Fixing the Opt Out Problem

[Crossblock]

A number of people have posted in other threads about the Bowl Game Opt Outs and how they are affecting Bowl Games and making them look like Spring Practice Games. Here are a few suggestions.

1. make it a condition of scholarships and NIL Money that if you are a Healthy opt Out of a Bowl Game, You are required to repay the school all Scholarship and NIL Money received in the 30 Months prior to the Bowl Game. This will make guys Who are not first round locks to weigh the consequences of Opting Out and determine whether the cost of opting out is worth it.

2. This also gets rid of the backward thinking of Players on this subject. It has almost a status symbol to opt out. It's as if a Player is telling the NFl that You need to draft Me because I was so good that I opted out of a Bowl Game. This will prevent good college players Who may be lower round picks or free agents from opting out without taking a large financial risk.

3. Put some of the onus on the Players and Schools. Establish a rule that will make a School ineligible to compete for a National Championship or any Bowl Game for 2 years if 20% or more of their Scholarship Players opt out of a particular bowl game. This will make the Coaches pay more attention to the character of the players they recruit or sign out of the portal.

 

[YOTHN]

A number of people have posted in other threads about the Bowl Game Opt Outs and how they are affecting Bowl Games and making them look like Spring Practice Games. Here are a few suggestions.

3. Put some of the onus on the Players and Schools. Establish a rule that will make a School ineligible to compete for a National Championship or any Bowl Game for 2 years if 20% or more of their Scholarship Players opt out of a particular bowl game. This will make the Coaches pay more attention to the character of the players they recruit or sign out of the portal.

I get that its a bummer but I don't know what opting out has to do with character. It's a financial decision and a smart one. They need to make the bowls more enticing to play than sitting it out.

 

[Crusty The Baker]

Interesting approach to threaten players and schools. I wonder how people would respond to that? Who benefits?

I don’t see players opting out as a problem as long as every player on a team has the right to do so. If only certain players are allowed to opt out and everyone else is forced to practice and play, that is a problem.

The main beneficiaries of non-playoff bowl games are the venues, which benefit whatever billionaire NFL owner is attached to them. The advertising corporations must be getting something out of it, although maybe not so much since there has been a lot of turnover in sponsors (see the Poptart Bowl). I seem to remember that is actually a financial drag for school athletic departments after mandatory ticket purchases, travel expenses, etc, although all the schools in a conference benefit from the payout. For players, whether they’re staying, transferring, or entering the NFL draft, opting out benefits their future teams by keeping them healthy. The main beneficiary is the billionaire NFL owner, who gets a bigger pool of labor and has had an entire season to evaluate players. Until the billionaires benefit from the changes you propose, I doubt they will happen.

I’d say a bigger problem is forbidding non-bowl teams the ability to practice. The solution to that is easy. Although if that were allowed, the whole non-playoff bowl system might collapse. I imagine this is already happening with the expansion of the playoff.

 

[82IU]

Go back to playing 11 games per season. Set up a 4-tier, 32 team playoff scenario where all teams get a guaranteed 12th game. Let the final ranked teams,
( beyond #128) have a 2 week practice session instead if they want or pair up with whose left for a final 12th game. Use a ranking system to rank all teams. The most games the final teams would play is 16 games, the way it is now the winners play 15 games. Let the so called Bowl sponsers pony up and guarantee the winners of each playoff group a bonus check to split evenly amongst the team. Give players an incentive to keep playing. Maybe see if something could be worked out where Sponsers insure Star players like Lloyd's of London policies. Make College Football post season like College Basketball or more like the old Indiana H.S. post season tournament... everyone gets to play. Ain't going to happen, but it would make post season fun again, imho.
82

 

[Stlgator2223]

Lots of good ideas but this isn’t a Bball tournament,in football it’s not if you are going to get hurt but when .People toss around extra games like nothing can happen .

 

[OpenWheels]

I get that its a bummer but I don't know what opting out has to do with character. It's a financial decision and a smart one. They need to make the bowls more enticing to play than sitting it out.

Really? You don't understand what quitting on something you committed to do, has to do with character? I'm sure you do understand that.

Sure, it's a financial decision. Also a character one.

 

[CC Mac]

I think they should go to a 16 team playoff.
That would be 15 games (which is plenty in my opinion) and every game means something which means less or no opt outs.
There is no perfect solution but there are too many meaningless games with teams with 6-6 records and in some instances are below .500

 

[OpenWheels]

The only thing I like about the bowls, is players seem to almost universally say positive things about the experience, meeting the other team and shooting pool with them or whatever activities those committees dream up for swag.

Once all the money is going to the playoff pool, whoever is connected to that, I'm wondering if the local attention to support the game will decline. I think it will. So will be less of an experience, and really be 'just another game'.

What started the decline was people thinking a tournament national champion was somehow some holy grail. Nothing too wrong with prestigious bowls and a 'mythical national champion' but people wanted out and wanted a tiered playoff. I knew then, as did everyone, that meant a large playoff someday, the two and four team was obviously just to hide that the bowls would disappear someday. One would've been blind not to know that. Nothing wrong with phasing it all in though I guess.

Of course it will become a 12 or more team championship soon. Whoever controls it wants the most money. So they'll gladly take it away from the prior bowl communities.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

I don't have the best answer,

But one reality for me as a fan is that the bowl "location" suddenly becomes more important.

I am not going to Detroit, NY, about anything north of the 31st paralell to see a game with a bunch of meaningful opt outs.

 

[Crossblock]

I get that its a bummer but I don't know what opting out has to do with character. It's a financial decision and a smart one. They need to make the bowls more enticing to play than sitting it out.

Here is where I see the character issue. A lot of running backs opted out. The NFL doesn't value running backs highly, there are years when only one or two running backs are taken in the first round and as few as 5 in the first two rounds. Yet You see guys Who couldn't start for their College Teams or had limited roles opting out rather than playing another game to show their talent and improve heir draft position.

Cody Schrader of Mizzou is a good example. Played for a Division II School initially,m transferred to Missouri and played for a time without a Scholarship. As a Senior, was among National Leaders in rushing. Played in the Bowl game against Ohio State Friday night, and had almost 130 rushing yards on 20 Plus carries.

If I am an NFL General Manager and I have Him all but equal with another running backed Who opted out of a Bowl game, Who do I take? I pick the guy Who played in the Bowl Game and finished the Year strong because I know that if our team is out of the Playoffs with two games left. He will continue to play with maximum effort and not go through the motions to get to the end of the Year.

 

[Baller23Boogie]

Here is where I see the character issue. A lot of running backs opted out. The NFL doesn't value running backs highly, there are years when only one or two running backs are taken in the first round and as few as 5 in the first two rounds. Yet You see guys Who couldn't start for their College Teams or had limited roles opting out rather than playing another game to show their talent and improve heir draft position.

Cody Schrader of Mizzou is a good example. Played for a Division II School initially,m transferred to Missouri and played for a time without a Scholarship. As a Senior, was among National Leaders in rushing. Played in the Bowl game against Ohio State Friday night, and had almost 130 rushing yards on 20 Plus carries.

If I am an NFL General Manager and I have Him all but equal with another running backed Who opted out of a Bowl game, Who do I take? I pick the guy Who played in the Bowl Game and finished the Year strong because I know that if our team is out of the Playoffs with two games left. He will continue to play with maximum effort and not go through the motions to get to the end of the Year.

Don't take this the wrong way, but you want guys who you say the NFL doesn't value highly in running backs, who now play in more games then they did even 10 years ago, play in a game that has no actual meaning excluding the playoffs, not because it could be best for the player and their family to sit out, but because they should put their body on the line because that's what players use to do back in the day.

Just for reference on what an injury can do to a kid, look no further then Jaylon Smith at Notre Dame. He was easily a lottery pick and possibly a top 5 pick, yet got hurt in his bowl game with a serious knee injury and slipped to the second round.

Imagine being a projected mid round pick and having something like that happen to you. Your dreams of being drafted probably just went out the door.

 

[76-1]

Go back to playing 11 games per season. Set up a 4-tier, 32 team playoff scenario where all teams get a guaranteed 12th game. Let the final ranked teams,
( beyond #128) have a 2 week practice session instead if they want or pair up with whose left for a final 12th game. Use a ranking system to rank all teams. The most games the final teams would play is 16 games, the way it is now the winners play 15 games. Let the so called Bowl sponsers pony up and guarantee the winners of each playoff group a bonus check to split evenly amongst the team. Give players an incentive to keep playing. Maybe see if something could be worked out where Sponsers insure Star players like Lloyd's of London policies. Make College Football post season like College Basketball or more like the old Indiana H.S. post season tournament... everyone gets to play. Ain't going to happen, but it would make post season fun again, imho.
82

I'd just go with the top 32 matched up by seeding based on overall record, strength of schedule, aggregate ranking from the different polls; lowest number of points against, most points scored, least yards given up; most yards gained..., best looking cheerleaders, best mascot, most likable fans... etc, ad infinitum...

Those 32 games would include most of the Bowls in business at the moment..., and you could still have a few smaller ones if there was any interest shown in them...

This would be a lot more interesting for the fan bases routinely outside the top 20 but whose team might be having an unusually good season... 32 -16 -8 -4- the Championship played the two nights prior to the Super Bowl...; or you could just expand it to 16 rather than 32... The reality is that there's rarely more than 16 teams with even an outside chance of winning it all, so that would be relatively fair...

You have to adjust the regular season accordingly and lose the conference championship games neither of which is likely to happen...

 

[82hoosier]

Ron DeSantis wanted the state of Florida to contribute $1 million for a lawsuit against the NCAA for excluding Florida State from the playoffs. That had about as much a chance as DeSantis defeating Trump in the primaries.

 

[Baller23Boogie]

Ron DeSantis wanted the state of Florida to contribute $1 million for a lawsuit against the NCAA for excluding Florida State from the playoffs. That had about as much a chance as DeSantis defeating Trump in the primaries.

Based on yesterday's game, Georgia was the team that was left out, not FSU.

 

[h20pls]

A number of people have posted in other threads about the Bowl Game Opt Outs and how they are affecting Bowl Games and making them look like Spring Practice Games. Here are a few suggestions.

1. make it a condition of scholarships and NIL Money that if you are a Healthy opt Out of a Bowl Game, You are required to repay the school all Scholarship and NIL Money received in the 30 Months prior to the Bowl Game. This will make guys Who are not first round locks to weigh the consequences of Opting Out and determine whether the cost of opting out is worth it.

2. This also gets rid of the backward thinking of Players on this subject. It has almost a status symbol to opt out. It's as if a Player is telling the NFl that You need to draft Me because I was so good that I opted out of a Bowl Game. This will prevent good college players Who may be lower round picks or free agents from opting out without taking a large financial risk.

3. Put some of the onus on the Players and Schools. Establish a rule that will make a School ineligible to compete for a National Championship or any Bowl Game for 2 years if 20% or more of their Scholarship Players opt out of a particular bowl game. This will make the Coaches pay more attention to the character of the players they recruit or sign out of the portal.

Make all scholarships based on academic merit and academic merit alone.

If you're good at shooting, blocking, passing, catching, etc. Fine. You can get NIL money to pay for school.

 

[Hoosier Clarion]

A number of people have posted in other threads about the Bowl Game Opt Outs and how they are affecting Bowl Games and making them look like Spring Practice Games. Here are a few suggestions.

1. make it a condition of scholarships and NIL Money that if you are a Healthy opt Out of a Bowl Game, You are required to repay the school all Scholarship and NIL Money received in the 30 Months prior to the Bowl Game. This will make guys Who are not first round locks to weigh the consequences of Opting Out and determine whether the cost of opting out is worth it.

2. This also gets rid of the backward thinking of Players on this subject. It has almost a status symbol to opt out. It's as if a Player is telling the NFl that You need to draft Me because I was so good that I opted out of a Bowl Game. This will prevent good college players Who may be lower round picks or free agents from opting out without taking a large financial risk.

3. Put some of the onus on the Players and Schools. Establish a rule that will make a School ineligible to compete for a National Championship or any Bowl Game for 2 years if 20% or more of their Scholarship Players opt out of a particular bowl game. This will make the Coaches pay more attention to the character of the players they recruit or sign out of the portal.

I like it but Good luck.

 

[Hoosier Clarion]

I think they should go to a 16 team playoff.
That would be 15 games (which is plenty in my opinion) and every game means something which means less or no opt outs.
There is no perfect solution but there are too many meaningless games with teams with 6-6 records and in some instances are below .500

I've thought for a long time that 6-6 is not a good enough W/L to be eligible. It simply doesn't make the grade. Same as all C's don't allow you to be tied for Salutatorian. Yup probably would catch IUFB + other B1G programs some seasons. Sure would make the surviving bowls more viable not to mention the playoffs.

 

[IUCrazy2]

I think they should go to a 16 team playoff.
That would be 15 games (which is plenty in my opinion) and every game means something which means less or no opt outs.
There is no perfect solution but there are too many meaningless games with teams with 6-6 records and in some instances are below .500

Those games aren't meaningless to programs like ours. That is the problem. The top of college football is already this way, there are no Cinderella stories. No Dusty May teams going deep in the tournament because they won't be invited to begin with. The top 16 teams will almost always be picked off a list of the same 25 schools every year with few exceptions. And for the schools not part of that 25, anything you attempt to build will be poached at the end of every year in the wide open free agency that occurs at the end of every season.

That dog sh*t GA/FSU bowl game becomes the norm for any program that doesn't already have a leg up on everyone else.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Really? You don't understand what quitting on something you committed to do, has to do with character? I'm sure you do understand that.

Sure, it's a financial decision. Also a character one.

Because the NFL is so concerned about character? lol

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

I've thought for a long time that 6-6 is not a good enough W/L to be eligible. It simply doesn't make the grade. Same as all C's don't allow you to be tied for Salutatorian. Yup probably would catch IUFB + other B1G programs some seasons. Sure would make the surviving bowls more viable not to mention the playoffs.

It’s good enough if a bowl wants to invite you and ESPN wants to televise it. It’s $$$

 

[Hoosier Clarion]

It’s good enough if a bowl wants to invite you and ESPN wants to televise it. It’s $$$

Agreed television driven. But 6-6 is a bar to low and 5-7 is a bad joke.

 

[kraft cheese+macaroni]

Agreed television driven. But 6-6 is a bar to low and 5-7 is a bad joke.

Then don’t watch. It’s easy.

 

[Bucket Getter]

A number of people have posted in other threads about the Bowl Game Opt Outs and how they are affecting Bowl Games and making them look like Spring Practice Games. Here are a few suggestions.

1. make it a condition of scholarships and NIL Money that if you are a Healthy opt Out of a Bowl Game, You are required to repay the school all Scholarship and NIL Money received in the 30 Months prior to the Bowl Game. This will make guys Who are not first round locks to weigh the consequences of Opting Out and determine whether the cost of opting out is worth it.

2. This also gets rid of the backward thinking of Players on this subject. It has almost a status symbol to opt out. It's as if a Player is telling the NFl that You need to draft Me because I was so good that I opted out of a Bowl Game. This will prevent good college players Who may be lower round picks or free agents from opting out without taking a large financial risk.

3. Put some of the onus on the Players and Schools. Establish a rule that will make a School ineligible to compete for a National Championship or any Bowl Game for 2 years if 20% or more of their Scholarship Players opt out of a particular bowl game. This will make the Coaches pay more attention to the character of the players they recruit or sign out of the portal.

I've been saying the same thing about NIL forfeiture. But I'd only make them pay back whatever they received during the season they opted out. I can't believe whoever "sponsored" these opt out players is too happy.

Speaking of NIL, how long is it before "sponsors" demand logo patches on their player uniforms? Surely it'll come to look like nascar or golf or virtually any other professional affiliation.

 

[YOTHN]

Here is where I see the character issue. A lot of running backs opted out. The NFL doesn't value running backs highly, there are years when only one or two running backs are taken in the first round and as few as 5 in the first two rounds. Yet You see guys Who couldn't start for their College Teams or had limited roles opting out rather than playing another game to show their talent and improve heir draft position.

Cody Schrader of Mizzou is a good example. Played for a Division II School initially,m transferred to Missouri and played for a time without a Scholarship. As a Senior, was among National Leaders in rushing. Played in the Bowl game against Ohio State Friday night, and had almost 130 rushing yards on 20 Plus carries.

If I am an NFL General Manager and I have Him all but equal with another running backed Who opted out of a Bowl game, Who do I take? I pick the guy Who played in the Bowl Game and finished the Year strong because I know that if our team is out of the Playoffs with two games left. He will continue to play with maximum effort and not go through the motions to get to the end of the Year.

What you just gave me was a reason why the NFL would value a player who plays in a bowl game more highly than not. That logic is more on the side of what Is aid in that it entices a player to want to play. Obviously, that's either not true, or not nearly as impactful because its obviously not stopped the majority of top picks from opting out.

Regardless, the RB position is rife with injuries and with a short shelf life, GMs would prefer a RB with less wear and tear over "oh look, he played in a meaningless bowl game."

 

[YOTHN]

Really? You don't understand what quitting on something you committed to do, has to do with character? I'm sure you do understand that.

Sure, it's a financial decision. Also a character one.

Why the personal attack? I bet youre a blast a parties.

Quitting on something? That's where you're being illogical. I'd question the character of a player risking their career by trying to play in a meaningless bowl game. Does Christian McCaffrey have character issues?

 

[Cap99]

I would also be in favor of going to a 16 team playoff and ending the rest of the bowls. The bowls will become even more meanigless with the expansion of the playoffs.

I have not watched a complete bowl game yet this year - they have the feel of exhibition games.

 

[IU_Hickory]

Why the personal attack? I bet youre a blast a parties.

Quitting on something? That's where you're being illogical. I'd question the character of a player risking their career by trying to play in a meaningless bowl game. Does Christian McCaffrey have character issues?

Players get a free education and many get NIL money..

Their side of the equation is playing football games. Skipping the games is not fulfilling their side. Bowls are not meaningless. The only reason it is having less meaning is because players are skipping out

 

[YOTHN]

Players get a free education and many get NIL money..

Their side of the equation is playing football games. Skipping the games is not fulfilling their side. Bowls are not meaningless. The only reason it is having less meaning is because players are skipping out

There is no agreement to fulfill via a bowl game. If there was, then they would be forfeiting their NIL money, right? I'm living in the reality we live in here. People are allowing their disappointment to overshadow logical thinking taking place.

 

[Big Red Buffalo]

I've been saying the same thing about NIL forfeiture. But I'd only make them pay back whatever they received during the season they opted out. I can't believe whoever "sponsored" these opt out players is too happy.

Speaking of NIL, how long is it before "sponsors" demand logo patches on their player uniforms? Surely it'll come to look like nascar or golf or virtually any other professional affiliation.

Well NASCAR has always been like that with sponsors. I think baseball is actually selling the advertising pretty hard. Same with NbA

 

[YOTHN]

Speaking of NIL, how long is it before "sponsors" demand logo patches on their player uniforms? Surely it'll come to look like nascar or golf or virtually any other professional afaffiliation.

If anything is added to the uniform, it would need to be approved by the university and they wouldn't do that without majority if not all the skin in the game.

 

[rediufan]

Why not have a drop-dead date for opting out like for entering the Portal? Then when you opt out your career at that particular school is over and your NIL money is stopped.

 

[UncleMark]

I would also be in favor of going to a 16 team playoff and ending the rest of the bowls. The bowls will become even more meanigless with the expansion of the playoffs.

That would be an eight game first round. That's plenty to determine a champion.

But I'd then set up a different 16 team playoff for the also rans, analogous to the NIT. Give the IUs and KYs and SDSUs and Dukes something to shoot for and keep them active and practicing and playing while the big boys duke it out. Teams like JMU could make a lot of noise and we could all have some fun with that.

Anyone not involved should also be able to individually schedule a post season game of their own with some other decent team or a rival who missed the cut. Why not play UK in December as a one off post season game? Get it televised locally and/or stream it. Flip a coin for the home field.

 

[IU_Hickory]

There is no agreement to fulfill via a bowl game. If there was, then they would be forfeiting their NIL money, right? I'm living in the reality we live in here. People are allowing their disappointment to overshadow logical thinking taking place.

I don't think people are giving the players scholarships and money to not play games

 

[Pazhoosier85]

Couldn't the bowl sponsors offer to pay the players that actually play the game in some sort of NIL deal. Would that be enticing enough to get players to play. Maybe the winners of the game get a little bit more but you must play in the game to get the money.

 

[YOTHN]

I don't think people are giving the players scholarships and money to not play games

Or play games. Hence neither are in the contract.

 

[YOTHN]

Couldn't the bowl sponsors offer to pay the players that actually play the game in some sort of NIL deal. Would that be enticing enough to get players to play. Maybe the winners of the game get a little bit more but you must play in the game to get the money.

It may help with a few fringe guys but the top end guys are locking in on their many millions. I cant see how bowl sponsors will get enough ROI to make it worth while.

 

[IU_Hickory]

Or play games. Hence neither are in the contract.

Whatever you say. You're just arguing to argue. There is the expectation that the players will actually play in games when healthy

 

[UncleMark]

Couldn't the bowl sponsors offer to pay the players that actually play the game in some sort of NIL deal. Would that be enticing enough to get players to play. Maybe the winners of the game get a little bit more but you must play in the game to get the money.

A 2nd or 3rd stringer that's been on the team and practiced his ass off and gone to class and all that might have an objection, if that's the criterion. I suspect you meant that they were dressed and in good standing and ready to play.

 

[TomEric4756]

Or play games. Hence neither are in the contract.

Yes can’t claw back NIL money that was already paid … for NIL services rendered. …. From a prior academic year …

It was clear FSU defensive depth suffered from the holdouts … but inept QB play was the real culprit in the FSU loss to UGA.

 

[OpenWheels]

Because the NFL is so concerned about character? lol

That has nothing to do with my post.