CFB - I'm still floored we got to where we are today.

Having grown up with the influence of Avery Brundage and true amateurism on the Olympics, and then the black and white non-paid non-professionalism of college athletics (remember college athletes getting booted when it was disclosed that they accepted money?) to where we are today...I'm torn between the camp that says we've tarnished college athletics by allowing pay-to-play vs. the camp that says that these college athletes (particularly football and basketball) are generating big bucks for college athletic departments and the argument that college football is really the NFL's minor leagues.

Which camp are you in?

Montana Tom wrote:
Having grown up with the influence of Avery Brundage and true amateurism on the Olympics, and then the black and white non-paid non-professionalism of college athletics (remember college athletes getting booted when it was disclosed that they accepted money?) to where we are today...I'm torn between the camp that says we've tarnished college athletics by allowing pay-to-play vs. the camp that says that these college athletes (particularly football and basketball) are generating big bucks for college athletic departments and the argument that college football is really the NFL's minor leagues. 

Which camp are you in?

Choose your poison right?

I dont think it's all ok or all bad, but it sure doesnt smell good as a whole...

The pollyanna in me says we can do better with NIL and the transfer portal bs too.

Montana Tom wrote:
Having grown up with the influence of Avery Brundage and true amateurism on the Olympics, and then the black and white non-paid non-professionalism of college athletics (remember college athletes getting booted when it was disclosed that they accepted money?) to where we are today...I'm torn between the camp that says we've tarnished college athletics by allowing pay-to-play vs. the camp that says that these college athletes (particularly football and basketball) are generating big bucks for college athletic departments and the argument that college football is really the NFL's minor leagues. 

Which camp are you in?

I think the pro leagues need to get rid of the college protections and be taking kids right out of HS if those kids want to get paid. (like baseball does)  IMO if a kid accepts a scholarship then they should have to pay it back if they leave early,  that rented ride is one that some other kid loses out on.  I also think scholarships should be guaranteed,  as long as a kid is showing up for practice and taking care of himself,  follows a code of conduct, and is working in school, the school shouldnt be able to weasel out of his free education.

transfer portal,  i am mixed,  coaches can leave and shit, i understand that,  but this crap we have now is garbage, schools put a lot of resources into recruitment and for kids to hop around doesnt sit well with me.  I say make the transfer portal limited to only a few hard reasons like the coach leaving, or a family hardship, other than that its only 4 years, make a commitment.

paying student athletes,  it was going on before and will continue regardless.  I dont see a simple solution,  but watch the heads explode once the middle east oil money takes control or other wealthy benefactors adopt their favorite programs .  its going to be like traveling teams where some have paid coaches, all kinds of perks and training aids,  and the rest will just struggle to compete

There’s never going to be an answer that is fully satisfying. As long as NCAA football is so lucrative, someone’s got to make that money. It’s the not the NFL’s problem to figure out and they shouldn’t have to take kids that aren’t physically ready for the NFL just because we’re weirded out with the athletes using the NCAA as a profit-making endeavour. Any farm system the NFL would create would pale in comparison to the NCAA, because fans have allegiance to their schools in a way that they don’t have for alternate football leagues.

Regarding scholarships … if the school is paying these kids, they shouldn’t be getting scholarships. Just pay them extra to cover tuition and give scholarships to someone that actually needs it. If you’re making $250k, you aren’t poor, you don’t need a scholarship.

They should have transitioned to some sort of organized, structured payments for student athletes a long time ago, when the tv revenue started to get big.  

The disconnect between that and the amateur athletes, along with the stubborn and corrupt NCAA is what I think drove things to today's free-for-all money grab which has kinda wrecked the college landscape in many ways.

I wasn't very interested in college football before that happened and now I'm almost totally uninterested, the exception being occasional wagering opportunities but they are few because I don't invest any time in the college game.

The NCAA has officially rendered small college football teams useless and the only way to compete has become who's boosters can put up the most cash and buy the most talented rosters. I think that sucks the same way the college football playoffs have now rendered any other bowl games as irrelevant and no players with any fiber of NFL talent will play in. It just sucks as a whole for college football and the fans. Yes, great that the players are getting paid but this has officially become the wild west. There's got to be some sort of salary cap put in place and high school kids should have to sign contracts for 1,2, 3 or 4 years to the college program of theor choice and the longer they sign up and commit to a program, the more potential money they can make. You have to incentivize them staying at a program so college coaches don't have to constantly recruiting the players on their own teams and trying to figure out who they can count on being on those rosters from year to year. I'm in agreement that the transfer portal should exclusively be for teams/players whose head coach has left or approved family emergencies. It's completely insane as currently constructed

I think the NIL and pay to play is going to continue to evolve.
Eventually, I see it being capped. I certainly believe NIL will be capped and the the rev sharing ordered by the court is limited.
Like most new rulings or developments, it's the Wild West until they figure out what and how to create a level playing field.

Montana Tom wrote:
I think the NIL and pay to play is going to continue to evolve. Eventually, I see it being capped.  I certainly believe NIL will be capped and the the rev sharing ordered by the court is limited. Like most new rulings or developments, it's the Wild West until they figure out what and how to create a level playing field.

If the game survives,  I found myself watching much less cfb the last couple years and really feel no draw to it at all this year.

StickierBuns wrote:

I think its going to do more than fine. This playoff format grabs those oh so important casual fans that the football providers love. I don't like this system at all, but I'm a Michigan fan so it doesn't really impact me per se. If I'm following a non-top 25 college football program than yeah, I'd hate it too. Larry Ellison's wife (his 5th by the way and only 47 years younger than him) is a U of M alum and hardcore rabid Wolverines sports fan, so now that money is funneling into the program to get talent. Not every program has a guy worth $277 billion to help secure talent like Ellison.

I am wondering though how long the fans of the non top 10 to 15 programs stick it out,  like you say,  if they dont have billions bankrolling them,   they likely dont compete and become less interesting.   I dont think top 25 make it,  to many teams in that 12 to 25 range historically move in and out,  but there is a solid top 12 or so that will have the deep pocket donors and that becomes the show.

To clarify,   im not predicting imminent ( spent to much time fighting eminent domain in the last ciuple years) death,  but i think Nascar shows that a giant can become a shell of its former self if they ignore their fan base.

Just curious. How did NASCAR ignore their fanbase?

JustInTime wrote:
Just curious. How did NASCAR ignore their fanbase?

went further away from stock cars as time has gone on,  went to their goofy playoff format,  dumped traditional, unique race tracks in favor of the cookie cutter tracks ( largely owned by the France family), more recently adding more road races to the season, made changes to the cars that made them less drive-able leading to follow the leader type racing, among other things that led to fans becoming less interested.