What a Crazy Season...

Honestly, I cannot remember a time when college football was this crazy and unpredictable. From the beginning of the year, when the top 5 ranked Wolverines lost to D-II App. St, we were off and running. Number two in the nation was simply a nice name for "the next team to get upset." We have seen perennial powerhouse programs like Notre Dame get pounded. We have seen schools traditionally in the top 25 like Miami, and FSU, fight just for respectability. We watched as new programs like South Florida, and Connecticut emerge as new national powers.

What a crazy, upside down, inside out, season this has been. This year BCS really stands for Bowl Chaos Series. And, amongst all of this lunacy, you know what.... I love it. That's right. I absolutely love it. Parity is wonderful, and it is arriving in College Football for the first time ever.

The NFL and technology have combined to do what was once thought impossible. They have brought about an age in college football where any team, on any given Saturday, can beat anyone else. How you may ask. Well, I will tell you.

Today, the steaks of winning in the pro game are higher than they have ever been. There is more money in play, and less patients from fans, and subsequently owners, to bring home a winner, now. Because of this excessively competitive environment, teams are doing anything to gain even the smallest edge. This includes, heavily scouting schools that were once upon a time, passed by regularly.

With this change has come the expected shift in recruiting results. Years ago, when a top notch high school athlete was being recruited, the recognized nation powerhouses would remind the student that if he wanted any chance to play NFL football, he had to choose a big time program, or he would not get the exposure he needed to be drafted. Sure there was the super athlete who would still turn heads at smaller schools, but that was fewer and further between. If you were looking to become a professional, you needed the exposure that came from playing at your Notre Dame's, your Penn State's and your Oklahoma's.

Now this angle has evaporated. Smaller schools, more local to the athlete are competing more heavily because the student knows that to get noticed by the NFL, you simply need to bring it. Sure, there will always be the question about the competition level they played against, but each year it carries less and less weight. Why? Because of technology. With the millions of ways NFl teams have of evaluating a player, they are beginning to be able to compare what once was thought of as apples to oranges. Now these students at smaller schools can be evaluated on a play by play basis, just like those at larger schools. Between the internet and high definition filming and broadcast, these kids all get the same exposure, which before was impossible.

Just look at the results. Today, there are more and more impact NFL players coming out of smaller schools than ever before. Don't believe me? Just look. At the start of play today, December 2nd, the NFL 5 highest rated passers were Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Ben Rothlisberger, David Garrard and Brett Favre. Where did these 5 play their college ball? Michigan, Eastern Illinois, Miami of Ohio, East Carolina, and Southern Mississippi. Now, excluding Favre (who was drafted in 1904) all of these guys were drafted recently (ala, this century). What this means is that 25% of our list comes from traditional football powerhouse programs (Michigan), while 75% came from smaller, less recognized schools.

Still want more proof? Lets look defense. One of the most coveted defensive abilities is the ability to get after the opposing team's QB. If we examine the NFL five top pass rushers as of this week, we would be looking at these five guys: Aaron Kampman, Patrick Kerney, Greg Ellis, DeMarcus Ware, and Osi Umenyiora. Their schools? Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, Troy State, and Troy State. Lets look at these schools a little closer. Iowa is a pretty big program, and they have been know to put out some talent. Virginia, more so, so. Not often labeled a National Power Program. North Carolina is much better know for their basketball prowess, although they have put out some pretty good defensive player this century. Troy State is a school that most of you couldn't find.... on a map.... of Alabama. Seriously, how many of you even knew it was in Alabama. Liars. Anyhow, what we see again, is that even if we add North Carolina and Virginia to the label of "Big Time", still 40% of the group is from small schools. Almost half. *Note to NFL GM's in need of a pass rush specialist, check out that small Alabama school. *

Folks, my point is that the College game that many of us fell in love with has changed. The chaos that we have been experiencing this year, is likely to be the beginning of something more, not the aberration that some have been claiming. The pro game has changed, and these changes filter down. Bottom line, is that those of us who graduated traditionally small schools now have something to look forward to. Even our small school can make some national noise, and we will, more and more often (Go USF Bulls !!!)