TDR mailbag: Back to nine-game mandate?; Moe Thompson update

We jump back into TheDerisoReport.com mailbag with questions on football scheduling, and a former standout defender who’s still in court over a failed attempt to transfer to Grambling. (For older editions of the TDR mailbag, scroll down to the bottom of this story. …):

1. Is there anything to the rumors of a return to the dreaded SWAC nine-game mandate? I hope not. That doesn’t work in favor of programs like Grambling, which has no trouble scheduling the Washington States, Pittsburghs and Oklahoma States of the college football world. – Vernon

Yes, Southwestern Athletic Conference athletics directors — several of whom have been screwing this up for three years now — have already voted to end the mandate.

The SWAC’s Council of Presidents, the group that actually runs this league, discussed the idea during the conference’s annual meetings late last week — but have not yet made a decision on whether to move back to a nine-game mandate. They wanted to obtain further clarification on the best minimum length of time in that format, a SWAC official told me on Monday morning.

An announcement is expected in the coming days.

The problem, of course, isn’t the format. It’s those who manage the opportunity. Or mismanage it.

Grambling has scheduled eight out-of-conference dates since the new seven-game scheduling matrix went into effect before 2007, with just one of those being against a Division II or NAIA program — Langston in 2008. (Four of those have been from the upper-divisional FBS: Pittsburgh, ULM, Nevada and Oklahoma State.)

Southern, meanwhile, has scheduled nine OOC opponents, with just two coming from lower divisions. Jackson State has played six non-SWAC games over that span, and only twice against D-II or NAIA programs.

For other members of the SWAC family, however, these additional slots have increasingly become throwaway dates against lower division pushovers. The hoped-for intrigue, wider recognition and promised riches associated with playing better competition never materialized.

For instance, six of 10 out-of-conference games since 2007 at Alabama State have been against lower divisional opponents, and six of nine at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The ratio is a truly remarkable four of six at Mississippi Valley State.

Both Alabama State and UAPB play 2009 slates in which every single non-SWAC contest features either a Division II or NAIA foe.

I was one of those who long argued for the move to a seven-game mandate before 2007, hoping it would provide fresh new opportunities for these traditionally overlooked black college teams to show off their brand of football.

It hasn’t turned out that way.

To be honest, if conference ADs are going continue scheduling with this kind of lazy inattention to program building, I’d just as soon concede the point. At least a nine-game SWAC slate jumpstarts some old league rivalries — and limits the number of speed-bump dates against Nowhereville State and Western NeverHeadOfThem Tech.

Of course, a switch back creates a new quandary for the league: If every conference foe plays one another, and they all count … why have the SWAC Championship Game?

2. Whatever happened to Moe Thompson, the defensive end who tried to transfer to GSU a few years back? Didn’t he sue South Carolina over that? – Reggie

Thompson has continued to work his way through the courts after a failed attempt to play at Grambling before the 2005 campaign.

Family members say USC administrators blocked that move, filing a $300,000 suit (THOMPSON v. UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA et. al., CASE No. 3:06-2064-CMC) with a series of explosive charges — the most damaging of which was an allegation that university officials went so far as to tamper with Thompson’s manuscript to keep the celebrated defender from transferring.

The Fifth District Federal Court in Columbia, S.C., dismissed the complaint in October 2007. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., issued an unpublished concurrence in April of this year.

All along, the family has accused South Carolina of “double-dealing, lying, and misconstruing evidence.”

Thompson now has until July 15 to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he says he’s considering it.

“Otherwise, education administrators at any United States academic institution can tamper with any student’s academic record or transcript at any time, for any reason, without cause or merit,” Thompson said, in a release sent to TheDerisoReport.com. “Furthermore, they can continue to practice malfeasance without accountability, responsibility or transparency as they are protected by immunity. Many appeals have resulted in being ruled on by the United States Supreme Court much differently than what the lower courts ruled and many have been reversed, favorably, toward the appealing party.”

An All-Freshman SEC pick in 2002 after starting 11 games, Thompson was one of the nation’s top defensive ends over his three seasons in South Carolina. Legal troubles preceded his attempted transfer to GSU, though they were later resolved.

After failing to get on the field for Grambling’s SWAC championship run in ‘05, Thompson signed a free-agent deal with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers — but was released in June 2006.

PREVIOUS MAILBAGS:
TDR mailbag: Grambling basketball signings; see video
TDR mailbag: Grambling free-agent signings, pro notes
TDR mailbag: Bayou Classic payout, all-time QB greats
TDR mailbag: Non-conference scheduling, Legends Hall of Fame
TDR mailbag: ‘Conditional’ NCAA certification; offensive playcalling
TDR mailbag: Non-conference foes, the draft, a Thursday night game

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