True Equality is not good for Mid Majors

By Bart Doan  |   Monday, August 10, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Equality isn't good for Mid Majors

By now, the smoke has cleared and preseason practices have finally begun in earnst. Another offseason of postulating about playoffs that will never happen is behind us. Another offseason of mid majors trying to shake up the system has gone the way of them fruitlessly signing on the dotted line to support the BCS for 5 additional years. The only change they got was the completely ridiculous ruling that the Rose Bowl be required to sabotage their own ratings by taking a mid major team if eligible.

A fun fact about mid major teams that you might not know? Only Texas Christian and Utah harbor winning records against Big Six conference teams in the BCS era. Even much balleyhooed Boise State limps in at a record of 5-10, hardly something worth shouting at the mountain tops over. Yet these programs will bellow of inequality. Should it be given to them? Absolutely.

You might not believe it, but I'd be willing to bet that all the BCS conference football teams would welcome full equality across the board. Would the mid majors? They say they will, so why not start...with ripping the hideous NCAA ruling adopted in 1978 that called for scholarship limitations on football programs. Thirty-one years ago, the NCAA put a ceiling on the number of scholarships a football program was allowed to give out in effort to level a playing field that saw a few upper eschelon programs in the same positions on a yearly basis to promote popularity of the sport across the country. Back then, scholarships went from an unlimited number to 95. Three times from then on, the number was culled down to eventually 85, where it sits today. If mid major teams truly want equality, it starts with taking away this rule.

What will happen is what the NCAA probably still fears. There are kids who would rather ride the pine at Alabama on scholarship than start for two years at UAB. They probably would, if the NCAA would allow them to get a free education instead of making them pay their way as walk-ons. So these lower tier prospects are pigeonholed into attending a mid major school, where if all the stars align just right, might result in a few bowl games over their much more active on the field careers.

The point is, "equality" seems to be the catch word of every offseason in college football. It's exhausting. It comes from all corners of the nation, where someone, somewhere feels disrespected and not invited. The reality is, for mid major teams, the NCAA has been catering to their demands of equality for over a quarter century. Back then, it was in effort to bring teams like Washington to the forefront. In 1994 (when the final limit was set), it was aimed at helping mid major programs and getting a spike in the number of Division 1A participants.

Now, however, the product is getting watered down. It seems like every other year, a new directional school is joining the ranks. Every season, a few upsets happen and the cries to slay the BCS in favor of seeing a Utah, Boise State, or TCU be given the ultimate title chance get louder and more legitimate. For these teams that routinely feel unwanted, unequal, and left out, they don't really know just how even things have been made for them. Reduce scholarships. Then we can go back and see if we have the same problems that we do today.
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About Bart Doan

Bart has been with Realfootball365.com for about six months and thoroughly enjoys writing for the site. He has been featured for his writings on college football in The Sporting News, The Indianapolis Star, Sports Illustrated, and on CBS Sportsline.com. When he's not drowning himself in the...
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