OFFICIAL 2021 COLLEGE FOOTBALL OFFSEASON THREAD

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So when should we talk about how college football is dying as a national sport and (generally) interest for it is pretty much exclusively southeastern/midwestern specific?
 
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So when should we talk about how college football is dying as a national sport and (generally) interest for it is pretty much exclusively southeastern/midwestern specific?
Stealing split zone duo topics as your own I see :lol:. I actually hadn’t even thought about it until they said it. Also why SEC SEC coverage isn’t good for the sport... nobody outside of the SE cares about Bama dominating the sport. It’s actually bad for interest in the game.
 
So when should we talk about how college football is dying as a national sport and (generally) interest for it is pretty much exclusively southeastern/midwestern specific?

I wouldn't say the sport is dying. It still gets very good ratings (this year not withstanding but every sport was hit hard by COVID). I do agree that college football is largely becoming a regional sport with little interest outside of the deep South and pockets in the Midwest.

The sport needs to fix this in order to grow. There's a reason why USC versus Texas is still the highest rated college football game ever. Not only did it have tremendous star power but it was able to pull an audience from different parts of the country. The sport can't continue to grow if only people in the rust belt and deep south I care about it lol

I think I might have told this story before but I didn't realize that college football was largely a regional sport until I joined the Navy and moved to Rhode island. That was the first time I realized that the vast majority of the country doesn't care about college football. Growing up in Georgia, I would have promised you that college football was the most popular sport in America because it's so big in the south.
 
So when should we talk about how college football is dying as a national sport and (generally) interest for it is pretty much exclusively southeastern/midwestern specific?

I said something similar to this a couple weeks ago. Doesn’t help that my team is struggling but to see the same teams in the CFP/championship game is boring. And I don’t think expanding the playoff solves that.
 
I wouldn't say the sport is dying. It still gets very good ratings (this year not withstanding but every sport was hit hard by COVID). I do agree that college football is largely becoming a regional sport with little interest outside of the deep South and pockets in the Midwest.

The sport needs to fix this in order to grow. There's a reason why USC versus Texas is still the highest rated college football game ever. Not only did it have tremendous star power but it was able to pull an audience from different parts of the country. The sport can't continue to grow if only people in the rust belt and deep south I care about it lol

I think I might have told this story before but I didn't realize that college football was largely a regional sport until I joined the Navy and moved to Rhode island. That was the first time I realized that the vast majority of the country doesn't care about college football. Growing up in Georgia, I would have promised you that college football was the most popular sport in America because it's so big in the south.
People in the south STILL think anyone outside the south cares about it. It's why "they" will do nothing to fix it. In 5 years when you get Alabama vs. Clemson/Ohio State part 6 and no one watches, THEN the powers that be will realize they have a problem.

I agree, it's not a dead sport, but its deteriorating and ESPN forcing Alabama and Clemson down our throats is accelerating it. They don't do enough to include the west and east.
 
we ain’t want him anyway

Isn’t that what people say when they’re bitter about missing a recruit? :lol:
That's what your board insiders are speculating. That you didn't want Davis because you're saving room for To'o To'o who is the bigger fish. Wonder what they'll say when they don't get him.
 
People in the south STILL think anyone outside the south cares about it. It's why "they" will do nothing to fix it. In 5 years when you get Alabama vs. Clemson/Ohio State part 6 and no one watches, THEN the powers that be will realize they have a problem.

I agree, it's not a dead sport, but its deteriorating and ESPN forcing Alabama and Clemson down our throats is accelerating it. They don't do enough to include the west and east.

It does need to get fixed, If I live in New York City, DC, Chicago, San Diego, why would I want to watch teams from South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, etc play?

The question is, how do you fix it?

There's a pretty strong correlation between having a strong recruiting base and having a top team. It's going to be hard to engage East coast viewers because there aren't that many good East coast teams because there aren't nearly as many elite prospects on the Eastern seaboard as there are in the deep South and West coast.

The West coast (particularly southern California) doesn't have talent issues, they just have programs who don't have their stuff together. If USC gets the right coach, they could be in the playoffs in a year or two. There's no excuse why they're not the best team in that conference.

I agree that expanding the playoffs would help. The playoffs are having the opposite of their intended effect. it was meant to give more teams a shot at a national championship but instead we're getting the same teams over and over. Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma have taken up 20 of the 28 playoff spots so far. The analogy I've used in the past is the NCAA basketball tournament. The reason schools like Gonzaga, Baylor and Butler were able to become national powers in college basketball is that they have a legitimate route to winning a national championship. Imagine if college basketball had a 4 tournament. It would be Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc every year.
 
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That's what your board insiders are speculating. That you didn't want Davis because you're saving room for To'o To'o who is the bigger fish. Wonder what they'll say when they don't get him.

Im sure. Those clowns always have some justification when a recruit goes somewhere else
 
It does need to get fixed, If I live in New York City, DC, Chicago, San Diego, why would I want to watch teams from South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, etc play?

The question is, how do you fix it?

There's a pretty strong correlation between having a strong recruiting base and having a top team. It's going to be hard to engage East coast viewers because there aren't that many good East coast teams because there aren't nearly as many elite prospects on the Eastern seaboard as there are in the deep South and West coast.

The West coast (particularly southern California) doesn't have talent issues, they just have programs who don't have their stuff together. If USC gets the right coach, they could be in the playoffs in a year or two. There's no excuse why they're not the best team in that conference.

I agree that expanding the playoffs would help. The playoffs are having the opposite of their intended effect. it was meant to give more teams a shot at a national championship but instead we're getting the same teams over and over. Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma have taken up 20 of the 28 playoff spots so far. The analogy I've used in the past is the NCAA basketball tournament. The reason schools like Gonzaga, Baylor and Butler were able to become national powers in college basketball is that they have a legitimate route to winning a national championship. Imagine if college basketball had a 4 tournament. It would be Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc every year.

I it’s hard to compare CBB and CFB though because the parity in CBB is so much greater. I agree that the blue bloods would consistently be in the mix but I think there would be more of a mix than you think. In CBB the difference the selected 4 and the next 4 would be a lot closer and more interesting to discuss who was left out. In comparison, if you look at the year UCF went undefeated people might say “Sure. They deserve to be in the CFP.” But no one actually believes that it would have made a difference.

I also think it’s interesting that the Bama/OSU/Clemson recruiting strategy doesn’t work as well in CBB.

And I don’t think you can expand the CFP without paying the players or letting them make s
 
It does need to get fixed, If I live in New York City, DC, Chicago, San Diego, why would I want to watch teams from South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, etc play?
I mean, the decline of the Miami, USC, Texas etc are a huge issue here. The massive media tilt towards the SEC also fuels it, which doesn’t exactly help.
 
I it’s hard to compare CBB and CFB though because the parity in CBB is so much greater. I agree that the blue bloods would consistently be in the mix but I think there would be more of a mix than you think. In CBB the difference the selected 4 and the next 4 would be a lot closer and more interesting to discuss who was left out. In comparison, if you look at the year UCF went undefeated people might say “Sure. They deserve to be in the CFP.” But no one actually believes that it would have made a difference.

I also think it’s interesting that the Bama/OSU/Clemson recruiting strategy doesn’t work as well in CBB.

And I don’t think you can expand the CFP without paying the players or letting them make s

The dynamics in college football are very different than they are in college basketball.

1. A lot of the top college prospects are only in school for a year. I think this gives them more autonomy than football players who have to be there for at least 3 years.

2. A lot of the college basketball industry is fueled by the shoe companies.players play on Nike AAU teams, then go to Nike colleges and then sign with Nike once their pros. That dynamic doesn't exist in college football.

3. There are actually different routes to becoming a professional in basketball than there are in football. You can go to Europe, you can just train for a year, you can go to the g League. You can't do that in football.
 
I mean, the decline of the Miami, USC, Texas etc are a huge issue here. The massive media tilt towards the SEC also fuels it, which doesn’t exactly help.

But when you mention that "they" (ie The powers that be in college football) need to fix this How are they supposed to fix historically great programs underperforming. There's nothing stopping USC, Texas and Miami from getting their stuff together.
 
It does need to get fixed, If I live in New York City, DC, Chicago, San Diego, why would I want to watch teams from South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, etc play?

The question is, how do you fix it?

There's a pretty strong correlation between having a strong recruiting base and having a top team. It's going to be hard to engage East coast viewers because there aren't that many good East coast teams because there aren't nearly as many elite prospects on the Eastern seaboard as there are in the deep South and West coast.

The West coast (particularly southern California) doesn't have talent issues, they just have programs who don't have their stuff together. If USC gets the right coach, they could be in the playoffs in a year or two. There's no excuse why they're not the best team in that conference.

I agree that expanding the playoffs would help. The playoffs are having the opposite of their intended effect. it was meant to give more teams a shot at a national championship but instead we're getting the same teams over and over. Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma have taken up 20 of the 28 playoff spots so far. The analogy I've used in the past is the NCAA basketball tournament. The reason schools like Gonzaga, Baylor and Butler were able to become national powers in college basketball is that they have a legitimate route to winning a national championship. Imagine if college basketball had a 4 tournament. It would be Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc every year.

The west coast may not be a recruiting hotbed for much longer. In California specifically, lower income and middle class families, the ones with young kids who are more likely to play football, are being completely priced out and forced to relocate. It’s why USC and UCLA have to put up a fence around Southern California and the private schools.

This year was the lowest number of blue chip recruits in California in recent history and by a wide margin.
 
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