Why can’t the NCAA learn from Coastal Carolina?

Coastal Carolina.
The Cinderella story is complete.
Deep down inside all of us we have that desire to see a team like Coastal Carolina reach the pinnacle. We want the underdog to get to the top of the mountain. We route for it inside our souls. It makes us feel good to see David slay Goliath.
We love to see it because most of us are the “Davids” of the world. We are the ones who want to throw the rock that brings down the “Goliaths”. Everyone wants to fill the role of the “little” man.
Just think about the statements made by coaches and players before the biggest games of their lives. “We just want to go out and compete.” “I hope we can give them a good game.” “They are an outstanding team and we are just happy to be in this position.”
And when it happens; when the world thinks we do not have a shot and an upset occurs, the utmost feeling of satisfaction occurs deep inside of us.
The NCAA knows that feeling. That is why they give us March Madness. That is why teams like Coastal Carolina can win a National Championship. That is why we tune in to every NCAA postseason game for basketball, baseball and softball. The NCAA gets it.
Or do they?
Is the NCAA the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Cinderella stories?
What about FBS football (Old Division I football for guys my age)? Why is it that a “Coastal Carolina” of the football world can’t even get a chance to bring their proverbial slingshot to the playing field? Why are the same big time conferences always represented in the national playoff (insert laugh track here) scenario? Why is there not a playoff system in place that mimics the excitement generated by baseball, softball and basketball, where the “little” guy has a chance to take home the hardware? (Hmm!! A playoff system kind of like the one used for FCS football?? Sorry, just a little sarcasm here)
Why, oh why?
One word and one word only can answer that question.
Money. Bank. Benjamins. Dead Presidents. Scratch.
Call it what you want. It all comes down to the almighty dollar.
The NCAA is held hostage by it. They know that if they were to even have deep inner thoughts of instituting a playoff system for FBS football, the bowl committees would be calling for hari-kari from all of the top dogs at the NCAA offices.
The shame of it all is that the world of college football at the FCS level is not controlled by the NCAA, but by the bowl committees and their chairpersons. And guess what, they control the cash.
According to an NCAA report, the 39 postseason FBS games distributed $505.9 million to the participating conferences and schools in 2015. On top of that, ESPN pays the College Football Playoff about $470 million a year for the media rights to the three playoff games and four other bowls and most of the money is distributed to the 10 FBS conferences and schools.
So, if you are the NCAA and the college presidents, why would you not want the college bowl system to stay intact? Especially since the final BCS TV deal was worth about $180 million per year to the conferences; mostly the major conferences. And more over, the bowl committees feed off of desire for more money by the conferences and the schools in those larger conferences.
There were 41 bowls in 2016. 41. Think about that number. It is almost as bad as the LHSAA playoffs in terms of watering down the postseason. In 2015 there were a record three teams with losing records (5–7) allowed to participate in bowls due to there being not enough bowl-eligible teams, and the inaugural Arizona Bowl had to be played between two Mountain West teams due to the lack of eligible teams to meet its other tie-ins.
Yet there are a number of excuses the NCAA gives for not having a playoff system of more than four teams for the FBS division; time for finals, the welfare of the student-athlete, possible cancellation of conference championship games, blah, blah, blah!
However, last season Alabama played 15 games en route to their national title. (Sorry for opening that wound up LSU peeps!). Do you know how many games North Dakota State played en route to their FCS championship title? 15. Yep that’s right; the same as Alabama. So much for student-athlete welfare, NCAA!!
So, why can’t FBS teams play a five-round playoff system like the FCS does? The national championship for FBS wasn’t played until January 11. The FCS played all of their post-season games in a span of five weeks. Think about that for a second!!! And it was finished on January 9.
Once again it comes down to two things; bowl games and revenue (read: money and control).
Now, for all of you bowl game purists, there is no conspiracy here to do away with tradition. I am as old school as they come. I can remember sitting down on New Year’s Day and loving the fact that I could watch the Sugar, Rose, Orange and Cotton Bowls all on the same day.
But there has to be a happy medium somewhere. Is there anyone who can really say that they watched all 41 bowl games last year? (You in the back, put your hand down, because you’re lying!!!).
If the NCAA can have 24 teams in the FCS football playoffs, then why can’t you have, say, 16 teams in a FBS playoff? Each playoff could be tied to a bowl game just like it does now for the four-team playoff. This would mean more chances of mid-major conference teams getting the opportunity to do what Coastal Carolina did for baseball. And, it would allow those mid-majors a bigger piece of the pie in terms of revenue.
Now, I know what you are thinking; there is no way that UL-L could win a national championship in FBS football against the likes of SEC teams. (Just an example UL-L friends. No insult intended. Wink, wink.) But, we will never know, because the way the NCAA has it now, most mid-major conferences do not get the same opportunity as a major conference to play for a title. The deck is stacked against them.
So, what do the mid-major teams do? They fight to join the Big 10’s and SEC’s of the world. Ten years from now we will have only two conferences left in FBS football. Everyone will have joined a super conference. (Think about that football purists.)
On top of that, the bowl committees will fight tooth and nail to have their precious Coke Zero-Charmin Toilet Tissue-Dole Pineapple Bowl as one of the 16 hosts of the playoffs, lest they be relegated to having the 4-8 Minnesota State University Screaming Eagles and the 5-7 ESU Timberwolves ingratiate their game to do battle. (Just a reference to “Coach” and “The Program”, youngsters)
So, until such time as the NCAA decides to grow a pair (cover your kid’s eyes here) and tell the bowl committees that the majority of football fans want a playoff system worthy of the college landscape and change the current system, we will have to crown our Cinderella’s in other sports.
Besides, who really wants to watch the Ampipe Steel-Lifesavers-Exxon Gas Bowl? Not me.