Ties are good for the soul (and OT ain't)

You have to rewire your brain to appreciate ties, but that should be easier, and more accurate, than appreciating overtime in college football.

Courtesy Nebraska Athletics

There were six fewer overtime games in FBS football last season despite teams combining to play 15 more games. I have a theory why.

It’s because overtime sucks now.

To be fair, it sucked in 2022, too. Overtime probably started to suck after Texas A&M and LSU played seven overtimes in 2018, all possessions starting from the 25-yard line, which was good fun if you weren’t playing. But it did seem like too much football for a human body in one sitting, so it prompted changes that now leave us with a 2-point shootout starting after the second overtime period.

That reasoning was reasonable and effective. Teams would now have to probably go to 12-plus overtimes to equal the 50 combined OT plays LSU and A&M ran in 2018.¹ Illinois and Penn State played a nine-overtime game in 2021, the first season under the current rules, and only combined for 33 plays. It was just about the saddest football you’ll see.

The cost of these rule changes was overtime starting to suck. I watch parts of hundreds of these games every year, and I would still have a hard time describing the current overtime rules perfectly. That’s why every broadcast flashes the rules before overtime starts. It’s why I haven’t outlined the rules to this point. I wanted you to have the opportunity to explain the rules, free of outside influence, to yourself or whoever may be within ear shot right now. (Just do it. Start talking.)

If you nailed the rules on your first try, you may not be the right candidate to join a controversial-but-correct coalition I’m trying to get started: ties are better.