GREENSBORO — Once upon a time, two short years ago, this was the ultimate goal.
N.C. A&T would start the season on a quest to get to the FCS playoffs and compete in a 24-team football tournament to win a national title.
The Aggies made it. They’re back in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. No. 17 A&T (9-2) will play at No. 12 Richmond (8-3) at 2 p.m. today in the first round of the NCAA Division I Football Championships.
It’s the Aggies fifth appearance in the FCS playoffs and their first at-large berth.
And yet, somehow it feels like getting socks for Christmas. You appreciate the gift, but it’s not what you really wanted.
That’s because a funny thing happened in 2014 when ESPN negotiated the deal for a made-for-TV postseason game matching the champions of the MEAC and SWAC.
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The Celebration Bowl became a priority. It’s the priority in black college football.
“Our goal going into this season was definitely the Celebration Bowl,” A&T coach Rod Broadway said. “But this is not a bad consolation prize. It’s a great honor for this team at this time.”
Imagine calling an FCS playoff berth a consolation prize two years ago. But that’s exactly what it is.
A&T won the first Celebration Bowl last December, beating Alcorn State 41-34 in an entertaining game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The game’s date early in the bowl season and its national broadcast on ABC meant viewers. Lots of viewers.
The inaugural Celebration Bowl drew a 1.7 TV rating and 2.5 million viewers. That’s a bigger audience than 15 other FBS bowl games last year.
By contrast, last year’s FCS national championship game between North Dakota State and Jacksonville State in Frisco, Texas, drew 1.4 million viewers on ESPN2.
Then there’s the payday. The MEAC and SWAC champions receive a reported guarantee of $1 million each to play the Celebration Bowl. It was a financial incentive big enough to prompt the MEAC to give up its automatic qualifying status and its seat on the FCS selection committee.
The bowl money goes to the conferences. The lion’s share came back to A&T in the year-end distribution of funds.
“It was right at half,” A&T athletics director Earl Hilton said. “We netted right around $500,000.”
That’s another significant difference from the NCAA football playoffs. Hilton was the MEAC’s last representative on the FCS committee, and he saw the process from the inside.
“The FCS playoffs are a break-even best scenario,” Hilton said. “It’s my first time on this side of it, but I’ve been on the site rep side and know how it looks from there.”
A lot of teams that go deep into the playoffs end up losing money.
“The travel party (that the NCAA) pays for is 130 people, limited to 60 athletes and 70 others — coaches, trainers, staff, cheerleaders, students, anyone else you want to bring,” Hilton said. “There’s a per diem they provide for that 130. Anything over that, you’ve got to absorb the cost.”
A&T dressed 95 players on the first day of practice in August.
How do you tell a kid who busted his tail in practice all season or who got hurt chasing a championship he can’t go? You don’t. You do the right thing and eat the cost.
“Other than the money, the playoffs are great,” Hilton said. “They’re where you’d love to be. Who doesn’t want a chance to compete for a national championship in the playoffs?”
A&T’s at-large invitation is significant. By giving up its AQ status and seat on the 10-member committee, there’s no one to lobby for the MEAC.
We saw that last season when good N.C. Central and Bethune-Cookman teams were snubbed.
“There’s been times when this league has had problems getting teams into the playoffs,” Broadway said. “For us to represent our league, well, it’s an honor. ... Hopefully our guys are excited about the opportunity to win 10 ballgames. That’s something that hasn’t been done a lot around the country. If we win 10, it puts us in rare air.”
A&T earned this playoff berth with its non-conference schedule, an overtime victory at FBS Kent State and a credible loss at bowl-bound Tulsa (8-3).
In a weird way, it’s the best-case scenario for the MEAC.
The Aggies were No. 9 in the FCS national polls and couldn’t be ignored. They’re still ranked ahead of MEAC champion Central in both polls. So the Eagles will go to the Celebration Bowl, but it’s likely Central would not have received a playoff invitation if A&T had won the finale in Durham. That does little to salve the Aggies’ wounded pride.
“This is our shot at redemption,” star tailback Tarik Cohen said. “It means a lot to still be playing. You get to step out on the field again with your brothers.”
Even if it’s not the field where you wanted to play.
