When college sports are nothing more than a lower level quality of major league sports will the overall interest still be there?
My rooting interest starts with my college, UCLA. In basketball they’ve flipped the roster so much each year the last three seasons I’m losing interest despite their top twenty ranking. The only thing I can depend on is Mick Cronin coaching a certain style of ball. In football they won’t put up big NIL money. Rooting for better than .500 isn’t much to get exited about.
When college sports becomes about paid mercenaries the spirit is gone. I find it pathetic someone is willing to pay Quinn Evers more to stay in college to win a FBS championship than he would make if he went to the NFL.
It seems most college athletes last name is now “Transferred from.”
Add: Instead of hearing a college player say, “As a kid I dreamed of playing for State in college” to “It was always my dream to receive the largest NIL deal in my recruiting class. Where I play is irrelevant. If there s a better deal elsewhere next year I’m gone.”