College Football 2024

[GoMuskies]

Does Day puss out?

Call #1 was a huge puss call.

Ohio State snapped the ball with 15 seconds on the play clock. Weird. If they don't throw the ball here, they're going to lose.

This is embarrassingly bad.

[GoMuskies]

And now it's over. No reason to wait for third and 11, but it worked out.

[Xville]

Well, it turned into a heck of a game. I’ll never understand the fg try, and Nd should have thrown more early… Ohio states secondary is their one defensive weakness if they have any

[xudash]

Does Day puss out?

Call #1 was a huge puss call.

Ohio State snapped the ball with 15 seconds on the play clock. Weird. If they don't throw the ball here, they're going to lose.

This is embarrassingly bad.

I thought they were playing to lose at that point. Absolutely cannot understand the play calling.

Then they whip out the Ferrari for 56 yards and seal it up. Just too many weapons.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Not surprising, OSU spent the most NIL money or at least it was reported they outspent all their competitors. This is like the Dodgers winning the series.

[nickgyp]

Not surprising, OSU spent the most NIL money or at least it was reported they outspent all their competitors. This is like the Dodgers winning the series.

Perhaps this is just more of the same when years ago, the “haves” always dominated college sports while the “have nots” picked up the crumbs. The shady
side of college athletics existed but it was less open then. Most of us as fans of alma maters live vicariously through these players as there is a shared identity with our respective schools. The transfer process as players come and go weakens that link considerably which makes the ultimately non-consequential nature of wins and losses even more non-consequential.

The momentary thrill of a great win or the disappointment of a bitter loss soon disappears into just a memory. But when the “richer” keep getting “richer”, it gets much easier to shrug the shoulders and say, “So, what?”

[Xville]

Yeah this is the way it has always been, especially in college football. There are the haves and the have nots and it's never going to change. In the past, people could bury their heads in the sand and believe players weren't getting bags of money, but now with everything pretty public and shoved in front of our face, it's certainly different.

I'm going to assume most big time college football programs are spending the same amount of money as Ohio State, I'm not naive to think otherwise, I just wish something could be done about the portal, that's the part I'm a little tired of. If they could put some kind of guardrails on that, I think it'd be a lot better for college sports. I won't be shocked if in a couple of years, there are mid-season portal transfers. I'm not sure what can be done to stop that inevitable reality.

[XUGRAD80]

Perhaps I’m just to old school but, I don’t think that college football..or college sports in general…can long survive if the fans lose their connections with the schools, and especially some kind of connection with the players at the schools. Eventually fan interest will wane as players move seemingly every year and show no loyalty to the schools, but seem to be only chasing a bigger payday. For example, I have a very very small interest in the NBA as Cincinnati doesn’t have a team and I’ve no connection to either Indianapolis or Cleveland (the closest NBA cities). My interest starts and ends with the former Xavier players that have played in the NBA. I have absolutely no interest in the NHL. I care about the NFL and MLB because we have teams in those leagues. If the Xavier BB team becomes a team of mercenaries that changes every year, I will lose interest as I will no longer have any relationship to the players as being a student like I once was. The fact that they will soon become de facto “employees” of the schools already has me questioning my interest and fandom. I don’t think that I am alone with those thoughts.

[paulxu]

But you stay with the Bengals and Reds when their players come and go.
Think of X as minor league BBall. At least we have the connection of going to the school at one time.

[XUGRAD80]

But you stay with the Bengals and Reds when their players come and go.
Think of X as minor league BBall. At least we have the connection of going to the school at one time.

They come and go, but not at the same rate because contracts are usually not 1-year in length. I also acknowledge that they ARE professionals and always have been. I am prepared for them to not spend their whole career playing for one of “my teams”. Plus, many of the baseball pros have come up through the minor league teams affiliated with the Reds, so I’ve been able to somewhat follow their careers for awhile. I must admit to having a much deeper fandom for the Reds than I do the Bengals.

When free agency came to professional sports it hurt attendance and interest too initially. A lot of people didn’t like it and showed that by declining to watch games in person or on TV. Most people got used to it, but it took awhile. I suspect that there were many people though that never returned. I would expect the same thing to happen with college sports, and perhaps it will take longer and be a deeper cut in interest. Only time will tell.