This is a very interesting topic, fellas. I've been working on a story about the SWAC not competing in the I-AA playoffs. I see there are a wide range of views on the topic.
Let me point out a few misconceptions. First, the SWAC title game is not a money producing game. For those of you who don't know, the SWAC doesn't cover the entire travel budgets for the teams. Last year, ASU, which is coming from Montgomery, cut deep into the money it made from the game to pay for going to the game.
Second, the playoffs are not as much of a drain on finances as some of you seem to think. It's true that very few teams who go one and out make any money. But they rarely lose a large amount, either. Also, moving into the second and third rounds starts the money ball rolling.
Third, it would provide exposure for the conference on a level that it only dreams about now. Someone mentioned the basketball and baseball playoffs as examples of playoff systems not helping expose SWAC/MEAC teams. Are you kidding me? I can tell you this: Among the majority of media outlets, only the teams from these two conferences that participate in these tournaments get recognition. Nobody knows a thing about the Prairie View or Alabama A&M basketball teams, but they know about Alabama State and they know about FAMU and they know about Southern's baseball team. And the reason they know is because these teams have gotten on the big stage and competed.
Fourth, you're overlooking one big plus in this -- scheduling. While FAMU or other MEAC schools might have lost money by participating in the playoffs, it would be interesting to know the amount of money they've made because their participation in the playoffs and the relationships they made there allowed them to schedule other playoff teams for regular season games. If your school participates, regardless of the outcome, relationships will be made with other top I-AA schools. And the next time there's a hole in the schedule, you're not filling it with Johnson C. Smith. Instead, it's Georgia Southern or some other I-AA powerhouse. And this is making a large assumption that the SWAC schools would never be a threat. That's where I have a problem here. Are you all really conceeding that SWAC teams couldn't compete in this tournament? I, for one, find it hard to believe that last year's Southern team or Grambling's 2001 team wouldn't make some noise in the playoffs. And the first time one of your teams slips through to the final rounds, well, you couldn't buy that kind of exposure.
Speaking of exposure, how about recruiting? You don't think recruiting picks up when you point out to a kid that your school went to the playoffs?
How about media coverage? You don't think media coverage increases for the conference with every SWAC team that goes to the playoffs?
How about coach recognition? You don't think that your coaches, some of which would coach circles around their white counterparts at larger schools, would benefit from this exposure?
How about player recognition? You don't think guys like Steve McNair, Darnell Kennedy, Bruce Eugene and Robert Kent could have drawn a little attention to themselves and the conference with a playoff appearance or two?
And it would take so little to get it done, too.
All that would really need to happen here is for the playoffs to start one week later and the Bayou Classic and the Turkey Day Classic remain as they are. That's not a big problem. In fact, on a couple of occasions, the playoffs have started a week later. I think the last time was in 2001.
The fact is, you've got a good product here, as indicated by the large attendance numbers. The problem is no one knows about it because they don't see it. The SWAC is in its own little box, with conference teams only playing each other and really not threatening anyone.
Take a step and see what happens. If it doesn't work after five or six years, go back to the way you're doing things now.
