College football is in trouble

College Football is truly a great American Game. Millions and millions of Americans are thrilled every football season to watch on TV or attend in person. It is remarkable entertainment–a welcomed break form daily stress and arduous work days.

The first two college national play-off games this year were so good, they were FANTASTIC. So you might be thinking, “What is the problem with College Football?” It is like the old line from a famous Grateful Dead song, “Trouble ahead, trouble behind and you know that notion just crossed my mind.”

So what is the trouble ahead for college football? A lot, you know that light at the end of the tunnel can be an oncoming train that runs you over.

First of all, the NCAA shirked their responsibility to watch over college football. They allowed this name, image and likeness (NIL) deal to totally and completely change the landscape of the sport forever.

I am all for college kids getting paid that fill stadiums on Saturdays, but there have to be sets of rules. There are none now–anything goes.

I think all the kids should get a portion of the money, not just the stars. Without the teammates who create the opportunities for the quarterback, running backs or wide receivers, the stars wouldn’t happen.

This unchecked, unsupervised money, free-flowing through the system now will eventually wreck this great game.

The NCAA took the coward’s way out. They still want to collect money from football, yet they did not want to monitor it because they were fearful of litigation.

So they have allowed this runaway train to roll over the game with no rules and no regulations. It is a wild west show with no sheriff.

The college transfer portal makes this situation more difficult. You are just literally buying players.

The result will be that, every year, college football will end up with four or five great teams, and the rest will be very average. Anyone who watched the Big Ten this year could very easily see that it was Ohio State, Michigan and no one else.

If you watched, or tried to watch, the bowl games other than the college play off games, they were not much to watch unless you had a local team of interest like the University of Toledo or Bowling Green State University.

The very sad thing is that of the college players, only a very, very limited number are going to make a career playing pro football. So getting your degree and your education is paramount.

The college game needs to be monitored, but the NCAA stuck its head in the sand, and did not do the right thing just so it could continue to collect money.

The early days of college were never about money, but it is now. Throw in legalized betting everywhere, and you have created a college football quagmire.

It is very sad to say, but, I think there is “trouble ahead, trouble behind” for this incredible game we all enjoy.

Tom Cole

Tom Cole is a community outreach coordinator for Taylor Automotive Family.