We are entering a golden age for college football...

[GunnerBill]

...and it's completely by accident. 

 

It was not their intention but the NIL and the transfer portal have done something that college football desperately needed - they have levelled the playing field and increased the competitiveness. Why would a 5 star recruit sit as a backup at Alabama or Ohio State for 2 years behind another 5 star who is going to the NFL waiting for their chance to start and make their own case to go to the NFL? Instead they can transfer, go to what traditionally was more of a 2nd tier programme, start and get an NIL deal commensurate with being a star at that school. 

 

It has been the best season I can remember, and I am very much looking forward to the playoff. I was against the 12 team playoff because the thing I hated in college football was uncompetitive games. I still say if they'd gone to a 12 team playoff say 5 or 6 years ago it would have been a disaster because most years there were max 3 teams with a real shot and the rest would just have been cannon fodder. I don't foresee a lot of blow outs in these playoffs. Maybe I'll be proven wrong on that, but all year pretty much we have had competitive games. 

 

I still think there are tweaks that could be made. I don't agree with 5 conf champs automatically getting into the playoff. With the collapse of the PAC there is no "power 5" anymore... let's be real there's a power 2 - the SEC and the Big 10. I think the other conferences should have two conference champ spots to shoot for rather than three. Equally there are still changes that I'd make to the way the regular season scheduling happens. 

 

That said, I think greater parity and competitiveness is here to stay. Fewer dynasties will be great for the sport. Sport needs jeopardy and unpredictability to be at its best. College Football now has that, despite all the administrators pretty much being against how we got here the new reality is going to make some people a ton of money. 

[FireChans]

On 12/5/2024 at 7:12 AM, GunnerBill said:

...and it's completely by accident. 

 

It was not their intention but the NIL and the transfer portal have done something that college football desperately needed - they have levelled the playing field and increased the competitiveness. Why would a 5 star recruit sit as a backup at Alabama or Ohio State for 2 years behind another 5 star who is going to the NFL waiting for their chance to start and make their own case to go to the NFL? Instead they can transfer, go to what traditionally was more of a 2nd tier programme, start and get an NIL deal commensurate with being a star at that school. 

 

It has been the best season I can remember, and I am very much looking forward to the playoff. I was against the 12 team playoff because the thing I hated in college football was uncompetitive games. I still say if they'd gone to a 12 team playoff say 5 or 6 years ago it would have been a disaster because most years there were max 3 teams with a real shot and the rest would just have been cannon fodder. I don't foresee a lot of blow outs in these playoffs. Maybe I'll be proven wrong on that, but all year pretty much we have had competitive games. 

 

I still think there are tweaks that could be made. I don't agree with 5 conf champs automatically getting into the playoff. With the collapse of the PAC there is no "power 5" anymore... let's be real there's a power 2 - the SEC and the Big 10. I think the other conferences should have two conference champ spots to shoot for rather than three. Equally there are still changes that I'd make to the way the regular season scheduling happens. 

 

That said, I think greater parity and competitiveness is here to stay. Fewer dynasties will be great for the sport. Sport needs jeopardy and unpredictability to be at its best. College Football now has that, despite all the administrators pretty much being against how we got here the new reality is going to make some people a ton of money. 

100%.

 

CFB has completely changed imo for the better.

 

Some folks love the dynasty thing or love to hate the dynasty thing.

 

The last 3-4 weeks of CFB with upsets, rivalry games that matter, and teams in the playoff push has been awesome.

 

Folks hated the 12 team playoff because it made the regular season more meaningless. Ask teams that are scratching and clawing for playoff spots if the regular season was meaningless.

 

The true meaningless regular season was when UGA vs Bama basically decided what SEC team made the playoff because the rest of the year they played Atlanta Community College or teams in their conference that had no shot to compete without similar talent.

 

The old HC's hate it because the game as changed. The new, young coaches will adapt or die and the world will keep spinning and CFB will continue to be awesome.

[Cynical]

On 12/5/2024 at 8:12 AM, GunnerBill said:

...and it's completely by accident. 

 

It was not their intention but the NIL and the transfer portal have done something that college football desperately needed - they have levelled the playing field and increased the competitiveness. Why would a 5 star recruit sit as a backup at Alabama or Ohio State for 2 years behind another 5 star who is going to the NFL waiting for their chance to start and make their own case to go to the NFL? Instead they can transfer, go to what traditionally was more of a 2nd tier programme, start and get an NIL deal commensurate with being a star at that school. 

 

 

Um, no.

The present state of NIL and the transfer portal is a s**tfest.

It's unsustainable.

Everybody is still trying to feel their way through.

Once the dust settles, the divide between the haves and have nots will increase.

 

Years ago (early/mid 2000s?, before the portal and NIL) a story came out how some 4 and 5 star recruits were choosing to go play at the "2nd tier schools" because they could start from the time they stepped on campus instead of sitting on the bench behind some other player for a couple years.

 

Turns out, being the starter for 1-2 years at the bigger school got more exposure than being the starter at a lower tier school for 4 years -> a better chance of making it to the NFL, and a better draft position.

 

On 12/5/2024 at 8:12 AM, GunnerBill said:

 

It has been the best season I can remember, and I am very much looking forward to the playoff. I was against the 12 team playoff because the thing I hated in college football was uncompetitive games. I still say if they'd gone to a 12 team playoff say 5 or 6 years ago it would have been a disaster because most years there were max 3 teams with a real shot and the rest would just have been cannon fodder. I don't foresee a lot of blow outs in these playoffs. Maybe I'll be proven wrong on that, but all year pretty much we have had competitive games. 

 

I still think there are tweaks that could be made. I don't agree with 5 conf champs automatically getting into the playoff. With the collapse of the PAC there is no "power 5" anymore... let's be real there's a power 2 - the SEC and the Big 10. I think the other conferences should have two conference champ spots to shoot for rather than three. Equally there are still changes that I'd make to the way the regular season scheduling happens. 

 

That said, I think greater parity and competitiveness is here to stay. Fewer dynasties will be great for the sport. Sport needs jeopardy and unpredictability to be at its best. College Football now has that, despite all the administrators pretty much being against how we got here the new reality is going to make some people a ton of money. 

 

This is I can agree.

However, it's the people with the money that are going to dictate the path.

The SEC and the Big 10 have the most money, and the biggest clout.

They will dictate how this moves forward. We are just along for the ride.

 

The SEC/Big 10 do not need those other conferences. Period. They have already raided the Big 12, and the PAC.

They are waiting on the ACC to implode (IMO). Once that happens, it will be a feeding frenzy for the choice programs. After that ...?

 

 

 

[Rico]

College football was better when there were 10 teams in the Big Ten, now get off my lawn.

[BADOLBILZ]

5 hours ago, Cynical said:

 

Um, no.

The present state of NIL and the transfer portal is a s**tfest.

It's unsustainable.

Everybody is still trying to feel their way through.

Once the dust settles, the divide between the haves and have nots will increase.

 

Years ago (early/mid 2000s?, before the portal and NIL) a story came out how some 4 and 5 star recruits were choosing to go play at the "2nd tier schools" because they could start from the time they stepped on campus instead of sitting on the bench behind some other player for a couple years.

 

Turns out, being the starter for 1-2 years at the bigger school got more exposure than being the starter at a lower tier school for 4 years -> a better chance of making it to the NFL, and a better draft position.

 

 

This is I can agree.

However, it's the people with the money that are going to dictate the path.

The SEC and the Big 10 have the most money, and the biggest clout.

They will dictate how this moves forward. We are just along for the ride.

 

The SEC/Big 10 do not need those other conferences. Period. They have already raided the Big 12, and the PAC.

They are waiting on the ACC to implode (IMO). Once that happens, it will be a feeding frenzy for the choice programs. After that ...?

 

 

 

 

 

Your mind is totally in the wrong place on this.   At the HS level, football is a sport that's in danger.   Money needed to flow down to the college players to entice more participation at the HS level.   Having the carrot 7 years away was too far.   Greedy pocket stuffer football factories like Alabama didn't want to share their wealth because they make exponentially more than others.  So it ended up becoming an NIL game.   The system is many iterations away from the profit sharing of the NFL but  NIL is doing for NCAAF something similar to what free agency did for the NFL.

[Orlando Buffalo]

I will agree when two things happen-the transfer portal is changed to after the bowl games and players stay and play in bowls, this bowl season looks great unless your team is half transferring and sitting out.  Secondly the NCAA just gives everyone 6 years and two transfers. The guys who enroll  for 5 colleges in 4 years and then play more somewhere else has to end. Jaden Rashada being linked with 4 schools before starting his second year should be something that does not happen. 

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, Orlando Buffalo said:

I will agree when two things happen-the transfer portal is changed to after the bowl games and players stay and play in bowls, this bowl season looks great unless your team is half transferring and sitting out.  Secondly the NCAA just gives everyone 6 years and two transfers. The guys who enroll  for 5 colleges in 4 years and then play more somewhere else has to end. Jaden Rashada being linked with 4 schools before starting his second year should be something that does not happen. 

 

 

What you aren't mentioning is that there isn't just one portal period.   The players who can command starting guarantees can transfer in January or the spring and get away with it but most players really need the offseason to get a fair shake at playing time.  And that begins with getting transferred in so they can start school in January and get in the training program and go thru spring games prepared to compete.   It's not fair(or logical) to the players or the teams they are leaving to not open the portal in early December to thin out the mass of talent in the portal.   

 

I very much agree with the idea of more eligibility though.   Years from now we may look back and realize that a lot of rank and file type players(and some QB's) are more useful to the NFL if they come into the league at 23-24.   The stars are still leaving after 3 years but more eligibility is a good thing for the rest.

[Buffalo716]

2 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

What you aren't mentioning is that there isn't just one portal period.   The players who can command starting guarantees can transfer in January or the spring and get away with it but most players really need the offseason to get a fair shake at playing time.  And that begins with getting transferred in so they can start school in January and get in the training program and go thru spring games prepared to compete.   It's not fair(or logical) to the players or the teams they are leaving to not open the portal in early December to thin out the mass of talent in the portal.   

 

I very much agree with the idea of more eligibility though.   Years from now we may look back and realize that a lot of rank and file type players(and some QB's) are more useful to the NFL if they come into the league at 23-24.   The stars are still leaving after 3 years but more eligibility is a good thing for the rest.

There was a time when every single Heisman person was a 4th or 5th Year player 

 

Now you get off third or fourth year guy and they're considered Young lol

 

Longevity does only help players develop.. and all the red shirt sophomores leaving early for the draft did hurt the NFL product 

 

 

[US Egg]

6 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

At the HS level, football is a sport that's in danger.  Money needed to flow down to the college players to entice more participation at the HS level.   Having the carrot 7 years away was too far.

Have interjected this topic in conversations that praise the NFL for knowing how to “grow their sport”. Been told that’s silly doomsday talk. It’s a buzzkill issue. The NIL won’t be enough to slow the HS evaporation. 

[BADOLBILZ]

3 minutes ago, US Egg said:

Have interjected this topic in conversations that praise the NFL for knowing how to “grow their sport”. Been told that’s silly doomsday talk. It’s a buzzkill issue. The NIL won’t be enough to slow the HS evaporation. 

 

I guess we will see.   NIL extends to HS in a lot of states now and will be all states soon enough.   I think you might underestimate how much of the shrink in HS sports is about kids pursuing opportunities to earn money.  That's the biggest problem in a lot of areas.   Everyone's hiring and kid's want money.  It's not just apathy.

[Orlando Buffalo]

7 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

I guess we will see.   NIL extends to HS in a lot of states now and will be all states soon enough.   I think you might underestimate how much of the shrink in HS sports is about kids pursuing opportunities to earn money.  That's the biggest problem in a lot of areas.   Everyone's hiring and kid's want money.  It's not just apathy.

In Florida NIL money for high schoolers already exist, our football stats got $750 each for a Gatorade and they put around the school. Not a ton of money but I bet the Montverde Academy kids get real money. 

[GunnerBill]

On 12/10/2024 at 5:24 PM, Cynical said:

 

Um, no.

The present state of NIL and the transfer portal is a s**tfest.

It's unsustainable.

Everybody is still trying to feel their way through.

Once the dust settles, the divide between the haves and have nots will increase.

 

Years ago (early/mid 2000s?, before the portal and NIL) a story came out how some 4 and 5 star recruits were choosing to go play at the "2nd tier schools" because they could start from the time they stepped on campus instead of sitting on the bench behind some other player for a couple years.

 

Turns out, being the starter for 1-2 years at the bigger school got more exposure than being the starter at a lower tier school for 4 years -> a better chance of making it to the NFL, and a better draft position.

 

 

Okay, I'm open to discussion, what about it do you think is a s**tfest? What makes it unsustainable? How do you think that divide is going to reveal itself?

 

On the "heard it all before" argument, sure. When the only incentive was playing time. But now it is playing time and NIL money, oh and with the expanded playoff more games are going to matter all season long and there will be more exposure as a result for those schools ranked in the teens the last 5 weeks rather than everyone fixating on only the top half dozen (in the four team playoff era, and arguably the top 2 or 3 before that). Plus NFL scouting departments are bigger than ever (unless you are in Cincinnati) and even small school kids are going in the first and second round more these days than in times past, let alone kids going to less high profile schools in the bigger conferences. 

 

The one point where we have agreement is the future is a two conference "premier division" of college football. The Big 10 and the SEC hoovering up the remaining prestige programmes from other conferences. I think college football has needed that though. The power 5 structure never made any sense to me as an outsider. Get the schools willing to spend big on their football programmes all together, let them compete for talent, don't allow a small cadre to stockpile, make them play each other much more frequently and allow the talent to decide who wins. College football's problem was lack of competitive games. This has been the most competitive season in the 11 or 12 years I've been watching. That's a step in the right direction. 

Edited yesterday at 06:09 PM by GunnerBill

[YoloinOhio]

That’s one term for it. I still like cfb but no longer love it. It’s changed so much with NIL and the free agency portal. Just not the same product I grew up with. I’m sure it benefits many, and that’s great for them. This is just my own personal viewpoint. I’m not nearly as invested as a fan.

[Rico]

I will reserve final judgment until the playoffs are over, but everything seems very watered-down to me. For instance, I’m not at all a fan of Cinderella / feel-good stories, it’ll be a clownshow to me if say Boise State, SMU, or Indiana wins it all.

Edited 15 hours ago by Rico

[US Egg]

3 hours ago, Rico said:

I will reserve final judgment until the playoffs are over, but everything seems very watered-down to me. For instance, I’m not at all a fan of Cinderella / feel-good stories, it’ll be a clownshow to me if say Boise State, SMU, or Indiana wins it all.

Penn State being “dealt” the cakewalk card to the semi’s isn’t a good look out of the gate for this systems setup. This, I think, will be singled out as a reason for questioning the playoff legitimacy more than anything. If SMU or Boise St knocks off Penn State it quiets that debate imo. There’s gonna be grumblings no matter what.

[Harold Jackson]

Golden age? It's the dumbest corporate age. Just a bunch of non students getting paid big bucks to play.

Now, don't misunderstand me. These guys should get paid for the millions they generate. But they e already been paid under the table for years and the transfer portal is showing they are nothing but free agent , semi pros.

Not to mention these guys are 27 year old seniors and stuff lol.

Golden age? It's a freaking joke.

I wish I could get paid a couple million or even just 300 thou to do something as stupid as catch a ball. 

 

No playing field was leveled. 12 teams is still a subjective interpretation of who deserves to go. And the fact is

It's the usual suspects anyway. Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oregon. Nothing new is happening. 

 

And yes, it's football and I watch it lol.

 

 

 

[Harold Jackson]

3 hours ago, US Egg said:

Penn State being “dealt” the cakewalk card to the semi’s isn’t a good look out of the gate for this systems setup. This, I think, will be singled out as a reason for questioning the playoff legitimacy more than anything. If SMU or Boise St knocks off Penn State it quiets that debate imo. There’s gonna be grumblings no matter what.

Penn State went blow for blow with Oregon.

 

 

 

[EasternOHBillsFan]

4 hours ago, Harold Jackson said:

Golden age? It's the dumbest corporate age. Just a bunch of non students getting paid big bucks to play.

Now, don't misunderstand me. These guys should get paid for the millions they generate. But they e already been paid under the table for years and the transfer portal is showing they are nothing but free agent , semi pros.

Not to mention these guys are 27 year old seniors and stuff lol.

Golden age? It's a freaking joke.

I wish I could get paid a couple million or even just 300 thou to do something as stupid as catch a ball. 

 

No playing field was leveled. 12 teams is still a subjective interpretation of who deserves to go. And the fact is

It's the usual suspects anyway. Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Penn State, Oregon. Nothing new is happening. 

 

And yes, it's football and I watch it lol.

 

When they started paying coaches millions of dollars a season and allowed them to leave at any time despite these huge contracts, THAT was the Pandora's Box, and then these coaches have the unmitigated gall to cry when the players go out there and seek out all that cash and leave programs at inopportune times. Players just emulated what the coaches did and the courts backed them.