2008 Woodie Awards
Cake walk games give smaller colleges a chance at ESPN glory
Joe Zelinski
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
Every week the box score will show up on your ESPN screen or in your local paper with a top 10 team dominating a team with junior college rejects.
Ohio State 48 versus a cake school Kent State 7. Top schools every year elect to play these cake schools instead of the more challenging games.
No. 1 Ohio State has proven they can score at will and shut teams out. The main reason they play these games is for money.
For the smaller schools, playing a top team is a low-risk high-reward situation.
A so-called cake team can win this game like when Appalachian State beat Michigan and created a beautiful storyline for years to come.
The upset game will be aired everywhere from ESPN to youtube.com and talked about at your local water cooler or classroom.
Even if the cake school loses 100 to zero, they will still make it on ESPN.
Why?
To demonstrate how good the top team like Ohio State really is.
Should big teams simply never play Appalachian State?
That would mean no Cinderella story ever again.
I am not saying that at all.
Most top teams like an Ohio State have three non-conference games a year. Unless you are Notre Dame (who doesn't belong to a conference) and play all non-conference games.
The Buckeyes decided to challenge themselves with their non-conference games. The Buckeyes took on the following teams: Akron, Kent State and D-IAA Youngstown State.
Last year, Akron and Kent State had a combined record of 11-13. These were tough games for the Buckeyes. Ohio State end up winning all three games with a combined score of 106 to 11.
Don't look down on the Buckeyes -- not every team can win their cake games. Look at the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
There is a simple solution that will keep the Cinderella stories possible while still appeasing the sports fan who wants to watch a good football game on a Saturday afternoon.
The teams like Ohio State should only have two non-conference cake games. Then the extra game will have to be a challenging game against one of the top conferences.
Finally, each team should add one more conference game to their schedule.
This game will not cut into the bowl season.
Ohio State finishes its season Nov. 17 and most likely won't play until January.
For all the non-math majors out there, that is roughly seven weeks.
This way the school will have only one extra game, which cuts down on the seven-week to six-week vacation.
The big schools will still have some cupcake games and make some money.
The fans also win by getting two more competitive games to watch during the college football season from the top schools.
Ohio State 48 versus a cake school Kent State 7. Top schools every year elect to play these cake schools instead of the more challenging games.
No. 1 Ohio State has proven they can score at will and shut teams out. The main reason they play these games is for money.
For the smaller schools, playing a top team is a low-risk high-reward situation.
A so-called cake team can win this game like when Appalachian State beat Michigan and created a beautiful storyline for years to come.
The upset game will be aired everywhere from ESPN to youtube.com and talked about at your local water cooler or classroom.
Even if the cake school loses 100 to zero, they will still make it on ESPN.
Why?
To demonstrate how good the top team like Ohio State really is.
Should big teams simply never play Appalachian State?
That would mean no Cinderella story ever again.
I am not saying that at all.
Most top teams like an Ohio State have three non-conference games a year. Unless you are Notre Dame (who doesn't belong to a conference) and play all non-conference games.
The Buckeyes decided to challenge themselves with their non-conference games. The Buckeyes took on the following teams: Akron, Kent State and D-IAA Youngstown State.
Last year, Akron and Kent State had a combined record of 11-13. These were tough games for the Buckeyes. Ohio State end up winning all three games with a combined score of 106 to 11.
Don't look down on the Buckeyes -- not every team can win their cake games. Look at the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
There is a simple solution that will keep the Cinderella stories possible while still appeasing the sports fan who wants to watch a good football game on a Saturday afternoon.
The teams like Ohio State should only have two non-conference cake games. Then the extra game will have to be a challenging game against one of the top conferences.
Finally, each team should add one more conference game to their schedule.
This game will not cut into the bowl season.
Ohio State finishes its season Nov. 17 and most likely won't play until January.
For all the non-math majors out there, that is roughly seven weeks.
This way the school will have only one extra game, which cuts down on the seven-week to six-week vacation.
The big schools will still have some cupcake games and make some money.
The fans also win by getting two more competitive games to watch during the college football season from the top schools.