Decision time. You need to set your fantasy football roster today. Do you go with Tim Tebow or Robert Irvin?
For the time being, the Heisman trophy winner from Florida is the only option. The newly established College Fantasy Football game from CBSSports.com only includes players from Bowl Championship Series-eligible teams.
A true college fantasy game had never before been attempted, as fantasy games - much like college sports video games - used only broad signifiers to refer to student athletes. CBSSports.com had previously created a game using generic terms, such as "OHIO STATE QB," but the game never gathered any momentum.
However, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision has given fantasy sports game developers the impetus to go ahead with college games that include actual player names and statistics. On June 2, the Court refused to hear a case brought by Major League Baseball against CDM Fantasy Sports Corp.
That effectively signified that MLB does not own the rights to names and statistics. Those are in the public domain, meaning that fantasy sports companies can now freely develop games without having to worry about the legality of using that information.
Enter College Fantasy Football, which on the surface seems to go against everything for which the NCAA stands. But CBSSports.com figured that with the proliferation of fantasy games and the law on its side, the time was right to release the game.
FOX Sports has followed suit, launching a college football challenge, with players' names, on Facebook.
Yet there's a further complication. The NCAA - unlike, say, MLB - has bylaws prohibiting entities from profiting off the names and likenesses of its athletes.
So far, its response has been tepid. NCAA spokesman Bob Williams told The Wall Street Journal that he sent a letter to CBS saying that the game violates NCAA bylaws, but he also believes that the bylaws, which predate fantasy sports, don't adequately address a situation involving new media.
Williams also noted that the fantasy game brings added exposure to student athletes, so the NCAA does not plan to interfere with the development of college fantasy games for now.
Among school and conference officials, reactions have been mixed.
Scottie Rodgers, associate director of communications for the Ivy League, said that the conference was "still trying to learn more about the legal issues relating to the ruling" and that after the NCAA governance meetings in the fall, the League should have a better handle on the situation.
Oklahoma University athletic director Joe Castiglione was a bit more blunt in an interview with The Oklahoman.
"Awful," he said. "Terrible. I don't know the pros and cons of utilizing names of professional players, but it is a different deal. Collegiate players are amateurs."
Yet at the same time, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy admitted to The Oklahoman that while he is not in support of the fantasy game, he thinks the issue is out of his -- or anybody else's - hands.
"I think everyone is in agreement that we can't control what's on the Web," Gundy said.
The game itself will be variable across fantasy leagues, as player pools are determined by individual leagues. While players from all 120 BCS-eligible teams are in the mix, a league can be formed using players from as few as two selected conferences.
CBS plans to launch a similar college basketball game later on this year, and if all NCAA Tournament-eligible teams are included, Ivy League student athletes could become available.
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