General

Apparently Florida 60, Generic Opponent 0 Will Be Disappointing

Aug 19, 2009, 7:10 PM UTC

This is not a real line, so don’t go out and try to bet it, because 1.â†µthat would be horribly immoral (think about the children) and 2. you won’tâ†µeven get the pleasure of defilement from the activities. But it makesâ†µgood copy:â†µâ†µâ‡¥[I]t came as a surprise a week ago when a point spread for Florida’sâ†µâ‡¥game against Charleston Southern was posted by Danny Sheridan in USAâ†µâ‡¥Today.â†µâ‡¥
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â†µâ‡¥Even more surprising was the spread: 73 points. Now, I do not gambleâ†µâ‡¥on sporting events, but I like to keep an eye on the point spreadsâ†µâ‡¥as a matter of reference to see who is favored and by how manyâ†µâ‡¥points. In nearly four decades of following the betting lines, I doâ†µâ‡¥not recall ever seeing such a point spread.â†µâ†µIf this was a real line you’d be rushing to bet on Charleston in theâ†µhope that the line itself would chagrin Urban Meyer and company intoâ†µonly pounding the Generic Mascots by 65, right? At some point it ceasesâ†µbeing a matter of running your offense and becomes one of basic humanâ†µdecency, and that point hits well before nine touchdowns separate the twoâ†µteams.â†µâ†µA Dr. Saturday fact-check actually brings the line in at -63, which is sure to comfort the Generic Mascots on gameday.â†µ

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â†µI'd like to be contrarian, â†µas per usual,â†µbut I can't find any reaction other than the one both the article writerâ†µabove, who ends by comparing the game to feeding the Christians to theâ†µlions, and Wizard of Odds proprietor Jay Christensen have alreadyâ†µoffered:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥But seriously, isn’t it about time the NCAA put an end to such games?â†µâ‡¥... Aren’t you tired of paying higher prices for tickets and gettingâ†µâ‡¥less? And if you want decent seats, you have to give money to theâ†µâ‡¥alumni association. All this in the worst economic crisis since theâ†µâ‡¥Great Depression. What are you getting in return? Charlestonâ†µâ‡¥Southern?â†µâ†µâ†µOne man’s answers: yes, yes, not much, and that’s not a question. Iâ†µdoubt you’ll find a college football fan in America who would haveâ†µdifferent answers.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt’s a futile complaint, though. Sometimes public disapproval getsâ†µresults, as when the SEC was finally embarrassed into instituting aâ†µ28-member cap on its recruiting classes by Houston Nutt’s 37-member Oleâ†µMiss recruiting class, but there isn’t a fake point spread in the worldâ†µthat would spur that sort of self-evaluation. There’s too much money atâ†µstake. The NCAA could greatly improve the watchability of collegeâ†µfootball non-conference games in any number of simple ways -- banning I-AAâ†µgames, limiting home games to seven in any one year, restrictingâ†µneutral-site matchups -- but they don’t want to, and won’t want to. Moneyâ†µmoney money, as per usual, until congress comes calling about tax-exemptâ†µstatus, at which point it’s kids kids kids.â†µ

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