Didn't read all the replies but the reason it will ALWAYS be associated with the schools is the same as the reason for all the other decisions being made.

MONEY

The built-in fanbases that will pack stadiums and buy merchandise. People with permanent ties to the school/team that pour in money even if the product is mediocre and the management stinks for years and years and years.
CFB will never be the best product (I'm speaking of the quality of football, the NFL has the best players and teams) so they have to have the built in fanbases. Otherwise they will surely end up just like the CFL/XFL etc.

I've been saying for years now that attending school for the athletes should be optional.

It's pretty crazy that if someone wants to play professional football, they have to pretend to be interested in attending college to play at the "minor league" level. College is NOT for everyone. A lot of athletes would be well served attending trade school, working a job or simply focusing on their football career.

Maybe he likes to fish…… Or a descendant of Captain Hook.

greg.w.h said:

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Hook63 said:

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It looks like most of us are on the same page….we wouldn't support the College Station Aggies. It just seems we are migrating to that very quickly.

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Looks like you are trolling…since you're making things up based on your first post. Using Hook in your username adds to the smell…

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Maybe he's a captain.

Agree. I have figured out why more and more NFL players, when announcing themselves on the roster at the beginning of games say their high school or town they are from instead of college.
With them jumping all over in the transfer portal most of them can't remember all the colleges they have played for.

It is a free agent minor league as it stands now. I highly doubt anyone goes to.a school now baed on the education and experience they will have. It is big money mercenary audition for the NFL.

halfastros81 said:

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Those college stadiums and facilities require some revenue to pay off the debt . The tv contracts are also with college football conferences.

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Serious question. Is it public how much debt we have associated with the Athletic department? Stadiums and other facilities?

I'd rather have semi-pro players go do that and have those that skirt the line play college. It would be more like NCAA baseball, and I would be totally fine with that.

College football would be much worse, though. We'd see more of a division 2a level of play. Many of the kids wouldn't make it to pro.

Sadly, in our current configuration, marginal players can make a lifetime of money at the college level even if they can't make it at the NFL level. This is better for the kids vs riding the semi-pro bus around to play games no one wants to watch.

Graduation success rates remain at an all-time high. We'll have to see how the next few years start to impact trends with the new success rules, but it remains far from a 'professional' league. People forget how big a football roster really is including all of the walkons who aren't making anything (or at least very little on NIL).

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2024/11/20/media-center-di-graduation-rates-remain-at-highest-level.aspx

Taking timeout from resumption of mind numbing work today to see and say this is the dumbest thread ever. Why does Texags allow it. Someday I'll have my own site and it will only have relevant, smart or just fun positive posts and negative where it's warranted determined by smart people.

offenseguru said:

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Taking timeout from resumption of mind numbing work today to see and say this is the dumbest thread ever. Why does Texags allow it. Someday I'll have my own site and it will only have relevant, smart or just fun positive posts and negative where it's warranted determined by smart people.

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Does it always make you uncomfortable to talk about scary things?

Do you still sleep with the light on?

AlexNguyen said:

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Hook63 said:

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With NIL and ability to transfer, why is CFB even associated with schools? Is education still a part of the current environment? I see that a number of players are still getting degrees, but is that something that will phase out?

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I dunno how this will ultimately shake out but I follow my college team because it is affiliated with my alma mater. The day I feel completely that the players are just minor league pro players that do not care at all about the colors they wear is the day I find something else to enjoy. I think it would be wise if the schools and players realize there are many fans like me.

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Exactly. It would be about as popular as minor league baseball. No money in that.

Hook63 said:

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With NIL and ability to transfer, why is CFB even associated with schools? Is education still a part of the current environment? I see that a number of players are still getting degrees, but is that something that will phase out?

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It's the C. It stands for College.

The only reason NIL is lucrative is because of College pride. Thats why a semi pro league isn't viable. If you don't have engaged and loyal alumni spending money, there is no NIL cash cow for these kids. That's why leadership in college athletics can rein this in. The athletes need the colleges

If bored, attached is an interesting article. I hate it but corporations will take over college football.

Summary: "Schools in the ACC and Big 12, as well as the bottom of the SEC and Big Ten who are generating less local commercial revenue, will have little choice but to take on private capital and operation expertise, or they are all but guaranteed to be left out of the top echelon of competition in the future," said Jason Belzer, publisher of AthleticDirectorU, who has advised universities on NIL deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/19/private-equity-looks-to-buy-in-to-college-sports.html

fightintxaggie10 said:

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The only reason NIL is lucrative is because of College pride. Thats why a semi pro league isn't viable. If you don't have engaged and loyal alumni spending money, there is no NIL cash cow for these kids. That's why leadership in college athletics can rein this in. The athletes need the colleges

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It goes both ways.

- The schools use the athletes to generate revenue. The athletes provide value for the school, and the latter pays them accordingly.

- If the schools ceased to exist, or if fans decide they don't like this version of college sports, McDonald's and Burger King will use most of these athletes to generate revenue, and pay them accordingly.

What's funny is parents pay out the ass for travel / club sports to prepare their kids to the next level. The colleges used to do that for the kids for free, with much more on top of that.

classof92 said:

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If bored, attached is an interesting article. I hate it but corporations will take over college football.

Summary: "Schools in the ACC and Big 12, as well as the bottom of the SEC and Big Ten who are generating less local commercial revenue, will have little choice but to take on private capital and operation expertise, or they are all but guaranteed to be left out of the top echelon of competition in the future," said Jason Belzer, publisher of AthleticDirectorU, who has advised universities on NIL deals and is now doing the same for athletic departments seeking private equity.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/19/private-equity-looks-to-buy-in-to-college-sports.html

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Equity has nothing to buy. Schools are insane to go to vulture capitalists…

fightintxaggie10 said:

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The only reason NIL is lucrative is because of College pride. Thats why a semi pro league isn't viable. If you don't have engaged and loyal alumni spending money, there is no NIL cash cow for these kids. That's why leadership in college athletics can rein this in. The athletes need the colleges

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They tried to enforce indentured servanthood in athletic departments and, well, someone figured out the constitution applies to colleges after all!!!

I agree but lower tier schools might not have a choice.

You can pretty much stop reading after this .

There's a big opportunity to drive EBITDA.

NyAggie said:

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Joes said:

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NyAggie said:

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zb008 said:

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Because it would lose a lot of appeal if it were to be called minor league football, even though that's what it is now.

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Yep

We follow so ardently because we went to our school, it's ours a d the teams is ours and was always made up of "students"

If they took the college name off the jersey and called the teams college station Aggies or Columbus buckeyes , Tuscaloosa crimson tide etc..,the fanbases would stop watching and caring because the teams would no longer be representing their schools

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This seems to contradict the constant assertion around here that so many CFB fans are just T-shirt fans anyway.

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There are T-shirt fans, but the money and the bulk of support for these programs comes from the alumni base and current students.

If you lose that there will be nothing left but tshirt fans and they'd lose interest once it was no longer bigtime college ball

If it goes minor leagues, the money would evaporate along with the enormous tv deals and the players would hate it because they'd be traveling around for peanuts trying to showcase their skills for the league

Like it or not, the players need the schools just as much the schools need the players

Players are only getting big nil dollars because they are playing for big schools that are supported by massive tv deals and massive alumni bases with lots of money that they are putting into their school's program


Because of the money involved, you will never see this go full minor leagues where teams no longer associated with schools

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Are you high? It's the exact opposite! Tshirt fans way outnumber actual alumni. Without tshirt fans CFB dissappears, not the other way around.

College football is still more interesting than the NFL despite it being now basically a pro league. Why? Because of the ages of the kids and disparity in coaching abilities, college ball has bigger surprise than the NFL. Example: who would have thought the Indiana Hoosiers would have had the record it had this year? WTH - they were ranked 57th in the team talent composite rankings! That 's really low! They vlesrly have some incredible coaches in Bloomington!