I don’t get you, NCAA. I really don’t.
On one hand, you ponder the possibility of deregulating
recruiting, generating an environment in which engaging with recruits
becomes a chaotic free for all.
On the other, you want to enforce strict guidelines
around the types of logos that are permissible on the playing fields of
member institutions, thus limiting their revenue opportunities.
So what’s your motive, NCAA? My hunch is you don’t know,
but here’s the overall message it sends:
When it comes to money, you’re more than willing to flex
your muscle. But when it comes to enforcing rules that establish an
environment of fairness, your level of interest is beginning to wane.
If the NCAA ever presses forward with the idea of
deregulating recruiting, you can score another huge win for the power
conferences. The rule would enable their member schools to inflate their
football coaching staffs with hired hands who focus solely on engaging
with recruits.
Imagine a system in which Alabama and Oregon hire an army
of talent scouts and salesmen who do nothing but evaluate and entertain
recruits. That’s essentially what could occur at most athletics programs
that possess the budget to fund it.
That would include schools from the major conferences
that have had automatic access to the BCS bowls in the past. Schools
like East Carolina will be simply unable to keep up.
What’s more, the NCAA’s restrictions around logos on
playing fields places limitations on schools seeking creative ways to
compensate for financial shortfalls.
If it seems like the NCAA caters to the demands of the
power football conferences, it does. The last thing it wants is for
those leagues to break away and form their own governing body.
Playoff will widen gap
The general thinking around the establishment of a
college football playoff is that this is a major win for the sport’s
fans. That, of course, depends on which fans are being considered.
If it’s the fans of schools from the ACC, Big Ten, Big
12, Pac-12, and SEC, then you can score a playoff as a major victory.
Each league is likely to have regular representation in the playoff, and
the financial returns will far exceed today’s Bowl Championship Series.
But if you’re a fan of a school from one of the remaining
FBS leagues, the benefits are few and far between. That’s because your
school is unlikely to ever make an appearance in the playoff as it is
currently designed.
Whatever formula the selection committee uses to
determine a playoff’s participants will certainly prove more favorable
to the power conferences. And as long as college football’s postseason
is controlled by five conferences — not the NCAA — that will remain the
case.
The end result will be a wider financial gap between the
Big Five and the other conferences. That will be paralleled by a growing
competitive gap as well.
ECU must respond
If East Carolina has any chance of ever making it to one
of college football’s new Access Bowls, it must follow the proven path
to get there: Lighten the non-conference scheduling load, relax academic
standards, and open the doors to more junior college and major college
transfers.
That’s the model on which the Boise State program is
essentially built, and it’s one new Pirates AD Jeff Compher must
seriously consider if he wants ECU to elevate its football profile.
There is no doubt it would be taking a significant risk.
But with the new college football playoff and the inflated television
contracts of the power conferences, the challenge will be even greater
moving forward.
ECU isn’t going to elevate its competitive status without
taking a few calculated risks.