Roll Tide, but do you care?
Went to a bar (in DC) with a buddy to watch the NCAA football championship. Passed 4 bars that were so dead we thought they closed early. The bar we settled on was less than half full, and less than 20% of the eyeballs in the bar were directed at the TV set. With bars/restaurants/TV rooms in non-college & non-winning markets having less than a 20% rate of caring & no clapping when someone wins a CHAMPIONSHIP, I would consider your season a failure.
We were at the same bar for Week 15 NFL Sunday, which had one of the worst 1PM slates of the year. And the place was rockin'. Standing room only crowd, all eyeballs glued to the screens, drinks flowing, Ooohhhh's and Ahhhh's for every play, and the home city was not even playing.
Something has to be done about this. In basketball, more people on a whole care about the first 4 days of March Madness than Game 7 of the NBA Finals. What makes it even worse is this is a football-crazed nation. The NFL is ALL WE TALK ABOUT. Why is the college game not translating? I'd say bad word of mouth re: NCAA scandals, playing Saturday warmup to NFL games, ONE CONFERENCE WINNING EVERY YEAR (total bullshit), not enough stuff you can bet on, bad lines for bowl games, lack of a coherent script, & no universal bracket, fantasy game, or betting pool you can beat people at.
My solution: single-elimination tournament at the end of the season. Field of 84, featuring all conferences. Get the split-screens going crazy.
Push the season back a month, when there is no NFL except crappy exhibition. Have all NCAA schools hold optional academic "mini-camps" starting the first week of August. All dorms open, so students can come to chill & party if they don't want more class, and just pay room. Extra month of warm-weather tailgating & parties. Schools find a new revenue stream, NCAA & students win, football-starved NFL fans have a late-summer alternative to boring preseason games.
Season ends on Halloween, tourney starts 2nd week of November during the week. Reason to party & bet between Halloween & the holidays. Final 4 Thanksgiving weekend, championship game Monday after (with the MNF NFL game moving to Tuesday). I don't think any drone will complain about 3 nights of football during the week. Besides, if your team gets in the title game, you get a 5-day weekend (& Tuesday "We Won" hangover day for winning team's fans). Even if the recruiting scandals, conference realignment, & crazy "Who's #1" debates continue during the season, this tournament & schedule change is a winner.
Got a better idea? Hit me on twitter @shermansne
