On the heels of ESPN writer Bill Connolly’s new book entitled “Forward Progress” detailing the College Football’s significant changes in the past several years, there has never been a time of so much chaos and instability in the sport. And yet, the revenue from athletic programs has never been higher, the ratings on TV are reaching record heights, and conferences are only getting bigger. On the plus side of the sport, college players whose names and likenesses have been used for monetary gain by the NCAA and TV networks are finally (!) (and legally) getting paid. Simultaneously, the sport has essentially turned into pay for play, with 17- to 25-year-olds regularly chasing a bigger bag. College football is a semi-beautiful mess right now, a sport that feels like the semi-professional wild west every offseason. While most regular fans who do not keep track of the sport likely have been confused by the sport’s recent changes, the hope of this article will be to explain these recent changes.
What was initially a conference move by the Southeastern Conference (SEC), Oklahoma and Texas announced their intentions to move to the SEC away from the Big 12 in the Spring of 2021. While this was seen as a big deal at the time, the ripple effect for all of college football’s other conferences is astounding. In short, conferences are not bound by geography anymore, with the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) having schools that stretch all the way to … the Pacific.
As mentioned above as well, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) laws first went into action in 2021 as a way for players to monetize themselves. With no regulation, this quickly turned into a pay-for-play model. And with unlimited transfers to other schools, this has led to schools directly tampering with other players and offering money before said players even hit the portal. As problematic as this issue is, the sport is combating through: approval of NIL deals, revenue sharing directly from the schools to the players, and a shorter transfer window in January.
As Will Leitch wrote for The Athletic in the article “College football is still worth cherishing, despite all the junk surrounding it”: “This sport drives us crazy. We love it too much to leave. This is a reason to cherish it. This is a reason to hold on even tighter.” Through all the crazy turmoil the sport has endured recently, it is still a sport, a fun sport.
Pageantry is pageantry, and there is nothing like watching your favorite school score a game-winning touchdown in overtime. This may not be the same college football many grew up with, but it is still college football.