2023 College Football Discussion

[midranger]

Meh, SEC will engage in a true race to the bottom here, and eat eachother. They're going to ruin the sport completely, and you need some way to stay above the fray. I think part of the draw (if not the main draw) of collegiate sports is at least the perception of the "student-athlete". You want to feel like you're rooting for kids that step in the same classrooms you did. I don't care if they get paid, but I think they should be legitimate students. Otherwise, what the hell are we watching? A poor man's NFL? Part of the code of ethics would be a cap on coaching pay, FWIW.

[ReasonablySober]

Meh, SEC will engage in a true race to the bottom here, and eat eachother. They're going to ruin the sport completely, and you need some way to stay above the fray. I think part of the draw (if not the main draw) of collegiate sports is at least the perception of the "student-athlete". You want to feel like you're rooting for kids that step in the same classrooms you did. I don't care if they get paid, but I think they should be legitimate students. Otherwise, what the hell are we watching? A poor man's NFL? Part of the code of ethics would be a cap on coaching pay, FWIW.

You're watching Minor League Football. Have been for probably as long as you and I have been alive. Academics have no place in big time college sports.

[midranger]

Meh, SEC will engage in a true race to the bottom here, and eat eachother. They're going to ruin the sport completely, and you need some way to stay above the fray. I think part of the draw (if not the main draw) of collegiate sports is at least the perception of the "student-athlete". You want to feel like you're rooting for kids that step in the same classrooms you did. I don't care if they get paid, but I think they should be legitimate students. Otherwise, what the hell are we watching? A poor man's NFL? Part of the code of ethics would be a cap on coaching pay, FWIW.

You're watching Minor League Football. Have been for probably as long as you and I have been alive. Academics have no place in big time college sports.

I disagree that it's currently minor league football. The vast majority of D1 football players realize they have a 0% chance of becoming professional football players. A big part of the college game is celebrating the walk-on Rudy character. Most of these guys are playing because they love football, and want a scholarship/some career doors to open on the backend/want to bang coeds. As "D1" becomes smaller and smaller, down to maybe 32-40 teams, that all changes. Now, only the top 500-700ish high school kids are getting recruited. All will have pro aspirations. Plus, now, they'll be getting paid which is one more layer of perception peeled back.

Regarding academic standards, you're of course correct. I'm saying, put them back in; at some minimum competent but universally adopted level. Differentiate yourself from the other league.

What I'm saying is you have to actively RUN away from the perception of being the NFL's minor league. Why? Name one minor league anything that people care about. It'll ruin the sport as we know it. ESPN is now driving the SEC ship. ESPN can't even drive their own ship. It's not going to end well.

[ReasonablySober]

Meh, SEC will engage in a true race to the bottom here, and eat eachother. They're going to ruin the sport completely, and you need some way to stay above the fray. I think part of the draw (if not the main draw) of collegiate sports is at least the perception of the "student-athlete". You want to feel like you're rooting for kids that step in the same classrooms you did. I don't care if they get paid, but I think they should be legitimate students. Otherwise, what the hell are we watching? A poor man's NFL? Part of the code of ethics would be a cap on coaching pay, FWIW.

You're watching Minor League Football. Have been for probably as long as you and I have been alive. Academics have no place in big time college sports.

I disagree that it's currently minor league football. The vast majority of D1 football players realize they have a 0% chance of becoming professional football players. A big part of the college game is celebrating the walk-on Rudy character. Most of these guys are playing because they love football, and want a scholarship/some career doors to open on the backend/want to bang coeds. As "D1" becomes smaller and smaller, down to maybe 32-40 teams, that all changes. Now, only the top 500-700ish high school kids are getting recruited. All will have pro aspirations. Plus, now, they'll be getting paid which is one more layer of perception peeled back.

Regarding academic standards, you're of course correct. I'm saying, put them back in; at some minimum competent but universally adopted level. Differentiate yourself from the other league.

Yea, most know they're not ever going pro. But they also know they aren't there to get an education either. Even at the lowest levels of college athletics, athletes are able to take laughable class loads with breaks your normal student doesn't get. Frankly, they should get those breaks! College sports is a full time job for guys who are playing at the highest level. They get to stay eligible and graduate with a degree, the team gets their production.

I just very much loathe the idea of the "pure student-athlete" and the Rudy bullsh*t. College football and basketball are both massive businesses and education has nothing to do with either. When a starter at freaking Creighton costs $100K, the gig is up.

I went to Stout, so basically the lowest of the low. My first week of baseball practice in the fall I was sitting next to a kid on the bench. He told me that as of a week before the semester started he wasn't even thinking about college. Dude could barely read. Head coach knew about him from a local HS (I think it was Boyceville), and a couple days later he's in college and trying out. That always stuck with me, that a freaking D-III program would have that pull. Anyway, after the season our coach moved on to be a coach with the Twins. Didn't see the kid on campus again.

[midranger]

Think of all the elements of college sports that you do enjoy. How many of them include knowing that Alabama has no academic standards, buys the best players, buys the best coaches, and usually win because of it?

I guess people in Tuscaloosa find it compelling, but I doubt the majority of the country does.

[ReasonablySober]

Think of all the elements of college sports that you do enjoy. How many of them include knowing that Alabama has no academic standards, buys the best players, buys the best coaches, and usually win because of it?

I guess people in Tuscaloosa find it compelling, but I doubt the majority of the country does.

I think you're in the vast minority. If given the choice, most Wisconsin fans would trade those academic qualifications for a National Title.

[midranger]

Think of all the elements of college sports that you do enjoy. How many of them include knowing that Alabama has no academic standards, buys the best players, buys the best coaches, and usually win because of it?

I guess people in Tuscaloosa find it compelling, but I doubt the majority of the country does.

I think you're in the vast minority. If given the choice, most Wisconsin fans would trade those academic qualifications for a National Title.

It wouldn't matter though. The depths to which Wisconsin would go would never match a school like Alabama or Clemson. Thats the race to the bottom. That's the issue. That's why you separate yourself from it. Be different. Have your own championship and own rules. I think most alumni will value it. Let the "major" television markets of Tuscaloosa, AL and Clemson, SC have THEIR NFL minor league championship and see where it gets the SEC and ESPN. Spoiler alert, It's going nowhere.

[ReasonablySober]

Think of all the elements of college sports that you do enjoy. How many of them include knowing that Alabama has no academic standards, buys the best players, buys the best coaches, and usually win because of it?

I guess people in Tuscaloosa find it compelling, but I doubt the majority of the country does.

I think you're in the vast minority. If given the choice, most Wisconsin fans would trade those academic qualifications for a National Title.

It wouldn't matter though. The depths to which Wisconsin would go would never match a school like Alabama or Clemson. Thats the race to the bottom. That's the issue. That's why you separate yourself from it. Be different. Have your own championship and own rules. I think most alumni will value it. Let the "major" television markets of Tuscaloosa, AL and Clemson, SC have THEIR NFL minor league championship and see where it gets the SEC and ESPN. Spoiler alert, It's going nowhere.

So you're saying that the public is going to care about the pure academics and those noble scholars, and ignore the conference with all the best talent and future NFL prospects? How's the B1G doing with that East Coast Rutgers audience?

[midranger]

I think you're in the vast minority. If given the choice, most Wisconsin fans would trade those academic qualifications for a National Title.

It wouldn't matter though. The depths to which Wisconsin would go would never match a school like Alabama or Clemson. Thats the race to the bottom. That's the issue. That's why you separate yourself from it. Be different. Have your own championship and own rules. I think most alumni will value it. Let the "major" television markets of Tuscaloosa, AL and Clemson, SC have THEIR NFL minor league championship and see where it gets the SEC and ESPN. Spoiler alert, It's going nowhere.

So you're saying that the public is going to care about the pure academics and those noble scholars, and ignore the conference with all the best talent and future NFL prospects? How's the B1G doing with that East Coast Rutgers audience?

The television contract says pretty well.

I think the public will root for their local school assuming they are playing the same sport as everyone else. Right now, college football is two different sports. They don't care about any other school's team or Talent or future NFL players. If they did, they'd just watch NFL. Someone in Seattle or Portland or LA or Chicago or NYC will just lose interest and not watch at all rather than care even 1% about Alamama vs Clemson for the 6th straight year.

That's why you do your own thing and have everyone playing by the same rules.

[MickeyDavis]

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[Matches Malone]

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[MikeIsGood]

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[MickeyDavis]

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[neiLz]

Nebraska under investigation : https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32044342/ncaa-investigating-possible-violations-nebraska-cornhuskers-football-coach-scott-frost-report-says

[Mags FTW]

Nebraska under investigation : https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/32044342/ncaa-investigating-possible-violations-nebraska-cornhuskers-football-coach-scott-frost-report-says

For those uniforms I hope.

[ReasonablySober]

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[midranger]

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Guessing they band together and give the chance for the SEC to join or get cut out altogether and become the XFL in dinky southern cities on their own.

Guessing they will pull out of NCAA and have unified rules across all three conferences.

Guessing they will produce their own media and sell rights directly while splitting profits with no network.

[ReasonablySober]

As long as there's a playoff with the SEC at the end of the season I don't care what they do.

[midranger]

[tweet][/tweet]

As long as there's a playoff with the SEC at the end of the season I don't care what they do.

Nah. That’s the whole point.

Play nice, by our rules, or pound sand. hope your media markets of Oxford, Columbia, Athens, Tuscaloosa, and Gainesville sustain you long term.

[ReasonablySober]

[tweet][/tweet]

As long as there's a playoff with the SEC at the end of the season I don't care what they do.

Nah. That’s the whole point.

Play nice, by our rules, or pound sand. hope your media markets of Oxford, Columbia, Athens, Tuscaloosa, and Gainesville sustain you long term.

Their media market is the entire southeast, and anyone else who cares to watch the best college football (so everywhere). They'll always have the biggest games on the biggest networks in the best TV slots because they play the football people care about.

ETA: Oh yea they'll have the entire South now that they've got Texas and OU.