My guess is that no one who watches college football is paying much attention to Saturday’s game between top-ranked Alabama and Tennessee-Chattanooga.
No doubt fans of the unbeaten Crimson Tide, who are in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) will enjoy their team’s victory, expected to be by six or seven touchdowns, over the Mocs, a member of college’s second-tier Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
The Mocs will accept their thrashing in return for a US$500,000 (Dh1.8m) payday from Alabama’s ticket sales.
Just call it one more affront to the concept of competition, an unfortunate part of the deal in which college football fans must wade through weeks of boring, lopsided lumps of coal before getting to the occasional gem on the schedule.
Certainly the National Football League has its share of clunkers. And few people believe the Cleveland Browns will pick up their first win of the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
But the Browns do have a chance, and no one will be truly shocked if they do win.
The pro sport is designed with parity in mind. Its 32 teams employ the best players in the world, capable of superior, winning performances on any given day. About 47 per cent of all NFL games are decided by one score.
Not so the college game. The elite programs hoard the best athletes. The disparity in talent between the top 20 or 25 programs and the other schools in the top-tier Football Bowl Subdivision makes for a whole bunch of hard-to-watch blowouts.
Certainly the legions of fans of the college game have their fun. Big-time NCAA football is colourful. Major rivalries between schools are generations old. Pre-game parties last hours, and marching bands fill the air with familiar, energising music.
Then the game starts and within minutes State U. has a 21-0 lead on East Pumpkin Patch. Yawn.
Upsets do happen. After all, these are mercurial young men, most just out of their teens, the vast majority of whom will be working at something other than football when they finish school. They can be unpredictable.
Still, what happens with droning regularity is three hours of scorched-earth annihilation. No 1 Alabama’s 10 wins include drubbings of 52-6, 38-10, 48-0, 34-6, 49-10, 33-14 and 51-3.
No 2 Ohio State averages 33.8 points more per game than their opponents, and has won games by scores of 77-10, 58-0 and 62-3 twice.
The Buckeyes also lost one game, to No 9-ranked Penn State, 24-21. It was thrilling, nerve-racking and intensely competitive.
Unfortunately, it was just one of a few on Ohio State’s calendar that is the least bit compelling.
Which brings us back to Alabama against Tennessee-Chattanooga. Why would an elite FBS team bother with a mediocre FCS team?
From the Mocs point of view, their team do not generate much revenue on their own. The money from the Alabama game basically pays for their survival.
For Alabama, it is one less chance they will lose a game that might drop them from a spot in the end-of-season, four-team, championship play-offs.
Tide coach Nick Saban addressed the issue with reporters this week, saying he would rather play more showcase games against top-ranked teams.
“It would be better for the fans,” he said.
But, he noted, scheduling more challenging teams would be hard to justify when the national championship is your goal.
“If you lose a game, you’re on thin ice [in the rankings]. If you lose two, it’s almost impossible.”
Which leaves college fans no choice: better enjoy the marching bands.
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