[ad_1]
There’s absolutely a power dynamic shift happening right now in the world of college football.
Change is part of it. It’s part of everything, so why would college football be any different?
The changes in question would be the legalization of big-time money being thrown around to players in college sports, as well as a penalty-free transfer portal.
Money and the portal have evened the field in college football because a program like the Indiana Hoosiers can go out into the portal and pay for a championship-level team … and it works.
Some programs, like Indiana, have completely adjusted to this new era, and they’ve reaped the rewards. Others have been slower to the punch, and if you don’t adapt when the stakes are this high, you eventually die.
A case can be made that the reason the Big Ten is on such a championship “heater” right now, boasting three of the last three college football champions, is because schools like Indiana have figured out this new era of college football.
It’s all about investment. The financial kind.
Interestingly enough, long-time college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit sees it a different way, though.
A long-form debate has broken out in the college football world regarding which conference currently owns the sport. The Big Ten seems to have it on lockdown, but the SEC has long been the dominant conference.
How did the Big Ten swing things in its favor?
Herbstreit believes there’s a different kind of investment that is playing a factor.
“If you look for the why — I think in this new era that we’re in, I think the Big Ten has proven to do a better job of keeping their players more invested in their team,” Herbstreit said on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Monday (h/t On3). “SEC players, as soon as they’re out of the Playoff, them and their agent, ‘I’m out of here.’ I feel like the Big Ten is doing a much better job of keeping them invested to the finish line…”
That’s an interesting take, but it’s a wrong one from Herbstreit.
The only thing that matters anymore in college football is money
Emotional investment in college football is a thing of the past. Heck, we’ve seen players play five seasons with five different programs and that’s becoming the norm.
Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, grew up in Miami, played his first few seasons at Cal and then transferred to play for Curt Cignetti and Indiana because mega-millionaire donor and Indiana alumnus Mark Cuban wrote a big enough check.
Ohio State won the championship before Indiana, and the Buckeyes reportedly spent $20 million on that team. Last season, that number ballooned up to $35 million.
Perhaps the SEC is still living in a world where “It Just Means More,” but that’s no longer the case in college football.
Investment matters, but the only investment that really matters anymore is financial.
[ad_2]
Source link
