-Isms: Views on life in rural America

Tell me the landscape of college football is changing without telling me the landscape of college football is changing.

Take example No. 1.

Last week, Marshall officials announced that its team will not play in the Independence Bowl, due to “player unavailability due to activity in the transfer portal.” Since Dec. 8, 29 players have entered the transfer portal after coach Charles Huff left the Thundering Herd to become head coach at Southern Miss.

How about example No. 2?

The House v. NCAA antitrust settlement, totaling $2.8 billion, will allow schools to directly compensate athletes through revenue sharing. Couple that with a 105-player roster limit for football, that’s part of the agreement, and what will happen in Lincoln is crystal clear. Almost all walk-on players and a few with scholarships will no longer have spots on the team.

And then there’s the transfer portal, or example No. 3.

It’s free agency for college kids.

The portal officially opened last Monday. According to an ESPN report on Dec. 13, more than 1,500 FBS scholarship players and almost 2,000 total FBS players - added their names to the portal. Thirty-one percent of these players have previously transferred. That percentage includes more than 450 scholarship transfers who are in the portal for the second or third time.

Since players can transfer whenever they want, if they meet academic requirements, that rate will definitely continue to increase in upcoming years.

Then, there’s example No. 4: Name, image and likeness bucks.

I get it wanting to be paid for your personal brand since the brand you play for makes money off your weekly performance. Oregon tops the list of universities in NIL resources, according to 247 Sports, with $969 million. Texas A & M, Texas, Florida, and Georgia round out the top five.

The Huskers land in the 42nd spot, with $236 million.

Even the Jayhawks and Wildcats from Kansas outpace Nebraska in NIL funding, based on 247 Sports reporting.

Is NCAA football becoming the minor league of the National Football League? Maybe. I don’t see the Detroit Lions or Kansas City Chiefs calling up a college player mid-season though.

But, the increased push for making money is having an effect on the game. That much can be seen via the transfer portal, where it’s easier to leave for greener turf when a player feels he doesn’t get enough playing time or enough of the green that’s easy to spend.

What happened to loyalty to a school and its program? What happened to developing as a player and a person? What happened to education first?

Opting for the transfer portal, I’m guessing.

I’m not one of those Husker fans clinging to the 90s dynasty. I love the ‘Skers, win or lose ... although I wish they would win more. Remember when Pelini’s nine-win seasons? Instead, I’m waxing nostalgic for hard-playing, smash mouth football, where money isn’t the bottom line or motivation.