Opinion: Nick Saban asked important college football question, and Vanderbilt offers a loud answer

Nick Saban repeatedly asked one of his favorite rhetorical questions throughout his final season coaching Alabama.

“Is this what we want college football to become?” Saban said, when discussing the pay-for-play revolution.

It’s not what Saban wanted it to become, and I respect that he retired last winter rather than continue coaching while growing exhausted with college football’s direction.

College football operates within an ever-shifting space of realignment and court cases, and the player compensation structure remains unsettled. It’s all a little messy.

And yet, within this great beautiful mess, all the NIL wheeling and dealing and free transfer movement helped instill more parity of competition than previously existed. In this landscape, it’s more difficult for Alabama and other blue bloods to stash all-stars on their third string.

When a fall Saturday arrives, any problems you think threaten college football’s health just seem to melt away.

The product is as entertaining as ever, and Saturday supplied one of the most memorable days of college football many of us can recall.

Throughout a span of less than 12 hours, the teams ranked Nos. 2, 4, 9, 10 and 15 in the US LBM Coaches Poll all went down, and No. 8 Miami needed a furious comeback to escape an upset at California after Saturday had melted into Sunday in three of the nation’s time zones.

The day’s most shocking moment occurred at a most unlikely venue. Alabama fans at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville gave witness to the Tide suffering its first loss to Vanderbilt in 40 years.

Vanderbilt fans ride the goal post in the south end of the field after the Commodores beat Alabama Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.

Transfers helped deliver the 40-35 scoreline for Vanderbilt.

A school’s NIL coffers aren’t subject to public disclosure, but it’s safe to say Vanderbilt…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/opinion-nick-saban-asked-important-185532210.html

Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2024-10-06 18:55:32

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