1-AA Playoffs

Back in 1998 my daughter was looking to attend a college that had an outstanding marching band (she played the tuba). She visited and/or auditioned for Colorado, Colorado State, Ohio State, Penn State, West Virginia, Rutgers (the home state) and Massachusetts. She was extremely impressed with Band Director George N. Parks at UMass and with was extremely pleased to join the Power and Class of New England in the form of the Minuteman Marching Band. Between the time of her acceptance and attendance at band camp, the Minuteman Marching Band received the most prestigious honor bestowed upon college bands, the Louis C. Sudler Trophy which was awarded to the band during her inaugural season.

Being “only” a three-hour drive from our northern New Jersey home, we drove up for several football games to see the band perform. With 300+ members the shows were spectacular but I also began to appreciate the football on the 1-AA level. The players may have been slightly smaller and slightly slower than those you saw on TV from the 1-A squads but the competition was just as intense. That first year, the football squad went on to play in Chattanooga against Georgia Southern for the 1-AA championship. While I didn’t get to go down to Tennessee to watch that game in person, it was on TV. The southern fans weren’t particularly hospitable to either the football team or the band. GS was the heavy favorite because they had Adrian Peterson and several championships under their belt. But that is why they play the game. UMass forced something like half a dozen turnovers in the first half and you could have mailed it in after that. And the Georgia fans were not happy.

In the years since, I have become a big fan of 1-AA football and its playoff structure in which the top 24 teams play single elimination for the title. While I would like to see something like this in the 1-A, the economics of the big BCS bowls and all those ancillary bowls make it virtually impossible. Add to that what some one said on ESPN the other day. To paraphrase: “The 1-AA system allows only one coach to end the season as a winner. 1-A coaches will never allow that to happen. To much money from the alumni and prestige in the recruiting circuit depends upon being a winner in that last game.”

I bring all this up because, while listening to RU vs. Cincinnati on the radio (23-3 RU at the half, I’m watching the first round of the 1-AA playoffs. #1 ranked New Hampshire is dismantling #24 Colgate. This one was over at half time 34-0 but has now progressed to 48-14 at the end of the third.