College football 2020 offseason thread

Long-term, this might be the end of collegiate sports as we know it.

Sure, Alabama and Notre Dame and Oregon will push forward once the pandemic is over. From a pure financial standpoint, however, colleges will struggle to recoup the losses of an entire year of sports. And athletics at most universities isn't a moneymaker to begin with. It's tolerated as a high-priced enticement to get students on campus and boost enrollment, which is where the real money is.

But enrollment was dropping pre-pandemic. Budget cuts were not uncommon, even at Division I FBS schools.

Anyone think there will be a college enrollment spike post-pandemic? Of course not. Maybe trade schools as students go out in search of paths that get money in their pockets faster. Fewer kids will take out loans for four years of college after watching their older brothers and sisters lose out on the college experience.

So as enrollment drops, sports disappear. Programs latch their doors. It'll start at the NAIA/D2 level first - D3 will be spared because they don't pay scholarships. But the tiny universities that do won't have the money. And as everyone tries to scramble to make money back at the D1 level, the lifelines that keep Big South and America East schools afloat will dry up. No more paydays to get their heads kicked by an SEC school on Labor Day. No more buy games at Cameron Indoor.

Plus, the shroud of amateurism is fading. Coaches and administrators see the writing on the wall. The moment players earned the ability to make money off their names - the right decision, by the way - air started leaking out of the balloon.

In ten years, we'll see more high profile athletes in a development academy more akin to European soccer than to the traditional college experience.

The marriage was already uneasy. The pandemic has just hastened the divorce along.

 

SEC schedule.

 

“You are looking live at Little Caesar’s Colosseum, where Marcus Septimus Aurelius is seeking to become the first gladiator in the 450-year history of the competitions to win 34 straight fights.”

 

"And Aurelius goes for the kill, up VII stab wounds, instead of taking a knee and waiting for the emperor to declare judgment! Boy, that's going to rub his opponent's handler the wrong way! A big thumbs down on that call!"

 

"I tell ya, 34 straight fights is a remarkable streak — even if 16 of them were against the lions."

 

ACC now stands for "Active COVID Contagion."

 

Somebody needs to schedule the Marshall Thundering Herd Immunity, stat.

 

Just like Jesus did with the loaves and fishes.

 

So if they preserve the year's eligibility, the roster needs to expand or some kids are going to get screwed. Add that expanded numbers mean the need for more scholarship money. This may be an issue for some P5 schools, but certainly will for the G5 and below.

With NCAA Council set to vote on extra eligibility, football coaches wonder if rosters will be expanded

 

Are they not entertained?

 

“This one is for all the togas.”