It’s a pain, but we love it.

By Bigs

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The Daily Nubb, like I said, is a space for Nubbs and I to write about literally whatever we want. It isn’t technically FOR anyone but us, but if we can talk about a topic that we love, teach someone something, AND they come back to read more? Big win.

Today’s topic that falls neatly into that category is the landscape of modern college football! College football has been around for a long time, and it has evolved over the course of it’s existence in numerous ways. That change has accelerated increasingly over the last 15-20 years, so let’s talk about it!

Now, I will be talking about college football from the viewpoint of a massive fan. I grew up an Alabama fan, proceeded to go to school there, and now ride with Alabama athletics as a proud alumni. I also LOVE the sport as a whole, and I will detail some of the things that have changed in the sport much to my chagrin. Let’s get into it!

I will break down the sport into categories:

1. The Places
2. The Game
3. The Bigwigs
4. Highlights (BONUS)

Time to get started with…

THE PLACES

When I say the places, I more mean the regions and individual conferences/schools in said regions. Does that work? Sweet.

College football is split into what we call “conferences”. These conferences are a collection of schools that make up each others schedules for any sports season, and they also share any revenue that the league members make as a collective between the member schools. The conferences included in the Power 4 distinction are the SEC, Big 10, ACC, and Big 12. The SEC (supposedly) is housed in the southeast region of the U.S. The Big 10 (supposedly) covers the Midwest, the ACC (supposedly) covers the Atlantic coast, and the Big 12 covers the south/southwest. Oh, also the Pac 12 used to exist, and it covered the Pacific coast! I will explain that shortly, but first, check out this amazing website made by Dom Landphier on Google Maps showcasing these conferences. The dropdown allows you to pick each conference and see all of the member schools in that conference.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1ETlH_SBdOe8RhgfnpinYm6ikbkLBNw4&ll=37.28033447755201%2C-100.60219718433558&z=4

After fooling around with it for a minute, you will realize that some of these schools are very far away from some of their conference members.

For instance, why is Stanford at Maryland a conference game? How is a school on the Pacific coast in the Atlantic Coast Conference? It’s ridiculous, right? Well, there used to be a conference for all of those Pacific coast teams. It was called the Pac 12.

As you can see, every member outside of Oregon State and Washington State has left the Pac 12. It all but ceased to exist seemingly overnight. Those teams left the Pac 12 for a bigger check from those other conferences, and it killed one of the most fun conferences in college football. The Big 12 lost it’s two premier programs because Oklahoma and Texas left to join the SEC. It has marred the landscape, and is less about region and more about money. You will see more of that as this post goes on.

THE GAME

College Football. CFB. The king of college athletics in both money and viewership, and TRULY America’s favorite pastime (at least between the months of August and January, now). Sorry baseball.

If you need to know the rules of college football, here is a link for that.

If you need to know the history of college football, here is a link for that.

The History

Now you’re thinking “Bigs, if you aren’t giving us the rules or the history of the sport, what exactly is this section of the article about?”

That is a good question, dear reader. Let me tell you…

THE PAGEANTRY. College football is beautiful. The fandom, the tradition, the belief, the sorrow, the scale, all of it. It is simply breathtaking. The marching bands and heated in-state or neighbor state rivalries, pride in your team as an alumni, everything. There was a time, before all of this private equity money, the NIL, the constant shifting of schools (which we will get into in the Bigwigs section). A time of regional, hardnosed, for-your-team football. I realize I have my rose tinted glasses on, and some of the things that have come from these newly introduced entities in our game are good. However, the commitment and tradition is being lost as a cost.

On a brighter note, the games still happen on Saturday, they’re still at least pretty hardnosed, and the zeal for CFB has only heightened. Let’s take a look at some examples of the beauty of college football.

Jump scare, I know, but this is a good video from March of 2025 showing some of the traditions around the country. One of my favorite traditions for my team, the Alabama Crimson Tide, is “Dixieland Delight” coming on before the fourth quarter starts at home games in Bryant-Denny Stadium. There are some choice words that are said in between the lines of the chorus, but they’re all in good fun.

Spend my dollar, (ON BEER) 
Parked in a holler 'neath the mountain moonlight, (ROLL TIDE) 
Hold her uptight, (AGAINST THE WALL) 
Make a little lovin', (ALL NIGHT) 
A little turtle dovin' on a Mason Dixon night, (F*** AUBURN) 
Fits my life (AND LSU) 
Oh, so right, (AND TENNESSEE TOO)
My Dixieland Delight.

I understand it isn’t very tasteful, and the “f***” isn’t censored in the moment, but like I said, it’s all in good fun. 🙂

The SEC, home to the Alabama Crimson Tide and many other schools, is located in the southeast (primarily). It is one of 4 major conferences in the P4 (Power Four), the ones I mentioned earlier. There used to be 5, rest in peace to the Pac 12. Those four conferences compete at the highest level of college football, along with the G6 (Group of 6), which is called “FBS football” and D1, also known as “Division 1”. There is “FCS football” below it, which is called D2 football, or “Division 2”. It is a lot, I know.

D1, or FBS, football competes within their conferences primarily, and then the best teams from those conferences and beyond are placed in a 12-team playoff. Now keep in mind, it wasn’t always like this. You can read about all of that above in the history section. That is how it is now, though. Whoever wins this playoff will be crowned the national champion. Bang, bop, boom, there is the game as it is at this moment. I know it isn’t everything, but that isn’t the point!

Now, let’s get into the gross stuff before the fun stuff!

THE BIGWIGS

Uh-oh. Someone or something has marred college football as we know and love it! Who or what could it be? Of course, it’s MONEY!!!!

What else could break that tradition, the pride, or the loyalty of a sport but money? Nothing. Regardless, the money grubs found CFB and dug in like a termite into dead wood. First, it was the transfer portal, then NIL, and then the conference realignment and blah blah blah. Here is the short version…

• October 2018: Transfer Portal is opened to allow players to transfer more freely between schools.
• 2021: NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) was introduced, paying players for those three things to use in advertisements, games, and products. Also, the transfer portal becomes more free by allowing players to transfer once without having to sit a year.
• 2024: Unlimited transfer is allowed within certain windows and loyalty/waiting for your shot goes away almost entirely.

All the while, “collectives” of super rich boosters begin directly paying players (bastardizing the true intentions of NIL), AND schools are constantly leaving their old conferences to make bigger, super conferences to make money hand-over-fist from TV networks while the PAC 12 LITERALLY DISAPPEARS!!! *ahem* Excuse me. I got a bit riled up there. It has gotten ugly, though. Holding onto the good has gotten more difficult because of these backers, but the love for CFB runs DEEEEEEEEP. People won’t give it up that easily.

Now, let’s get into the GOOOOOOOOOOD STUFF.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

First, a classic. Tavon Austin highlights. The definition of a human highlight reel.

Second, one of the best finishes to a national championship in my lifetime. I also know I am biased.

Next, an iconic national championship between two of the most storied teams in college football. Go watch the NFL’s video on this on Youtube, please.

A classic “Here Comes the Boom” big hit highlight reel is needed here, I believe. Forgive the ad at the beginning, but there is just something about seeing a collision on beat to that song.

This here is an Alabama game involving a lot of offense… (and one NASTY hit)

And here is an Alabama game involving a lot of defense… (against a Heisman winning running back)

Finally, we reach the end. As a young man, I haven’t been alive for a lot of college football, and I’ve spent much less time being cognizant of it. One game I DO remember, however, occurred when I was 10 years old. The 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide was in it’s third season under head coach Nick Saban, the man that would go on to win his first national title at Alabama in this season, but also 5 more at Alabama before he was done.

Alabama was number 1 in the country heading into the third week in October, a date strictly reserved for one team in the SEC: The Tennessee Volunteers. A heated rivalry still to this day, the game between the number one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide went to Knoxville, TN to take on the Vols, and this is what happened.

Now,

A BIG THANK YOU!

Thanks for reading all of this, and I really hope you both learned something AND had some fun watching some cool highlights. I hope you read some more by others regarding this wonderful game, watch some more highlights, watch live games, and get yourself a jersey! You are a fan now! Anyway, my fingers hurt now, so I am going to stop here!

Deuces, and peace.

Bigs out.