“They’re ruining the game!” “It’s all about the money!” Do these rallying cries sound familiar? If you’re a college football fan, you’ve probably heard or made comments similar to these recently. But are all of the recent changes really ruining the game we love?
As humans, we tend to romanticize the past and fear the future. We cling to predictability and familiarity. However, this instinct may not serve our best interest in the case of our college football fandom.
Be Careful What You Ask For
Do you really want to turn back the clock for tradition’s sake? How far back shall we go? As recently as 1996 it was common for games to end in a tie. In ‘97 there were two undefeated powerhouses that split the National Championship because there was no structure in place to settle it on the field. Just three years ago players couldn’t even capitalize financially off the game they dedicated their entire life to.
Face it. We are entering the glory days of college football. With the 12-team playoff on the horizon, we are living in an age where there could be 20+ teams with realistic hopes of winning it all heading into the last week of the regular season.
When we take an honest look at the evolution of the game, things have only gotten better. Since the implementation of the forward pass in 1906, the college game has continued to evolve in a favorable direction.
It's All About The Money!
One of the most common complaints about the recent changes in the college football landscape is that money is the main driver. Why is that a bad thing?
The free market economy in our country works because it allows the quantity and quality of supply to be driven specifically by demand. If there isn’t interest in something, it goes away. If there is, it thrives.
Deion Sanders on conference realignment:
— On3 (@On3sports) August 4, 2023
“All this is about money, you know that. It’s about a bag. Everybody’s chasing a bag, then you get mad at the players when they chase it. How is that?”https://t.co/sN8GYXIryY pic.twitter.com/5zzh45OweZ
The recent conference realignment that continues to shake up the college football landscape may feel uncomfortable, but it’s as American as apple pie. Texas and OU are heading to the SEC for the same reason USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon are heading to the Big Ten: money. And the only reason it makes financial sense is that we, as fans, have indirectly dictated to the powers that be which matchups we find interesting.
So the next time you sit back on your sofa, yelling at the TV that they’re ruining the game. Get up off your ass and take a look in the mirror at the real reason for all of the changes. If Bowling Green and Utah State were pulling in SEC-level viewership, I can guarantee you their phones would be ringing off the hook with power conference suitors. But they’re not, and that’s okay.
Relax and let the market do what it does best; Give you the best possible product.
Proceed With Caution
Okay, I know. Up until this point, I’ve been about as “pro-modern-changes” as I could be. However, there are some reasons for us to be cautious.
Free market capitalism isn’t flawless. As we’ve seen with the United States economy, a late-stage empire can oftentimes see a cataclysmic reduction of the middle class. This forces everyone except for the winners into poverty. If this happens in college football, we may see a widespread issue. If enough schools struggle to pay the bills and are forced to discontinue their football programs, the game may face an existential crisis.
This is where the NCAA could make itself useful. A quality governing body will implement minimal strategic regulations for the betterment of the entire system. So, rather than expending resources on who Jim Harbaugh is buying cheeseburgers for, the NCAA should be focusing on how they can protect middle and lower-tier programs.
If the NCAA fails to do its duty to the system at large, there’s a good chance we could see the SEC, Big Ten, and Big 12 succeed from the union. That’s another conversation entirely.
Overall, it’s important to remember to count our college football blessings. College football is showing us that it can evolve with the times, which is a good sign for its ongoing survival. I’m urging you all to take a breath and embrace change. In less than a month, we’ll be kicking off another season of the greatest spectacle in all of sports: College Football.
