You accept a bowl bid then wait for the players that are entering the portal and opting out. Instead of excitement it has turned into, "hold your breath to see who plays in the bowl game".
What a sad state of college football
- Thread starter Ranchdawg
- Start date
Do young college football players care about fans as much as fans care about young college football players?
There is no loyalty at all it seems. I imagine there are some that grew up State fans that have loyalty. National recruiting and NIL have changed things better or worse. Watching Michigan last week and the announcer said the tackle was made by a transfer from Georgia. It hurts rivalry. I remember thinking even back when we played Michigan in the bowl “let’s beat these yankee bastards”. It‘s not that way anymore. FWIW no offense to any Yankees here as I’ve met a handful that are alright I guess.
I mean if I had to decide between a free watch and $100K to move to a new team I'm going to not choose the free watch from the bowl
We can blame the kids, but the coaches are the ones who showed them how to bounce on over to a new team before a bowl game. It’s been going on for years. Surprised it took the players this long to figure it out.
I hate it, but it isn’t going away.
True and you have to remember the poverty a lot of these kids came from. A lot of times this money is life altering for their families as well as them.
It amazes me so many are content with college athletes having more rights than professionals at the expense of college sports.
Coaches bounce around / get fired / etc. in all sports. When an NFL or NBA coach leaves or steps down, all of the players don’t just automatically become instant free agents.
It came down to their right to earn money, which we all should have. The NCAA chose not to take any kind of net positive lead in the last 40 years and the whole thing blew up.
Doesn't matter what happened in the last 40 years agree or disagree but what DOES Matter is whether or not limitations are put in place that have worked well in MLB, NFL & NBA into college athletics.
Their right to earn money is in no way infringed upon by limiting transfer rules and requiring you to sit a year if you want to go somewhere else. That is what truly has blown it up….not the NIL.
The NCAA could control easily if they wanted to. All they’d have to do is tie their eligibility to their standing to graduate. If a player falls behind in their progress to complete their studies, say from transferring too much or whatever, it should affect eligibility.
NCAA wants the money to keep pouring in though so they can stand to the side and just collect their checks.
NCAA wants the money to keep pouring in though so they can stand to the side and just collect their checks.
When these NIL donors get burned and tired of seeing their investment melt away by transfers and opt-outs, I think you'll start seeing it all pending contracts. Likely with 1099's and post-season clauses. It's the unintended consequences many of us saw coming, but the package was already sold. I just wonder if it will eventually cost a lot of athletes a chance at earning a college degree that they could have gotten under the old "indentured servant" system. Traded one devil for another.
Congratulations players, on all your new grown up rights. Don't feel like playing, or paying taxes? To 17in bad. Welcome to adulthood.
Congratulations players, on all your new grown up rights. Don't feel like playing, or paying taxes? To 17in bad. Welcome to adulthood.
Bump the CFP to 12 teams and there should be a lot fewer players opting out of December play. Thats because the CFP games will mean something.
Reality is- a bowl game just doesnt mean much to some players if it isnt high level enough. Its important that we are talking about 'some' and not 'a lot' or 'most' too.
There is plenty of loyalty. And there is plenty of transaction. You have a lot of both.
Programs used to be able to sign a player then just pull their scholarship after 1 or 2 years even if the student athlete was in good academic and team standing. Talk about no loyalty.
There is no need to get all faux-nostalgic and claim there was a better time when college football wasnt about money or power or whatever.
What did exist was a decades long imbalance of power and the currently swinging pendulum has hit a lot of people square in the balls so they are hurting from the change.
I remember that 2010 bowl game- I watched it with some friends in Chicago at this bar on the north side that catered to MSU- both Michigan State and Mississippi State. They played our fight song after each score. Funny- that was a really fun game. That was also when the West was so damn dominant- MSU finished 5th in the West and was ranked 15th. Only 2 teams in the East even finished with winning records that season.
NIL will soon force another "division" of college football. The Alabamas, USC, Michigan, OSU, Georgia. Those considered the Blue Bloods of CF. Then those in the lower level of each conference will either form another Division or accept mediocrity. I understand why NIL happened but it has ruined CF. Over 500 players in the portal. Players selling themselves to the highest bidder. Next players will have to have agents to negotiate their NIL deals. My opinion.
It will go away as the popularity of the sport wanes. For the folks here who have been on-board with this, thinking it would more or less even-out, how do you feel about us possibly losing most of our key skill players prior to the bowl game simply because some other school is willing & able to cherry-pick & buy our top players every year?
How long do you think you will continue to take interest & feel pride in our university's athletic programs when we struggle to remotely compete because every year there are teams raiding our roster for the best talent? You gonna stay as interested and invest your money when sub-.500 seasons are the new norm, and 7 win seasons are "breakout years" for us?
I doubt the vast majority of fans at most schools will continue to watch & spend money. And when the money-tree dies for all but those schools with the means and willingness to not be concerned about budgets or $, where is the money to pay for it all going to come from? TV advertising investment for televised games is based on ROI...how many eyes are watching in target demographics. Think they're gonna keep paying at current rates when viewership plummets? How about gate receipts at games, profits from merchandise sold, bowl game attendance, etc.?
What does our own history, not unlike most others, tell us about fan interest & $ investment when the team sucks? This has always been a recipe for disaster, far worse than the crap the NCAA pulled for so long.
^^^^This
Easiest and quickest fix. You transfer you sit for a year. Exception on sitting out if head coach leaves but no exception on NIL.
This would at least help teams keep their existing talent even though the haves would still be light years ahead of the have nots for new recruits.
Meh, hit me up when and if college football has been ruined. I think this is one of the best years in two decades. Maybe it gets worse from here but I’ll hold off on judgement for now.
I'm going to wait and see on the players. Everyone seems to be talking about who is leaving. Which is understandable but let's see who we get in exchange.
With all that said, I think the biggest recruit is Arnett. If Keenum and company don't give him the money needed to keep him ...... well don't ask me for money.
Right, but only for the 12 teams involved in the CFP. The 'some' opting out are usually the most talented though. It's probably going to continue to get worse for the 25 or so bowls outside of the CFP.
Yeah, and more people will see those bowls as not actually mattering, like a scattering of players have done.
There are 43 bowl games this year. 86 teams- yeah, most are meaningless and not even interesting to watch for the sake of watching football.
In recent years, ESPN produced all but a few bowl games and Disney televised like 90% of the games. There was one on fox, one on CBS, and that's it.
These things are a pure overall money grab for advertising- it's why bowls exist even when tickets can't be given away and the crowds are sparse at best.
If all the games meant something, fans would be at all the games.
Practicing for 3+ weeks just to play in a game that doesn't further the team? Well some clearly don't find that appealing.
Every one of those leagues you mentioned the players have been part of the rule making process since 1968 by negotiating a CBA with each respective league. No college athletes have that one simple thing you choose to disregard. The rules are agreed upon by all parties, not just one side.
And right now there is only ONE side making the rules with no counter arguments being considered. ETA: Thank you for the enjoyment you gave me watching you play man. Made many a trip from Jackson MS to Vegas to see my Diamond Dogs.
Too many bowls create too many 6-6 and 7-5 matchups. 43 Bowls is about 23 too many in my opinion. Back in the 80's going actually meant something, and the matchups were generally compelling to watch. We went 9-2 in 1980, only SEC loss was at Florida, and all we got out of it was a trip to El Paso.
If a game is being played and the team wearing your helmet and jersey is playing, it should mean something. I'm sure that line of thinking is probably labeled as old and outdated, but sorry, not sorry.
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