When you reach the top there is nowhere to go but down....

1. Who will be the best evaluators of players?
2. Who will spend the most money?

We just may see the same TOP teams OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER until this thing is regulated in some form.

Yet you're all here right after the season is over ready and willing to discuss. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I would argue it's going to look similar as today in 5 years but it's changed tremendously from 5 years ago yet ratings are still through the roof and the money is flowing because the fan's eyes were as well. The money was always there.. the product that was producing it is finally seeing a big chunk of it so good for them.

If you take a snapshot of every 5 years over the last 20, I think it is unrecognizable every time. Now you can publicly pay kids from the school. 5 years ago you couldn't do that but you could transfer all you wanted and get 6th and 7th years of eligibility. 5 years before that, those transfer and eligibility quantities were insane, but you could transfer once and get away with it for free. 5 years before that and you couldn't transfer at all without a degree or penalty, and way fewer plays were run per game and only 2 teams played in the postseason for a natty.

Mike Leach was right. Should be a draft like the NFL. Level the playing field. But would never happen. To much $$$$$.

In the SEC recent past, 6 figure cash transactions were delivered in a paper bag by the "bag man" to the top players parents or designated agent. Player parents utilities bills were paid monthly by the teams designated accounting agent. Cars and accessories were delivered by the teams transportation agent. Players were hired and paid for jobs they did not even perform.

Today the payments are made a little differently, and larger amounts, but still paying based on player performance. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Ag1188 said:

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AggielandPoultry said:

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Mike Leach was right. Should be a draft like the NFL. Level the playing field. But would never happen. To much $$$$$.

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I'm trying to imagine the kids being sent to schools they don't want to play for. Lol

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It would be glorious to behold.

turboboost said:

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1. Who will be the best evaluators of players?
2. Who will spend the most money?

We just may see the same TOP teams OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER until this thing is regulated in some form.

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As predicted by the leaders & presidents who originally set up the rules for the NCAA over 100 years ago.

Any regulation by the NCAA will lead to a lawsuit that will likely be lost by the NCAA.

Maybe an act of Congress will get some control on this, but I don't expect that to be a solution because more government involvement as a solution reminds me of the Reagan quote, "the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help."

My son is 5, just turned, and when he is 15 i am going to tell him about how fun CFB used to be when there were just insane bowls with historical tie ins and sometimes as many as 4 teams had claim to a "Mythical" National Championship.

Every single game of every season WAS the playoffs.

He will not believe grown adults not only let this happen but loved it.

There needs to be some hard conversations in the lower D1 FBS schools. Given the escalation of resources that they are already behind on, consider going the FCS, D2, or D3 route if you want to keep football.


To save some of those schools from themselves, a Super D1 needs to be formed, separating itself from the rest of D1. SEC, Big Ten, and maybe the rest of the P4 schools, but even those lower P4 schools either need to accept they will become the new Sun Belt type programs, or they need to consider transitioning to the rest of the G5 programs into just a D1.

I think that separation is inevitable.

And there are going to be some schools from the SEC and Big Ten that are left behind. Some by choice, some not

I took a look at 247 portal rankings and came across Penn State.


There is no loyalty any more. Not that there should be with so much money at stake, but damn!

fc2112 said:

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Can you imagine what JFF would pull in today's market?

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Probably not much more than what he was getting back then.

Great.

We are going to win the NC next season and I hear it won't matter.

Bag said:

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We are truly beyond the pale now, its like if the MLB and the NFL had a baby and it was raised by pack of crony capitalistic hyenas.

No rules, tampering is not just legal, it is expected and encouraged, no cap, no oversight, 24/7/365 free agency and recruiting is all about the money

The only rule is to win, at all costs.

Strangely I love it and hate it all at the same time

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This years bowl games and playoffs set records for viewership, and we finally broke the Bama, UGA, OSU death grip. Best season in recent memory if you ask me. Which is why people being compelled to post about how CFB is destroyed every week is kinda funny.

Sharpshooter said:

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It is unrecognizable now.

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ditto.

Just pay the man... he's available.

Could tampering go as far as offering a more "money conscious" star player say $10 million to take the last half of the season off? 5 million to skip the last game vs the payor's team? As the beginning of a new NIL deal running through the next season of course.
If Arch Manning was from a poor ass family could we offer him $10 million to be a Slovacek spokesman and take the last game off to prepare for the draft next season?

I'm finding that the endless transferring is not bothering me as much as it used to; maybe that's because with Elko we are on the winning end of it. I find myself watching college football as much as I ever did, probably because we are good!

infinity ag said:

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Great.

We are going to win the NC next season and I hear it won't matter.

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Half the team will go to the portal the next day looking for pay raises.

Rings will be mailed to dozens of those Aggie heroes wholl be at Baton Rouge, Austin, Lubbock, Athens, Miami, Eugene, Columbus, Ann Arbor, etc.

turboboost said:

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1. Who will be the best evaluators of players?
2. Who will spend the most money?

We just may see the same TOP teams OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER until this thing is regulated in some form.

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Didnt happen this year…

rootube said:

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Bag said:

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We are truly beyond the pale now, its like if the MLB and the NFL had a baby and it was raised by pack of crony capitalistic hyenas.

No rules, tampering is not just legal, it is expected and encouraged, no cap, no oversight, 24/7/365 free agency and recruiting is all about the money

The only rule is to win, at all costs.

Strangely I love it and hate it all at the same time

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This years bowl games and playoffs set records for viewership, and we finally broke the Bama, UGA, OSU death grip. Best season in recent memory if you ask me. Which is why people being compelled to post about how CFB is destroyed every week is kinda funny.

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Regarding the viewership records, Nielsen TV ratings changed their methodology this year, so nearly every sports entity is boasting about breaking viewership records this year. This has been the best year for NBC Sunday night football, CBS Football, NBA opening month, and my guess is that this will be one of the highest years for the NCAA Tournament for basketball and the Super Bowl.

NBC Sports wraps milestone 20th Sunday Night Football season with best viewership ever.

Details: https://t.co/zh7Kif8Fsw pic.twitter.com/dyZKKFKC4i

— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) January 6, 2026

NFL ON CBS delivers its most-watched season on record!

2025 regular season highlights:

NFL’s most-watched network in Nielsen viewership (21.252 M viewers)

#1 program (25.827 M viewers for 4:25 PM national game window)

#1 game in NFL history (57.231 M viewers for… pic.twitter.com/QZpyEcj5JQ

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) January 6, 2026

The NFL and NBA drew huge audiences on Christmas Day.

The NFL set a new streaming record, and the NBA had its best viewership on the holiday in 15 years, excluding the 2011-12 season which started on Christmas. pic.twitter.com/sQZlNlkk31

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 2, 2026

More than 60 million people in the U.S. have watched NBA games across NBC/Peacock, ESPN and Amazon Prime Video through the first month of the season, the most viewers for an opening month in 15 years.

(Excludes 2011-12 season, which began on Christmas Day.) pic.twitter.com/JYSbEXk12C

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) November 20, 2025

According to Nielsen, #Cavaliers vs #Knicks up 27% from #Spurs vs #Knicks last year and the MOST WATCHED Noon ET Christmas game ON RECORD! The previous high was #Spurs vs #Pistons on ABC in 2005. New York’s win had the highest peak audience of the slate at 8.2 million.

— JD SportsTalk (@JDSportsTalkNY) December 31, 2025

Now certainly, the NFL and NBA may be more popular than ever, or there may be other reasons.

Bag said:

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We are truly beyond the pale now, its like if the MLB and the NFL had a baby and it was raised by pack of crony capitalistic hyenas.

No rules, tampering is not just legal, it is expected and encouraged, no cap, no oversight, 24/7/365 free agency and recruiting is all about the money

The only rule is to win, at all costs.

Strangely I love it and hate it all at the same time

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That's not "crony capitalism".