It’s not like college football was ever a level playing field, but the lack of parity has never been more apparent. It has made college football a lot less interesting. The reasons are largely artificial. Some parity was introduced when the scholarship limit was reduced to the current level; however, that slack has been pulled tight again by the big revenue programs, with some help from ESPN and the NCAA. It’s not realistic to tell the other programs to just go out and beat the current elite programs. The odds are almost zero.

- ESPN gave the SEC an enormous TV contract and constantly pimps the SEC.
- The Big 10 was the first conference to start their own network, creating another large revenue gap.

- Nick Saban convinced Alabama to write him a blank check in order to become their coach. He brought the NFL approach to college football, hiring a giant staff of “non-coaching assistants” that are a huge advantage in scouting, recruiting, game planning and analytics. The other big revenue programs have followed suit. Programs that are just outside of the elite group don’t have the operating budgets to do this. The NCAA turns a blind eye to this practice. NCAA employees a have one goal - stay employed. The status quo accomplishes this goal.

- SEC schools, along with Clemson, has wired their athletic departments to funnel as much money as possible into football. This included eliminating men’s sports in order to comply with Title 9. Nothing illegal about this, but it is not really within the spirit of collegiate athletics.

- I agree with the notion of a free marketplace, but that is not what we are dealing with here. Elite college football players are an extremely limited resource and the current system provides about 8-10 programs with the every possible advantage in scooping them up.