Has College Football Lost its Edge?

[Eric]

I'm just throwing this out there, maybe others notice this. But I was thinking back to John L. Smith's meltdown at halftime against Ohio State a decade ago, and I couldn't see anything like that happening today. Of course JL Smith is an eccentric, but I can't think of a lot of guys that have that kind of fire anymore. It seemed like there was more at stake. Everyone now is cool and calm and if they lose, then oh well, get back at it next week. I also feel like I see more teams giving up midseason like Maryland or UCF or South Carolina. A lot of teams lose out, but I don't remember them losing the fire in the belly that quickly.

[donovan]

what it has lost is its perspective. Greed does that.

[billybud]

There are still some melt downs and idiotic behavior going on...but, with the internet, coaches are aware that their actions will be looped for a year.

We still have coaches tearing off their jacket (and being ridiculed for the clumsiness), coaches hitting and pushing opposing players who run into their sideline, coaches pushing their own assistants in anger, coaches screaming at officials..

I do believe that we live in the age of "electronic capture and electronic memory". Do something stupid and millions will see it...and see it.

[Spence]

There are still some melt downs and idiotic behavior going on...but, with the internet, coaches are aware that their actions will be looped for a year.

We still have coaches tearing off their jacket (and being ridiculed for the clumsiness), coaches hitting and pushing opposing players who run into their sideline, coaches pushing their own assistants in anger, coaches screaming at officials..

I do believe that we live in the age of "electronic capture and electronic memory". Do something stupid and millions will see it...and see it.

Yes and most coaches are smart enough to realize it and maintain control.

[Derek]

I don't think it's lost it's edge in terms of fire. I still don't like this playoff system, especially the games 11 days after New Years.

It just seems fake to me.

[Spence]

I don't think it's lost it's edge in terms of fire. I still don't like this playoff system, especially the games 11 days after New Years.

It just seems fake to me.

I agree. Fans having two games and two costly trips inside two weeks makes it hard to sell the tickets. ESPN and the NCAA think they can make the championship game like the super bowl and have people who don't care about the actual game come to the game just to be there. I don't think that is going to happen. especially only a few weeks from the Super bowl. College football fans, while fiercely loyal to their team, don't care a lot about most other teams. There aren't that many of us that watch games like a lot of us do.

The playoff was lucky last year when Ohio State - one of the largest fan and alumni bases in college football got to the game. There were enough fans and alumni that would buy the tickets without them going to both games. There are only 8-10 schools that have that sort of base. That is going to be a problem for CFB going forward. Alabama and Clemson have great fan bases, but it seems their fans bases couldn't support two games that close together. I think last year was the exception and this will be the rule. ESPN has already lost their butt on these games this year. The game itself had to drop tickets to 50% of face value to sell the tickets. So the game itself is going to have problems finishing in the black. The schools will come out OK. They have guaranteed money. The guy at ESPN who misjudged this whole thing will probably be hunting a job by the time March Madness starts.

[billybud]

The stands looked great on TV last night. A lot of orange.