Where is college football headed?

There has been a lot written, here and in the general media, about the problems with the current structure of college athletics in general and college football in particular. People have voiced a variety of preferred solutions. What I’m asking is not what individuals here prefer, but rather what is the most likely scenario over the next 5 years.

Given all the competing interests, resources, and power, what is the high probability future for college football?

Replies:

Key Largo....the drinking town with a fishing problem.... * - Harv79Pangborn 2023-03-28 11:22:33
ND...the fencing school which also has a football program * - thethinman 2023-03-27 14:54:42
Adding to what others have said - exit77 2023-03-27 12:25:50
XFL and USFL will play a role in the next 5-10 years. - JC 2023-03-26 21:45:27
As always, devil is in the details but... - 2ndstreeter 2023-03-26 17:39:39
What about high school sports? - squid 2023-03-26 12:27:25
- already happening. * - MrE 2023-03-26 12:30:11
Going back to just an Ivy League sport played by gentlemen - Frank Drebin 2023-03-26 08:48:16
- Well, I say let Harvard have its football and academics - FL_Irish 2023-03-26 09:03:33
  - But the boorish manners... * - 105Marquette 2023-03-26 09:58:00
Unrecognizable, maybe even in five years - novadamer 2023-03-25 21:34:30
- what materially changes, to the "fan?" - MrE 2023-03-26 10:25:15
  - For the average off the street fan probably nothing changes. - cujays96 2023-03-26 12:07:37
    - yeah, Notre Dame's current leadership has really shown - jt 2023-03-26 14:58:47
      - They are trying to raise millions for a Gug expansion. - MrE 2023-03-26 15:02:44
        Pretty soon, every quarterback is going to want his own room * - SWPaDem 2023-03-26 17:53:15
        so the next step is naturally to tear it all down - jt 2023-03-26 15:50:34
    - Without knowing future details or structures, of course, - MrE 2023-03-26 12:09:52
      - I don't think they'd be competitive holding on to the - VaDblDmr 2023-03-26 18:07:32
        I don't know. Seems like it'd be a nice differentiator. - MrE 2023-03-26 18:20:20
        Differentiating, though, in a way that's detrimental to - VaDblDmr 2023-03-26 19:57:21
        why exactly would they eliminate the student requirement? - jt 2023-03-26 21:21:50
        It's pretty tenuous as it is - ravenium 2023-03-27 13:34:25
        there is a very simple reason to keep the academic - jt 2023-03-27 13:46:08
        jt, you keep mixing apples and oranges w/r/t the "courts - VaDblDmr 2023-03-27 14:29:08
        what happens to title 9 when/if there are no scholarships? - jt 2023-03-27 15:51:35
        I don't give a damn about the NCAA or Swarbrick. I'm high- - VaDblDmr 2023-03-27 18:55:18
        There are complex variables at play - jt 2023-03-27 19:58:39
        There seems to be an assumption there that girls don't care - VaDblDmr 2023-03-27 21:33:12
        Oh, I don't think that's accurate in the slightest - jt 2023-03-27 22:15:17
        The solution to specious arguments shouldn't be more - ravenium 2023-03-29 13:38:57
        Oh sure, they want to be paid - jt 2023-03-29 23:05:08
        I might be advocating exactly what he fears - ravenium 2023-03-27 14:25:30
        I tend to agree with you. Why not have both? - smithwick 2023-03-27 14:39:27
        I wonder if the Bettis model might be a good one - ravenium 2023-03-28 12:49:50
        help me understand the students and olympic sport athletes - MrE 2023-03-27 13:39:29
        ND probably isn't the right example to think of when - VaDblDmr 2023-03-27 19:08:22
        It'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out. - MrE 2023-03-27 20:29:50
        I mean, what kind of person walks around jealous - jt 2023-03-27 15:49:04
        there will be locker room strife. - MrE 2023-03-27 17:19:50
        Or spread it among the student body. - doolinbanjos 2023-03-28 12:24:22
        Would prefer to end the exploitation of the football players - MrE 2023-03-28 17:16:05
        It's been said here before. - doolinbanjos 2023-03-28 18:00:05
        Major CFB is a pro league/$6B industry. - MrE 2023-03-28 18:29:03
        Stifle. I was following the subthread in which I understood - VaDblDmr 2023-03-26 22:58:10
        I don't think the gap will widen. I think the opposite. - MrE 2023-03-26 20:31:02
- There's a lot I agree with here. The assumption has always - RagingBull 2023-03-26 05:21:01
Compromise: NFL contracts players, uses NCAA as development - plaid_pants 2023-03-25 18:29:23
- I agree about changes coming, but... - njnd96 2023-03-26 06:58:19