The end of college football

[CodeRocket 410]

We live in a nation now where everyone wants their rights (get some money now) and nobody wants any responsibility (play out your eligibility, get an education, then go to the NFL or go to work). You know, boring traditional college athlete stuff. 

College football has become big business, really big business. After working (41) years after college for "for profit" companies, one thing I can assure you of is that companies are absolutely ruthless when it comes to increasing profits at the expense of any and everything else. What does this mean for college athletes? It means that they are nothing more than a raw material input used for the manufacturing of television ratings and advertising revenue. Don't think for a second that the executives that operate these companies think of them as anything more.

Don't know what the future holds but I do know that not all change is good. Looks like the age of amateur athletics might be coming to a conclusion.

 

[Carnell 592]

5 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Just an opinion. To me, with Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC - just the concept of that idea, much less it actually happening - it signals the end of college football.

Now, of course there is still literally going to be college football. There *will* always be some form of American universities competing on the grid iron. But the pillars that made college football different and fascinating are gone.

College football has always been about proximity and history. It's the only major American sport (or global sport, really) that combines the popularity of pro sports with localized competition, similar to high school sports. I mean, if you are reading this from Atlanta, you have 8 programs within a 5 hour drive of you that fill up NFL sized (or larger) stadiums every Saturday. 

This has produced rivalries between schools that date back hundreds of years, and carry an intensity with them that's totally unique. Neighbors cheering for opposing teams. Pockets of football culture that are distinct, developed over years of playing the same teams annually. 

When the dust settles, this will feel more like a mini-NFL - teams regularly traveling halfway across the country to play schools they have no connection or rivalry with. 

This transition began back in the 1990s. For us, we essentially dropped Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Florida. But what we are about to see will take it a step further. 

We've already seen major rivalries - ones that are season-makers for communities - like Oklahoma-Nebraska, the Texas schools, some of Notre Dame's classic rivals, the Backyard Brawl (Pitt - WVU), and the Border War (Kansas - Missouri) just go extinct. 

This next realignment will kill off even more. 

I don't know how everybody else feels. But with the realignment and word that Alabama's backup QB is making 7 figures without ever playing a game, I just don't think the sport is going to remotely feel the same from here on out. 

I think the only motive behind this is for the SEC to dominate and to dictate to the NCAA and this is just one step.  They will be able to dominate the NCAA if OSU and Clemson come aboard.  A case of the tail wagging the dog and any other consequences be damned.

[woodford 3,655]

Spot on, OP. 
 

We can blame a lot of this on the NCAA and their silly rules, but the conferences stayed loyal to the NCAA for some reason. They all could have bolted. Who was stopping them? They should have broken off and formed their own league where players could be paid like the NIL.

The BCS was the first step towards this corporate CFB garbage. The completely backwards rules and not putting together the correct championships led to the playoff. 
 

My biggest gripe about this is that ESPN controls the sport. Better yet, Mickey Mouse runs the sport. The sport is too centralized. Espn was behind this move 100% because of their SEC rights. This is college football cronyism. I know I’m punching air but god almighty I hate this. The culture will soon be zapped out of our sport. There is so much more about college football than the actual game. The NFL sucks. That’s why we follow CFB. 
 

What’s pathetic is that our own president and AD are on board with this (they care about money not Auburn).  Does anyone on this site actual believe this will benefit Auburn in terms of actually WINNING? Who gives a s*** how much the school will make? The federal government dumps money on the school like it’s nothing. What does cash have to do with it? Universities are big business now. Feel like I’m taking crazy pills. 

[Hank2020 3,195]

24 minutes ago, woodford said:

Spot on, OP. 
 

We can blame a lot of this on the NCAA and their silly rules, but the conferences stayed loyal to the NCAA for some reason. They all could have bolted. Who was stopping them? They should have broken off and formed their own league where players could be paid like the NIL.

The BCS was the first step towards this corporate CFB garbage. The completely backwards rules and not putting together the correct championships led to the playoff. 
 

My biggest gripe about this is that ESPN controls the sport. Better yet, Mickey Mouse runs the sport. The sport is too centralized. Espn was behind this move 100% because of their SEC rights. This is college football cronyism. I know I’m punching air but god almighty I hate this. The culture will soon be zapped out of our sport. There is so much more about college football than the actual game. The NFL sucks. That’s why we follow CFB. 
 

What’s pathetic is that our own president and AD are on board with this (they care about money not Auburn).  Does anyone on this site actual believe this will benefit Auburn in terms of actually WINNING? Who gives a s*** how much the school will make? The federal government dumps money on the school like it’s nothing. What does cash have to do with it? Universities are big business now. Feel like I’m taking crazy pills. 

“Chicken Little”syndrome.

[autigeremt 6,569]

I bass fish a lot more than I used too. 👀

[Tiger Refuge 6,660]

[AUght2win 6,817]

5 hours ago, TigerHorn said:

You know, for many of the reasons you list, I was starting to lose interest in CFB, and I think that applies to more people than either ESPN or this board would like to admit. But, the move of Texas and OU to the SEC has actually kind of gotten me interested again. No more cakewalk schedules for OU. Texas might not ever be at the top again, but they are certainly good enough to be spoilers in the SEC. I get to watch AU potentially twice/year in person, once at ATM, once in Austin. On the bigger scale, I think a lot of people nationally will tune in just to see how OU does against a SEC schedule, ditto Texas. It remains to be seen whether the "new" CFB will keep my interest, but I can't deny this is an interesting step. 

I just think about us playing Oklahoma. Drums up the same emotions as our trip to Missouri a couple years ago. There's just nothing there for me. I don't know any OU or Missouri fans. There's no history. There's no bragging rights at stake. No connection. 

[AUght2win 6,817]

5 hours ago, W.E.D said:

These posts make me laugh 

Fantastic. Do you want to list what you had for lunch or something else as equally useless?

[AUght2win 6,817]

4 hours ago, gravejd said:

But if it pisses you off seeing a college kid make more money than you then I guess that’s a personal problem to sort out. 

Oh yeah. That's definitely why people are upset 🙄

[cole256 17,039]

1 hour ago, AUght2win said:

Oh yeah. That's definitely why people are upset 🙄

It absolutely why. That and some just hate that in the future people won't have the control over others they once had. Great thing about it nobody cares about the complaining demographic. They don't matter at the least

[tbone4jc 2,238]

My thoughts.

  1. I think with the NIL, a lot of players may choose to stay in college longer. There will be less of a financial burden to the families so players won't feel the stress of having to take care of the family and bolt early for the NFL.  

  2. With the new additions to TX and OK, I do think it will make it that much harder to recruit in the state of Texas but if our new staff can get the wins rollin, I think we will be good. (I couldn't care less about any other SEC team and their possible recruiting woes) with the states of GA, Fla AL and the few other states we hit up from time to time.

 3. I agree with those who say that College football, esp. the SEC, is already a minor league NFL. With the pay that the coaches make and the NIL,  even more so. 

It is still a joy to me to watch my Tigers in the fall and winter months and I don't see that changing any time soon. 

[gr82be 14,402]

6 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I just think about us playing Oklahoma. Drums up the same emotions as our trip to Missouri a couple years ago. There's just nothing there for me. I don't know any OU or Missouri fans. There's no history. There's no bragging rights at stake. No connection. 

Wow, beating OU wouldn't be any more exciting than beating Missouri for you? There's little history between Auburn and Oklahoma but there is plenty of Oklahoma history. That's a big time program, sixth all time in wins. Pretty stoked to see Auburn playing them every other year. 

[Hay Field 101 629]

4 hours ago, cole256 said:

It absolutely why. That and some just hate that in the future people won't have the control over others they once had. Great thing about it nobody cares about the complaining demographic. They don't matter at the least

Brother your message is clear and direct. But your delivery is over the top !!!! You must have fire shooting from your key board. Its just like NASCAR. At one point not so long ago the stands had 100,000 plus fans in them every Sunday. Now? Ghost town, but they are still on television and people are still watching. You have a few chest thumpers that say "I haven't watched NASCAR since they did so and so and so and so quit driving" yada yada. Guess what? they are still making money because Man Scape will give them 20 million dollars to run a thirty second commercial on how to shave ya sack. I'm hungry I am going to the Waffle House. And no i didnt boycott it because Gus aka scattered covered and six strands of cheese only so i can match my play book used to go there.

[Hank2020 3,195]

5 hours ago, cole256 said:

It absolutely why. That and some just hate that in the future people won't have the control over others they once had. Great thing about it nobody cares about the complaining demographic. They don't matter at the least

The they you are speaking of most likely don’t care about ANY demographic (unless they lose enough tv watchers). I also don’t think they care about those that travel to games. Less money in their pocket vs tv contract.

[SLAG-91 1,483]

7 hours ago, AUght2win said:

I just think about us playing Oklahoma. Drums up the same emotions as our trip to Missouri a couple years ago. There's just nothing there for me. I don't know any OU or Missouri fans. There's no history. There's no bragging rights at stake. No connection. 

The personal connection part of it does matter more to some of us, and that is where the expansion dilutes some of that, and where you live absolutely is a factor.

Also, when you don't play schools very often, there's no sense of real rivalry or connection, especially for the newer additions.

A&M will be playing its 10th football season in the SEC this year, and will have played Georgia and Kentucky exactly once. Missouri has yet to play a game in Jordan-Hare...but, when you don't play over 1/3 of your conference in a given year, that'll happen. It's like we've been this big-assed house for a decade and don't really know some of the residents very well.

Even if the SEC goes to a 9-game schedule, you're still not playing 3/8 of the conference in a given season. How that scheduling is done will matter, because it's been kind of ridiculous since the 12 to 14 expansion. The 9-game conference slate should have happened then. 

I've lived in Texas for nearly 30 years now, and the outcome of the games against Georgia aren't nearly as personal for me because I do not work with or otherwise interact with any UGA grads. It's still annoying to me from an overall program success standpoint that they have owned our asses since 2006, and as an alum, I'm aware of the historical significance of the game. It would be a shame to see it sacrificed at the altar of expansion.

Even playing a school twice in four years isn't enough to build any sense of rivalry. Auburn's games against OU and Texas will still essentially feel like non-conference matchups, even if factually they won't be.

Does A&M feel like a rival to any other folks here? I'm as personally connected to that one as someone can be, but there's not a whole lot of juice there. 2013 and 2014 games were entertaining, but other than that, it's likely felt like just another game on the schedule. If it went away, it wouldn't bother me.

Some of you are convinced that it's solely NIL-related, and you'd be wrong...you think you know, but you don't know.

Edited July 31, 2021 by SLAG-91

[woodford 3,655]

8 hours ago, AUght2win said:

Oh yeah. That's definitely why people are upset 🙄

Haha he thinks we’re all sitting on our porches in a seersucker suit with a cigar figuring out how to end these payments. Delusional and woke. Hate to see it. 
 

Anyone with a brain knows that they’ve ALWAYS been getting paid. 

[toddc 13,194]

1 hour ago, Hank2020 said:

The they you are speaking of most likely don’t care about ANY demographic (unless they lose enough tv watchers). I also don’t think they care about those that travel to games. Less money in their pocket vs tv contract.

Wasn’t that long ago when games were blacked out so people would go to the games. My how the power has shifted.

[cole256 17,039]

I love it. It will NEVER be the same......people better learn how to break the profits up evenly or get out, old way is done

[Hank2020 3,195]

3 minutes ago, cole256 said:

I love it. It will NEVER be the same......people better learn how to break the profits up evenly or get out, old way is done

Don’t quite expect to see things “broke up evenly” as you put (not sure my mental model matches yours relative to that reference) it. But obviously it is changing. I certainly hope players are freed up to earn whatever they can relative to what they bring to the table.

[cole256 17,039]

4 minutes ago, Hank2020 said:

Don’t quite expect to see things “broke up evenly” as you put (not sure my mental model matches yours relative to that reference) it. But obviously it is changing. I certainly hope players are freed up to earn whatever they can relative to what they bring to the table.

Have to start somewhere. People didn't want this, as time pass things are going to be distributed closer to even or it'll be over.......the people that are upset should be happy actually, this was maybe another 5 years away from guys to switch it up and group together and go to hbcu's.....then it really would've gotten interesting....seeing Auburn lose to Alabama st or Tuskegee? Heads would explode!

[Viper 3,120]

15 hours ago, Swamp Eagle said:

You were alive back then?

@augolf1716 is still here. 

[auburnphan 6,050]

When Black athletes were allowed to play, it was going to ruin the game.

Title IX was going to ruin the game

When the Big ten expanded it was going to ruin the game

When the Big East disbanded football it was going to ruin the game.

College Playoffs were gonna ruin the game.

The game makes more money every year despite only doing things that are gonna ruin the game.

In reference to the fans in the stands and sports.  There are some much bigger reasons than the changes that may have been made.  Everyone can afford a large tv now and it makes for a much more enjoyable experience.  People have parties at the home because they over price everything.  Adding the fan bases of Oklahoma and Texas is gonna benefit Auburn way more than it will Texas and Oklahoma.  With viewership up, add revenue is up, conference contracts will continue to go up, universities will continue to reap the benefits and now the student athletes can get some free pizza from the local place whenever they want for putting that pizza place on their social media posts. Can get paid for working camps and such.  Good for them.

everything is fine, if a few of ya leave big deal, the next generation is gonna be filling your spots at a higher rate any way.  

 

[augolf1716 21,096]

I've seen it all this will not be the end of college football. It may take some time for some to adjust but most if not all will adjust. Just enjoy it life too damn short.

Plus SEC is just getting started and be very thankful we're in the SEC

[steeleagle 2,945]

1 minute ago, augolf1716 said:

I've seen it all this will not be the end of college football. It may take some time for some to adjust but most if not all will adjust. Just enjoy it life too damn short.

Plus SEC is just getting started and be very thankful we're in the SEC

I agree it will simply morph into something similar but different with college sports. The core will still be there with fans and students. I am sure that those old students and AU fans thought that when we stopped playing GT every year and the Wreck Tech went away that college football would never be the same, but it did, and just became something different.

It's interesting that the NCAA now is scrambling to catch up. They have a planning meeting coming up in the fall to totally redo their constitution. Evidently, administrators, PResidents, ADs, etc. have been working on it, and will put it on paper over the next 6 months to come up with a new NCAA constitution to be in place by January, 2022.

WOnder if they are too late?

[SLAG-91 1,483]

9 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

I've seen it all this will not be the end of college football. It may take some time for some to adjust but most if not all will adjust. Just enjoy it life too damn short.

Plus SEC is just getting started and be very thankful we're in the SEC

Indeed...your scathing article about the lack of sportsmanship shown in Georgia Tech's 222-0 beatdown of Cumberland College in 1916 was excellent. 👍