Ross Dellenger sums it up nicely. The wording of the headline of this topic is mine.
Early this week I heard a discussion on Sirius College Sports Radio that it is being floated schools must have played 10 P4 teams in order to qualify for the college football playoff. Obviously, that is an impossibility for the G5 programs. There was no discussion of an automatic bid for at least one G5 school. So it remains to be seen will G5 schools even remain in the discussion. I have advocated for a long time that G5 need to break away from P4. It is not a fair playing field and hasnāt been for some time.
College football and basketball need to collectively find out what they want to be and stick with it. Do they exist to be a fun competition between colleges, act as a true pro development league, or make money? We all know its answer three, so just admit it and move on past the current dysfunction.
Of course no one wants to do that, the only reason CFB/CBB are so big is the emotional connection that programs have with their communities. You admit itās all about money and it starts to lose its edge.
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imho some large entity (Like Saudi did with LIV-Golf) will get Ohio State, Notre Dame, UGA, BAMA, Clemson and 19 other powerhouse teams to form a superconference, pay āem $1B each (that they donāt have to share) and charge $20 a month in cable carriage fees.
The other schools will breathe a sigh of relief bc theyāll tap out of the CFB arms race and play more regional games.
/my $.02
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I love the fact that the G6 is going to get 2 of the 12 teams this year. That is how it should always be. Sorry ACC, Duke is just not worthy of making it and UVA was on the edge. Miami of Florida should not get booted over ND because Miami of Florida beat ND. Alabama should get the boot with 3 losses.
Utah is privatizing their athletic department and selling ownership shares:
Iām certainly not a private equity guy, but Iām really struggling to see the return on investment hereā¦
500 million for just Utah? Wasnāt the package for the entire Big10 just over 2 billion? For 18 schools?
The big ten offer was for a school āshareā in the big ten. Each school has a share, plus the conference, and the private equity would be added, so the 2 billion was for 5% of Big Ten revenue.
Kyree Walker, a 5 star recruit from HS class of 2020 originally committed to Arizona State who opted out of college to play low level pro ball for the last 4 years is looking to now come play college hoops. Iām not sure what the rules are anymore.
If this guy can play, then why canāt a former NBA player come back to college if he never went? Or an NBA player who left before his college eligibility was up and now wants to come back. I guess itās the wild west now. To me, this is insane.
This rule is so fucking lame.. I get the job market sucks, but college campuses donāt need 25 year olds masquerading as students.
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We just went through this in the college hockey world. Bemidji State in the CCHA has two guys on their roster this season who each played a full year in the ECHL (the Cincinnati Cyclones league) last season. BUGS has a guy who played in a few AHL games. The only rule is there arenāt any rules.
Back to lurking.
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Have yourself a merry little Lurker, Lirker.
Love you,
YN5
Unless they have completely thrown out the eligibility clock with everything else someone who started college and then went to the NBA for any length of time would not be eligible. In the above case his clock never started because he never enrolled.
Cue Lebron going for an NCAA championship.
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Drafted NBA player (but never played a game) cleared for NCAA play.
https://x.com/goodmanhoops/status/2003915506105860510?s=46&t=w-nIiS118tVX66bsXJJN3A
This sucks and is profoundly dumb. At some point college football and basketball will just license school names and gear to become a true minor league system.
NBA teams will partner with like 4-5 schools to be their minor league teams at varying tiers. Install their own coaches and development systems, etc. If Miami is lucky weāll be the AA affiliate for the Pacers or Cavs.
Thatās assuming this NIL thing lasts. I might be a party of one, but I donāt think itās endless (the money). Donor fatigue is very real at all levels. And the implications of selling leagues to sovereign entities or affiliates of those comes with massive risk. My theory is that in the next 15-20 years, the majority of colleges in our situ (thatās the majority of D1 schools btw) will pay student athlete a scholarship but thatās it. If you come play for that grouping, thatās the expectation. The top 30 schools will try their hand at the mess they created but the weak will get picked off one by one when the financial stakes ramp up. The 6-8 left will have no one left to play. Maybe the majority will sign pacts not to play them. The only way the genie of sanity gets back in the bottle is if people care enough to want it back. Should kids get paid? Why not. Problem is, price goes up forever. Until common sense prevails.
Saw a tweet the other day (canāt find it now) but it said something like:
āCollege sports the last decade literally decided to adopt the worst part of the four major leagues over the last decade:
MLB: Payroll disparity
NBA: Player opt-outs
NFL: Corporate commercialization
NHL: Unimportant regular seasonā
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I agree that ādonor fatigueā will occur, but I truly believe that fatigue will affect the small to mid-range donors first and foremost. The opportunity to buy championships will only increase as the smaller donor-players at the table are forced to take what remains of their money and leave the game. Miamis donors will back away sooner than tOSUās, and the athletes looking for a bigger payday while in college will find us simply NIL onlookers. In short, it is precisely ādonor fatigueā that will spell the end of small to mid-major programs. I really hope Iām wrongā¦ but fearful that I am not.
Like playing Monopoly with a bunch of others who from the outset hold ten times the money you were given by the banker, and they have no problem buying every property they possibly can and sticking hotels on every one, all in the desire to not only win against their wealthy colleagues but also to force you out of the game as early as possible. They have the resources to simply outlast you because the playing conditions were not fairly equitable from the start. You may hope theyāll keep landing on your little Mediterranean Avenue space and paying your tiny rent so you can afford possibly one more trip past Go, but much more likely you will be bankrupted and either watch from a distance or if youāre lucky, thereās a nice game of Candyland being played at the kidās table in another room. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer on Christmas Eve. I sincerely wish all yāall a most memorable Christmas.
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This has been my prevailing theory since NIL first arrived. There will always be an Alabama football team and Duke basketball team but theyāll operate just as entities with naming rights and be professional teams. At which point, does the NFL go to war to protect the shield if thereās no real difference between the leagues. Or perhaps more importantly: Is the Big Ten satisfied being a minor league or do they go for the shield? What happens when a QB can earn more staying 10 years at Ohio State than going to the NFL?
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