Should the PFL Return to Divisions and a Championship Game?

[Lurking Dog]

From 2001-2005, the PFL determined its champion with a championship game. It didn't work well, because the divisions were unbalanced both in number of teams (5/4) and talent level (the 4-team south division wasn't as good).

With the prospect of adding a 12th team - probably Augustana - by the end of the decade, the PFL might be able to use divisions much more effectively on a second attempt. The 12-member SWAC currently has a championship game...and the winner plays in the Celebration Bowl. They do not have an automatic bid to the playoffs, but a second place finisher could be invited to the playoffs as an at-large team (as in 2021). A SWAC team has never won a game in the playoffs.

A 12-member PFL might look like this (nod to the late-1960s NFL division names):

Central Division
Drake
Butler
Valparaiso
Dayton
St. Thomas
Augustana

Coastal Division
Davidson
Marist
San Diego
Stetson
Morehead State
Presbyterian



Everyone would play the other teams in their division, plus half the other division, each season. This would ensure, for example, the continuation of matchups such as Drake-Dayton (interrupted this year after 35 seasons).

And although there ultimately was no controversy about who won the 2023 PFL championship, the title could have been shared between two teams that did not play each other during the season. A championship game would solve such a problem.

In theory, a bowl game could be added to this (v. NEC or Ivy?). Not holding my breath on that one.

Thoughts?

[jamzone24]

There is a general sense of apathy toward PFL football, not only from the "fan bases", but in many cases the institutions themselves. I do not think a championship game would change that.

The SWAC Championship attendance this year was 20,000+ I don't know the exact numbers, but PFL games probably draw closer to 2000 on average.

[ValpoLB]

On November 26, after the NDSU-Drake playoff game,  I posted this to the Valpo Fan Forum.  Part of that string was a previous post where I suggested a “bowl” game against the only other D-I non-scholly football league -  the Ivies. 

Part of the reason the Ivy League has opted out of the FCS playoff is that member schools have agreed that they do not want 100+ football players staying in season throughout the playoffs (assuming an Ivy team would make it deep into the playoffs 🙄 ). That’s why I suggested just one game. Incidentally (or hypocritically), the Ivies don’t have a problem with other NCAA tournaments (like March Madness that stretches for weeks) because the rosters of those sports are a fraction of a football roster is my guess. .

So…… If that can’t be arranged, perhaps the PFL needs to expand to 12-14 or even 16 teams (6-7 division games and 2-3 cross-over games to fill out a PFL 8 game schedule), organize into two geographic divisions, and have a league championship title game. That way the players have something to shoot for that is settled on the field, not just in the standings. The PFL used to do that. The SWAC still does that and has elected not to participate in the FCS playoffs.

Aside from USD’s two first round wins and subsequent next round drubbings, no PFL team has shown well.  Bottom line, our players need to realistically have something post-season to aspire to.  Anything short of either a “bowl” or a PFL Championship playoff would be unacceptable. 

In the suggested PFL alignment above I’d go with an East / West alignment putting Dayton in the East (with all the “coastal” schools minus USD) and USD in the west (with all the “central” schools minus Dayton).  And I like adding Augustana as a member if they go D-I.  They are D-II now  and would have to eliminate their football scholarships though. Any further league growth, I’m afraid,  would have to come from a NEC school or two wanting to shed the scholly expense. 

[jamtod]

I think the biggest issue with the proposed division is that you guarantee extra travel for the coastal teams to travel to each other, but maybe that already happens anyway based on geography.

And that in FCS, I don't think a conference championship game gets you an extra game (whereas in FBS, it's an allowed 13th game), so it's just not a thing.

[Lurking Dog]

Dec 4, 2023 16:47:39 GMT -5 jamtod said:

I don't think a conference championship game gets you an extra game (whereas in FBS, it's an allowed 13th game), so it's just not a thing.

The SWAC apparently has a exemption written into the NCAA bylaws. The PFL would need something similar covering a league championship game and a bowl.

This year, Florida A&M went 10-1 during the regular season. Then they won the SWAC championship game (in game #12). Later this month, they play game #13, the Celebration Bowl.

[ValpoLB]

One other thing re: the NCAA FCS playoffs:  Don’t selected teams get $$$$$ from the NCAA to travel to their games?  

A post season bowl with the Ivy League champ or a PFL Championship game wouldn’t get squat from the NCAA.  The SWAC, at least, has a sizable gate to offset travel and expenses. They probably get some regional TV revenue as well, don’tcha think?

Either way, there probably will need to be a bump in the annual league fee to cover the out-of-pocket additional expenses.  Otherwise, the bowl representative or the two division champs in a PFL championship would actually be financially penalized for qualifying. 

[DFW HOYA]

Dec 4, 2023 13:39:12 GMT -5 ValpoLB said:

On November 26, after the NDSU-Drake playoff game,  I posted this to the Valpo Fan Forum.  Part of that string was a previous post where I suggested a “bowl” game against the only other D-I non-scholly football league -  the Ivies. 

Part of the reason the Ivy League has opted out of the FCS playoff is that member schools have agreed that they do not want 100+ football players staying in season throughout the playoffs (assuming an Ivy team would make it deep into the playoffs 🙄 ). That’s why I suggested just one game. Incidentally (or hypocritically), the Ivies don’t have a problem with other NCAA tournaments (like March Madness that stretches for weeks) because the rosters of those sports are a fraction of a football roster is my guess. .

The Ivies do not participate in the playoff, in no small part, to protect the perception and reputation of the Harvard-Yale game as the definitive game to end its season, much as the Army-Navy game was before the academies began to participate in bowls. Since Ivy athletes compete in every other NCAA post-season tournament available, the argument that football players can't afford to lose a week of classes is a pretty weak one, especially since the first round happens over Thanksgiving Weekend.

As its other Ivy Week 10 rivalry games that used to draw 20,000 to 45,000 a game in the 1970s have been overwhelmed by apathy (Penn-Princeton drew just 5,256, Columbia-Cornell drew 3,753, Dartmouth-Brown drew a shockingly bad 1,531), protecting the vision of a sold out 30,000 seat Harvard Stadium and near sellouts at the 64,000 seat Yale Bowl is part of the mirage of Ivy Football, even if it only exists now at two schools.

So much of the Ivy is a collective groupthink that if the coach, AD, or even president at a 9-1 Penn team said "We'll go ahead and go to the playoffs anyway", whether as an autobid or an at-large, there would be considerable pressure exerted from the other schools on the Penn trustees to change out the leadership as a result.

[BUDawg]

The original four: Butler, Dayton, Drake, Valpo,
are married to each other. Any divisions would
have to have all of them in the same grouping.
San Diego was a late add to the original six
(incl. Evansville) to meet the DI-AA rules at
the time. They were the only non-scholly west
of the Rockies moving up. Thus the 1993 PFL.

So, the original five are tied at the hip to each
other. Morehead would likely be the sixth in
one division. Marist, Davidson, Stetson, along
with Presby and St. Thomas would be in the
other along with a new one like Augustana.

That makes the most sense geographically
along with the balance of the teams involved.
Essentially the originals in the west and the
expansions in the east. The newest ones
are more north but no further west than the
Great Plains. No perfect answer or system.

Will it happen. Probably not. The PFL fought
for the auto bid for years. The NEC getting
one made it the happen as the Gridiron went
by the wayside. Also part of FCS playoffs
expansion. The SWAC giving one up opened
it up as well. Same with the MEAC. The Ivy
is set in its ways. Unless the NEC joins the
PFL with a Bowl game, most FBS and FCS
league are going away from divisions and
have the best two in league champ. games.