2026-27 NCAA College Football

Advertisements

Ramy

The Star Wars Collector Podcast
Original poster
Supporting Founder
Jan 27, 2004
30,964
543
Here
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Mike0616
While I am looking forward to college ball, its FARRRRR less than I have in years past.

No issue with NIL or transferring (within reason), the implementation of it now is terrible. Players that signed NFL contracts coming back to play. Kids moving schools yearly. Just a couple of the things that need to be fixed.
 
I don't have as much interest in the college or professional seasons. More of just a casual fan now and I enjoy SEC Shorts and Matt Mitchell more than most of the games

I'm going to the OSU/TU opener in Tulsa but only because my nephew is proposing to his longtime girlfriend and has a lot of thing setup for it.
 
While I am looking forward to college ball, its FARRRRR less than I have in years past.

No issue with NIL or transferring (within reason), the implementation of it now is terrible. Players that signed NFL contracts coming back to play. Kids moving schools yearly. Just a couple of the things that need to be fixed.
They STILL need to put rules in to keep it from getting any worse ...
As for people signing Pro and coming back, I think thats only a This year thing, due to even More rules changing.
 
Pavia has said he wasn't going back, so we'll see.

UCLA/SMU RB TJ Harden signed w/ the Browns as a UDFA. Was cut, signed with the Seahawks, got a couple carries for 1 yard in their preseason game last week before being waived Monday. He's entering the transfer portal to go back to college ball.

A lot of legal stuff still playing out though, very fluid.

Edit: here's a site tracking these players NFL Players Returning to College Football: 2026 Tracker
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
Reactions: Mike0616
I think we need to quit calling it college ball, and just refer to it as the "minor leagues". The concept of education has left the building.
Well it always been that! The NFL billion dollar teams reaped the benefits. The collages got away without having to pay players, yet make millions off them. Is there a problem. Sure is! But hey they deserve a lot of this. Taking advantage of players for decades. Only basketball is as perverted for both NBA teams and collages!
 
Well it always been that! The NFL billion dollar teams reaped the benefits. The collages got away without having to pay players, yet make millions off them. Is there a problem. Sure is! But hey they deserve a lot of this. Taking advantage of players for decades. Only basketball is as perverted for both NBA teams and collages!
Around $4 billion in TV rights alone for the College Football Cartels. While players trading between colleges is silly, so is the massive consolidation of the football "conferences" in an attempt to expand TV rights money. Players are finally getting something out of the juggernaut their very hard effort goes to pay other people. Is it getting out of hand? Was out of hand quite a while ago. Funny that 'this is getting ridiculous' is when the labor finally gets paid.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike0616 and AZ.
Around $4 billion in TV rights alone for the College Football Cartels. While players trading between colleges is silly, so is the massive consolidation of the football "conferences" in an attempt to expand TV rights money. Players are finally getting something out of the juggernaut their very hard effort goes to pay other people. Is it getting out of hand? Was out of hand quite a while ago. Funny that 'this is getting ridiculous' is when the labor finally gets paid.
We can't exactly put it back in the can ...

I Hate the fact that Conferences have gotten so big, you only play some teams in your conference every 3 years or so.

As far as Players getting paid ... Ok
Players have always been paid down south ... and up north I guess, it just took longer for them to catch on.

As far as the Transfer Portal ... ok, but they should change the rules to you only get 1 Transfer for your career (unless a Coach leaves).
Also, they should make the Transfer Portal AFTER the games are over, say end of Feb or March, this way teams that are in Playoffs are not screwed when it comes to the Portal.


IIRC, even the HS and some grade schools are talking about paying players ... somebody out there has been talking to 7th and 8th graders about playing for them. Yikes.
 
Last edited:
  • Wow
  • Like
Reactions: Mike0616 and AZ.
Well it always been that! The NFL billion dollar teams reaped the benefits. The collages got away without having to pay players, yet make millions off them.
I don't know if I'd agree that it has "always been that". Certainly you are right in the modern era. However, before the Super Bowl there were no billion dollar teams and most colleges didn't make millions from sports. Jerry Jones only paid $150 million for the Cowboys in 1989 and a lot of people thought he was crazy for doing that. Before the 1960's television era, very few pro sports teams made a profit and even pro players weren't particularly well paid. The boob tube changed American culture in so many ways.

Certainly, Little League has always been a training ground for Pony League, and Pony for Colt, and Colt for High School, which was proving ground for College and onto professional baseball. But, I'm old enough to remember when having a full ride scholarship to a college diploma was it's own reward....................and that was for any sport.

And, yes, college athletes for decades have been receiving monetary reward "under the table" as an expense allowance from some school sponsors. However, it was at least against the rules and when caught, both the player and the school suffered punishment. Heck, nowadays you don't even have to be a student to play for a college team. That's why I suggested to quit calling it college sports.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike0616
I don't know if I'd agree that it has "always been that". Certainly you are right in the modern era. However, before the Super Bowl there were no billion dollar teams and most colleges didn't make millions from sports. Jerry Jones only paid $150 million for the Cowboys in 1989 and a lot of people thought he was crazy for doing that. Before the 1960's television era, very few pro sports teams made a profit and even pro players weren't particularly well paid. The boob tube changed American culture in so many ways.

Certainly, Little League has always been a training ground for Pony League, and Pony for Colt, and Colt for High School, which was proving ground for College and onto professional baseball. But, I'm old enough to remember when having a full ride scholarship to a college diploma was it's own reward....................and that was for any sport.

And, yes, college athletes for decades have been receiving monetary reward "under the table" as an expense allowance from some school sponsors. However, it was at least against the rules and when caught, both the player and the school suffered punishment. Heck, nowadays you don't even have to be a student to play for a college team. That's why I suggested to quit calling it college sports.
Well there are many easy to see examples. It was only the uber rich that can only afford any sports team. I will go back as far as I can, and that would be the Chicago Black Sox. A rich owner that paid the players nothing, even before TV.

When money is involved, it opens the door to greed in many faces. I agree with your TV comments, as it became another platform for money. And for many years we had movie starts, then TV stars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike0616
Big 12 bans pros in all sports.


View: https://bsky.app/profile/chrisvannini.com/post/3mtzhjfchn42v


Asked Claude who else has done as much:

So far:
  • Big Ten — first mover, adopted Tuesday (Aug 25), unanimous vote. Applies to football now; said it's still evaluating other sports. Penalty is a coach suspension for 50% of the season plus an institutional fine. Yahoo Sports
  • SEC — followed Tuesday afternoon, banning teams from adding football or basketball players who declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA draft, signed with one of those leagues, or appeared on a roster. Eleven Warriors
  • Big 12 — announced Wednesday (today), unanimously agreeing to ban professionals from returning to Big 12 schools in all sports. ESPN
  • ACC and Notre Dame — both reported as aligned with the same prohibition, with the ACC's formal announcement expected imminently alongside/after the Big 12's. Eleven Warriors
 
  • Like
Reactions: Foxbat and Mike0616
Big 12 bans pros in all sports.


View: https://bsky.app/profile/chrisvannini.com/post/3mtzhjfchn42v


Asked Claude who else has done as much:

So far:
  • Big Ten — first mover, adopted Tuesday (Aug 25), unanimous vote. Applies to football now; said it's still evaluating other sports. Penalty is a coach suspension for 50% of the season plus an institutional fine. Yahoo Sports
  • SEC — followed Tuesday afternoon, banning teams from adding football or basketball players who declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA draft, signed with one of those leagues, or appeared on a roster. Eleven Warriors
  • Big 12 — announced Wednesday (today), unanimously agreeing to ban professionals from returning to Big 12 schools in all sports. ESPN
  • ACC and Notre Dame — both reported as aligned with the same prohibition, with the ACC's formal announcement expected imminently alongside/after the Big 12's. Eleven Warriors

And the Pac3?
 

NFL 2026-2027 Season