Daily briefing: On the ‘Academic Heisman,’ CFP expansion and UAB’s new stadium
Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:
Semifinalists announced for Campbell Trophy
Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford and Auburn kicker Anders Carlson are among the 176 semifinalists announced Wednesday for the Campbell Trophy, the “Academic Heisman” awarded by the National Football Foundation. The “12 to 14” finalists, each of whom will win an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship, will be named later this season. The winner, who receives a $25,000 postgrad grant, will be announced in December at the College Football Hall of Fame banquet in Las Vegas. A couple of the many cool stories: Carlson (3.92 in business) already has been accepted into an accelerated program to become a Delta Air Lines pilot, and Stanford defensive end Thomas Booker (3.88, double major in economics and communication) started a social justice initiative for student-athletes.
Fan boredom with CFP unlikely this season
The College Football Playoff, which over the summer stomped on the gas toward expansion to 12 teams, now is idling its engine. The leap by Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC spooked everyone, and the officials in charge, commissioners and presidents alike, decided to move more slowly. Funny thing is, one of the biggest reasons to expand — fan boredom with the same teams making the playoff every season — may be dissipating. Clemson already has lost twice. Ohio State can’t stop anyone. Oklahoma is having trouble scoring. You know what you call a postseason format that fixes last season’s problems? Twenty years ago, we called it the BCS.
Dreaming is free for UAB
UAB is having a ribbon-cutting at Protective Stadium tonight, two days before the Blazers play Liberty in their first game at the $200-million, 47,100-seat stadium in downtown Birmingham. It is a triumphant milestone for a program that for too many years survived on leftovers (fans and a stadium, the gallant and decrepit Legion Field). One little tidbit about Protective Stadium: It’s two-and-a-half miles from the UAB campus and two blocks from the SEC office. Hey, if Greg Sankey can look out his window and see your game, who knows? Maybe someday . . .