College Football: The Beginning of the End!

[mrspenney]

Collegiate sports as we have loved and enjoyed over the years is in the process of going away.

[mrspenney]

Meant to add much more.  The combination of NIL and the transfer rules now in place is dooming collegiate sports as we now know them.  Great example is what is happening at Texas and Texas A & M.  Spending millions of dollars to land the #1 recruiting class in the country is the beginning of total destruction of collegiate football as we have known it over the years.

 

Can Oregon survive? Obviously yes, as Phil Knight as already put in place a group to support the new NIL program.  However, can schools like Oregon State, Washington State, Colorado, Iowa State, Missouri, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, just to name a few, compete, answer no.  So what is the answer?

 

As a few sports writers have written, the creation of a super conference.  One writer wrote it would be composed of 24 teams, another one 30, how many who knows, but this will be the end of the bowl game season, and will mean that a lot of members of the so called power 5 conferences will no longer play football.  

 

Some say why doesn't the NCAA step in and do something?  They can't, today the only reason the NCAA still exist is the national championship basketball tournament which they control, if it wasn't for that they would go away.  The courts have stepped in and, in reality, taken over. What's happening with A&M and Texas is just the beginning.

[Haywarduck]

I would say everything is in a constant state of change. Where I live is changing and many want to leave. Can that be said of OBD?

 

What I find interesting is Oregon is becoming what we, once, always battled against. Oregon is becoming elite, and that wasn't what Oregon was when I went to school there. 

 

I often find it more gratifying when WSU wins a game against the dawgs, then when Oregon beats them. Same with some of OSU's wins. Seeing an underdog beat a highly ranked team does something for my soul.

 

I definitely didn't find it entertaining to see Oregon try and hold onto their high ranking.

 

What I always enjoyed was the program growing and over achieving as the years past and each season went on. That is no longer the case, expectations are always high, and the oftentimes predictable letdown, less than filling.

 

I don't know that collegiate sports is going away, just going another way.

[Charles Fischer]

It does look grim at the moment, but human nature is to get up to the edge of the canyon and before stepping over the ledge....deciding to do something about the problem.  (Even though the "medicine" would have been much easier years before.)  That both NC coaches are saying things need to be corrected is a good first sign...

 

And we never know how Oregon will come out of it.  We may still be fans, but "holding-our-nose" at some of the things we read and hear.

 

Or not.  In the case that it gets truly broken and disgusting?   I am simply going to soak up as much of Oregon football over the next three years as I can and Banter-with-my-Buddies here on the Our Beloved Ducks forum!

 

[Washington Waddler]

     What makes something ‘alive’ is the unpredictable nature of independent behavior: you can’t control it no matter how hard you try. Cases in point — the weather and Covid-19.

 

     While college football is hardly a force of nature, until now, it has always shown a resilience — a life of its own — because the majority of those who participate in it have shown a willingness to moderate personal desire, employee an independent governing body (NCAA), and adapt to change that helped maintain that independent character, and helped insure no person or thing could completely control it.

 

     So long as college football revenue was primarily driven by stadium sales, this balance could be maintained, even in light of social and cultural abuses within its own ranks that took generations to resolve, if ever. In spite of that, what college football could not change was the basic inequity of its own origins: that of being founded on the privilege of financial access to a university education, and all that that entailed. Inclusion, diversification, and the many forms of financial aid that we now take for granted helped alleviate this somewhat, but it could not change the basic unfairness of life. 

 

     With the advent of social media — the steady march of access to increased revenue from radio through cable tv and Internet entities — it shattered forever that balance, because everyone likes lots of money. Greed trumps better instincts. The NCAA destroyed its own ethical and governing footing by using tv contracts to enrich university programs and not its players. And now, NIL and portal-driven cash has brought the universities themselves under the sway of the free market — and neutered their power to protect the independent character of college football — as the money door swings wide open to . . . what?

 

     I’m pretty sure most of us still fiercely love and would do anything we could to ensure the ‘aliveness’ and independence of this thing we call college football. With all the changes it has gone through, it’s hard to recognize it sometimes. But at its core, I cling to the belief that it’s spirit rages against the powers that would control and eventually destroy it.  I cling to the hope that the SEC and ESPN will eventually teeter and fall like some latter day Towers of Babel from the sheer weight of their own greed, and we can then find a better way to make the system work so we can again enjoy thing we all love.

 

     But until then, I guess I’ll just enjoy being a Duck, and get on with life!

     

Edited January 10, 2022 by Washington Waddler
Grammar

[Drake]

Many people are worried that their team can’t afford to compete at the highest levels. We already had a scenario where most teams couldn’t afford to compete at the highest levels before NIL.

 

I can’t worry about how individuals choose to redistribute their wealth via NIL contracts. If Oregon gets left behind, then so be it. 
 

The reason we are where we are today in sports at the U of O is due in large part to Phil Knight’s generosity and competitive nature. Do we expect him to throw absurd $$$ at NIL contracts to make all sports programs competitive?

 

Phil Knight choosing to donate $$$ to continue to build hospital wings, enhance student facilities at Universities, and  provide scholarships, is more praiseworthy in my book. 
 

However, if he wants to compete for that shiny new trophy… I won’t complain too loudly.  : )

[Jon Joseph]

Before the current Playoff agreement ends in 2025, not much can be done.

 

Beginning in 2026, The Alliance, ACC, B1G, Pac-12 and Notre Dame, can hold their own post-season tournament. 8 teams. 3 conference champs. 5 AL, including Notre Dame with 1st round games played on campus of 4 highest ranked teams. No conference can have have more than 3 participants in the playoff. Start the season in 'week zero'. Legit NIL agreements will be arranged to compensate the players appearing in the playoff. Loss of Income insurance will also be provided for these players.

 

Agree on NIL being implemented as attended and not be used to buy recruits or players from the transfer portal. Limit the time players can enter the transfer portal. Assist the players by having an approved list of agents. Agree on minimum entrance requirements and APR requirements. Give players in every sport 5 seasons to play 4. Restrict and penalize roster tampering. Other than for salaries, cap the amount a school can spend on CFB and CBB.

 

Will 4 and 5 star recruits be 'lost' to the SEC, yes, But academics will be as important as will athletic accomplishments. Academics will 'just mean more.' in the Alliance conferences and Notre Dame where they already mean more. When OK and TX officially join the SEC only 5 of 16 schools will be AAU members. When BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF join the B 12, only 2 schools will be AAU members.

 

Agree on a 12 game schedule with one OOC opponent having to be a P5 opponent. Agree that all conferences will play 10 conference games and Notre Dame will play 11 games vs P5 opponents. Eliminate divisions. Agree that the regular season decides the champion with agreed upon tie-breakers. No conference champ game. As noted above the season starts in week zero. Half the teams bye in week 5. Half the teams bye in week 6.This would allow quarter final and semifinal games to be played in December and conclude on 1/1.

 

Agree to uniformly negotiate postseason media rights. Will this bring in as much $ as a playoff including the SEC? No. But it will still result in material dollars. 

[GODUCKS15]

It was gone years ago after all the marketing hype took over. Merchandizing, media rights, CFP, BCS etc. It'll never be the same again.

[Pocketchange]

If a company doesn’t  pay their employees and robs them of profiting off their name and likeness, does the company deserve to live?

[Charles Fischer]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:08 PM, Pocketchange said:

If a company doesn’t  pay their employees and robs them of profiting off their name and likeness, does the company deserve to live?

 

That's pretty harsh, IMHO.  What was the money, all this "profit" from football used for?

 

Funding 17 other sports at Oregon and giving athletes of both genders a chance at a college education.  That is not quite as you suggested, but we can agree to see it differently.  My point is--a ton of women would not have scholarships if all the football money went to football players.  And we may see them in the courtroom against universities over enforcing Title IX before it is over.

 

(The other sport is Mens Basketball that supports itself and makes a little)

[Babyjesus615]

NIL will run wild and rampant on CFB until the playoff expansion occurs. I am hoping The Alliance schools and other conferences will use the 2025 date as a referendum on how this money and situation as a whole is being handled.

 

In the meantime, programs can step up and lead the charge for positive control of this new money a number of different ways; but at the very least, requiring that a percentage of all NIL money from deals signed while attending said program go directly to the athletic department. As Charles explained above, the vast majority of sports programs at all Pac 12 schools are funded through the profits of the football program.

 

If the Alliance member schools were to get on board with this, I believe the Big 12 would follow suit. It would also force the SEC to take a hard look at its current "recruit buying" operations. After all, only so many players can go to the SEC. The transfer portal could actually begin to work to the advantage of all schools not located in the south eastern United States. As kids with NIL deals sit on the sidelines of their dream SEC school, they may see elsewhere as a better option to profit off their name; while enabling their transfer destination to use a small portion of that money to feed back into the athletic department in general. Thus, allowing other sports programs to thrive, and in some cases, even just survive.

[Duck 1972]

I think we could be having unreasonable fears.

 

As with every change your going to have some negative impacts. But you also will find positives.

 

There are many different ways to do things.

 

Let's hope we have men with integrity who will lead by example and produce a worthwhile product we will be proud of.

 

Nothing is perfect nor will it ever be. I'm not expecting perfection but I also don't let fears stop me.

 

CFB is an institution. While the change is here it just needs some tweaking and it will survive.

 

Go Ducks Fly High

[Jon Joseph]

The beginning of the end happened with the BCS and the B1G and the Pac 10 throwing the Rose Bowl into the BCS mix for crickets. Larry, after seeing, if he paid attention,  Oregon being screwed by the BCS in 2001 and SC screwed numerous times by the BCS, again tossed the Rose Bowl back into this BCS x 2 for nothing and with no guaranty of Pac-12 playoff participation. 

 

The SEC has benefitted and the Pac-12 has been left behind. A number of us predicted this outcome back at the inception of the BCS. Today we have open free agency and pay for play and few Pac-12 teams are in a position to compete in semi-pro college football.

 

We have had no-brainer leadership and the B1G and the SEC have both had excellent leadership. Jim Delaney convincing FOX to own 51% of and of the B1G Network and to cover 100% of the network operating costs. The SEC entered into a 'partnership' with media cartel ESPN.

 

I frankly am surprised that it took so many folks this long tp see 'this' coming.

 

The destruction of the Pac-12 was aided and abetted by USC being hosed over by the NCAA;  by a 'kangaroo court' led by Miami AD Paul Dee who's own house at Miami was burning down.

 

You reap what you don't sow. Pac-12 'leadership' is an oxymoron.

[mrspenney]

Great discussion