Mike Leach's death is cruelest blow yet for today's college football | KEN WILLIS
And then Mike Leach died.
Just when you thought they couldn’t tear apart our autumn Saturdays more than they already have, they took away one of the few remaining sideline personalities in college football.
Leach’s death this week was untimely and tragic on so many levels, but from a helicopter’s perspective, it’s also somewhat symbolic. A lot has been lost, though until this week, those losses were merely frustrating and not so sad.
College football has fundamentally changed. Some of the changes have been deemed good and long overdue on a nearly universal basis, but oh, those unintended consequences.
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Except for the upper-tier players, and those earning a comfy living administering the new campus “collectives” — and, of course, Georgia fans — try finding anyone happy with the state of college football these days.
Today we enter the 2022-23 bowl season. The Bahamas Bowl gets things started, with Bama-Birmingham facing Miami of Ohio, so let’s turn to the Opt-Out Tracker.
You heard me, the Opt-Out Tracker.
There’s no shortage of websites out there taking advantage of America’s loosened opinions on gambling, particularly sports wagering. Lots of money is gambled on college football, even during bowl season, where each game, somewhat by design, is largely coin flip.
Before flipping that coin, however, you need to know if ol’ State U will be fully staffed, or if some key personnel have, yep, opted out.
“Let’s go to the tracker:” UAB appears to be at full strength, but Miami has lost five players to the transfer portal, and the RedHawks’ injury-plagued QB, who entered the portal at season’s end, has actually opted out of the portal (who knew?) and returned — helmet in hand, we presume.
The Bahamas Bowl is practically an all-hands-on-deck affair compared to Saturday’s Fenway Bowl in Boston, where big chunks of the rosters opted for the southbound Red Line instead of one more ballgame.
It’s Cincinnati versus Louisville, or perhaps we should actually say “Cincinnati” versus “Louisville.” The uniforms will look familiar, but the names on the back might need some Googling.
Again, “Let’s go to the tracker, Jim:” At last count, Louisville has an opt-out at QB and a full six-pack in the portal. Cincy? The Bearcats must be down to walk-ons and scout-teamers, because the tracker is counting three opt-outs and eight in the portal.
Right about here, it seems like a good time to shake a fist at the clouds and ask, yet again: All those years you were screaming for college football players to get paid and enjoy freedoms brought through the transfer portal, would you have felt the same if you knew we’d end up with this current landscape?
You think it’s bad now? Just wait for the expanded playoffs, when half the teams — or at least the lowest seeds — get the playoff committee’s invite and are soon thereafter hit by key opt-outs who want to remain upright for the upcoming NFL draft rather than get drubbed by the Dawgs or Crimson Tide.
And how long will it be before some super-agent, under the guise of super-booster, corrals enough 5-star talent to pool their collective strength, enroll en masse at a certain campus, and create a super-team?
It’s coming.
Now, on that happy note . . .
The Picks
Speaking of opt-outs, you’d think I might learn to skip this part by now. But remember, I told you two of the top four teams would lose during conference championship weekend, and two of them indeed lost.
And I got one of them right, which by my math is roughly a 50-50 result, which is probably a best-case scenario for the coming week of bowl games, which begins today in Nassau with UAB winning big over what’s left of Miami.
◾ Also, Texas-San Antone over Troy (Cure Bowl); Cincy beats Louisville (Fenway); SMU over BYU (New Mexico); Fresno State by 12 over Wazzu (L.A.); Southern Miss beats Rice (Lending Tree); Oregon State by 18 over the overly opted and portaled Gators (Vegas); Boise by 1 over North Texas (Frisco); Marshall big over UConn (Myrtle Beach); Liberty over Toledo (Tater); South Alabama by 10 over Western Kentucky (Nawlins); and Air Force, with no opt-outs or portal-hoppers (go figure!), over Baylor in OT (Armed Forces).
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Mike Leach's death cruelest blow yet to modern college football
