Value 1: Conference Organization that Makes Sense
Teams scrambling as conferences align and realign is leading to frankenstein-esque nonsense. There is no world in which LA and NJ belong in the same CFB conference.
To make conferences that make sense, we organize based on geography AND parity. We calculate parity in terms of blue bloods, fertile recruiting grounds and recent success.
Value 2: Scheduling that Makes Sense
Strength of Schedule is an inherently broken concept in college football. The biggest problem is that clearly certain teams play significantly more difficult schedules. And then the unending arguments begin about whether this benefits the team in terms of toughness or harms the team in terms of injuries, etc.
A more subtle problem is that SOS is based largely on perception... which is based largely on media narratives... which are driven by media conglomerates that benefit from their massive TV contracts... which are based largely on perception and SOS!!
Why don't we have a standard formula for how ALL teams formulate their schedules each year? We should.
Value 3: Every. Game. Matters.
One of the truly magical aspects of college football is that every single game matters. In a way that doesn't happen in any other sport - any other league. Except for the small hiccup that since the invention of the playoff, we've been losing this marvelous aspect of CFB. Once the big contenders are out of the playoff hunt, their seasons lose luster and purpose. Players skip post-season games to stay healthy for the combine. Bowl games are largely uninteresting, money-grab, background noise.
But what if we made every game really matter again? We can.
Value 4: A Truly Great Post-Season
Bragging Rights and Rewards increase the importance of every regular season game. But what about the post-season? Do we really need a thousand bowl games including teams with losing records?
No. We don't. We need a playoff and post-season games with real stakes and real rewards.
Value 5: Students Who Are Also Employees
Everyone acts like college football students have to be treated as either students or employees. But the truth is we are smart enough to come up with a system where we treat them as both.
Minimum salaries for all players, team salary caps, education-based bonuses and NIL where it belongs - as bonuses for those stars who earn a larger piece of the pie.
Value 6: Balance Parity + Merit
College Football always has and always will have blue-bloods, dynasties and powerful programs. Schools with more resources, more passion and more tradition. That isn't a problem necessarily.
The problem is that we haven't done enough to set a baseline of parity for all programs. Who cares if all schools are allowed the same number of scholarships but some schools can buy the best recruiting classes every year? The rich get richer. The poor have no fighting shot.
In a better college football world
Value 7: Leadership with Accountability
Strength of Schedule is an inherently broken concept in college football. The problem is SOS is based primarily on perception... which is based primarily on media narratives... which are driven by the same media conglomerates that benefit from the massive TV contracts that are based in large part on the perception and SOS.
Why don't we have regulated standards for how teams formulate their schedules each year? We should.