It feels like college football is changing by the hour these days, and at times its hard to keep up with what is normal and what’s not.
Imagine for a moment that you are back in 2014 and your friend tells you that a player on his favorite college football team is opting out for the rest of the year — not because he’s injured but because he wants to preserve his redshirt so he can transfer to a new team for next season.
The game has changed dramatically over the last few years, but there could be even bigger adjustments on the horizon. This week, a group called College Sports Tomorrow shared a proposal for a 72-team college football super league that has some real traction among decision-makers.
If something like this were to come to college football, would it be good for the sport? The Heartland College Sports staff discusses in this week’s roundtable.
Pete Mundo: How Could it Not?
Basically what would happen is the college football landscape would get back to a semblance of regionality. You’d basically have the old Big 8 back together, the Southwest Conference welcoming itself back into existence, and the old Big Ten in place, largely. How could that not be good? Cut down on travel time, expenses for the programs who are struggling to find the funds they need to keep growing, and let the players do more of that whole schooling thing, if that’s even done in today’s college football landscape.
There’s nothing not to like, especially since all of the Big 12 teams we care about will be protected. The problem is that it may not be in the SEC or Big Ten’s best interests. So will they want to do it? College football can either have an all-for-one, one-for-all mentality, and grow like the NFL, or be selfish and start dying like baseball. It will be up to the SEC or Big Ten which direction they choose.
Bryan Clinton: Yes.
The moment that Cal and Stanford became members of the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference), I started dreaming of a world where geography meant something in college football. It pains me that regional rivalries have lost their meaning and we’ve been spoon-fed to believe that its for the betterment of our sport.
College football didn’t need to be better. It was just fine the way that it was. Nobody will ever convince me that the Big 12 will ever be a better conference than it was circa 2001. The programs, traditions, and rivalries that made that conference special could be somewhat restored with a proposal like the one we’ve seen from College Sports Tomorrow.
Would it be perfect? No. Would there still be aspects of the Super League that cause major issues among fans? Absolutely, but at least we wouldn’t have to pretend that Cal vs. Miami is a conference matchup. All of the teams in the current Big 12 would be among the top 72 teams, so that’s great news. Plus, it sounds like the playoff system in this CSFL proposal would have 24 teams, with division winners and wild cards, which sounds a lot like the NFL postseason — one of the things that the organization has definitely gotten right.
Matthew Postins: It Depends…
If you’re one of the 72 teams and fan bases invited, you’ll be playing in a balanced league that, on paper, looks fair to everyone. A balanced structure, a common TV deal where everyone pulls the same revenue, a consistent schedule and equal access to the postseason. In this scenario, everyone has a chance to compete and to believe that, at the start of the year, you have a chance. Yes, it’s NFL-ish. But once the games start and you have great non-conference matchups to go along with great regional conferences (or pods, whatever), you’ll love it. It’s football — it’s not like you’re walking away from it because of this.
If you’re not one of those 72 teams and fan bases invited, it will stink. First, not only will the current CFP structure die, so will the NCAA Tournament as we know it (they’ll pay lip-service to keeping it, but there will be too much money at stake). But the chosen 72 won’t be playing money games anymore. There will be no need. They won’t care about giving the Boise States of the world a shot. There will be no need. There will be no access for anyone else. And the money (really the TV money) will go with them.
So is it good for college football? I think something like this will actually be great for the product and the game won’t lose fans. It will just be the final nail in the coffin of the game we grew up with, where a school like Appalachian State can even get the chance to upset a Michigan on a random Saturday.
Derek Duke: Yes.
I wish it would have never come to this but at this point in time in the world of college football, I’m in favor of it. The playoff was never designed to get teams outside of the power conferences a chance at getting in. And when you throw NIL into the mix, it makes it even tougher for those schools that aren’t in power conferences.
Everything is now about money. With that, we have lost a lot. Conferences are no longer regional and rivalries are few and far between because you have teams in the same state in completely different conferences. Think about it, Stanford and Cal are in the ACC for crying out loud.
Splitting the FBS would be the right move, and if they go with divisions or pods, it would bring back college football on a regional level. As weird as it sounds, it’s almost like by taking this step forward, we’re going back to the good old days of college football.
Joe Tillery: Absolutely.
Is anyone in the world other than backend individuals at ESPN actually satisfied with the current college football model? No. And for good reason. The issues that continue to spiral, whether it be NIL deals, conference realignment, TV contracts, College Football Playoff greed, or any other of the plethora of modern issues in today’s game, all boil down to one thing: money.
Somewhere along the way, college football lost what made it so incredible. Regional rivalries and matchups with teams in your backyard allow for an incredible fan experience regardless of whether a game is on the road or at home. With the current college football model, it is no secret that the fan experience suffers. Creating a 72-team superconference will allow purists of the game to enjoy what makes the sport so unique and provide elitist SEC/Big Ten fans with a reality check of playing a full schedule against teams of all conferences.
