The Really Big Thing Was …
Everything is okay.
I couldn’t say it enough this offseason – it’s all fine.
College football players are making money now. Did Bryce Young’s Dr. Pepper spot take away from his brilliance late against Tennessee? No.
Do you even know who has Name, Image, and Likeness deals? Probably not, because it doesn’t matter – at least, it doesn’t to anyone outside of the companies trying to get you to notice.
Do you even remember which players are transfers and which ones were recruits?
The players can move about now. They’re bigger stars thanks to NIL, and social media, and all the exposure from coast to coast that wasn’t there just a few years ago.
And the finish of USC-Utah was still wonderful.
The Texas-Oklahoma game might have been an ugly blowout, but did it really matter when it all got going in the sunlights with the gorgeous optics that they’re both going to be in the SEC in a few years?
Did anyone think about USC’s move to the Big Ten when Caleb Williams was desperately directing that late drive in the win over Oregon State?
Were we focusing on Notre Dame’s soon-to-be-revamped media deals when the ball was in the air on Cal’s final Hail Mary attempt?
The conferences are bigger, the stakes are bigger, the hype is bigger.
The players have a bigger voice now, and they’re using it. They’re more savvy, they have more power, and yet there’s still a familiar infrastructure because of the generational wealth being paid to the head coaches. That last part isn’t really okay, but as far as the on-field product, it’s all fine.
The games are still awesome.
All of this was long overdue, and none of the changes are leading to the end of the sport like so many feared. The game is evolving into something even stronger.
And it’s all okay.
– Winners & Losers Pac-12, Big Ten, Sun Belt
– That BIG win Most Overrated Thing
– Quarterback injuries Most Underrated Thing
– Superpowers are back What It All Means, Midseason