Forfeiting A Game Because Fans Storm The Court? Alabama AD Greg Byrne Can't Be Serious In His Thinking

One of the bigger talking points during this college basketball season has centered around fans storming the court following a win, which has drawn mixed reviews after a number of incidents. Nevermind the fact that this has been going on for decades, some coaches and leaders have now decided it's time for a change. 

The latest example of folks letting their emotions get the best of them came this past weekend at Wake Forest, after the Demon Deacons knocked off Duke, leading to a swarm of students racing towards the court. While this is usually a joyous moment, the Blue Devils basketball team suffered an injury following the final whistle when Kyle Filipowski was run into during the postgame celebration. 

Over the past 48 hours, one would've thought someone was kneecapped on the court like Nancy Kerrigan preparing for the Olympics. The outrage and hot takes have been at a fever pitch, but this seems to be a common occurrence for a news cycle, and then it goes away. 

Before Kyle Filipowski was run into following the game, it was Caitlin Clark who had a dust-up with a fan in the ensuing court-storm. Two incidents this season have drawn the eye of athletic directors and coaches around the country, but there's still a question to be asked. 

Prominent college basketball analyst Jay Bilas had this to say about preventing fans from rushing the playing surface, just arrest them all. 

"One time, all you have to do is once they’re on the court, don’t let them off. Just say, ‘You’re all detained,’ and give them all citations or arrest them if you want to. Then court stormings will stop the next day," Jay Bilas noted.

Where was all of this energy when Jermaine Burton put his hands on a female fan following Tennessee's win over Alabama in 2022? I didn't hear the pundits using time on their shows to dissect the incident we saw in Knoxville, while Alabama players exited the field. 

But, some just have selective memory, or maybe it's different on the basketball court compared to the football field. Either way, the conversation on how to protect these student-athletes has once again been brought into light, and there are a number of interesting solutions being thrown out by leaders. 

One of the leaders who has been vocal about changing the penalties or circumventing students storming the field has been Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne. Given that his football team had to navigate thousands of fans twice during the 2022 season, once in Knoxville and then Baton Rouge, he should be an expert by now on this subject. 

In terms of how to stop players from getting involved in incidents, or even preventing injury, Byrne has a solution, even though it will never pass. 

Alabama AD Says Team Should Have To Forfeit If Fans Rush Playing Surface

I'm all for coming up with solid ideas to prevent injury or even a fan being assaulted, but this sounds like more of a pipe-dream than a realistic solution. 

Speaking at the Birmingham Tip-Off club this week, Greg Byrne noted that the fines that the SEC hands out for fans storming different playing surfaces is not enough. Currently, the SEC will fine a school $100,000 for their first offense, while the price goes up to $250,000 for the second offense. This keeps going until a school has to pay $500,000 for its fans entering the field or court of play. 

But one of the positive changes that the conference made last year revolved around who was actually getting that money. In the past, the fines paid would go towards a scholarship fund, but that recently changed. Now, if one school's fanbase rushes the field, that monetary fine goes to the opposing team. 

So, if Alabama was playing an away game that they lost, and the home fans stormed the field following a win, the Crimson Tide athletic department would receive a check. But, Greg Byrne doesn't think this is enough, as he told reporters in Birmingham. 

"Kids aren’t going to be in the stands saying "Oh, I don’t want to do this because the school is gonna get fined $200,000." That doesn’t enter their mindset," Greg Byrne told reporters. "But if they knew the game that they just had been a part of, celebrated a great win that led to that, if they knew that they were going to lose that game immediately, that would stop them."

Yes, Byrne is implying that the student-athletes who worked their tail-off to defeat a team should be stripped of that win because stadium or arena security couldn't prevent fans from storming the playing surface. I've seen some interesting takes, but this one might be the winner. 

Handle Your Own Security And Bring In Extra If Needed For Potential Upsets

In some cases, these athletic departments couldn't care less about a $250,000 fine. Following the win over Alabama in 2022 that saw thousands of fans storm the field, Tennessee President Randy Boyd was ecstatic about having to pay the fine, while he sat in a suite, smoking a cigar. That game was some of the best publicity money could buy, and it paid off. 

So, if you think some of these leaders are truly pressing for some type of radical change, you're being fooled, and there's no problem with that. In some cases, maybe you can go the John Calipari route, where if he knows his team is going to take the loss, with a court-storming on the way, he sends his bench to the locker room before the end of the game. 

Now I know this cannot happen in a contest that comes down to the final seconds, but it's a maneuver that other teams should keep in mind, if they know a loss is coming. The other solution is to hire more security guards, or have a uniform policy on how to get players off the court. 

College Football: Former Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning lights a cigar and celebrates following game vs Alabama at Neyland Stadium. Knoxville, TN 10/15/2022 CREDIT: Carlos M. Saavedra (Photo by Carlos M. Saavedra/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164200 TK1)

Some teams have this in place, where they will rope-off a tunnel like area for players to exit the playing surface, putting up a barricade. I've seen this work countless times, but folks want to change the way college basketball or football is different from the professional leagues with an overhaul in protective practices. 

Oh, and please save me from the whole ‘nobody storms the court in the NBA’ nonsense. First off, your product is not entertaining enough for fans to be excited enough to storm a court in celebration following a win, maybe in the Finals. Second, the crowd at a regular season NBA game, outside a few cities, is about as exciting as the local bingo game on a Wednesday night. 

If schools in the ACC were serious about fans storming the court, why don't they have a monetary fine system in place like the SEC? It would seem like this would be a good first step. While Greg Byrne continues to advocate for teams forfeiting games in the aftermath of a court-storming, the rest of us will be down here in reality trying to come up with solutions that actually help. 

We can come up with better solutions than penalizing the student-athlete.