Listen, I love Kenny Dillingham. I am beyond thrilled that he is staying at his alma mater. It’s great for Arizona State and it’s great for the Big 12. But after the announcement of his contract extension in Tempe, Dillingham went on to publicly pitch for a donor in the Phoenix metro to stroke a $20 million check to help Arizona State football.
Dillingham said, “We need to find one of these really rich people in this city to step up and stroke a check…We live in Phoenix, Arizona. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now? There is somebody out here who can.”
Now listen, nothing he said is wrong. He’s just saying the quiet part out loud. That’s the name of the game in college football right now. Find one, or a few, major donors who are willing to part with tens of millions of dollars, potentially every season, to build a college football team.
But it’s also everything wrong with the sport that I, and many of you, love right now. Sure, the House vs. NCAA Settlement is going to create about a $20.5 million cap for athletic departments to spend on players. But for football, that’s just going to scratch some of the surface for top teams. NIL entities are still going to add tens of millions of dollars per season on top of that $20.5 million. So essentially, nothing is going to change.
We’re all settling in to watch the First Round of the College Football Playoff, and as exciting as that is in Year 2 of the 12-Team Playoff, we’re also watching this sport break apart right in front of us. And it pains me to watch.
The bowl games, outside of the CFP, are basically completely irrelevant. There is no juice to the games, and no fan support, as many players elected to opt out to either enter the transfer portal or prepare for the NFL Draft.
The arms race of building a roster is only getting more expensive, which means the gap between the haves and have nots are only going to grow. And of course, there’s the ineptitude of the College Football Playoff committee that was on full display in recent weeks.
Now, I believe the CFP ratings will be strong, and ESPN will have plenty to brag about. But, there are serious cracks in the foundation. And while renovating the kitchen and showing it off to friends makes the homeowner feel good, the reality is, there’s water leaking into the basement every time it rains.
And the problem for college football right now is that the rain is becoming more frequent.
