Has The NCAA Learned Branding From IBM?
For many years now. it has been very
simple in college football. You had four divisions: 1-A, 1-AA, 2 and 3.
But the NCAA
thought that people were too easily confused between Divisions
1-A and 1-AA., and which schools
belonged in which division. And Division 1-AA schools were tired of feeling
like second class citizens. It was argued that people did not understand
that Appalachian State University (ASU) was
1-AA, and Michigan
was 1-A. Right, that is why football
fans around the country were so shocked and elated when ASU upset the maize
and blue of Michigan. The reality is that the extra "A" distinguished
between the haves and the have nots of college football.
So what has the NCAA done? Well they have renamed the two top divisions.
Division 1-A is now officially called "Division
I, Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-FBS)"
and I-AA is called "Division
I, Football Championship Subdivision (Division I-FCS)."
But I do not think the NCAA should have stopped there. They should have
gone further. They should go the full route, like IBM did with products
like Sametime and Quickplace, and really create names that will hopefully
end any and all confusion. They should have further broken them down as
follows:
Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision, Teams That Get the BCS Bowls (Division
I-FBSTTGBB)
This division would include the usual suspects of LSU, USC, Texas, and
whoever wins the Big East and the football-tradition rich Atlantic Coast
Conference.
Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision,
We Are Notre Dame and Do Not Give a Hoot About Anyone Else (Division I-WANDADNGHAAE)
Of course, this would be Notre Dame. Perhaps they might get a tatse
of some humble pie this year and be realigned into Division I-FBSTTGBB.
Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision, Teams That Get the BCS Shaft (Division
I-FBSTTGBS)
This division would include schools like Boise State and other mid level
programs that have excellent seasons but get denied BCS bowl berths because
they are not one of the big boys. We will treat last year's Boise State
team as an anomaly for now.
Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision, Teams That Don't Really Belong Except
That They Are in A Big Conference(Division I-FBSTTDRBETTAC)
Here you would put schools like Indiana and Vanderbilt. OK, Vanderbilt
has been getting better every year, but they seemed such a natural fit
because of their history.
Division I, Football Bowl Subdivision, Teams That Only Belong Because of
Tradition (Division I-FBSTTOBBT)
This would include schools like Army and Navy, even though Navy might actually
have a shot at beating Notre Dame This Year.
Division I, Football Championship Subdivision, Teams That Don't Offer Scholarships
(Division I-FCSTTDOS)
This division would hold the Patriot and Ivy Leagues.
Division I, Football Championship Subdivision, Teams That Offer Scholarships
(Division I-FCSTTOS)
This would be the rest of the old Division 1-AA teams.
This breakdown only makes sense. If the NCAA is going to take its branding
lessons from IBM and complicate things, they may as well go full tilt.
That way, when they see what a stupid idea it is and that fans and reporters
are still going to call then 1-A and 1-AA, they can revert to the old names
to the delight of all their fans.