COLUMN: An end to the Patriot problem

Marc Edelman, Commentary Many factors caused this poor showing, including the Quakers' 0-2 record entering the game, rapidly approaching midterms and Jewish students returning home to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. But no factor had as much influence on Saturday's poor Franklin Field attendance as the Patriot League status of Penn's opponent. Had the Tigers that defended the end zone opposite Penn's been from Princeton instead of Towson, there's little doubt the Red and Blue faithful would have re-emerged from the libraries and train stations in time for the 6 p.m. kickoff. Since the Patriot League's 1986 inaugural season, it has forged a close working relationship with the Ivies. Each Patriot League team meets Ivy League opponents at least twice per season. And every year the attendance at these contests falls substantially below the conference average. Excluding last season's contest versus Columbia, which took place during fall break when students were away from the University, Penn averaged 20,356 fans for Ivy League play. The average attendance, however, was 60 percent less -- 8,099 fans per game -- for the Quakers' home games against the Patriot League last season, even despite creative marketing gimmicks, including a post-game laser light show after Penn thrashed Colgate last season. This cross-conference attendance is putrid, considering that even last season's game against Columbia -- the one during fall break -- drew 6,435 fans, more than the number at Franklin Field on Saturday. But who is to blame Ivy League aficionados for their apathy toward the Patriot League? There's nothing at stake. There are two ways to improve attendance in the Ivy League schedule's three-week Patriot League black hole. One option is for the Ivies to just cut all association with its fellow non-scholarship conference. Ivy League teams would then fill its three empty weeks in the schedule with additional intraconference play. If the Ivy League separates into two, four-team groupings for scheduling purposes, the league can create a 10-game, within-conference schedule, such that each college plays the teams in its group twice per season and in the other group once. Hence, the Ivy championship banner is awarded to the team with the best overall record. More Ivy League games should yield higher attendance and hence improved revenues in Ivy League football. Nevertheless, it also brings monotony. A preferable solution, however, to abandoning those boring Patriot vs. Ivy League contests is to reinvent the Ivy/Patriot League relationship such that the teams instead meet in a post-season Bowl game. Since it is clear that no Ivy or Patriot League team will receive an invite from the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs anytime in the near future, why don't the Ivy and Patriot League champions conclude their season with a Bowl game versus one another. If such a proposal were implemented, Penn no longer must face Patriot League teams in the regular season and can instead fill these three open weeks in the schedule with games against local Division I-AA teams, such as Delaware and Villanova. The Ivy League champion would meet the Patriot League champion in a postseason bowl game. Midseason contests between the Quakers and Philadelphia colleges would fill the Franklin Field seats with members of the Philadelphia community, who would pay their way into the stadium to see the local teams compete. To look at the implications of uniting conferences by postseason bowl game, take a look for example at the Big Ten, Pac-10 rivalry. These conferences would be otherwise unattached, lest the fact that each's division champions annually meet the other in the Rose Bowl. To make an Ivy against Patriot League bowl game practical, let's add some concrete procedures to this scenario. First, let's maintain the current Ivy League schedule, with each team playing each other once per season and the team with the best conference record awarded the league championship. Then, use the interleague games if the event of a first place tie to determine which Ivy League teams moves on to the bowl game. Finally, agree upon a neutral site, to play host to the bowl game. This bowl game will draw fans because, unlike the current Ivy versus Patriot League contests, this game has stakes attached. The winner earns an additional championship banner, while the loser returns home empty-handed with unfulfilled expectations and a season ending in loss. These unfulfilled expectations thereby translate into a desire for revenge. The Ivy/Patriot League relationship is one of those rare cases when less may mean more. While few fans care about the interconference games, a single bowl game may just add that significance that would create interest when the two teams meet.