#ChargeOn Today: UCFinally 🏆 — Marshall's message 🧠⚕️ — Rayniah's reign
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Today’s read is 6 minutes ⏲️
Trending in the Kingdom: Winners of Playoff expansion 🏈
If the 12-team playoff system was in place, UCF's 2017 undefeated club would have been in.
Just imagine it. The undefeated, 12-0 UCF Knights just wrapped up its 2023 regular season and they’re getting ready to travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama in the opening round of the newly-debuted 12-team College Football Playoff.
That’s the exact scenario that would have played out in 2017, had this proposed 12-team playoff system been in place, with the 12th-seeded Knights against the No. 5 Crimson Tide for the right to face No. 4 Ohio State in the second round.
But, it wasn’t and UCF had to claim a national championship after beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Now, I’ll take the $171 million dollars worth of exposure that came with it (hat tip, Danny White), but how nice would it have been to actually have a chance to win the title on the field?
Fill me in: The College Football Playoff announced on Thursday that it will consider a 12-team format when its management committee meets in Chicago next week, with a formal decision coming by September.
Bill Hancock, the executive director of the Playoff, said it’s all about “more participation” for schools and players. Remember, 71 percent of the playoff spots have gone to the same four teams (Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson and Oklahoma) since the four-team playoff was enacted in 2014.
“This (proposed model) creates energy in October and November. The practical effect will be that with four to five weeks to go in the season, there will be 25-30 team with a legitimate chance.” - Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby
Either way, expansion is finally here - likely starting in 2023 at the earliest - and UCF stands to benefit more than most. Let’s examine the winners and losers here.
Winners
UCF:
The quintessential college football Cinderella 🥿 finally gets its crack at the big boys on the grandest of stages. UCF has been the poster child for an unfair “playoff” system - being undefeated, yet shut out in 2017 and 2018 - that badly needed an overhaul for inclusivity.
For a school with a forward-thinking brand in the athlete-empowerment era (more on that below) based in one of the biggest recruiting hotbeds in the nation, it can’t be overstated how big of a deal this is. UCF, if they beat the teams on their schedule, has a chance to play for a national championship. That doesn’t exist in this current incarnation of the sport.
The exhausted debate over the team’s strength of schedule can be put aside momentarily. It’s not a guarantee that UCF will get in, but the opportunity is there and that’s all anyone can ask for.
The American Conference and Group of 5 schools
Finally, the “Power 6” slogan pays off, because now it’s not just a façade, as Chris Vannini points out. Even the exact wording from the proposal states the “six highest-ranked conference champions” get a bid to the 12-team playoff.
That could easily have said five Power 5 bids and the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion, as we’ve heard in the past, but it didn’t and that’s great news for the “have nots” of college football, but especially the AAC.
In five of the seven years since the Playoff debuted, the American has produced the top-ranked Group of 5 champion.
Last year, the conference would have had not one, but two teams in, if this format existed.
Athlete branding
The sport - and the rules around it - will change forever on July 1, 2021, when athletes in certain states (Florida is one of them) can start to make a profit off their name, image and likeness, meaning athletes will be empowered unlike ever before.
At the University of Georgia, for example, there’s a Buckhead clothing company already lined up to pay athletes to wear its products next month.
This playoff format will open players up to even more exposure, given the lucrative TV deal a 12-team playoff bracket will command. That means more eyeballs for the big-name guys, but also the small-school stars to earn endorsement deals.
Losers
Bye weeks
While it seems like it’ll be a benefit to earn a spot in the Top 4 and a first-round bye, it could cost that school an additional home game, with seeds 5-12 slated to play on-campus quarterfinal games.
Imagine the financial benefit in ticket revenue for the 5-8 seeds and the bummer it would be for the top seeds to play their semifinal rounds at bowl sites. That doesn’t seem fair, which is one piece of this proposal that could get overhauled.
Also, any independent school (i.e. Notre Dame) would not be eligible for a first-round bye.
Bowl games:
As Brett McMurphy reported, 4-10 bowl games could be on the chopping block if this proposal passes. There are 42 of them, for what it’s worth.
There’s already a slew of sponsored bowl games that just don’t draw fans or viewing interest. Now imagine top-tier bowls that normally get a conference’s second-best team and now dropping to their third or fourth. That won’t lend itself to better ratings.
Player safety
You’re now looking at a potential NFL-type schedule for these college athletes, with some playing 16 or even 17 games. That’s a pretty big health concern and something I’m sure wouldn’t fly for some.
Two U.S. Senators even said it’s a bad idea because of the cash grab by the NCAA and the potential for more injuries.
WATCH: ▶️ I joined the guys from Sons of UCF to discuss playoff expansion, first impressions of Gus Malzahn and expectations for the Knights in 2021. Click here.
College Football Playoff expansion: Why 12 teams, why now and what’s next – The Athletic
At this point, it would be a surprise if college football’s governing bodies opted to stay with the current four-team format.
🧠 Marshall's mental health message
Former NFL star and UCF wide receiver returned to his alma mater this week. (Photo: UCF Athletics)
It’s always cool to see alumni coming back to campus and lending their time to the program. It’s even better when that guy is former NFL All-Pro wide receiver Brandon Marshall, one of the most recognizable and successful Knights ever.
Marshall’s visit created a ton of buzz on social media, with posts from the likes of quarterback Dillon Gabriel, Malzahn and assistant coach Herb Hand.
Special shout out to assistant director of recruiting Kareem Reid, who played with Marshall and helped make the visit happen.
“It was awesome,” Marshall said of his visit. “Coach Gus came in to really pick up this program again. We’ve had so many coaches come in and use this as a stepping stone to get to the next place. What he’s doing to bring back the old guys and galvanize the community is next level.”
Marshall’s trip to Orlando wasn’t about football or reminiscing on his time as a two-way star in 2004. It was his message on mental health that resonated with the room.
“Mental Health affects all of us,” he said. “You guys hear me talking about mindset and mental health and mental fitness all the time. Well, the first time a lot of us deal with any type of mental health challenge or any type of struggle is from the ages of 18-24. Where are you during that time? You’re on a college campus and we don’t talk about it. We don’t have peer-to-peer support.
"Being able to go back to UCF and have this discussion with a group of men was phenomenal, because there’s somebody in that room dealing with anxiety or depression. To have that platform to go back and talk was powerful, so we’ll keep that going…so many guys after came up and said, ‘you know what, I deal with this, what can I do?’ So we have to keep this conversation going.”
Marshall’s speech on accountability was pretty powerful, too: “I have to trust that when you come to me and you say ‘B, you’re trippin’, I’d be like, he loves me. We’re on the same page and we have the same mission so he’s telling me something, because he knows what’s good for me.”
𝘼𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 @BMarshall 👇 https://t.co/cQM0cHS2y1
In case you forgot: Marshall has been outspoken about his personal battles with borderline personality disorder, something he’s been living with for years. He had to fight through bouts of anxiety and depression, but he has publicly said he’s better for seeking counseling.
He has been on the frontlines of fighting the stigma of mental health issues within football and society. Marshall is trying to stop people from suffering in silence, as he put it, and encourage therapy.
Deeper Dive 🤿:
What is borderline personality disorder? (Mayoclinic.org)
Former NFL Star Brandon Marshall Battling Stigma of Mental Illness: ‘We Still Have Work to Do’ (People Magazine)
Rayniah's reign 👸
SHE’S ON TO THE FINALS!!
@RayniahJones advances to the 100H finals with a 12.85! #ChargeOn https://t.co/FyaFRbGO91
A quick update from Eugene, Oregon, the site of the NCAA Track and Field Championships. UCF is well represented with Asherah Collins (triple jump) and Rayniah Jones (100 meter hurdles) competing for a title.
Jones, a redshirt freshman, finished third in her heat on Thursday with a time of 12.85 seconds, the fifth-fastest time in the semifinals. She already locked up second team All-America status, but has more in sight.
“It was a wild race,” Jones said through a video on AD Terry Mohajir’s twitter account, “but I made it back to finals and that’s all that matters.”
If she finishes in the top eight of Saturday’s hurdle finals, she’ll earn first team All-America status. That race will be at 6:42 p.m. ET on Saturday. Collins will compete in the triple jump on Saturday evening as well.
Have a great weekend, my friends! I’m out of town until Tuesday, so expect a fresh newsletter in your inbox on Wednesday morning. Cheers, Charge On and thanks for being here! 👋
By Ryan Bass
The #ChargeOn Today Newsletter is dedicated to covering trending UCF Athletics news and topics. Have some feedback? Shoot me a message: chargeontoday@gmail.com
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