With the number of opt-outs, elite (and not) performances, and piqued interest following bowl season, it may be time to consider when college football awards are being given out. Historically, All-Americans, the Heisman, and other national awards have been handed out following the regular season, but before bowl season.
The idea of changing the time of handing out college football awards has been discussed, but following Michael Penix’s dominant performance against Texas in the College Football Semi-Final (and Jayden Daniel’s bowl game opt-out), this topic is being discussed once again.
In a tweet by CFB Reddit, the question was brought up and got quite a bit of engagement, with over 20,000 likes, 1,000 retweets, and many comments.
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┳┻| _ Put the Heisman and other
┻┳| •.•) awards after bowls and
┳┻|⊂ノ we'd have fewer opt outs
┻┳|— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 2, 2024
Why Have College Football Awards Been Handed Out Before the Postseason?
Most sports, including the NFL, NBA, and MLB, hand out their awards before the postseason and have done so for years. Upon research, there wasn’t a clear apparent reason for this. There are reasons why some claim the awards ‘need’ be given out after the season, but again, it is not stated as a factual concrete reason.
Below are three most common reasons people give to why moving them is a bad idea.
Awards should be given to the best player; a team’s success shouldn’t be considered. By waiting until the post-season, candidates who don’t make the postseason would be put at a disadvantage.
Let’s debunk this one first. The postseason in every sport has expanded so much that this is no longer an issue. Look at the NBA; a few years ago, the Playoffs were 16 teams. Today, it is 20 teams. In 2010, there were only 35 bowl games. Today, there are 42.
In other words, if a player isn’t good enough to lead their team to one of the 84 bowl spots (out of 134 teams), that player probably shouldn’t be considered for a college football award anyway. A long snapper or interior lineman may be dominant and up for an All-American Award at some point, but that is the exception. Still, for the vast majority, the bowl season likely won’t be an issue anymore like it once was.
College Football Awards are based on a player’s performance during the regular season. The postseason is a reward and privilege that has its own aw.
At one time, the bowl games were viewed as a reward and privilege that players got excited for about took full advantage of. That is no longer the case. Hundreds of players opted out of bowl games this year, including the Heisman Trophy winner Jaylon Daniels. That part of the argument is debunked.
Regarding the separate awards, it doesn’t cause an issue. There can still be a bowl game offensive and defensive player of the game. Potential other post-season awards do not dilute the bowl game awards becauses they are awarded immediately following the game.
The College Football Awards are something to pay attention to between the end of the regular season and bowl games.
Again, historically, yes, this made a lot of sense. There are a few weeks without football between the conference championship games and the first bowl games. That is essentially what it was in the past, but that is no longer the case. This is what happens now:
- Bowl games are played earlier. Bowl games began on December 16th this year. Ten years ago, the first game was December 21st. That is almost an entire week!
- National Signing Day used to be in February. Now Signing Day occurs in December during this break. For any avid college fan, National Signing Day is almost as big as an actual game.
- I want this one to change, but for now the transfer portal opens up during this break.
- There is more media coverage covering teams preparing for bowl games than ever before. In other words, there are no slow news days.
One could argue that coaches, players, and the media are busier in the two- to three-week window without games than during the regular season. Adding college football awards to this list only crowds thing even more. To be honest, I barely even realized awards had been given out this year, outside of the Heisman.
Waiting for College Football Awards Would Increase Bowl Participation
I’d be willing to bet quite a bit of money that Marvin Harrison Jr. and Jayden Daniels would have played in their bowl games if the Heisman trophy hadn’t been awarded yet. The same can be said to almost every player in the running to get another national award including All-American. Each player has their own opinion and viewpoint, but one would think that a potential All-American award would boost and help a players draft stock more than the risk of an injury during a game.
Conclusion
All-Conference awards should still be given out after the regular season because those are more specific to the regular season, but the idea that the national college football awards should be handed out before the post-season has been completely debunked and proven non-essential.