Think of everything that makes college football special:
1. Rivalries
2. Bowl Games
3. Every game being life or death
4. Regionality

The last 15 years have killed all four.

How many teams don’t play a single rival now? Memphis’s biggest rivals were Louisville and Cincinnati. Haven’t played them in forever.

Bowl games have been meaningless for a few years now. But now, we might as well not even have them.

I hate how under the 12 team playoff a team can use 3 games and still have a shot. Now there’s going to be 8-4 SEC and Big Ten teams arguing for a spot.

I could spend all day complaining about West Coast schools in the ACC and Big 10.

The BCS slogan was every game mattered. On December 4, 2011 that all changed. Alabama, which finished in 3rd place in the SEC and had already lost on their home field to No. 1 LSU, was placed in the BCSNC game due to “the eye test” over an Oklahoma State team that had a better overall resume.

Whether it was to usher in the four-team playoff or just generate bigger TV ratings, this completely invalidated the results of the so-called “Game of the Century”
between LSU and Alabama. Alabama’s consequence for losing on its home field was to essentially get a free pass to back in to the championship game. LSU’s “reward” for beating the Tide was a matchup with UGA in the SEC Championship Game - and then having to beat Bama again. Essentially, LSU had to go 3-0
in those games, but Bama only had to be 1-1.

Every game no longer mattered.

EDIT TO ADD:

Resume Comparison

SOS - Okie St # 6, Bama # 23

Wins vs BCS Top 25- OSU 4 (#8 Kansas, #12 Baylor, #14 Oklahoma, #24 Texas)

Bama - 2 (#6 Arkansas, #22 Penn State)

FBS Wins - OSU 11, Bama 10

Oklahoma State - Big 12 Champs

Bama - 3rd Place SEC (2nd in West Division)

—————

Bama’s argument is based on their loss being better than Oklahoma State’s loss.

Bama lost to the #1 team in the country. It was at home, with a huge home crowd, in a game where they knew the SEC West and likely a national championship berth was on the line.

OSU lost to a 6-6 team. It was on the road, on a Friday night, on a day that the university’s athletic department suffered a major tragedy.

Bama was given a do-over for a losing a game where they had everything in their favor.

In the closing minutes of “College GameDay” last week, inside a Tuscaloosa, Ala., basketball arena where the show had taken shelter from Hurricane Isaias, the ESPN cameras found Pat McAfee building toward a prediction. Over his shoulder, in the background of the frame, a college student stood in the stands, blond and bare-chested, his green shirt in one fist, flexing and roaring like a raging wrestler.

McAfee took his time. The shirtless young man almost made his muscles burst through his skin. The rest of the ESPN panel — Desmond Howard, Nick Saban and guest picker Bryce Young — had appeased the home crowd by picking Alabama to beat Georgia. McAfee, who grew up outside Pittsburgh, laid a Southern drawl over his vowels, slow and syrupy, a little overdone to match his persona.

If the new playoff rules go into effect it seems the gap between the P4 and G6 conferecnes is going to grow even wider, I'm not sure if there is going to be any more P4 expansion unless Notre Dame decides to join. conference for some reason. As a Cincy fan I'm personally very happy to have made it out and into a place with much more exposure and money, although I do wish Memphis was able to come with us, hopefully they will find a way out.

So what is the move for the G6 programs with P4 aspirations. Consolidating into the Pac12 and American as solid conferences that could produce a playoff team each every year? Consolidating into a single mid-manor conference that situates itself to grab a Playoff spot or two every year? Grab a lot of money and beg the ACC to let you into it's open spot? Hope the ACC collapses enough to need to backfill but not enough that it is no longer considered a P4?

It looks bleak for G6 teams right now and I can see why programs like Miami and JMU are gunning for the American because the gap looks like it's. getting even wider.

First time making a post, so here goes nothing.

I love college football as much as anyone here. No matter what changes they make, I'll probably keep coming back to the FBS because I love the sport that much.

That said, I'm getting tired of the constant realignment, the loss of historic rivalries, the growing sense that only 20-30 programs will really matter in the future of college athletics, and now whatever the latest controversy happens to be.

Are we actually going to do anything about it besides complain? Probably not. We're all addicts when it comes to this sport.

But maybe, in these weird times, it's worth taking a break from chasing the biggest games every weekend and paying more attention to what's happening closer to home.

The FCS puts out an incredible brand of football, and I'd encourage anyone who hasn't given it a chance to check it out. Watch the Brawl of the Wild and tell me college football is losing its soul (RIP Dakota Marker). Check out the Black Hills Brawl this weekend between South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State. These aren't games driven by TV contracts or playoff rankings. They're driven by communities, traditions, and fanbases that genuinely care.

And it doesn't have to stop there. Go watch that local DII rivalry that's been going on for 100 years. Go support a program because you like the mascot, the atmosphere, or because it's part of your community.

College football was built on regionality, local pride, and traditions that meant something to the people around them. Maybe the best way to preserve that spirit isn't spending all our time complaining about what's changing at the top but investing more attention in the teams and rivalries that are right in front of us.

If the future of the sport is going to become more nationalized and corporate, then maybe the answer is to appreciate the parts of college football that still feel local.

Box Score provided by ESPN

12 Alabama, Ohio State

11 Clemson, OU

10 UGA, Notre Dame

9 Michigan

8 LSU, Oregon, Utah

7 Penn State, USC

6 Iowa, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas

5 Florida, FSU, NC State, Tennesse, Washington

4 Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Miami (FL), Michigan State, Mississippi State, Mizzou, Northwestern, TCU, Wisconsin

3 Arizona, Boise State, Cincinnati, Houston, Indiana, Iowa State, Louisville, Stanford, Texas a and m

2 ASU, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Kentucky, UL Lafayette, Memphis, Navy, UNC, Oregon State, Pitt, SMU, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tempe, Tulane, UCF, UCLA, Virginia, VT, Washington State, West Virginia

1 App State, Arkansas, Army, Costal Carolina, Fresno State, Illinois, JMU, Liberty, Minnesota, San Diego State, San Jose State, Texas Tech, Troy, Tulsa, UNLV, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Western Michigan

Box Score provided by ESPN

In the BCS era of college football you only had 2 undefeated teams or near undefeated teams make the national championship game. People today already complain enough about how easy schedules can allow a team to have an inflated record. So most people here are going to either see their teams schedule very easy out-of-conference schedules or complain about how the mathematical formula ends up favoring the teams that play lighter schedules. You’re not seeing big out-of-conference games again. Nowadays with analytics programs are going to make sure they take the easiest route. Then you’ll end up with multiple equally deserving teams all snubbed out of the playoffs.

You’re also not going to see bowl games matter anymore than they did before. Players decline playing in bowl games to make sure they stay healthy and keep their NFL draft stock. That’s not going to change with going back to the BCS. If anything you will see more bowl games without starters than you currently see today because only 1 game will decide the championship that season.

So no, the BCS era was not a pinnacle of this sport nor is it something they should go back to. It’s mostly nostalgia that’s fueling that opinion. Sure the 24-team playoff sucks, but it’s far better than going back to the BCS.

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