This is worth a read - and remember - this is what we all wanted, right?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/06/opinions/...index.html

I’m thinking when the next playoff contract comes around the G5 will be shown the door. The only thing that can save it would a G5 run and create a “Cinderella” that’s pulls big ratings.

(01-06-2024 11:48 AM)bluebacker Wrote:  This is worth a read - and remember - this is what we all wanted, right?

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/06/opinions/...index.html

Great article and absolutely on point. All the greed is quickly leading us to what may well spell the end for most programs. Ultimately, I believe, the remaining “blue bloods” will not be able to sustain enough interest from the masses and they will implode too.

Yeah - remember that the 12-team playoff is only set for the next two seasons. That is plenty of time for the BIG10 and the SEC to further consolidate and leave everyone else behind.

Starting next year if you are looking at 'brands' then the PAC12 is gone, the Big12 has no one anyone wants outside of maybe Kansas basketball and the ACC has FSU, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and maybe Duke for basketball.

Eventually even some teams that are currently in the SEC and the BIG10 might get cut - like Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Northwestern, Mississippi State, and Purdue.

If the cut is 48 those teams are probably safe but if the cut is at 32 then - watch out.

Sadly, the conclusion of the article is the ultimate demise of college football. Once the cutdown occurs, most of the market for college football will be gone since most fans will not have school loyalty to the remaining teams and what remains will be little more than a "G League" to the NFL.

It is rather remarkable how this sport has been quickly ruined by people who aren't fans of college football - ESPN execs, and to a lesser but still significant degree, FOX execs.

(01-07-2024 12:17 AM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  It is rather remarkable how this sport has been quickly ruined by people who aren't fans of college football - ESPN execs, and to a lesser but still significant degree, FOX execs.

Agree to a point. University presidents and AD's also played a role by voting in these conference alignment changes - all for mo money.

We will have to see how this all plays out over the next 20 years as the older generation of college football fans die off and or stop going to games as much.

In my opinion, what made college football special and set it apart from the NFL was it's amateur status, the traditional regional rivalries, and the pageantry surrounding the games. The players were 'kids' that were playing for the name on the front of the jersey and (for the most part) trading football for an education.

Now? It's all about NIL dollars, getting theirs, and transferring every year chasing dollars and immediate playing time.

There are almost no controls and describing the college football and basketball landscape as the Wild West is pretty accurate.

Anybody here a big G League fan? Anybody here live and die with AAA baseball?

As I said, it'll take 20 years for all these chickens that come home to roost but I firmly believe that they will.

(01-06-2024 02:11 PM)dcg141 Wrote:  I’m thinking when the next playoff contract comes around the G5 will be shown the door. The only thing that can save it would a G5 run and create a “Cinderella” that’s pulls big ratings.

Correct on both points. Sankey has already mentioned doing away with automatic bids and just taking the top 12 teams in the selection committee poll which would pretty much eliminate G5 participation. Second, if Memphis for example, got in next year and got to the semifinals then that can’t be undone in the eyes of many going forward for other non-P4 conferences

(01-07-2024 10:09 AM)Tiger87 Wrote:  

(01-07-2024 12:17 AM)AlonsoWDC Wrote:  It is rather remarkable how this sport has been quickly ruined by people who aren't fans of college football - ESPN execs, and to a lesser but still significant degree, FOX execs.

Agree to a point. University presidents and AD's also played a role by voting in these conference alignment changes - all for mo money.

I agree, but again, to a point. It's been made public now that the TV people are wagging the official voters' tails in this conversation.

Not that the ADs and Presidents/Chancellors are not culpable. But one showing their spine would just be fired anyway.

It all boils down to "beware what you wish for....you might just get it..."

We all know what "NIL" really stands for...

Now the money guys don't have to deal under the table anymore...

Yep they would be made to disappear.

(01-07-2024 10:22 AM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  

(01-06-2024 02:11 PM)dcg141 Wrote:  I’m thinking when the next playoff contract comes around the G5 will be shown the door. The only thing that can save it would a G5 run and create a “Cinderella” that’s pulls big ratings.

Correct on both points. Sankey has already mentioned doing away with automatic bids and just taking the top 12 teams in the selection committee poll which would pretty much eliminate G5 participation.

That would have to be approved by more than just the B10 and the SEC for that to pass. I don't think the B12, ACC, and G5 representation will sign-off on that. Of course, that could be the final straw the creates an official separation from the FBS division.

I'm completely disillusioned by what's happening in college football, but it's reflective of the overall lack of values I see in society today. Money and personal advancement mean more than commitment and team. There essentially are no commitments. Every coach has to recruit his entire roster every year. The conference realignment game is phenomenally stupid.
And most of it is bad news for a school like Memphis, except it does give Memphis a chance at signing more 4 and 5 star guys we were unable to recruit out of high school.
I'll keep supporting the Tigers, but I don't follow the marquee schools anymore. Probably won't watch the Washington-Michigan game.

You all do know that there’s no network or corporate sponsors yet for the upcoming expanding playoffs, bowls and beyond? These heavy hitters aren’t going to commit to investing billions of dollars for a several years if they aren’t certain about the stability and structure of college football amidst all of this current chaos. Expect a clean up on the portal, signing day scheduling…etc and other necessary changes to make the sport sound.

(01-08-2024 01:49 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  You all do know that there’s no network or corporate sponsors yet for the upcoming expanding playoffs, bowls and beyond? These heavy hitters aren’t going to commit to investing billions of dollars for a several years if they aren’t certain about the stability and structure of college football amidst all of this current chaos. Expect a clean up on the portal, signing day scheduling…etc and other necessary changes to make the sport sound.

I think changes are a-coming because the current NIL/Portal situation is unsustainable. But it won't be because they are having trouble getting sponsors.

Forbes:
"The Rose Bowl matchup that saw Michigan beat Alabama in an overtime nailbiter had an average audience of 27.2 million viewers on Jan. 1, ESPN reported, making it the most-watched college football playoff semifinal since 2014 and the most watched non-NFL sporting event since 2018, according to the Detroit Free Press.
The Sugar Bowl, played the same day, drew the fourth-highest audience for the event in the last 20 years as 18.4 million people watched the Washington Huskies beat the Texas Longhorns.
For Christmas week, newly released Nielsen data shows the Orange Bowl leading a pack of 14 college bowl games that made it into the top 40 most-viewed programs across all of cable for between Dec. 25 and 31.
Of the top 40 most-watched cable programs last week, 30 were broadcast on ESPN to make the network the far and away winner—an average of 4.3 million people tuned into ESPN in primetime from Dec. 25 to 31, with a 1.8 million total-day viewership average to top Fox News (868,000) and the Hallmark Channel (546,000)."

Forbes Holiday tv ratings

Yahoo:
"College football‘s bowl season picked up in a big way around the New Year’s weekend, with six games averaging 6.8 million viewers or more. The biggest by far was the Rose Bowl matchup between Michigan and Alabama, which was also a College Football Playoff semifinal. ESPN’s multi-channel telecast drew 27.76 million viewers, the biggest audience for any college football game since the 2018 national championship. The Sugar Bowl (Washington vs. Texas) followed with 18.77 million viewers — a low for any CFP semifinal — but the two-game slate still posted the third highest average viewership for the semifinals in the 10-year history of the playoff."

Yahoo: Holiday tv ratings

I couldn't find a full recap of the college fb season's ratings. But all indications are the total season's ratings are up double-digit % over last year.

Not many like the changes in college sports - but we're still watching.

Once the Supreme Court ruled for Oklahoma and Georgia in 1984, this was inevitable

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Most of the people that have watched will continue to watch.

We'll see what is happening in 20 years....

(01-08-2024 07:11 PM)fsquid Wrote:  Once the Supreme Court ruled for Oklahoma and Georgia in 1984, this was inevitable

It was a good ruling at the time...the NCAA had a complete stranglehold on televised college football.

(01-09-2024 02:08 PM)GermantownTiger Wrote:  

(01-08-2024 07:11 PM)fsquid Wrote:  Once the Supreme Court ruled for Oklahoma and Georgia in 1984, this was inevitable

It was a good ruling at the time...the NCAA had a complete stranglehold on televised college football.

I agree.