Opinion: Is College Football the New March Madness?

By Keegan Bankoff ’22
​An unusual season filled with game cancellations, shortened schedules, and countless COVID-19 exposures put college football in an abnormal situation in 2020. Players and coaches alike were frustrated without the presence of their fans, saying it was difficult to keep momentum and spirits high without constant cheers and chants. However, that has changed this year, as most universities are allowing and pushing for full-capacity stadiums; something many thought would be impossible just a year ago. Though these measures may bring up health concerns as many still neglect the threat of the virus that has ravaged our country, the college football world seems to be back in full swing. The game itself, however, may be taking a different course.

Usual watchers have become accustomed to the college football world consisting of a small handful of programs at the summit. The pinnacle that has glimmered the most in the past decade, of course, has been Alabama. In the playoff era—which began seven years ago in an attempt to expand championship contention—Alabama has captured an impressive three national titles, with its most recent coming over Ohio State last season. It’s pretty safe to say the expansion hasn’t done much to slow the stride of the blue blood programs. Though their dominance is undeniable, the Crimson Tide have been closely followed by the likes of Clemson and Ohio State, with occasional challenges from teams like Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Georgia. However, after six weeks of play in the 2021 season, the AP Poll — which ranks the top 25 teams in the country—looks quite different than it has for the past decade. Much like the NCAA basketball tournament, also known as March Madness, college football has seen a myriad of upsets take control of the ranked teams, stirring the pot for potential new leaders and possibly knocking some blue bloods out of contention.
 
I had the privilege of attending a CFB game last weekend, in which no. 7 Cincinnati took on no. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. I believe the word ‘chaos’ provides an accurate description of the game time atmosphere for this highly anticipated top-10 matchup. Tailgates began at the crack of dawn with parking lots transformed into a sea of tents, lawn chairs, and red and green shirts. One fan depicted the scene as “Christmas in Indiana.” The Fighting Irish are consistently among the top few teams in the country, while the Bearcats, who aren’t in a power five conference, are relatively new to the leaderboard. Since this was such a critical game — Notre Dame was defending an impressive 26-game home winning streak — I expected the home crowd to provide a difficult atmosphere for the visiting Bearcats. To my surprise, a surplus of Cincinnati fans were present at Notre Dame Stadium, their red shirts taking up a good portion of the over 77,000 seats. Though their fanbase is very large on the national scale, local Notre Dame fans tend to be over the age of 50, so the stadium is not notoriously loud or rowdy. This had massive implications on the game, as Bearcat fans were louder than Irish fans when conducting cheers on crucial downs and plays. Not something you’d expect out of your home crowd, right?
 
The Irish struggled to get things going on the offensive side of the ball, falling down 17-0 at the half. A long-awaited quarterback change seemed to spark the Irish offense (and the younger crowd), as the Irish were on the verge of a comeback late in the 4th quarter. After a momentum-killing missed extra point and a late Cincinnati touchdown, the game was over and the unenergetic and sullen crowd made their way back to the parking lot.
 
These past two weekends have been some of the craziest in recent memory. Six top 10 teams have fallen, most notably perennial powerhouse and no. 1 ranked Alabama, who lost to unranked Texas A&M, 41-38 in a thriller this Saturday. Other top teams who fell included No. 4 Penn State losing to No. 3 Iowa and no. 6 Oregon lost to unranked Stanford, among others. The AP Poll is now led by four undefeated teams, currently positioned to make the playoff — Georgia, Iowa, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma. Though, based on the way things have gone this season, I expect the top four to change. This crazy start seems to be paving the way for new programs to take the lead, and we can only wait for the excitement that is yet to come.