Viva La Revolution!

Do you ever get the feeling that college football is like pre-Revolution France. Like your team is a peasant eating rotten fruits and vegetables like three star recruits, luke-warm fan bases, and coaches who use your college as a stepping stone rather than a destination? Do you picture Texas or Florida or Oklahoma as Louis XIV, hanging out at Versailles sitting on a golden toilet, sleeping on silk sheets, and playing catch with his pet peacocks? Do you pray and hope for an uprising, lead by the Jacobin-esque Boise State Broncos?

I know I do.


College football has been evolving into an elitist hierarchy ever since the 1960s and got propelled further down the road of strict class organization with the creation of the BCS . Gone are the days where conference races involved intrigue and new faces. Long gone are the days of a national title for the BYU Cougars. And even more long gone are the days of Ivy League schools repeating as national champions.

The reasons are fairly obvious. Those schools just recruit better players which can occur for several reasons.

1. The player is attracted to the school by its "winning tradition."
2. The player is attracted to the school by its state-of-the-art facilities.
3. The player is attracted to the school by its coach (who is there because of 1 and 2, and a lucrative salary).
4. The player is attracted to the school by illegal goings-on like under the table payments (Cam Newton), free tattoos (Ohio State players), or free vacations (North Carolina players).
5. The school is located in a recruiting hot bed and all they need to do is snag 25% of the top talent and they will be loaded (i.e. Florida, Texas, Alabama)
6. The school is in a BCS conference.

Now, 1 can't really be created. Very few schools truly have 1. Some "elite" programs get by with just 1 and the fact that they are the only interesting thing going on in their state (example: Nebraska). Some schools have one extremely rich alumnus who puts that school on the map by contributing massive amounts of money to creating 2 (Oregon). 3 usually occurs, as stated above, because of the school's ability to employ someone viewed as a "top coach in the business." 4 occurs basically everywhere. However, the risk of 4 is that it can create a bit of a "success vortex" which can eliminate entire seasons of a program and suck all the talent out of previously elite recruiting classes (see: USC and Ohio State). 5 really only applies to schools in Florida, Texas, and maybe southern California and some states in the "Deep South." 6 is pretty obvious.

The point is that the reasons recruits come to play certain places are circular in nature. Years ago, a school had a great amount of success. People were excited about the team, paid money to see them play, and donated as boosters to the program. The program was able to upgrade facilities and coaching staff. This made players want to come to this school to play, increasing the talent level available to the school. With this talent, fans continued to be attracted to games, boosters continued to donate money, and continued success was pretty much inevitable. Sadly, your program's success had to come somewhere around or after 1960 or it is irrelevant in the minds of people funding the program and those players interested in joining it. (Example: No one cares if you won the 1947 Rose Bowl.) And it helps to be a massive state university with a large enrollment and state funding.

Some schools that meet the basic blueprint for being part of college football's current 1st class include: Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, and Florida. These schools are basically always good. When they lose more than 3 games in a season, shock is the general consensus around the country and people are calling for the coaches to be sent to the guillotine. A five star recruit on these squads is "just another guy," and the boosters gladly fork over the big bucks to watch a winning team take the field each year.

I'm not really sure what the point is I'm trying to make. It's pretty much always been this way. The outliers who buck the trend tend to just get lucky. Who knew when Phil Knight left campus, that he would become the CEO of the world's favorite sporting goods company and return to his alma mater baring gifts? Who knew that when Penn State hired the curmudgeonly (even in his youth) Joe Paterno, that he would single-handily bring a program to prominence? Who knew that an unknown guy in coaching circles (Kirk Ferentz) could convince high school kids to come play in the middle of no where Iowa (even if they do fill their free time with drugs and crime)?

It just always feels like the rich get richer, even with several stories of slightly obscure programs becoming more and more successful in recent years (Michigan State anyone?). I look at the top 25 and I feel like I'm reading the same names every year, just slightly rearranged, as if the kings at Versailles are taking turns shooting pool using gold cue balls.

So I plead, as the college football season approaches, let there be change! Let there be a take over of the top 25 by the schools often scoffed at as second-rate in football. Show me the peasants of the FBS (non-BCS schools) riot by playing flawless football. Can someone lead the SEC to the guillotine, if only for a year? Will the often trodden upon rise up? I beg you, Missouri or Arizona State or Michigan State (or any other team that is usually looked down upon, those were the first three that popped into my head), take action and fight for your college football rights! Upend Oklahoma and Texas, USC and Oregon, Ohio State and Nebraska. Bring equality to an elitist game. Let there be unspoiled food for all! Let there be new conference champions! Heck, let there be new BCS champions!

Let there be revolution!