College Football: The Next Generation

With Texas A&M sending shockwaves through college football barely three weeks before kickoff, it doesn't take a rocket scientist from either the Pac 12 or the SEC to know that change is, again, on its way, and that change is going to be monstrous.

And in the midst of the change there will be winners and losers.

And I'm not sure the broader sport of college football won't be on the losing side of the ledger.

No, it isn't because of the greed of the game, or the money-grab spoiling the "purer" part of amateur athletics. It's simpler than that.

Its in knowing that once this next round of realignment happens, the face of the game will change, and some colleges playing now may not be playing tomorrow.

For every Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and Nebraska that headlines ESPN in the fall, there's an Iowa State, a Baylor, a Colorado State, and a Kansas State that lives on the fleeting notoriety of a few magical seasons, but more largely on the coattails of the larger, more traditional programs. When this next shakeout occurs, it will consolidate the power of college football at the top. There will be a mad scramble to snag the membership of the few scattered power programs should conferences fracture, looking for Oklahoma and Texas, but hardly anyone will be too worried about the likes of Iowa State. Or Central Michigan. Or (insert mid-level program here).

Mind you, this is not intended as an insult to the Cyclones. Its just a recognition that a great many of these programs, full of dedicated, hard-working players and coaches, are quite likely to slip through the cracks and become forgotten in college football's race to power conferences and big-game payouts.

If Division I (sorry, it will never be "FBS") sports over 100 teams - perhaps closer to 120 - but the rumbling suggests that the superconference era might consist of four conferences of 16 teams each, that leaves those 120 teams vying for 64 spots. Let's get even more optimistic, and suggest a way is found to manage 24 teams in a conference - that's still only 96 teams, leaving close to two-dozen looking for a home.

If "traditional" college football is on a journey to its own future, the sad reality for smaller schools is that they may well find themselves on the Titanic, realizing they are among the unfortunate passengers stranded on deck, only to see the lifeboats to better conferences have set sail without them.

For college fans, that leaves one with a sinking feeling, indeed.