More upsets, please! Why David toppling Goliath is needed in college football now more than ever

Sean Frazier spoke for all of college football. Well, maybe half of it. OK, at least the gaggle of programs that sometimes relies on getting the snot kicked out of it to keep the lights on.

Until Northern Illinois pulled off the biggest upset to date this season on Saturday at Notre Dame, perhaps the most interesting facet of its trip to South Bend, Indiana, was that it would be worth it — at least in terms of the bottom line. 

Frazier, NIU’s athletic director, and Jack Swarbrick, Notre Dame’s former AD, had come to an agreement on the game a few years ago. The Huskies would come to South Bend for what projected to be a ceremonial beating. In return, NIU would get a $1.4 million check for providing the, uh, “competition.” Wham, bam, send ’em back to DeKalb (Illinois). 

Call these types of contests what you want — “guarantee games,” “buy games,” etc. That’s what NIU was getting into. Notre Dame came in as a 28-point favorite. 

Until it wasn’t. 

“To go in and actually show up and not take the check and run,” Frazier told CBS Sports. “I don’t want to poo-poo the money, but to actually go in there and compete, all of it was good for the Huskies.”

It was more than that. NIU’s 16-14 win inside Notre Dame Stadium was a monster upset, but not the only one featured in Week 2. Iowa State knocked off Big Ten tormenter Iowa. The Red Flashes of Saint Francis University beat the MAC’s Kent State. 

These stunning wins all sent the same message: more, please! 

Give us more of the Davids biting the ankles of Goliaths. Give us goalposts being dumped into rivers. Give us more super powers — at least on the balance sheet — walking off their home field in shame with their heads bowed. Give us NIU coach Thomas Hammock crying his eyes out after seeing…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/more-upsets-please-why-david-toppling-goliath-is-needed-in-college-football-now-more-than-ever/

Author : Dennis Dodd

Publish date : 2024-09-11 14:11:09

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