From now until preseason camp begins in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles on a different topic each week. This week is about what we would do if we were in charge of our favorite group, team, conference, or sport. You can catch up with all the Thematic Week content here and all our “If I were in charge” articles here.
Since it’s “If I Were in Charge” Week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, today seems like a perfect time to put our own spin on college athletics. Despite its popularity, college football has many areas that can be improved both on and off the field. Even more in need of change is college basketball. Although the NCAA Tournament is one of the most popular sporting events, ratings are declining and interest in sports outside of March Madness appears to be at an all-time low. Perhaps your complaint with college athletics is the realignment of conference or media contracts and the increased reliance on streaming services.
While it’s easy to complain about something, we want to know what solutions you have for a problem you’re having with college athletics. Imagine that you are in a position of power that is able to make some changes in the current landscape of college athletics. Perhaps the NCAA president, a conference commissioner or a television executive is reading and taking any suggestions into consideration. On the other hand, judging by the history of the NCAA and how slowly they decide to implement changes, don’t expect them to reinvent the wheel anytime soon.
Today’s question: What change would you make in college athletics?
We’d love to hear your options. Or reply to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s Answer: An Adjustment to the College Football Schedule
Even with a four-team playoff, the college football season was already in need of a change. Now that the CFP has expanded to 12 teams, it has become even more apparent that some adjustments need to be made. With the possibility of a couple of extra games due to the expanded playoffs, there are too many things at stake for programs and coaches in December and January. Not only will the coaching carousel be spinning at full speed, but National Transfer Day will be celebrated in December and the transfer portal will be open. As if coaches don’t have enough to deal with right now, they may have to plan a series of games.
There is no easy solution to this problem. In my personal opinion, I thought National Signing Day in early February was fine. I understand that recruits are arriving on campus earlier and earlier these days so that they can acclimate to campus and college life as quickly as possible, as well as be a part of spring practices. That said, there didn’t seem to be any problems when NSD was in February. In some ways, it seemed like there was a little more shine to National Signing Day when it was in February. Now it almost seems as if a December NSD got lost in the shuffle of bowl game and holiday prep.
The fact that the transfer portal is so new to college athletics makes it an even more difficult issue to address. Since the introduction of the portal, we have seen it deal a major blow to bowling games. While there hasn’t been much player movement involved in the CFP, many players in the rest of the New Year’s Six and minor bowl games are sitting out and entering the transfer portal. Complicating this is how to align the transfer portal with the start of winter classes at schools. It looks like the transfer portal will have to stay where it currently is, but what could help coaches maintain some sanity is moving up the start of the college football season.
I understand that Labor Day weekend is the unofficial start of the college football season. Recently there has been a little more activity in “Week 0”. I see no reason why we can’t have more Week 0 games. If it were up to me, I would start the season even a week or two before the current Week 0. Players and fans at some southern schools might like the idea simply because of how terribly hot it is at that time of year, but there is a lot to do, especially if conferences are going to continue playing championship games before the CFP begins.
If you start the season earlier, then you can conclude the regular season earlier, which could help spread out the rush of activity that coaches have to deal with in December and January. Plus, there’s not much else to do in the sports world in mid-August, so viewers would definitely welcome some college football. We’ve already seen the popularity of Week 0, which is why more games will be played leading up to Labor Day weekend. Even though college football coaches are paid well for their services, the huge salaries aren’t even worth losing your sanity because they have to juggle even more than usual in December due to an expanded postseason.
Matt’s Answer: Find Some Competent CFB Ad Teams
Anyone who pays attention to college sports knows that the administration of those sports (at the institutional and national level) is a bit shit right now. So there are a wide variety of things that could and should be addressed; from the increasingly idiotic schedule that Brett referenced to the lack of consistent guidelines around NIL and player pay to the insufferable asshole coaches who prefer to blame players for simply wanting fair compensation for their talent and work instead of adjusting and adapting to the new reality. in their jobs.
But I’m going to go in a very different direction. As college football, led by the Big Ten, continues its expansion across all broadcast networks, cable channels and streaming services, I only ask that one broadcaster, for the love of all things good and holy, please find something more competent. announce teams that aren’t boring, self-centered or complete idiots.
I know there are die-hard fans of many of the biggest streaming duos, but I almost uniformly hate them all. Gus and Joel can be fun, especially since they both seem to love Ohio State so much, but man, those two guys seem to make the broadcasts more about themselves than necessary. Fowler and Herbstreit are, in many ways, the college football voices of a generation, and I know there are several vocal Buckeye fans who dislike Herbie for whatever perceived reason. Personally, I have nothing against Kirk as a person, I just think the pairing has become very stale and neither he nor Chris add much to the broadcasts other than describing what’s happening.
I like a good dose of Brad Nesler on Keynote USA, but if that means having to listen to Gary Danielson for more than 2.5 seconds, I’d rather be systematically next to giant outdoor concert-level speakers 24 hours a day all the time. a soccer match. season in hopes of accelerating the dramatic hearing loss. Oh, and don’t get me started on the nepotistic clown show going on on Keynote USA and Peacock.
Then, the more games you watch from the lower tiers of Power 5 4 and Group of 5, you realize that a large portion of Keynote USA’s “talent” list is made up of people who couldn’t provide a description or context. a cat playing with a ball of wool, much less a football game.
Now, I understand that the job is certainly harder than we think at home, but are there really as few people alive and working in sports broadcasting as we are subjected to as Jac Collinsworth and Jason Garrett? Oh, and so people are still trying to make the easily confused and often discouraged Tim Brando a reality? The literally worst.
Now I have to say that there are some teams that I enjoy. I think Jason Benetti and Brock Huard at Fox are the best in the business right now. Benetti is quick, sharp, and accurate on a play-by-play basis, while Huard provides interesting nuances that I don’t think we tend to get from most teams. And they do it without trying to focus on each discussion.
Likewise, I also like Keynote USA’s Mark Jones and Louis Riddick. Jones brings a toughness and unflappability that can only be obtained from a veteran of his caliber. Now, this is a new couple, so I think there’s likely more good to come from them, but Riddick’s depth of experience and his regular NFL-focused work also allows him to provide analysis that isn’t the same canned material as most commentators present. outside.
I also enjoy the Keynote USA team of Joe Tessitore and Jesse Palmer. I think Joe Tess might be Keynote USA’s best play-by-play man, and while I also regularly see Jesse providing color commentary on Food Network’s baking shows, he’s also still a solid college football player.
The thing about all those teams, as much as I like them, is that they are all pretty simple. They don’t provide much humor or entertainment; They are old school commentary teams. Obviously, I’d prefer that to a terribly boring team that misses calls, can’t accurately describe what’s going on, and relies on the same four or five clichés regardless of the game and situation. But honestly, with the cavalcade of channels covering college football, you’re telling me that no one has been able to find a team that brings even an ounce of the “Inside the NBA” joy and fantasy to an expert-level game. Bob Costas secondary focus?
If we’re going to have to pay for a half-dozen streaming services to watch games while conferences make literally billions of dollars each year, the least these networks can do is give us a product that wouldn’t be better watched in silence. .
Keynote USA
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