This is Where We Are?

[WishBone]

With the addition of NIL and the Genious that came up with the Transfer Portal Idea we are at a stage of collegiate athletics we have never been before.Just look what is happening before our eyes.Players are raking in Hundreds and millions of dollars with no"Obligation" what so ever.It doesnt matter which team you are apart of;either the last place in your standings or the National Champion,players are leaving teams in droves.Someting has top be done.It has gotten now to a point and a lot of us seen it coming to where the bowl games are ABSOLUTLEY meaningless,Unless you were Blessed by the College Football Playoff Comittee and got a Playoff spot,which now being undefeated doesnt mean much..How long will it be before the bowls chose to bow out because Financially they cant afford it because eventually fan will stop goin to see the 'Scrimmage Bowls"Coaches longevity will either Lengthen or shorten due to the fact of the inevitability to field a complete competetive team year after year.It has become increasingly frustrating to see these players being coddled and paid their demands then Jump Ship at their own ($$$$$$)convenience(Cayden Green) ring a bell?AT this moment " no PLayer" is Locked into one specific school for the full Scholarship period.

[EMan]

I've had this very conversation with numerous friends and family and we're all pretty much on the same page. College football is already well on its way to complete disaster and we don't see how it can be saved with the genie already out of the bottle. The NCAA completely blew the chance to have any type of control with what's going on, and the game we all grew up watching and loving is now a bygone era. I still love to watch the Sooners, but my interest in the rest of college football has waned dramatically. Several of us were discussing just last night why they were even playing any of these meaningless bowl games. The NIL started us down this disasterous path, but with the court decision, it was here to stay. The thing that will ultimately destroy the game is the portal. The NCAA has botched that so badly it's doubtful college football will ever recover. Sadly, eventually it's going to collapse and the passionate fans won't be there to pick up the pieces. College football will survive in some form, but it certainly looks to be headed to a much less enthusiastic fan base going forward. Hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see the up-and-coming generations having the same passion for the game we have/had. And sooner or later, that's going to impact football in a very negative way.

[AllSooner]

Bowl games have always been about money! Hell, even college football is about money now. With the present "opt-out" mentality, I believe the bowls will start losing money and the demise of the bowls will continue until things look more like the Div II playoff scenario. NCAA appears to be gearing up for that type of playoff starting with the 12 team playoff and the re-alignment of conferences. I don't believe that many of the "Final 4" have "Opt-Out" players readying for the NFL. They do have injured and Portal players that will miss, but it won't look anything like the non-Final 4 team's rosters. So maybe the 12 team playoff will encourage more players to stay and play (it would be nice to see their NIL tied to bowl game participation) and thereby more entertaining and meaningful.

[Up North Sooner]

I don't have a clue what needs to be done with NIL, but solving the transfer portal issue for the post season is easy.

Move the damn date so that it is after the bowls, playoffs, and championship games. Then, and just as important, it needs to be made that if you "opt out" of a postseason game you have to pay the university back for your scholarship. Maybe not a big deal given the NIL money some of these kids are getting, but I bet taking a hit to the wallet would still give them pause about opting out.

[Bixby_Sooner]

Since NIL isn't controlled by any one entity (50 states so 50 sets of rules/laws), it is not likely that anyone will ever be able to achieve any type of consensus on what will "fix" the amounts of NIL $$$ being paid.

Regarding the transfer portal - all that is necessary to stop that madness (a/k/a Free Agency) is for the NCAA to enact a Portal Rule that says, yes you can transfer, but regardless of your final destination, you must sit out for 1 year - the exception being grad students. That would change the landscape in a hurry. It might also have a collateral impact on NIL, after all with 2 years eligibility remaining but only able to play 1 year, who would want to pay the same amount of NIL - this doesn't apply the the A & M's of the football world who have more $$$ than sense.

[captnop]

except that rule would've crippled OU this year .... We would've been a 7 win team at best ...... 22 would've been ?? was DG a graduate transfer ??

[inconnu]

I don't have a clue what needs to be done with NIL, but solving the transfer portal issue for the post season is easy.

Move the damn date so that it is after the bowls, playoffs, and championship games. Then, and just as important, it needs to be made that if you "opt out" of a postseason game you have to pay the university back for your scholarship. Maybe not a big deal given the NIL money some of these kids are getting, but I bet taking a hit to the wallet would still give them pause about opting out.

Maybe something along the lines of your suggestions(above), makes sense, but anything like that would likely be hard to implement, and might face some sort of uprising.

[soonerindallas]

I've had this very conversation with numerous friends and family and we're all pretty much on the same page. College football is already well on its way to complete disaster and we don't see how it can be saved with the genie already out of the bottle. The NCAA completely blew the chance to have any type of control with what's going on, and the game we all grew up watching and loving is now a bygone era. I still love to watch the Sooners, but my interest in the rest of college football has waned dramatically. Several of us were discussing just last night why they were even playing any of these meaningless bowl games. The NIL started us down this disasterous path, but with the court decision, it was here to stay. The thing that will ultimately destroy the game is the portal. The NCAA has botched that so badly it's doubtful college football will ever recover. Sadly, eventually it's going to collapse and the passionate fans won't be there to pick up the pieces. College football will survive in some form, but it certainly looks to be headed to a much less enthusiastic fan base going forward. Hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see the up-and-coming generations having the same passion for the game we have/had. And sooner or later, that's going to impact football in a very negative way.

Absolutely right on target with this assessment. I have had the same thoughts the past two days. Unless NIL is somehow fixed and the transfer portal is adjusted to make not as easy to transfer (e.g having to sit out a year if you transfer while your coach is still at the school that recruited you), then every bowl game will be like this. Unless you make it to the NC playoffs (where players will want to play), then you'll have to replace half your team for the bowl game and have a makeshift OL, turnovers happening, etc.

Not hopeful for the SEC schedule next year. Even Mizzou is playing great now. We may be looking at a .500 record next year. Hope I am proven wrong, but not real hopeful right now.

[boomermet]

I wonder if the reaction was the same back in the day OU and GA went to court over tv rites. Some thought if your team is on TV that no one would show up at the stadium. Players would want to go only to teams that had better tv exposure etc. Change is tough

[SwampSooner]

Listening to Josh Pate and others (like Kelly at UCLA), there is talk of separating College Football from the Universities and making it a stand alone entity with a Commissioner.

The commissioner would make rules to control the portal and do away with NIL, opting for a salary system for the players.

The teams will still have a token affiliation with their schools - Names, colors, bands and probably pay a portion of the game receipts back to the universities. This commissioner would also set up the game schedules for the participating schools so as to balance the field. You would not have a Big 10ish west with all the conference weak sisters while the Big 10ish east would have all the power houses. The smaller schools would stay with the NCAA and crown their own champion.

There is even talk of setting the teams up into two conferences, like the old AFC and NFC. Each with a playoff system to crown a champion and then have the two conference winners face-off for the National Championship.

What I've heard that I did not like is the players would not have to take classes. They are playing football to improve their skills and make the NFL. This leads to the problem of having several 1000 playing college football but only a few percent make it on a pro team. What do we do with the rest? Give them a diploma for a BS in football arts? Obviously there is a lot to be hashed out before this would become a viable solution.

[AllSooner]

What I've heard that I did not like is the players would not have to take classes. They are playing football to improve their skills and make the NFL. This leads to the problem of having several 1000 playing college football but only a few percent make it on a pro team. What do we do with the rest? Give them a diploma for a BS in football arts? Obviously there is a lot to be hashed out before this would become a viable solution.

I'm not surprised by this action. After all, many of the athletes are not interested in higher education, taking courses like "basket weaving" and "advanced basket weaving" just to make grades that will allow them to play what they really came to school for. With this comes financial savings by not having to hand out scholarships. The athlete will receive pay for his services and he can do with it what he wants. He can use it to get that higher education (that's the ones that are using their heads for something other than a place to put a helmet) or they could spend it on wild women and cars. It will become a choice that any person that attends a university has to make. It's time to let them be "adults" of their own choosing. Besides, now they become employees of the university, subject to whatever rules are set up with appropriate corrective action, possibly up to and including termination.

[JoeSooner]

I think some of that no class taking stuff is a little bit of crazy talk speculation. Some legislators or university presidents won't let that stuff happen, nor do I think they should.

Things I've heard about major college football breaking away from the NCAA and forming their own organization make more sense to me, leaving other sports to play in whatever conferences actually make sense. The NCAA is useless anyway and has botched every part of what's happened in college football.