FishDuck Article Administrator No. 1 Share Posted August 16, 2022 The Great College Football Schism is Coming, and it will leave College Football divided between the Semi-Professionals, those blue bloods who have the money and recruiting ability to be apart of the two Super Conferences in the B1G and SEC, and the Traditionalists, which will be everyone else who cannot afford to put the same resources in place to compete ... The Eventual College Football Renaissance FISHDUCK.COM The Great College Football Schism is Coming, and it will leave College Football divided between the Semi-Professionals, those blue bloods who... 1 Two Sites: FishDuck and the Our Beloved Ducks forum, The only "Forum with Decorum!" And All-Volunteer? What a wonderful community of Duck fans! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haywarduck Moderator No. 2 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Excellent article, but no prediction on where Oregon ends up? We don't have a number one qb, and now we don't know if we will be part of the traditionalist league or the semi-pro. So much unknown, I suppose it is time to get on with my day, thanks for the article, well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notalot No. 3 Share Posted August 16, 2022 (edited) Renaissance or shambles? I'm not sure. There has been D1, D2, DIII, NAIA, JUCO, and other Divisions of college football. The new model will separate D1 further with an elite super division with 40-50 teams. A new semi-pro league may not be as revolutionary as it first seens or feels. Pay for play changes everything. The Supreme Court righted a wrong for players, but changed the playing field of college footbball in doing so. The next decade of college football may be more interesting off the field than on. Thank you David for the article. Edited August 16, 2022 by Notalot Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drex Heikes No. 4 Share Posted August 16, 2022 David, this is a great take. Thank you.. I’ve been thinking similar thoughts but using a pro sports analogy. Does college football want to become like baseball, with a group of rich teams with unlimited resources dominating the sport? Or does it want to be like the NFL, NBA and NHL, where the league imposes salary caps and takes other steps to push teams toward parity. Baseball has been ruined by the squeeze on small market teams. The NFL, however, sees small and big market teams rise and fall all the time. I’m with you on the split in college football. I say: let those same 8-10 teams that compete every year for Natty have their own league. Be gone! Let the rest of the teams issue sensible rules on NIL and take other measures to push teams toward parity and let us have “traditionalist” football with a genuine national championship. With all the chaos in the game today, one way to impose at least a little more competition is to adopt a true playoff—a la FCS or March Madness. FCS has a 24-team tourney. FBS could easily do it. But watch the how the 8 or 10 who win it every year fight that. If they go to even 12 teams, they want their big teams to get a first round buy. Because, you know, none of those teams wants to risk an upset. Be gone! Anyway, great piece. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazeNconfused No. 5 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Good article and good take, lot of what I also think could go down. The Ducks could end up in some conference where they are in the east division. I mean the Cowboys are in the NFC East with NY, Philly and Washington. The Semi-Pro teams will be all about the Media Money and if you have to travel like an NFL team does then so be it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyToBeADuck No. 6 Share Posted August 16, 2022 David, well thought out written article. Thanks for taking the time to present and share your analysis. Well done.... My first thought after reading was i wish the SEC and BIG had put as much thought and consideration into these moves as you put into the article. Then i realized they did and much more. Predators make calculated moves as they prepare to kill their prey. To a predator its kill or be killed. Even hyenas(USC-UCLA) have to prepare to kill. Even a sneak attack or a stab in the back is calculated and thought out...... Consider this: In the last half of the 20th century Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State played for and won mythical National Titles. Since then not a real sniff. tOSU simply dominated their landscape. This century Bama, LSU, Florida and Georgia have claimed the Natty. So 23 other schools have provided cannon fodder for 5 top football programs. So David, you are correct that most schools will simply show up to get pounded by the elites. IMHO, the new 12 team CFP will have 8 spots for BIG/SEC, 1-ACC, 1- PAC, 1-BIG12 and of course ND. This way MSU, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin get a better shot at a seat at the table. Thats alot of schools that the hyenas will have to climb over. The BIC/SEC will reap 75% or more of the CFP money in that format. The same 5 to 8 teams will dominate thst landscape. However they will pay their bottom feeders very well. Anybody think UCLA will be anything more than a footbsll bottom feeder? Hec the new President of Northwestern doesnt really care about football. But he will take that $100 million check to the bank. No matter the cost to so many others.......... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrathis No. 7 Share Posted August 16, 2022 What if the "have nots" simply decide to quit playing ball with the "haves"? Being cannon fodder is never fun, even though there's always the off chance that Appalachian State comes into the Big House and knocks off the blue-blood. I guess in the end money talks and if 'Bama etc are willing to shell out $10,000,000 to beat up on some "have not" opponent, that school will take the pounding for the cash. For me it would come down to principle, but it seems rather apparent that the "principles" now are to "get yours and get paid". HAVES: "Hey Utah State and ULM, I left an extra $20 on the dresser for you...I was a bit rough on you last night." 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 8 Share Posted August 16, 2022 David, I appreciate your additional perception of how many schools in the Semi-Pro conferences will change their mind later and opt to be in a traditional conference. I mean, being in a super-conference sounds great until you find yourself in the bottom half of it the vast majority of the time. You could have a fine team that narrowly lost a bunch of games and that is now sub-500, and could be a 10 win team elsewhere. My FishDuck Friends,....could this evolve into how we feel about college baseball versus the players who have opted to enter the minor leagues and work their way up in MLB? We recognize that players in the local Eugene "Ems" team are better than the Duck Baseball team, but it does not diminish my passion for Our Beloved Ducks. Is this where our football team and passion for it is ultimately headed? Great article Mr. Marsh! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 9 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 5:30 AM, Haywarduck said: Excellent article, but no prediction on where Oregon ends up? We don't have a number one qb, and now we don't know if we will be part of the traditionalist league or the semi-pro. So much unknown, I suppose it is time to get on with my day, thanks for the article, well done. Where do you want the Ducks to end up? In my last article where I introduced the split to college football I said the Ducks can fall on either side. We have the resources to hang with the power houses or at least a whole lot closer than the vast majority of the college football world... But I could see Oregon also deciding to be a bigger fish in a different pond so that the powers at be don't have to spend all the money. I like to think of this option like how the North Dakota fan base may approach any thoughts of moving from FCS to FBS. North Dakota is a very big fish in the FCS pond. They could join an FBS conference and potentially a power 5 conference and not be a bottom feeder. Given enough time they may even become a very good FBS team. But to do so they would have to spend a ton of money to get their program ready for the FBS level and they would be looking at some pretty bad seasons along the way. And for what? The prestige factor? North Dakota is very happy with their situation as it is and it isn't worth trying to make the leap. And I didn't even factor NIL into this scinario. I think Oregon is sitting just outside of the blue bloods right now. Phil Knight has put an insane amount of money to get us into competition with them but we haven't quite made the huno yet. If Oregon had to decide now which way to go semi-pro or traditionalist... I think in this moment the majority of fans would want semi-pro out of the prestige, pride and ego. Personally I think I might like traditionalist more and let the semi-pros play their game and Oregon gets to maintain the rivalries we have left. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 10 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 5:39 AM, Notalot said: There has been D1, D2, DIII, NAIA, JUCO, and other Divisions of college football. The new model will separate D1 further with an elite super division with 40-50 teams. I think the number of super conference teams would be sustainable below 40. There are only 32 NFL teams and I do think the eventual unequal profit sharing will driving any teams out of the super conferences. One sided beatdowns don't drive viewership either in person or on TV. Eventually the TV executives are going to want a better on field product and to sell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 11 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 7:34 AM, Wrathis said: What if the "have nots" simply decide to quit playing ball with the "haves"? Being cannon fodder is never fun, even though there's always the off chance that Appalachian State comes into the Big House and knocks off the blue-blood. I guess in the end money talks and if 'Bama etc are willing to shell out $10,000,000 to beat up on some "have not" opponent, that school will take the pounding for the cash. For me it would come down to principle, but it seems rather apparent that the "principles" now are to "get yours and get paid". HAVES: "Hey Utah State and ULM, I left an extra $20 on the dresser for you...I was a bit rough on you last night." That's what the FCS schools do right now to find most of their programs. And even the best FCS teams put up with it because those games don't effect their chances to make the FCS playoff. There is no risk of those cross divisional games only a payday. I could see the traditionalists taking on the same model. Go get paid by Ohio State but don't worry it won't effect your post season. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDuck No. 12 Share Posted August 16, 2022 FCS: "we already know the result of those games. The lesser team is going to lose." Unless you are in Seattle hosting the University of Montana... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Marsh No. 13 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 8:47 AM, JDuck said: FCS: "we already know the result of those games. The lesser team is going to lose." Unless you are in Seattle hosting the University of Montana... I really wanted to mention how Washington lost to an FCS team there... It just didn't seem to fit the tone of the overall article. And it article was already pushing the upper end of length as well. Thank you for bringing that up because it is always good to hear. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washington Waddler Moderator No. 14 Share Posted August 16, 2022 David, really appreciate your tenacity in following your thought down whatever rabbit hole it took you. The result certainly justifies the effort. Lots of good thinking here comparing the pros to whatever variation of them that different colleges/conferences may take. It’s worth noting here how MLB differs from all the other pro leagues in that it is inclusively self-supporting with its own professional minor league system. True, it does benefit from college ball, but does not depend upon it. Aside from the semi-effective NBA G league, the other pro leagues remain dependent upon colleges for development of their players. If the media-money halter in the hand of the NFL that’s firmly attached to B1G & SEC ‘haves’ nose rings were to follow down this MLB path, it could well kill the goose that lays the golden egg as it already has MLB where excess and greed without limits has taken over and alienated most fans by turning the sport into something so many feel no connection with anymore. We all know the high regard with which minor league baseball is held. Is that really where the Alabama’s and Der Ohio State’s want to end up? Good chance it’s already happened. Pathetic. Like watching a Roman orgy where the haves stuff themselves to the point of having to vomit, only to return to eat even more. Disgust - if nothing else - may end up saving college football from those who have lost their way. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Ducky No. 15 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Don’t know who came up with the saying Money Is The Root of all Evil but he hit the nail squarely in the middle. I remember my Dad saying that to me back in the 50’s. He also said corporations would ruin America. Guy was smarter than I thought. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian No. 16 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Love the article, and the discussion! As you have noted, college football has not been an equal playing field. That said, my thoughts below echo much of what has been already stated, but I have a few areas that add to the discussion: The college conference alignment complicated. It includes all sports, and all the logistics that go with it: Facilities, scholarships, coaching, alumni, fans, live events, TV, team travel, Title 9, training, over-sight, and scheduling. Then there’s the imbalance of football revenue covering athletic department expenses. I’m still in the mindset that NIL football (let’s call it what it is), will form an alignment outside of the current conferences. It will include the top 40-50 teams, and probably be sorted into north/south/east/west conferences. The NIL will not participate in traditional recruiting, but will instead have a draft, and an agreed upon window at some point in the year to allow for transfers. The current conferences will stay in-tact for all other sports. Logistics is just too difficult, and they can avoid the Title 9 issue. The schools can pocket their NIL money to fund other sports. I think the Big10 power grab (LA market) has been implemented to counter the arguments coming from the SEC in order to get them to participate in a negotiation meeting. Otherwise, the SEC/ESPN thing won’t change. So what happens to the other schools not in the NIL? They may keep their current pre-season pay-day system. However, I think they would be better off creating a Premier League system of relegation and promotion. That way teams can earn their way into the NIL league, or work their way out. Just my thoughts. Let’s see if the TV masterminds figure it out. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fischer Administrator No. 17 Share Posted August 16, 2022 On 8/16/2022 at 2:13 PM, Brian said: Just my thoughts. Well Brian, that was a fantastic first post, and it is great to have you on-board and a part of this community. With the way you write--I hope we see your opinions often. WELCOME! Mr. FishDuck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian No. 18 Share Posted August 16, 2022 Thanks Charles! I've been reading posts on your website for several years, and I've very impressed by your level of knowledge in all things football. Thanks for creating the site. It's a great way for Duck fans to connect and discuss! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
