College Football

Looks like Texas A&M is looking to shake up the college football world by trying to defect to the SEC.  Cue another flood of editorials complaining about how college football is being ruined by a desire for money.

These opinion pieces frustrate me to no end.  It isn't that I disagree. I just don't understand how we got to this point.

Let me explain.  I know why all the big schools are chasing the money - there's a lot of it.  It isn't at all surprising to see some of the crap that goes on during every season.  But that money has to come from somewhere, and that's what confuses me.  What drives people to love this particular version of the sport so much that it can become its own mini NFL?

I'll admit, I had no football team at my college, so maybe that's why I can't understand the passion.  It's one thing to have fond memories of your alma mater, and even to want to make a difference as an alumni.  But the football programs, especially in the bigger schools, are practically their own entity, far removed from the academic side.  Professing your loyalty to your school via its football program shows... what, exactly?  That you appreciate the values and mission of the college?  Is that necessarily reflected on the field?  I doubt it.

Furthermore, when I think of those big name football schools, I don't think of the quality of its education, like I would with an MIT or an Ivy League (okay, maybe I would think of USC, as they seem to have some decent programs).  I wonder, then, if prospective students do.  Or do they want to go to the school so they have a popular team to route for?

Maybe that's it.  Maybe college football's fanbase is established early, with kids rooting for a team years before they even finish secondary school.  That would really make it the mini-NFL.  The only way I see this kind of passion stemming from four years of undergrad is if it results from alumni being unable to let go, much like you see from college freshmen wishing they were back in high school (where they were kings and queens).  When you're twenty years out, you can be anywhere in the country and still have an easy connection to your frat days.

Who knows.  At this point, the only thing for sure is that collegiate football and basketball probably don't belong to exist beyond the club level (but unless both pro versions of the sports develop farm systems, that will never happen).