click to expand...
It seems to me that you want college football to mirror pro football.

No thanks.
 
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TFBaum said:
If you are going to do this why not just eliminate conferences. They create artificial value blocks. Everyone is an Indy and everyone builds out their own digital network. The failure of the Pirates was nobody in Pittsburgh develop and super cable channel like WGN back in the day. If I were Pitt I would be looking to see where I could exploit google video delivery. One thing Heinz has is an NFL digital data capture, Pitt needs to use it.
Click to expand...

Conferences provide some semblance of familiarity and rivalries. Beyond that, it's a successful model for professional sports. I don't see how each team building its own schedule helps anything.
 
Burgh15 said:
Conferences provide some semblance of familiarity and rivalries. Beyond that, it's a successful model for professional sports. I don't see how each team building its own schedule helps anything.
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Pitt would play PSU and WVU it would be a return to true rivalry not made up ones. PSU MSU has never been a true rivalry.
 
There’s no easy answer. Ultimately, kids want to play for both a winning coach and winning program. And those who do get rewarded with the chance to play for a National Championship. But when their 3-4 years are finished, many get the chance to play at the NFL level. But guess what: so do the top players @ Pitt and scores of other schools. I think it’s the fans and alumni who’re frustrated about the teams who regularly play for the College Football Championship, not the players
 
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RaleighPittFan said:
It seems to me that you want college football to mirror pro football.

No thanks.
Click to expand...

What don't you like about it? The question was how to create parity in college football. There aren't many teams able to compete for a title. The only way to open up titles to more teams is to play balanced schedules and expand the playoffs. It also instantly puts Pitt in the top 20 of tier 2, maybe even the top 10.
 
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For PITT, find more of his DNA and bring back the industry in the background.
 
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Las Panteras said:
what did we see last night?

What did we see with OSU and Clemson?

Clemson and ND?


Read my post again, you dolt. I said the short term answer is to expand. If you dont want expansion to 8 teams then you are fine with what is taking place in CFB. If thats the case, then why are you even posting your nonsense?
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Why did you result to name calling? I am not going to reread your post. Are you really smart? You must be because I am to stupid to understand what a genius like you understands.
 
TheSpecialSauce said:
1) Limit recruiting classes to no more than 22 players and 75 total scholarships.

2) 10 coaches total - Get rid of these analyst positions.

3) Salary cap of $10 million for the entire coaching staff and no additional fringe benefits like cars, houses, etc.
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Have to do something with the number of recruits being processed by some of these schools. You've got a bunch of schools recruiting over 100 kids in a 4 year period.

I'm not in favor of cutting scholarships, but maybe you make the ship count against the team for 4 years. That way, 85 means something and it makes you want to keep the kids around. Teams would have dead ship count almost like dead cap money in pro sports.

Agree with #2 100%

Not sure you could ever enforce #3. They would find a way to get them money just like the players.
 
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A friend once mentioned that the NFL needs to have a 'minor league' like baseball. Players are paid a good salary, and can go directly from HS, JC, or university to these minor league teams. It basically would be a prep for the NFL. This would diminish the need for recruits to qualify for college programs, and give them an opportunity to make money instead of being a college student. If the player decides to go the minor league route, and wants a degree, they can do online classes or attend college in the off-season, such as employees of other occupations can. Food for thought.
 
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I think the NCAA needs to actually do their job of policing recruiting and holding schools accountable for problematic behavior. I'm still waiting for UNC to get hit with significant violations and punishment for their fake courses and grade fixing and other academic issues that gave athletes degrees for doing nothing. Coaches that cheat, ban for life. Programs that cheat, hit them hard financially. At some point, administrations will no longer want to see their schools in the news for scandals.
 
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anon_d97v9o3a8b6xr said:
I think the NCAA needs to actually do their job of policing recruiting and holding schools accountable for problematic behavior. I'm still waiting for UNC to get hit with significant violations and punishment for their fake courses and grade fixing and other academic issues that gave athletes degrees for doing nothing. Coaches that cheat, ban for life. Programs that cheat, hit them hard financially. At some point, administrations will no longer want to see their schools in the news for scandals.
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The fact that schools like MSU still field NCAA varsity sport is beyond me. The NCAA is a joke.
 
Does anyone follow all levels NCAA football? Just by looking at lists of national championship game teams and winners, it looks like there is more parity in Division 2 football than Division 1 FBS, Division 1 FCS, and Division 3. Every level except Division 2 has a few teams that have appeared to dominate over the past 15 years or so. What is different about Division 2?
 
While it has always been some cluster, I don't think the cluster has ever been as concentrated as it has been now.

Here's something that may cause college football to rethink its current system. The overnight ratings for the Champ game, a game involving the two dominant forces in college football the last decade, was 18.7 million people.

That was the lowest of this entire era. Lower than even the BCS era. Lowest since 2005, a blowout win. Lower than even the two CFP playoff games. Down 27% from last year. This is WITH OHIO STATE!! During a pandemic, so most people were watching from home. With little fans in the stands.

The college football champ game involving the two biggest names in its sport drew 18.7 million. The Steelers/Browns game, a wildcard playoff round, involving two pro teams from medium sized markets 2 hours apart, drew 21 million.
 
I'd put Pitt in its own division. With only itself to beat, Pitt would have a fighting chance at a bowl game.
 
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I agree with scholarship reductions and eliminate the transfer rules unless a coach leaves, which may prevent stacking of talent sitting on the bench. Eliminate the G5 from and form 4 major 16-team conferences with a 10 game in-conference schedule. Have a 16 or 32 team playoff (without the non-conference games there is now room for 2-3 more weeks of playoffs). At least give most teams a realistic shot that they have something to play for. Also, allow entry to the draft after high school/1 year if ready. Fans will lose interest with lack of novelty and changes are needed.
 
They really need to move the playoff games to the Saturday before Xmas and have the National Championship Game kickoff at 7PM New Years Day. The casual fan doesn't care about college football after Jan. 1 and the NFL playoffs overpower the sports media in the week leading to and even the day of the CFP Final.

Adding more teams to the playoff isn't going to stop the Bama, OSU, and Clemson from making the semi-finals every year, heck they'll most likely still make it after a "disappointing" 2 loss regular season.

The big changes I would make are disband the Big 12 and have those teams and ND, absorbed into the other conferences so you have a Power 4, only conference champs make the playoff, that would make the conference championship games a defacto first round of the playoff, play the semi's before Xmas and have the Championship Game on NYD. I'd also allow the G5 to do the same thing and have their "Championship Game" on NYE Day.
 
HailtoPitt said:
Or would you not want changes?

It was inevitable that a clustering of a few top programs would have happened. I think the only way to fix it is some sort of intervention. I don't foresee Alabama and Ohio State dropping the ball and ending their reigns at the top. The NFL has a team salary cap, but that won't work in college.

Should coaching staffs have a salary cap?
Click to expand...
Eliminate bag men.
 
happjack said:
They really need to move the playoff games to the Saturday before Xmas and have the National Championship Game kickoff at 7PM New Years Day. The casual fan doesn't care about college football after Jan. 1 and the NFL playoffs overpower the sports media in the week leading to and even the day of the CFP Final.

Adding more teams to the playoff isn't going to stop the Bama, OSU, and Clemson from making the semi-finals every year, heck they'll most likely still make it after a "disappointing" 2 loss regular season.

The big changes I would make are disband the Big 12 and have those teams and ND, absorbed into the other conferences so you have a Power 4, only conference champs make the playoff, that would make the conference championship games a defacto first round of the playoff, play the semi's before Xmas and have the Championship Game on NYD. I'd also allow the G5 to do the same thing and have their "Championship Game" on NYE Day.
Click to expand...
In your scenario, would there be any room for regular season o-o-c games?
 
We're not going to have parity because it's not structured for parity. Recruits can go where they want and they're going to want exposure and wins. So they're going to cluster at the top schools.

Pro sports enforce parity chiefly through a draft, which distributes talent much more evenly. They also have a salary cap and flatter TV deals (e.g., the Jags and Cowboys get paid for TV appearances far more equally than Clemson and Cincinnati). The college landscape and assorted conferences don't have these things built in so there are going to be more pronounced tiers.

No amount of realignment or scheduling is going to fix the "problem" of all the best players going to the best schools to play for the best coaches.
 
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