serious question re: the future of college football...

[Sheffielder]

Between NIL/mega-free agency and the 12-team playoff, which, any way you slice it will erode the bowl system (and almost definitely the conference championships, where both teams involved will surely bench their starters if a playoff berth is locked down), is college football in danger?

I can say for myself, as it starts to look more and more like the NFL (but honestly...worse), it's not like I'll adopt a new program to root for if the "top" 32-48-64 programs consolidate and box out the Northwesterns of the world.

If NU falls off the wagon and just has to play a 10-game regional schedule against Purdue, NIU, etc...that's actually just fine by me. And then maybe we alternate an annual January 1 exhibition game in Vegas vs. Stanford or Nashville vs. Duke?

Just interested in what people think the viability is of the status quo and what will come over the next 5-10 years. Honestly, the outlook is not so good to me.

 

[phatcat]

The thing that concerns me is that will not come down to any sort of merit. Teams like UCLA and MSU, a couple of rich, stumble-bum programs, would be in an elite conference over NU just because of money and alumni base/interest. That's sad.

 

[FeralFelidae]

Between NIL/mega-free agency and the 12-team playoff, which, any way you slice it will erode the bowl system (and almost definitely the conference championships, where both teams involved will surely bench their starters if a playoff berth is locked down), is college football in danger?

I can say for myself, as it starts to look more and more like the NFL (but honestly...worse), it's not like I'll adopt a new program to root for if the "top" 32-48-64 programs consolidate and box out the Northwesterns of the world.

If NU falls off the wagon and just has to play a 10-game regional schedule against Purdue, NIU, etc...that's actually just fine by me. And then maybe we alternate an annual January 1 exhibition game in Vegas vs. Stanford or Nashville vs. Duke?

Just interested in what people think the viability is of the status quo and what will come over the next 5-10 years. Honestly, the outlook is not so good to me.

The players want to be paid, but what type of "professionals" take money and then decide to sit themselves out of "unimportant" games?

(Different story if it's the coach's decision.)

 

[Eurocat]

Between NIL/mega-free agency and the 12-team playoff, which, any way you slice it will erode the bowl system (and almost definitely the conference championships, where both teams involved will surely bench their starters if a playoff berth is locked down), is college football in danger?

I can say for myself, as it starts to look more and more like the NFL (but honestly...worse), it's not like I'll adopt a new program to root for if the "top" 32-48-64 programs consolidate and box out the Northwesterns of the world.

If NU falls off the wagon and just has to play a 10-game regional schedule against Purdue, NIU, etc...that's actually just fine by me. And then maybe we alternate an annual January 1 exhibition game in Vegas vs. Stanford or Nashville vs. Duke?

Just interested in what people think the viability is of the status quo and what will come over the next 5-10 years. Honestly, the outlook is not so good to me.

We won't go anywhere with a stadium that seats only 30,000.

I wonder if that is not the purpose. Keep it small, say "oh well we are Northwestern and we cannot run with the big programs....but we have five nice concerts coming up this season and ladies lacrosse!".

 

[FeralFelidae]

We won't go anywhere with a stadium that seats only 30,000.

I wonder if that is not the purpose. Keep it small, say "oh well we are Northwestern and we cannot run with the big programs....but we have five nice concerts coming up this season and ladies lacrosse!".

Right, we should build a 70,000-seat stadium and cover them with tarps like Rice does.

 

[loyolacat]

I either watched or attended NU football this year and very little else. Not excited about B10 expansion or expanded playoffs. Still mixed on NIL. glad kids are getting part of the pie but not very excited about the very liberal transfer rules. I think I am okay with grad transfers and would like to see the 'sit a year' rule back in place. The game as a whole has taken a step back for me.

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

The players want to be paid, but what type of "professionals" take money and then decide to sit themselves out of "unimportant" games?

(Different story if it's the coach's decision.)

Half the NBA?

 

[Eurocat]

Right, we should build a 70,000-seat stadium and cover them with tarps like Rice does.

No.

But lets look at our average attendance since 2010. I was going to say "for the past decade" but let's round it off to 2010. Nice and neat.

2010 36,449
2011 33,442
2012 35,697
2013 39,307
2014 38,613
2015 33,366
2016 34,798
2017 35,853
2018 43,873
2019 37,736
2020 Pandemic
2021 30,796

2022 28,697 Does not include Ireland game which took away home games attendance but counts as one. If Nebraska had played in Evanston it would have 47,000 sold out, they love their team and they travel and the average yearly average attendance would easily be several thousand above 30,000 by 5,000 or so.

2023 No data via Wikipedia as of yet.

So our genius administrators are building a stadium smaller than our average attendance. Remember these numbers are affected by playing small schools early. Northwestern vs Howard only drew 22,000 for example this year Does anyone even remember we played Howard in October this year and squeezed out a three point victory 23-20? Lose that game and I don't think Braun is our coach, but it is what it is. Howard!

Ryan Field seats 47k or so, I see no need to drop below that. The stadium gets sold out when certain teams come-a-visiting like Wisconsin and Ohio State. I love the energy of packed house filled with rival fans. Makes the game feel big time.

I am not suggesting a 70,000 stadium like Rice, but we should not have a smaller one that the one we have now but we are cutting down seating by 40% and to me it makes no sense.

 

[Eurocat]

I either watched or attended NU football this year and very little else. Not excited about B10 expansion or expanded playoffs. Still mixed on NIL. glad kids are getting part of the pie but not very excited about the very liberal transfer rules. I think I am okay with grad transfers and would like to see the 'sit a year' rule back in place. The game as a whole has taken a step back for me.

I have always wanted to ask you, from your handle you apparently are a Loyola man (good for you, so is my best friend) but how did you come to like Northwestern and did other kids in school with you also like the Widlcats? At least in football (I can understand a basketball rivalry). Did any Loyola kids ever get on the El train and say to themselves "Lets go up to Evanston for some Big Ten football and let's root for the Purple because our school does not have a football team and they are just a few el stops away!" or was nothing like that done.

Always wanted to ask you that, might as well do it now.

 

[Jaguar 88]

No.

But lets look at our average attendance since 2010. I was going to say "for the past decade" but let's round it off to 2010. Nice and neat.

2010 36,449
2011 33,442
2012 35,697
2013 39,307
2014 38,613
2015 33,366
2016 34,798
2017 35,853
2018 43,873
2019 37,736
2020 Pandemic
2021 30,796

2022 28,697 Does not include Ireland game which took away home games attendance but counts as one. If Nebraska had played in Evanston it would have 47,000 sold out, they love their team and they travel and the average yearly average attendance would easily be several thousand above 30,000 by 5,000 or so.

2023 No data via Wikipedia as of yet.

So our genius administrators are building a stadium smaller than our average attendance. Remember these numbers are affected by playing small schools early. Northwestern vs Howard only drew 22,000 for example this year Does anyone even remember we played Howard in October this year and squeezed out a three point victory 23-20? Lose that game and I don't think Braun is our coach, but it is what it is. Howard!

Ryan Field seats 47k or so, I see no need to drop below that. The stadium gets sold out when certain teams come-a-visiting like Wisconsin and Ohio State. I love the energy of packed house filled with rival fans. Makes the game feel big time.

I am not suggesting a 70,000 stadium like Rice, but we should not have a smaller one that the one we have now but we are cutting down seating by 40% and to me it makes no sense.

It(having a smaller stadium) makes sense in terms of an economic downturn. A lot of things will change over the next decade, including CFB. NU could be drastically affected with enrollment issues, etc. People aren't going to cough up a ton of $$$$ for games that in reality no longer really matter if NU is left out in the dark. Besides, the games are in reality, just entertainment. The administrators are prepping for all of this. I used to be a CFB junkie through the first part of the 2000s decade, but now just root for my alma maters, NU, and on a lesser scale, a couple other non power CFB teams I adopted. CFB is destined to take a big hit if the next 8-12 years does see a substantial economic downturn. Seriously, paying top $$$$$$$$ to sit on your butts for 4 hrs, watching a meaningless game, isn't going to bring in a packed house. The disposable income, that we enjoy now will be no longer available.

 

[CappyNU]

We won't go anywhere with a stadium that seats only 30,000.

I wonder if that is not the purpose. Keep it small, say "oh well we are Northwestern and we cannot run with the big programs....but we have five nice concerts coming up this season and ladies lacrosse!".

Despite the many reasons posters have explained why it makes sense to have a smaller stadium, you're just never going to let this go, are you?

 

[clarificationcat]

We won't go anywhere with a stadium that seats only 30,000.

I wonder if that is not the purpose. Keep it small, say "oh well we are Northwestern and we cannot run with the big programs....but we have five nice concerts coming up this season and ladies lacrosse!".

Give it up!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost nobody agrees with you and we have had this discussion 20 times. The problem is that we only have 25,000 fans. Not the size of the stadium. Basketball stadium works just great and it’s half the size of some of the big boys.

 

[RhabdoWildcat]

Between NIL/mega-free agency and the 12-team playoff, which, any way you slice it will erode the bowl system (and almost definitely the conference championships, where both teams involved will surely bench their starters if a playoff berth is locked down), is college football in danger?

I can say for myself, as it starts to look more and more like the NFL (but honestly...worse), it's not like I'll adopt a new program to root for if the "top" 32-48-64 programs consolidate and box out the Northwesterns of the world.

If NU falls off the wagon and just has to play a 10-game regional schedule against Purdue, NIU, etc...that's actually just fine by me. And then maybe we alternate an annual January 1 exhibition game in Vegas vs. Stanford or Nashville vs. Duke?

Just interested in what people think the viability is of the status quo and what will come over the next 5-10 years. Honestly, the outlook is not so good to me.

You can just root for a powerhouse like Michigan and hedge your bets like half our “fans” here.

 

[CappyNU]

You can just root for a powerhouse like Michigan and hedge your bets like half our “fans” here.

What, exactly, are you talking about?

 

[Eurocat]

It(having a smaller stadium) makes sense in terms of an economic downturn. A lot of things will change over the next decade, including CFB. NU could be drastically affected with enrollment issues, etc.

You don't know this, You are making a guess.

My guess is a 47k cute stadium in Evanston could be great economically for Evanston and Northwestern.

 

[Eurocat]

Despite the many reasons posters have explained why it makes sense to have a smaller stadium, you're just never going to let this go, are you?

Never have they explained why. The arguments have always been "this is our capacity, shut up".

I have never seen an argument explaining why we should have a laughably small capacity in games against teams like Ohio State or Wisconsin where we could draw not ust 30k but 50k (and 60k probably).

 

[Eurocat]

Give it up!!!!!!!!!!!!! Almost nobody agrees with you and we have had this discussion 20 times. The problem is that we only have 25,000 fans. Not the size of the stadium. Basketball stadium works just great and it’s half the size of some of the big boys.

No, I am not giving it up.

First off we should increase our fan size. Chicago's Big Ten Team.

And on those days where Ohio State comes to town...why do we hat this? I love being part of the pagentry of college football and that includes other team fans.

30,000 means we will be too small and comfortable.

 

[Evanstonian]

No, I am not giving it up.

First off we should increase our fan size. Chicago's Big Ten Team.

And on those days where Ohio State comes to town...why do we hat this? I love being part of the pagentry of college football and that includes other team fans.

30,000 means we will be too small and comfortable.

The new stadium will seat 35,000.

 

[RhabdoWildcat]

What, exactly, are you talking about?

Don’t need to worry about NU football being relegated when you can just turn around and root for a corrupt power team like Michigan.

 

[CappyNU]

Don’t need to worry about NU football being relegated when you can just turn around and root for a corrupt power team like Michigan.

 

[hdhntr1]

We won't go anywhere with a stadium that seats only 30,000.

I wonder if that is not the purpose. Keep it small, say "oh well we are Northwestern and we cannot run with the big programs....but we have five nice concerts coming up this season and ladies lacrosse!".

First it is supposed to seat 35K and not 30k. Second, NU only has about 15-18K fans Call it 20 and we still barely have a majority at many of our games. 3rd fans a***s are bigger than they were so even the current stadium has a hard time seating 47K And then take a look what happened with WR with the redesign and the energy that is now there.

Reality is that attendance at similar events (other than the biggest programs where there is often a waiting list) is often going down with TV and the more immersive experience that now can be had at home. Cannot tell you the number of times I have had to eat extra tickets. And from you screen name do you even go to that many games anyway?

 

[Ilvolino]

You can just root for a powerhouse like Michigan and hedge your bets like half our “fans” here.

Many NU fans have ties to Michigan. My wife and eldest daughter are Michigan alums. I still want NU to beat Michigan in every sport but want Michigan to beat every other team, especially SEC teams.

 

[zeek55]

Our fans need some perspective:

We're on pace to spend $1.3 billion on facilities over a 10-15 year span. The most any school has ever spent on athletics facilities.

Even our program has changed dramatically from the 90s. Back then raising $5-10 million for facilities was a huge lift. Raising $500k-$1m to keep a coach was a lift.

We will be absolutely fine: either we'll be in the Big Ten competing at the highest level or we'll go off with the Illinois/Minnesota/Rutgers/Maryland/Indiana/BC/Duke/Syracuse/Cal/Stanford types and compete with them.

We'll be fine either way. Look at the successes of the past 30 years across all sports. I have no worries about NU sports competing with the support we have now.

It'd be nice to rebuild the football fanbase in the new RF but that will take time and wins.

Even then the new size is perfect in the future.

Nebraska of all programs is debating reducing their attendance by 10-15k to a more sustainable number.

That will happen to everyone: CFB is a TV sport and will have to adapt to the times. What won't change is that NU is in it to play at the highest level possible for us and our boosters are willing to spend big to keep up. We'll be fine with NIL once the stadium rebuild is done and we can spend athletics revenue (i.e. Big Ten money) on NIL which will help drive booster support to NIL.

 

[clarificationcat]

No, I am not giving it up.

First off we should increase our fan size. Chicago's Big Ten Team.

And on those days where Ohio State comes to town...why do we hat this? I love being part of the pagentry of college football and that includes other team fans.

30,000 means we will be too small and comfortable.

I have probably been to 80 home games over the past 25 years and you have been to how many? In all of those games, there were probably less than 10 games that were sold out where we actually had a true home field advantage. I know when you are watching the games in Europe, you love all the energy the opposing fans bring. But for the players and the NU fans that actually attend the games, it sucks (much like having this idiotic discussion again). The players and coaching staff deserve a home field advantage. 25,000 NU fans out of 35,000 would do it. If our basketball stadium had a capacity of 12,000, we would lose the home court advantage. There would be 4,000 more opposing fans.

 

[Hungry Jack]

A state-of-the-art stadium that seats 35,000 >> 47,000. I think the smaller size and acoustics will play much better on television, and our fans will have a much better experience. I have no interest in hosting 20,000 visiting fans, especially drunk obnoxious ND cretins.

 

[zeek55]

I'd be willing to bet that the average major stadium renovation among Power 4-5 programs will reduce attendance by at least 5-10k over the next 30-40 years.

We're just ahead of the curve with this rebuild: building out an "NFL-like" high quality experience with fewer fans will be the decision nationwide given trends of more people watching at home on TV than going to football games/sports events.

We just happen to be doing our rebuild in 2024-2026 and able to act upon knowledge of what's to come.

3-5 years ago I would have said "no way you can go below 42-45k with the rebuild" but now? It makes too much sense to build a more intimate and purple supporting atmosphere over time that will sound good to people at the games and at home watching on TV (like our basketball atmosphere for big games).

What's the point of building a 45k stadium if at least half of it is Buckeye red or Michigan blue for big games or 10k seats are empty for most other games?

If we can consistently get to 25-30k purple fans in the stands, we'll be in a good place moving forward; I think that's possible with winning and the new modern NFL-quality experience.

 

[NUCat320]

There were a few pro-Michigan posters in a few post-title game threads, and Rhabdo really, really doesn’t like Michigan. He even has the beginnings of a polemic on the ills of Michigan football, similar to @EvanstonCat’s on OSU or 00s Republicans on all the people the Clintons had killed.

 

[NUCat320]

A state-of-the-art stadium that seats 35,000 >> 47,000. I think the smaller size and acoustics will play much better on television, and our fans will have a much better experience. I have no interest in hosting 20,000 visiting fans, especially drunk obnoxious ND cretins.

That’s right. “What about an OSU game where we could have 60k!?!?”

Well, in the new B1G that’ll happen every eight years max, *and* we’ll ideally have 20-25k NU fans and 10k OSU fans instead of 25k for NU and 45k for OSU.

The loss of a conference identity makes me sad. I blame Rutgers.

 

[NUCat320]

Cat’s out of the bag on NIL. Caitlin Clark is doing State Farm commercials and Blake Corum did some hydration thing and Shadeur did commercials with his dad and Caleb Williams did something during the bowl games and it’s not going back.

I hate that it’s all in the dark. Kids are certainly getting the same benefits they were before — cash from booster for playing football — except it’s legal now.

I do think Northwestern is well-positioned here. We always had a small recruiting base. Frankly, many of our recruits come from well-off families, and don’t necessarily *need* an NIL incentive. The educational benefits of NU greatly reduce attrition in the program — kids are recruited based in part on the degree, and they want the degree. Big Ten schools are all pretty good, but players from just about any other mid-tier B1G program would jump at an offer to level-up to the SEC or to a B1G blue blood.

I hate that football is driving every other sport. Football is uniquely a weekly game, and there’s no need for Stanford volleyball to travel to the research triangle just for football TV dollars. But the NCAA has been hopelessly behind on all of this forever.

My hope is that the P4 football programs split from conferences entirely, and negotiate unified TV deals. Certainly, if the 30-team NFL can manage four tv networks, their own cable channel, and one streaming service (and maybe more?), a 64-team football league could provide relevant to the many, many bidders willing to pay for the only thing that can reliably draw live viewers. Maybe Kevin Warren can be commish.

And that tv contract can include a significant cut for players. Pay them all the same, pay them by snap, pay them based on position, pay them based on years in a given program, pay them based totally on AD or head coach discretion. Just pay them in a way that reflects their tremendous, tremendous value.

As a condition of this, I would like to see players restricted to one (1) no-penalty transfer year, and a no-penalty transfer test upon graduation.

So, in ten years, I hope we’ve returned to geographically reasonable conferences for every sport but football. Wouldn’t it be fun for Kansas to play Mizzou and West Virginia to play Pitt and for Northwestern to never willingly play in New Jersey?

The bowls aren’t going anywhere. They’re a great tv diversion and anyone who chooses to play and then wins gets to leave a champion. And if we lose the Pop Tarts mascot, the world will be worse for it.


Also, none of this will happen.

 

[Katatonic]

Teams in conference championship will play their starters since the winner (at least for the P4) will get a bye.

The players want to be paid, but what type of "professionals" take money and then decide to sit themselves out of "unimportant" games?

(Different story if it's the coach's decision.)

Except they aren't being paid by the school (at least not yet).

And considering that coaches and even ADs get hefty bonuses for these extra games, why should players play for free?

Esp, as the no. of games have increased from 8 to 10 to 12, and including the postseason, a player can potentially play in 17 games in a season.

So much for caring about the well being of the "student-athlete."

Not only are their bodies going to undergo more wear and tear, those who will be high draft picks will be risking millions for every extra game they play.

 

[Sheffielder]

I think what's interesting is that for all the things everyone seems to agree on:

1A. The Portal is disrupting football program personnel (not to mention a student athlete's ability to graduate)
1B. The post-season is getting devastated by the Portal and the decision by many to start planning for the NFL
2. NIL needs safeguards and a minimum level of regulation that does not currently exist
3. Football's role in driving conference realignment works to the detriment of non-revenue sports
4. People are excited for an expanded playoff and we all just seem to be bracing ourselves for how, in practice, it will negatively impact the regular season and post-season
5 Networks are manipulating conferences into oblivion

...and yet, there seems to be almost no agreement on how to fix any of it, or what the priorities are.

For every Rutgers Athletic Department that's worried about it's women's gymnastics team having to fly to LA for a meet, there's a Texas Athletic Director saying we should just cut Rutgers out of the equation.

For everyone saying we should impose rules on how many times a kid can transfer or how they get paid, we have people comparing them to coaching movements.

Athletic administrators complain the networks have too much power, but we celebrate the tv deals the Big Ten and SEC have negotiated.

I just fast-forward 15-20 years when CFB is almost unrecognizable compared to its current form, and then we'll have talking heads explaining why there are only 40 college football brands with national broadcasting deals...maybe then as I originally said, NU will just play 10 regional games broadcast via online subscription service where Dan Persa is in the booth calling the games...? Fine.

 

[EvanstonCat]

The thing that concerns me is that will not come down to any sort of merit. Teams like UCLA and MSU, a couple of rich, stumble-bum programs, would be in an elite conference over NU just because of money and alumni base/interest. That's sad.

We are in an elite conference and we have money.

 

[Sheffielder]

We are in an elite conference and we have money.

I used to sleep comfortably at night knowing this. I no longer do.

I don't think Northwestern and Vanderbilt will be unceremoniously singled out and kicked out of the Big Ten and SEC, respectively, but I do worry about a more significant realignment where even schools like Michigan State and Wisconsin could find themselves on a chopping block. We will reach a point when the Florida States of the world want in on the Big 2, and it no longer makes economic sense to take new members...but does it make sense to leave the FSUs, Clemsons, Miamis, and Notre Dames out when they obviously add more value than some on the inside?

I fear the Michigans and Texases will openly consider how much 20-40 of the most elite brands could make working together on building a closed league and boxing out those that just had the good sense to align 100+ years ago. I could see them weaponizing things like attendance, licensing, and accounting on how much each program "reinvests" in revenue generating sports.

 

[zeek55]

I used to sleep comfortably at night knowing this. I no longer do.

I don't think Northwestern and Vanderbilt will be unceremoniously singled out and kicked out of the Big Ten and SEC, respectively, but I do worry about a more significant realignment where even schools like Michigan State and Wisconsin could find themselves on a chopping block. We will reach a point when the Florida States of the world want in on the Big 2, and it no longer makes economic sense to take new members...but does it make sense to leave the FSUs, Clemsons, Miamis, and Notre Dames out when they obviously add more value than some on the inside?

I fear the Michigans and Texases will openly consider how much 20-40 of the most elite brands could make working together on building a closed league and boxing out those that just had the good sense to align 100+ years ago. I could see them weaponizing things like attendance, licensing, and accounting on how much each program "reinvests" in revenue generating sports.

But you're forgetting that the problem with a super league is that all those teams will go 6-6 a lot of years. How excited are Ohio State boosters going to be after that? This isn't the NFL, boosters expect to win 11-13 games a year and to make the CFP most years.

Heck Nebraska is on 7 straight losing seasons in the Big Ten West... would they win a single game in a super league? How are you going to keep 85k people coming every week if that's your performance for 30 years?

That fundamentally is why a split doesn't work.

It's why they need us and Illinois and Rutgers and Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.

I have 0 worries about NU football or athletics at this point.

We're in the Big Ten competing at the highest level and we'll soon have a full set of "best in class" facilities to match.

As far as NIL goes, we'll be fine imo. Once it gets school directed, our boosters will back it (after the stadium is finished).

We're on a 30 year run where we've been better than roughly half of the Big Ten.

We accomplished that with far less resources and worse facilities for the majority of that.

Now? We're in a great spot to compete. Beating Michigan or Ohio State will always be hard. But we can have success here the same way we have for 30 years.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

No, I am not giving it up.

First off we should increase our fan size. Chicago's Big Ten Team.

And on those days where Ohio State comes to town...why do we hat this? I love being part of the pagentry of college football and that includes other team fans.

30,000 means we will be too small and comfortable.

Then come out and attend a few games. I am sick is sitting next to a bunch of Hillrocks in red and White overhauls.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Cha

I think what's interesting is that for all the things everyone seems to agree on:

1A. The Portal is disrupting football program personnel (not to mention a student athlete's ability to graduate)
1B. The post-season is getting devastated by the Portal and the decision by many to start planning for the NFL
2. NIL needs safeguards and a minimum level of regulation that does not currently exist
3. Football's role in driving conference realignment works to the detriment of non-revenue sports
4. People are excited for an expanded playoff and we all just seem to be bracing ourselves for how, in practice, it will negatively impact the regular season and post-season
5 Networks are manipulating conferences into oblivion

...and yet, there seems to be almost no agreement on how to fix any of it, or what the priorities are.

For every Rutgers Athletic Department that's worried about it's women's gymnastics team having to fly to LA for a meet, there's a Texas Athletic Director saying we should just cut Rutgers out of the equation.

For everyone saying we should impose rules on how many times a kid can transfer or how they get paid, we have people comparing them to coaching movements.

Athletic administrators complain the networks have too much power, but we celebrate the tv deals the Big Ten and SEC have negotiated.

I just fast-forward 15-20 years when CFB is almost unrecognizable compared to its current form, and then we'll have talking heads explaining why there are only 40 college football brands with national broadcasting deals...maybe then as I originally said, NU will just play 10 regional games broadcast via online subscription service where Dan Persa is in the booth calling the games...? Fine.

Change is hard. You have a list of negative consequences. There are many positive things compared to 30 years ago as well. Please exit my lawn.

 

[Sheffielder]

But you're forgetting that the problem with a super league is that all those teams will go 6-6 a lot of years. How excited are Ohio State boosters going to be after that? This isn't the NFL, boosters expect to win 11-13 games a year and to make the CFP most years.

Heck Nebraska is on 7 straight losing seasons in the Big Ten West... would they win a single game in a super league? How are you going to keep 85k people coming every week if that's your performance for 30 years?

Ironically, I've been one of the people making the "6-6 argument" you describe here for a while. As we create mega-conferences and do away with divisions, there are too many bluebloods who won't stand for not hanging a new banner every year or every few years. Right?

But then you call attention to Nebraska, who are actually proof of exactly what we think wouldn't stand - they are a once-mighty program middling in the Big Ten right now that have chosen to take the money. Can you imagine the mighty Huskers of the mid/late-90s believing future Huskers going back and telling them what lies ahead? There would be total disbelief and refusal to accept it. And yet...here we are.

In the SEC, Tennessee is Exhibit B.

And those programs will get to stay at the supper table because they deliver huge fan bases...and wins for the more superior programs.

 

[Catslash]

Nick Saban in his remarks about retirement said "It's hard to ask a player to give 100 % to win a national championship and in the next breath ask them if they'll be here next year." that is crossroads college football is at.

 

[zeek55]

Ironically, I've been one of the people making the "6-6 argument" you describe here for a while. As we create mega-conferences and do away with divisions, there are too many bluebloods who won't stand for not hanging a new banner every year or every few years. Right?

But then you call attention to Nebraska, who are actually proof of exactly what we think wouldn't stand - they are a once-mighty program middling in the Big Ten right now that have chosen to take the money. Can you imagine the mighty Huskers of the mid/late-90s believing future Huskers going back and telling them what lies ahead? There would be total disbelief and refusal to accept it. And yet...here we are.

In the SEC, Tennessee is Exhibit B.

And those programs will get to stay at the supper table because they deliver huge fan bases...and wins for the more superior programs.

But they have seen softness; Nebraska itself is debating whether to reduce attendance by 10-15k.

Tennessee has had years of attendance below 90k when down, while being at 101-102k when up.

These things aren't as recession proof as they may seem. Nebraska has been pulling along that "sellout streak" but some of those are just due to huge batch ticket buys and other shenanigans.

I just don't think any of the powers that be would risk that kind of leap into the unknown when they have everything they need in the Big Ten or SEC and the $ difference wouldn't be that big.

You need an easy path to 8-10 wins in most years. The Big Ten and SEC offer that while also offering $100 million a year in conference distributions.

Cutting to the bone by tossing out another 3-5 schools from each conference may make them an extra $20-30 million per school, is that really worth it for all the hassle it brings?


And even if all this happens, why should we care? We got to build $1.3 billion in facilities during our modern period in the Big Ten, we'll be spending to compete at the highest level until the day this all changes.

We'll be among the best of the rest and compete among those schools; that's okay too. I think we'll always be with either the Big Ten or likeminded other schools competing at their level, but we have the advantage of having built out our facilities to match the best of the best.

We've outright been better than Indiana, Maryland, Rutgers, Illinois, Purdue, Minnesota for the past 30 years, and we've traded blows fairly evenly with Wisconsin and Iowa as well over that span. That's the half the Big Ten that we'd be going off with... (even though Wisconsin would be part of the top grouping and possibly Iowa as well).

We'll either be with the Power 2 or with a grouping that we can beat. If this had happened in 1992, I'd be really worried about NU athletics shutting down because it was basically a shoestring AD. But now? Institutionally we're at a level far beyond that. Our fans should be optimistic that we can succeed in either scenario.

 

[kawacko]

We are in an elite conference and we have money.

I like the the TEE, but when was the last time it happened