It’s finally over. Finished. Done.
The game “for all the Tostitos,” according to Brent Musburger, goes to Auburn and the Heisman to Cam Newton. While the outcome of the BCS National Title answered the question regarding the best team in college football, there are some other questions that need to be resolved following the end of the 2010-2011 season:
What’s going to happen to Cam Newton after the National Championship?
While he’s decided to forgo his senior season at Auburn for the NFL, Newton is leaving with a storm cloud hanging over his head. The NCAA never sleeps, and if the allegations against him are true, Auburn could have a Reggie Bush-esque situation on their hands. The program could be stripped of its National Title and Newton could lose his Heisman. It could go one of two ways: either Newton escapes with a clean record and enjoys success in the NFL, or he and his father could be found guilty of the charges against them, ending a season that could be known to Auburn fans as the greatest-season-that -(theoretically)-never-was.
Guilty or not, Newton should have what it takes to be an NFL quaterback. With a 6-foot-6-inch, 250 pound frame, good speed, and the experience of a champion, Newton could do some serious damage to NFL defenses. Hopefully he has success in the pros, because if he fails at football, employers in the “real” world might not be impressed with a resume that includes a stolen laptop, several instances of academic cheating, and a pending NCAA investigation regarding his eligibility. In anyone’s case, that’s a no-win situation.
How many football players will undergo surgery now that the season is over?
My guess: probably hundreds. College football at the Division I level is a business, and in order to win games, teams have to put their best players out on the field. If it “hurts” in the competitive world of college football, suck it up and keep playing until you absolutely have to get surgery. Once the season is over, players around the country go under the knife at the expense of their athletic departments to correct nagging injuries that plague them throughout the season. While these surgeries are almost always successful, there’s the possibility that symptoms can show up later in life, making it hard to be both an old man and a former college football player.
Did the BCS National Championship reinforce the needs for bowl games instead of playoffs?
Yes, not only because the National Championship was a good game, but because there were many bowl games that had dramatic victories/comebacks/conclusions. Bowl games create revenue for both teams and their conferences, as well as chances for two schools to finish their season on high notes. If the FBS adopted a playoff system similar to the FCS, it would mean a loss of revenue for schools by possibly shortening their regular season schedule in order to make room for a playoff. In addition, a playoff would crown only one “champion,” eliminate the pageantry created by the bowls, and erase some of the exciting postseason conference match ups.
However, in the case of the Northwestern Wildcats, a playoff that doesn’t eclipse everyone in the FBS (such as a playoff among the top four teams) could help our chances of going to a game such as the Rose Bowl sooner rather than later. For example, if the playoff takes two Big Ten teams to compete for the National Championship, that leaves the Big Ten’s Rose Bowl slot open for whomever is next in line. If our team has a good year but doesn’t win the Conference Championship, then we could be playing in a BCS bowl with a third or possibly even a fourth place finish in the conference depending on our overall record, among other things.
Playoff or not, it still comes down to the need for us to win football games, and a 7-6 finish doesn’t cut it for any National, Big Ten, or Rose Bowl champion.