There are two pieces of good news regarding college football this morning. I know; I was shocked to see that too.
First, the SEC’s Athletic directors voted to have all conference members play conference games on the next-to-last weekend of the regular season starting in 2027. That simple act gets rid of what had come to be known as “Cupcake Weekend”. To give you a flavor of what will not happen, here are just a couple of the matchups scheduled by SEC Schools for “Cupcake Weekend” last year:
- Eastern Illinois 0 Alabama 56
- UNC-Charlotte 3 Georgia 35
- Samford 0 Texas A&M 48
- Mercer 17 Auburn 62
I for one will not miss these mismatches which are nothing but glorified scrimmages for SEC schools. Yes, I know that SEC teams face big-time rivals in the final weekend of the season, but these “breathers” leading into the season ending games had become embarrassing at best. Naturally, there are always folks who will find fault with any change. Some argue that the season is long and arduous and these cupcake games are better than a BYE Week. Others say – correctly – that the big schools pay the little guys at least six figures to come and take a shellacking. Those “paydays” are important for the little guys to be able to fund their meager football programs and now those payday opportunities will become harder to find.
Forget the naysayers; this is beneficial to college football and to college football fans.
The second piece of good news comes from a surprising source – – the Congress of the United States. According to reports, a bill has been introduced in Congress to provide a partial shield for college football and the NCAA from anti-trust litigation. Congress has been urged to legislate on this issue for several years now but never got anything introduced; that fact alone makes this announcement a surprise. Moreover, the two sponsors of the bill – – Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) – – probably would not agree that Tuesday came after Monday earlier this week let alone on a new piece of legislation. And yet, here we are …
As introduced, the bill would allow college football as an “industry” to write rules involving college eligibility and transfer rules without being subject to litigation by players. Those rules – plus the ability to enforce them without a court intervention – is something that the schools and the NCAA have wanted and needed in recent times. Some possible rules could now limit players to one transfer per college career and there could be age-based rules related to eligibility as well.
According to reports, the Cruz-Cantwell bill also puts a hard cap on player compensation. It seems to me that this will be highly controversial and hugely difficult to enforce. But if a “level playing field” is worth pursuing, then some sort of leveling needs to happen regarding the amount of money to be spent on amassing a roster.
Also in the recently introduced bill is something that has been named the “Lane Kiffin Rule”. It would put limits on what a school might do related to poaching a coach whose team is still playing. Once again, this is a good rule and a noble undertaking, but I don’t see how it might be enforced.
Here are a couple of other provisions of this bill:
- Federal oversight and transparency standards for all NIL deals
- Standardization of activities of boosters, booster collectives and player agents
- Making NIL deals represent “fair market value”
Can the Congress deal with this sort of a matter? Well, the bill has been endorsed by schools and conferences in lots of states meaning there could be some grassroots pressure applied here. However, there is still at least one fly in the ointment:
- Neither the SEC Commissioner nor the Big-10 Commissioner has formally endorsed the bill.
Finally, an interesting perspective from comedian Ron White:
“I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka and have a party.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………