College Football’s 2017 Grid of Shame

Andrew Beaton:

Winning goes a long way in college football. It packs stadiums, brings in money and can even lead to the glory of a national championship. But at many programs, there’s a qualifier for evaluating that winning: How much did fans have to grit their teeth and pinch their noses on their way to those victories?

This is the awkward harmony of college football. There’s what happens on the field, which grips fans like nothing else on Saturdays. Then there’s what goes on off the field, which may be the only thing capable of overshadowing the football itself.

Now the season is set to kick into full gear this weekend, with the first full slate of games for most teams in the country. Which means it’s time for The Wall Street Journal’s annual Grid of Shame, an exercise that quantifies answers to the two most important questions about your favorite team: How good are they? And how embarrassed should you be about them?