Please, make it stop

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If nothing else, I'll admit to being a walking contradiction. Less than two weeks ago, I wrote about how happy I am that Colorado is moving back to the Big 12. I stand by that. It's a better spot for the Buffs going forward, and being back in the conference I watched them play in as a kid means something to me and feels right. That being said, I feel like Tony Soprano right now:

More conference re-alignment news? pic.twitter.com/cqTHQ5bUVZ

— Colton Denning (@Dubsco) August 3, 2023

We're three weeks from the start of the season, and the only thing people are talking about is conference re-alignment.

Not whether Georgia can pull off a historic three-peat.

Not whether Caleb Williams can make history as the second player to ever win The Heisman twice.

Not about all the unbelievable early season matchups and storylines we've been waiting eight months for.

Conference re-alignment.  

Is it 2010?

Don't get me wrong, I understand why it's the lead story. It drives the money in the sport, and that's all the people in charge care about. No more Bedlam? Who gives a shit! Who even wants to see Oregon-Oregon State anymore? LOL, CAL AND STANFORD 2 MOUNTAIN WEST - GET YOUR MONEY UP, BROKE BOIZ!!

All that matters is money, TV ratings, and playoff access. I'm stupid, but even I'm not stupid enough to not realize what's going on. It is what it is. All I'm saying is that it sucks.

I'm sick of trying to figure out how 20-team conferences make any sense outside of the fat check the power brokers of the sport will make off it. I'm sick of fans throwing around phrases like, "Grant of Rights," "Economic footprint," "Television partners," and "Revenue sharing," like they have any idea what they're talking about. I'm sick of losing rivalries and traditions that make this sport the best in the world. I'm already sick of the shitty 12-team playoff that hasn't even happened yet, and the Big Ten and SEC's behind-the-scenes dick-measuring contest that's going to continue all this for the foreseeable future. Most of all, I'm sick of boardroom powerplays taking precedence over what actually happens on the field.

Sidenote: Remember when the people opposed to NIL and the transfer portal said those were the things that would throw college football into chaos? Very funny in hindsight.

Is all that enough to make me stop loving the sport and quit watching it? Of course not. I'm going to eat the slop I'm fed like a good little piggy, because I'm an animal just like the rest of you. I'll appreciate the things we still have, and make peace with what's to come. But I'm also going to have a hearty laugh when five years from now, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, USC, etc. wonder why the fuck they're sharing all this money with Rutgers, Illinois, Vanderbilt, and Missouri, and we end up right back where we started: 10-team conferences, just as god intended. (No shots at any of those schools in particular, just trying to make a point.)

Anyway, season starts in three weeks. Hopefully someone at the TV networks remembers we care about the games, too.