Nobody has ever denied players making money. I'm sick of this argument as it ONLY limited what the athletes could do outside of their already FREE education. You clearly skipped right over the specific point of me saying "enrolled". NIL isn't supposed to be a recruiting tool technically, correct? Only once you're ENROLLED can you be eligible for NIL as that may help curb the insanity we're seeing today. Also I brought up getting rid of conferences totally. I know that sounds wild but hear me out: No more biases by affiliation or refereeing. Teams will no longer be forced to play against teams that already don't play by the same rules as the rest of their conference mates. My hope would be teams like Bama, uga, OSU, Clemson, etc would be forced to play tougher schedules... OR... keep their cupcakes and lose credibility. Also, I think it would wake up CFB and expand the interest. You wouldn't have to face the same 7-9 teams EVERY bleeping year. I also mostly am tired of the SEC as Florida is NOT a sacred member. The SEC hates our guts and most of us know that. So I wouldn't shed a tear to see conferences take a hike.
Skipping your first part because we will never agree. To the second. I believe a super conference will be formed in the next decade. 30 top teams that only play each other. It will be made up of universities that have the financial means to break away and will pay players directly. There may even be a little NFL subsidizing involved. The rest of the schools will fall back into the old amateur model of scholarships with a little NIL. Where Florida falls in this new shift is unknown.
Translation from the ncaa: “we want all the money, we don’t want to be responsible for academics, and we definitely do not want to pay student athletes as employees. So given that we, the ncaa and schools, really just want to continue feeding at the trough without pesky students having a say, can’t congress fix this by keeping them from going straight to the nfl, limit their rights to go to different schools, and eliminate pay (put it where it belongs - under the table)?” What could go wrong…
So just to pick your brain, why is it you think a HS kid can leverage NIL to pick a destination? What's happening now is a mockery imho, and that is why I say NIL should ONLY be allowed once signed AND enrolled at their college choice. What other programs other than a handful of professional sports gives extremely young adults to walk into multi MILLION dollar contracts 3yrs out of college? Oh the horror these kids don't even have to graduate after being given FREE education, nutrition, medical, AND gym access. I totally understand these young adults making money off their signatures/etc, but what's going on the past 2yrs is honestly ridiculous. As far as conferences I bet you're correct there, which will only make all the other problems CFB has that much worse. I'm definitely not looking forward to super conferences compounded by loose NIL and portal rules.
Why can they leverage? Because they can. If someone is willing to pay them they have every right to accept. More power to them. Everyone is only worth what someone is willing to pay them. Obviously there are people willing to pay. It's no different than the facilities race. People were giving money to attract recruits with waterfalls, DJ booths and barbershops inside these overbuilt grandiose buildings. Now they just offer them money. Just because they are coming from HS means nothing. They have a skill someone is willing to give them money for and they have worked hard to hone it. They have spent years training, playing and bleeding at the HS level to win titles. Something fans want them to continue doing at the college level. You like many others conflate the free meals, education and training with NIL. The university offers those things in the form of a scholarship in exchange for playing football for the school. It's a good trade. Now NIL allows the players to capitalize even more from the people that want to see them play separate from their scholarship . It's America, good for them. And as I mentioned the best players have always gone to a few top schools. It has always been this way. There is a reason why there are schools called bluebloods. In the last 102 years of college football there have only been 38 national champions. That includes the years where multiple teams were named champions. Think about that. There are 10 schools that have claim to 109 titles total since 1869. https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/...ge-football-teams-most-national-championships The idea that there has ever been parity in the sport is crazy. That anyone could win a title is ridiculous. What there has been is some really great games through the years and fine entertainment that will continue. ______ just a side note. Students on full ride academic scholarships are allowed to work, make money anyway they please. So why not an athlete? If Suzie can make 20,000 grand a month on only fans. Why can't a stud athlete sell his autograph for 100,000?
You're missing thr entire point I'm making as we technically agree on this issue. I completely agree that parity is s joke as well, & that includes every professional sport on the books. NIL right now is still illegal to use as a recruiting tool, correct? But of course the "bluebloods" with their systems in place already know how to skirt that, but these kids & certain boosters are out in the open stating they're only going to the highest bidder. You want me to be completely honest CFB died when Saban lied his ass off to the Dolphins & jumped to Bama. The sport has nosedived from there. I'm going to rant a little more on that. Saban owns like 6+ car dealerships across several states. Remember like 3yrs ago he signed the highest rated class ever, grabbing the top kids in states he didn't before.... he owned dealerships in all those states... then last year he cries like a baby about TAMU, Miami, and Sanders then this year signs what... 7 five stars obliterating the record... So stepping off the rant is this the direction you want for CFB? I definitely don't.
I agree with a lot of your comments, but what you leave unsaid is that what you are describing isn't NIL either. It is pure pay-to-sign, pay-to-play, legalized bagman. That is not NIL, but purely a bastardization of the concept by people taking advantages of rules loopholes by a powerless sanctioning body. Sure there might be a unicorn now and then like Arch Manning that has some name value prior to college, but 99.9% of these players have zero name recognition until they suit up with State U. Of that 99.9% my guess is that a very, very small % ever become known "names" outside the fanbase of the school they attend. Even among NFL players, where there are real NIL contracts signed, they are almost entirely limited to the big name stars. The majority of NFL players get bupkis.
R.I.P. College Football. Loved you while you existed. Now, dead and extinct. Killed by the greedy, the uncouth and of course the NCAA and University Presidents. Born: 1869 Died: 2022
The more I think about it, as distasteful as it is in some ways, I think we need a players union and a CBA. It’s the only way to negotiate this stuff to a rational level.
I agree, please add: Players Union CBA Congress Federal and State Court A Few Thousand Lawyers Finally the Supreme Court Who needs to count yards? We should just shift to court cases.
You forget that money rules the day and the major conferences run the show. The SEC doesn’t hate our guts. The SEC likes making money and protecting its member institutions. UF just isn’t at the top of that pecking order within the conference, but you can bet we are protected outside of the conference.
My guess is that there were more “influence$” in getting FSU into a major bowl than for us to gain a seed.
Trust me I understand money rules. But take everything UF has been through throughout the history in the conference. Stripped titles, harshest punishments, officiating, random punishment for players, etc. Ask yourselves this, if Rashada had pulled this at Bama or uga would they be dragging them through the mud they way UF is getting dragged? I know it'll never happen, but it probably needs to happen. Especially for officiating, but that's another topic for another day.
