Some scattershooting for anyone that wants to speculate along with me:
If other programs follow UT's lead in NIL and there's no limit on "walk ons," then there's not gonna be whole lot of linemen (or pick your position) left for the non-participants.
Let's say 10, 20 or however many programs decide to play the big time money game and take 10 scholarship linemen and 10 walk ons each. That's 200 to 400 of the best linemen in the country assuming there's even that many worth paying.
I'm sure not all players can be bought but most can be, I suspect.
I wonder if NIL might facilitate some average to good programs with tons of alumni and money to elevate their positions. I don't see Baylor playing this game, but I could see Tech or UCF (if they have rich alumni) doing it, for example. Perhaps OSU. Lots of other programs with lots of rich alumni.
I wonder who the "second tier" programs will be. If 10 to however many teams load up on top recruits via both scholarships and walk ons, a lot of talent will never see the field. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, we see NFL caliber players who've collected their NIL money for the first couple of years but who are also stuck behind higher draft picks on their team transfer to other programs simply for exposure. Of course, the Alpha's will be recruiting from lesser programs, as well, so transfers will flow both ways.
I wonder if NIL might not hasten the emergence of a new super conference consisting of those teams willing to pay. I've read rumors of 64 teams and 32 teams. With NIL, even 32 seems a little high but who knows?
And if a super conference emerges, I wonder what rules they'll impose on themselves so they aren't bidding against each other at ever increasing costs. I could envision something like scholarship and walk on limits or "salary caps".
I'm not a big fan of a 12 team playoff with first round byes for the top 4 conference champions. I'd rather the number be 8 or 16 if expansion occurs.
Ironically, if the expansion proposed in June of this year had occurred this season, Baylor would have been one of the first round byes. As I understand it, the proposal rewarded the top 4 rated conference champions, and Baylor, at number 4 (of conference champions) would have played the winner of Georgia v. Utah based on current rankings, or something like that. Still not a fan, though.
If other programs follow UT's lead in NIL and there's no limit on "walk ons," then there's not gonna be whole lot of linemen (or pick your position) left for the non-participants.
Let's say 10, 20 or however many programs decide to play the big time money game and take 10 scholarship linemen and 10 walk ons each. That's 200 to 400 of the best linemen in the country assuming there's even that many worth paying.
I'm sure not all players can be bought but most can be, I suspect.
I wonder if NIL might facilitate some average to good programs with tons of alumni and money to elevate their positions. I don't see Baylor playing this game, but I could see Tech or UCF (if they have rich alumni) doing it, for example. Perhaps OSU. Lots of other programs with lots of rich alumni.
I wonder who the "second tier" programs will be. If 10 to however many teams load up on top recruits via both scholarships and walk ons, a lot of talent will never see the field. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years, we see NFL caliber players who've collected their NIL money for the first couple of years but who are also stuck behind higher draft picks on their team transfer to other programs simply for exposure. Of course, the Alpha's will be recruiting from lesser programs, as well, so transfers will flow both ways.
I wonder if NIL might not hasten the emergence of a new super conference consisting of those teams willing to pay. I've read rumors of 64 teams and 32 teams. With NIL, even 32 seems a little high but who knows?
And if a super conference emerges, I wonder what rules they'll impose on themselves so they aren't bidding against each other at ever increasing costs. I could envision something like scholarship and walk on limits or "salary caps".
I'm not a big fan of a 12 team playoff with first round byes for the top 4 conference champions. I'd rather the number be 8 or 16 if expansion occurs.
Ironically, if the expansion proposed in June of this year had occurred this season, Baylor would have been one of the first round byes. As I understand it, the proposal rewarded the top 4 rated conference champions, and Baylor, at number 4 (of conference champions) would have played the winner of Georgia v. Utah based on current rankings, or something like that. Still not a fan, though.
Comment