U.S. college football’s Rivalry Week turned ugly as at least five games ended in brawls.
The nastiness erupted after the winning teams, all of whom prevailed on the road, attempted to claim some foreign turf.
The most serious incident occurred following Michigan’s 13-10 win over then No. 2 Ohio State. The scuffle began after a Michigan player planted a flag on the Ohio State logo at mid-field. It quickly escalated into punches being thrown and police used tear gas to bring the incident under control. One police officer was taken to hospital with a head injury.
Each team was fined $100,000 and an investigation is ongoing although I suspect it will be swept under the rug as youthful enthusiasm.
Similar less violent scuffles erupted following North Carolina State’s win over North Carolina, Arizona State’s rout of Arizona, Florida’s win over Florida State and North Carolina Central’s victory over Howard.
Throughout the season, there were numerous incidents where fans stormed the field after games. The SEC levied fines totalling $2.1 million for fans breaching the field or throwing debris.
Vanderbilt, the only private school in the SEC and the institution with the highest academic standing in the conference, produced the most ambitious act of vandalism after an upset win over Alabama. Fans not only tore the goalpost down but they carried it two miles through downtown Nashville and deposited it in the Cumberland River.
This has been a fascinating year in U.S. college football with major conference realignment — what are Stanford and Cal-Berkeley doing in the Atlantic Coast Conference and why are there 18 teams in the Big 10 and 16 teams in the Big 12? — and the expansion of the College Football Playoff from four teams to 12.
There is also chaos created by two recent innovations — NILs and the transfer portal.
NIL is short for name, image and likeness, and the NIL rule, which was introduced in 2021, allows student athletes to market themselves. I’ve always believed that college athletes should be able to profit from the millions of dollars they produce in major football and basketball programs, but the current system has created a system of haves and have-nots.
A women’s volleyball player at a mid-major may pick up some pocket money by selling autographed pictures at $50 a pop but a quarterback like Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders has an estimated NIL value of $4.5 million.
NILs aren’t supposed to be involved in the recruiting process, but the case of Bryce Underwood indicates differently.
Underwood is the top-rated high school quarterback in the U.S. and there was no surprise earlier this year when he committed to LSU. The Tigers are known for their pass-oriented offence and, in the past six years, have produced two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks — Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders rookie sensation Jayden Daniels.
Underwood decommitted from LSU last month and signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Michigan, which is 15 minutes from his home. Underwood’s decision coincided with a large donation from Larry Ellison — depending on your source, he’s the second or third richest man in the world — to Champions Circle, the booster club that oversees the Michigan NIL program. The donation, which will jump-start an NIL windfall that could be worth $10 million to Underwood, was a surprise because Ellison is a college dropout with no known ties to Michigan. It has since been revealed that Jolin Zhu, the fifth Mrs. Ellison, graduated from Michigan in 2012.
As for the transfer portal, it has had a profound effect, both good and bad. All of the teams in this year’s playoffs will have transfers, and that includes Notre Dame, which once had a policy of not accepting transfers.
Southern Methodist, which should get a spot even if it loses to Clemson in the ACC championship game Saturday, has 50 players who began their careers elsewhere.
Indiana, which had a 3-9 record last season, improved to 11-1 thanks to 20 transfers, including nine who followed head coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison. The newcomers include the starting quarterback, the two top rushers, the three leading receivers, the leading tackler and the top pass rusher.
And if you’re lookoing for a Canadian rooting interest, latch onto quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who transferred to Indiana from Ohio University. He’s the younger brother of B.C. Lions starting QB Nathan Rourke.
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