Time was when NCAA college football was Wiggins' World's favourite sport.
But not anymore.
The 2024 season kicks off next weekend but WW couldn't care less. Here's why.
WW loved the college grid game back when US university ballers played for the love of the game and a chance to get an education that would open future doors in life for them.
Sure, there were abuses of the amateur college system and athletes. But if a jock was really serious about obtaining an education and achieving a better life, he could use the university grid sport to do so instead of letting a school use him.
This was when there were numerous truly regional conferences offering a plethora of offensive playing styles.
And offences including the pro formation, Wing-T, I-formation and the wishbone existed, among others. Method of attack varied from team to team and league to league.
Ah, the good old days.
Actually, though, it wasn't all that long ago. Just a couple of years back, really.
Then, along came Name and Imaging Licensing (NIL) and, this offseason, the formation of humungous, coast-to-coast conferences.
And a few years before that, the Spread Offence appeared, forcing all other formations into oblivion.
Alas, with all this going on, NCAA football has lost its allure for Wiggins' World.
The biggest change that turned WW off to the college game was NIL.
Recruiting of players to good ol' State U was no longer a matter of a school's reputation, programme strength, athletic facilities and academic opportunities, etc.
Prospective athletes are now lured to universities that offer the greatest opportunity for ballers to be legally paid for their services.
The US court ruling that permitted NIL opened a Pandora's box of ways athletes could legally circumvent the "no money for amateurs" dictate of the NCAA, long the college games' watchdog.
The best jocks now follow the moolah.
Some of the colleges are truly remarkable in how they can promise players money-making opportunities while still in college.
Many now have huge funds allocated for paying jocks to attend their school.
Somehow, this doesn't sit well with Wiggins' World.
Call WW idealistic or unrealistic but it still believes college sports should stay amateur.
An education in return for your performance. It just has a healthy, wholesome feel to it.
Then, there's the matter of conference realignment.
To secure better big bucks TV deals now available to them, many colleges have jumped leagues to get a bigger piece of the ever-enlarging monetary pie.
Where there were once regional conferences that made sense and created interesting rivalries, there are now huge super conferences that defy geographical reason.
The former PAC-12 Conference which consisted of colleges near the United States' Pacific Coast disbanded. Its schools were taken in by leagues further east geographically.
Being 3 hours behind the rest of the country had hurt the TV viewership and exposure of West Coast schools. Many times PAC-12 games were played in the wee hours of the morning East Coast US time and were unavailable to Eastern sleepers.
As a result, UCLA and Southern Cal now play in the xx member Big 10, formerly a conference for just 10 Midwest schools that now stretches from California to New Jersey (home of Rutgers) and includes a whopping 18 teams.
Stanford, located in Palo Alto, California and the University of California are now part of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a huge 17-team league that also includes Boston College, North Carolina and Florida State.
Ka-boom! That is the sound of exciting regional rivalries being blown up and travel expenses going through the roof.
At the root of NIL and conference realignment: Greed.
Throw in the creation of a 12-team postseason play-off which debuts this season and waters down the importance of regular season games and add the current transfer portal which creates college football free agency and it's no wonder Wiggins" World has opted to spend this fall in Pattaya, where NCAA games are not televised.
WW will be unable to view the heart of the 2024 college grid season. And will not miss it a bit.
Contact Wiggins' World at davewigg4350@gmail.com
