College Football Parity is Here: FSU & Alabama Watch Out!

Webster’s defines parity as: the state or condition of being equal, especially regarding status or pay. Never has that been more apparent than in this college football season than in the one we’re in now, 2014. With the exception of one team, maybe two, nearly all of the FBS top tiered teams are on an even keel and there are several reasons why but there is one blaring reason and it’s either going to further excite fan bases or it’s going to turn them away from them. The excited will take pride in the fact that they were able to go into a hostile environment and win when they normally shouldn’t. Examples: Arizona winning at Oregon. Kansas State winning at Oklahoma. Texas A&M winning at Alabama a few years back and Mississippi State winning at LSU earlier this year. It just doesn’t happen except in a blue moon right? And yet one of the top 2 teams in the nation has to use every second of time at home in Tallahassee to not only put away ACC rival Clemson, but to fend off a decent 5th ranked Notre Dame team Saturday night that led the Seminoles in every statistical category all game long. The Noles were 11 point favorites and are the defending national champs but are finding ways to win, having to scrape by to do so. Notre Dame the week before had to scrape by a bad North Carolina team at home in which the highest amount of points were ever scored (93) and the visitors scored 43. 2-4 North Carolina scored 43 at Notre Dame.

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Now for the college football fan, if you love chaos then this might be the type of action you’ve been looking for. Upsets every week. A shakeup in the polls every Sunday afternoon after a #4 Baylor goes down or #2 Auburn gets upset handily on the road. But is it really an upset? We have to acknowledge the fact that we the college football fan lives in a Post-BCS world where 1 loss isn’t the end of the world but a further descent into gridiron madness that concludes in a 4 team playoff in January. One loss is a tiptoe dance on a razor blade for the rest of the year. Two losses and you can start thinking about what you’re getting everybody for Christmas, cause you’re out.

So what’s the root cause of all of this parity? Some say it’s the scholarship restrictions, which for 120 FBS teams, they’re fighting tooth and nail for those top notch recruits. When the coaches fail to get that ESPNU Top 150 in their recruiting process, the team fails to have a Top Recruiting Class as described by analysts and so on and so forth. Does that add up to wins? Sometimes not, but even so, that recruit that didn’t get picked will go to the likes of Ole Miss, Arizona, or Oklahoma State. Less glamourous when compared to the likes of Alabama, Florida State, or Oregon, whom seem to reload on talent instead of rebuilding. It makes for a hungry recruit when they go to Oxford, Tucson, or Stillwater and eager to prove that once they’re primed and ready to play in their redshirt sophomore year, they’re going to give you their all, and it just might include an upset of those said schools.

Parity ensues when you have that Top Ten class of Johnny Recruit who has had doors open for them, that has never lost since grade school and has had Nick Saban or Bob Stoops come to the door in search of that next great college football player to come to Tuscaloosa or Norman. They expect to be courted and not to be said no to. The Hat Game comes along with it at their local high school. Local media hypes it and then the 18 year old gets to college and realizes that there are 85 other kids like him, no different than the rest and then what happens? Alabama loses to Texas A&M. Oregon loses to Arizona. Oklahoma loses to Baylor. But the players take it in stride and do you know why? The lure of the NFL and the riches that accompany it.

Never has the lure of the NFL been so prominent than it is right now and some would say it’s ruining the tradition of college football. Not that college football is hurting for money, nor is this a plea to start paying the amateur player, but the dividing line is fairly evident in how that Top Draft NFL Prospect plays in his sophomore year against his junior year, his final year before he can go to the NFL Draft. Look at Jadeveon Clowney. In 2012, he had his signature tackle in the Outback Bowl against Michigan. You know the tackle, looked like Clowney took off Vincent Smith’s head. Clowney would’ve gone 1st in that 2013 draft, only problem was he had one more year before reaching eligibility. So what do you do when you have to get through one more year without being injured and at the end of that year you’ll become an instant multi-millionaire? You stay uninjured. Forget that South Carolina-Clemson Rivalry, the SEC Title and even a shot at the National Title, but hey can you blame him?

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Bring in any NFL Draft Prospect and ask him about the tradition of Alabama. The Houndstooth Hats and The ‘Bear’ Bryant. Ask Johnny Recruit that is on Mel Kiper’s Pre-Draft list as the #2 Wide Receiver to be taken next spring about how many National Championships his school has and the history behind it and see if he blinks or has to think twice about it. It’s a money game and if they don’t receive it in the college ranks, then they’ll get it at the next level, as long as they look at themselves as an investment, which is what they’re doing now by protecting their investment. Butkus Award Watch List? Even the Heisman Trophy has lost its luster by how it doesn’t translate to dollars on the NFL field.

So let’s revisit that parity definition. The state or condition of being equal. All of the factors above translate to better games on the field. Anybody can win anywhere. Doesn’t mean Tulane can win at Florida but Georgia Southern can. But blowouts on LSU’s Tiger Stadium by Mississippi State? Ole Miss beating Alabama? Texas’ irrelevance can be summed up by recruiting failures or over evaluating or just bad coaching.

Parity is good for the time being. Crowds storming the field and bringing the goal posts down is good as well. If you’re a college football fan its a blessing, especially if you’re at TCU, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Arizona and Kentucky. The near future is bright for these teams with great coaching. Patterson, Snyder, Mullen, Rodriguez, and Mark Stoops. They take those recruits, the ones not recruited by the majors and turn them into winners on the field. They believe because this might be their last couple of years playing football and these coaches instill in them to win anyway possible. The result will be the same for years to come. Upsets. Shakeups and Final Fours that will keep us the college football fan entertained. Is that not why we’re here?

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College Football Parity has Finally Arrived: Florida State, Alabama, Oklahoma. Watch Out!

By Jerry Levi | Oct 20, 2014