NCAA Football Rules Oversight Panel Takes a Pass on the 10 Second Rule

Imagine you watching a tennis match and Player A hits a shot deep down the line. Player B makes a mad dash to reach it but he cannot and crashes into the fence. He is not hurt but as he brushes himself off and heads back to the baseline, he is surprised to see that his opponent is already in motion to serve. 30-Love.

At a baseball game, the first batter of the game grounds the first pitch right to the first baseman who touches the bag for the first out. He returns the ball to the pitcher who in turn toes the rubber and fires a ball down the middle before the second batter can even step out of the on-deck circle. Strike one!

What would it be like if in a basketball game, teams can come back from a timeout whenever they want and inbound the ball? How about a boxing match where a guy can just start punching whenever?

Now imagine being at a football game when a team can line up and snap the ball - even pushing the ref out of the way - before the defense is set. You don't need to imagine this one. This is the scheme they call the Hurry-Up No-Huddle offense (HUNH).

In a way, the HUNH could be perceived as bad sportsmanship, something the NCAA is supposed to be all about. Dare I call it... cheating? It would be in tennis, boxing, baseball or most any other sport.

The NCAA football rules committee met in February and did not even address last year's offseason proposal of a 10-second delay before the ball is snapped. Because the NCAA has a ridiculous policy of voting on rules that are deemed "non-safety related" every other year, this proposition cannot even be addressed again until after the 2016 season. Even then, there is no guarantee of the topic even being recognized.

More great wisdom was disgorged from the NCAA this past week when the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel voted against a rule that would have adjusted the ineligible receiver downfield rule from 3 yards to 1 yard. Their logic was that even though an NCAA survey showed that 57 percent of FBS head coaches supported the proposed change, only 65 of 120 schools took part in the survey and there is a need for more discussion.

Basically, since nobody got off their backside for the past three weeks since the rules committee met and did a little research, we have to tolerate two more seasons of this absurdity. 15 more votes would've been 67%. How hard is it for some intern at the NCAA to pick up the phone and start calling programs until they get a better percentage?

It is indecisiveness like this that is supplying the bricks for a foundation of a breakaway football division for the Power 5.

Personally, I have always been a fan of the mano a mano, see if your guy can beat my guy, hard-hitting three yards and a cloud of dust style of football. Trickeration has it's place but not when the entire offense is based on it.