The New Picture of College Football; Big Changes and Sudden Moves

​By Brian Renshaw Jr., Freedom Forum Student

​  College sports are taking a new turn, which can have a positive and negative effect on the sports world as a whole. Are the new playoff structures, television deals, endorsements, and lifestyle changes for student-athletes really worth it?   
  With the 2024 season coming in hot, there is a lot to know to be prepared as a sports fan.   
  Over the summer many teams made deals to switch out of conferences and join another. Big moves include USC and Oregon moving into the Big 10, Texas into the SEC, and the Pac-12 will remain with just two teams to start the 2024 season. The new changes result in conferences gaining teams and also losing teams causing some conferences to almost be nonexistent. These changes will impact college football forever. New teams mean new competition within conferences which could impact the new playoff picture. Adding programs into conferences shakes things up and makes them have to play teams they may have not necessarily before which could be for the better or for the worse. 
  One enormous change will be the change from a four-team to a 12-team playoff. The new playoff allows for more competition and watchtime as the playoffs will be dragged out much longer. This allows teams who are not usually in the top 4 a chance to prove themselves and can promote the school as being a football school. 
  All these teams and the NCAA would not be making these moves if they did not benefit in any way. Over the offseason the teams made the deals to switch conferences, but the perks of that is the revenue they acquire increases. The teams moved to get endorsements and TV deals with big-time networks like FOX and CBS. More money allows for schools to get better facilities and to expand their recruiting process to get better recruits. 
  Jacob Hauze, freshman, is a football and baseball player at Freedom High School. He said, “I do think it is good, Oregon in this case is in a weaker conference and I feel they need better competition.” Oregon is a great example because they are now joining one of the best conferences in the country, the Big 10. Three teams in the Big 10 are currently in the top 10 college football teams in the country. He also said, “As a college football fan it makes it better because all the good teams will be in the playoffs now compared to past years.” With the expansion of the playoffs these good teams that could not qualify before for the top four either because their strength of schedule is too weak or because they have one too many losses still now have a chance. As well as giving these athletes a better chance to be drafted because these added playoff games can bring recognition to them.
 Even though it all sounds perfect and great for the NCAA, there are some big detrimental effects that this is causing. The season will now be pushed back and made longer which can create an academic conflict for the athletes during the spring semester. The big question is how the athletes will handle the changes. 
  The pre-alignment of conferences was pretty neutralized between the location of the teams they played. Now there will be teams on the West Coast playing teams on the East Coast. During the interview with Jacob Hauze, he mentioned a perfect point contributing to one of the questions. He stated, “No, I don’t think it’s fair to the players because they are going to have to travel in some cases across the country and I’m sure as an athlete it’s not easy with schoolwork and those long travels.” The long trips across the country can affect the “student” in student-athletes by creating a harder time for them academically. They might not have enough time to complete their schoolwork or delay themselves from getting it done because they have a game on the other side of the country which could result in jetlag or no wifi. 
  As changes emerge, that means everything else will follow. These athletes must adapt to continue playing where they are and to the best of their ability.