Its hard to see College Football as we have known it go away

[gamalielkid]

But that is the reality of change. I love the college football season and the natural rivalries it has produced. Whether you win or not - the teams your school played is a rivalry that I (we) look forward to! Florida - 31 straight defeats - but looked forward to breaking the streak; Georgia - I still remember being between the hedges and seeing 33-0 with the Prince; Tennessee I still remember Scruggs hand off to Tennessee and the Cats upsetting the Big Orange without a quarterback!; and who will ever forget Coach Morris getting the victory drenching as LSU completes a hail Mary; and what about Tulane getting back to back to back, at least it seemed that way, pass interference calls - to March 80 yard in the dome with 30 seconds left! UK has managed to find ways to lose games, so many ways and so many times, over the years - but it is a game we still love. Kentucky football is no longer a laughing stock - and that has been the reward for staying a fan for over 60 years - its been a hard fought battle for respectability!

I grew up with a 12 team SEC most of my life. Then we became 14 for a dozen years and now this year we expand to 16. Currently looking like the SEC will/could explode to up to 32? I ask why? Everyone will have a "chance" to win the NCAA. I really got caught up in that thinking as well - Kentucky in the playoffs! Kentucky playing for the National Championship in football! All sounds great doesn't it?

But then I think about all of those great rivalry games we have had over the years. I think of those games disappearing from our schedule. We will get to play some new football powers for sure - Texas and Oklahoma are pretty big! I was looking forward to a schedule were we would be playing everyone in our conference every few years and they would all come to Kentucky to play eventually. I was even hoping that I might live long enough to see them all at Commonwealth (Kroger for you younger people - lol). But now it looks like that is not going to happen. Of course I have already waited over 12 years to see Texas A & M come to Lexington, but it appears that may never happen - lol!

Anyway, I just felt like chatting about the past as I have been watching all the talk about the NCAA football playoff expansion and schools fighting to get in and out of conferences. I realize that everything is changing - maybe for the better - but I have had some interesting memories - and as I look back it has been a lot of fun - win or lose - but as they say - winning is a lot more fun!

Maybe some of you can share some of your memories and thoughts as well. And as always................

Go Big Blue!

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

As an older UGA fan, GT is and will always be my and and most older fans biggest rivalry. Up until Paul Johnson took over GT/UGA was competitive with neither team seldom having a winning streak over 3-5 games. In the SEC, because of location I guess, several schools consider us big rivals, but to me the biggest is AU. Series has been played a very long time, and is likely about to end. One example is AU was big favorite, we upset them there in a night game, fans stormed the field and they turned the water hoses on us. More recently they tried to cripple Aaron Murray with late hits, aimed at his knees. So that one is probably unhealthy. Like you, I am not sure how well i am going to adjust to this new college football landscape. But if i can adjust to the portal and NIL, I guess I can adjust to not playing AU every year. But I think we keep Tech on the schedule until us old timers all die off, then it want matter.

 

[bluecoon1]

Portal is the issue for me. We’ll have a lot of guys who stick but there’s always the threat of the big NIL schools swooping in and making some of your playmakers a priority while throwing around the big bucks. You also never know how your new portal guys are going to perform either, like our new QB and RB. I used to follow bball religiously and still do to some extent but the one and done era took some of the excitement away, really not much different with fball and the portal imo. That said, I can’t see a day where I’ll never be excited about fball no matter what the circumstances are. Only issue for me is never knowing how these transfers will perform until the season starts.

 

[Ky grandpa]

I have never liked change, I keep car's until they are turned into junk... I don't like to move either, I hate moving from place to place.. I don't like changing job's either, if I work for a place they have to run me off...
I have a hard time seeing kid's who play for UK moving to another school, or vise versa... I like the old way's of doing things for UKFB... I know nothing last forever but let's hope this change last a long time...
The only thing I did change after 10 years was my first wife, lol... I have been with this one for over 36 years, lol...
I just hope UK's changes will be for the better of the team and player's...


GBB

 

[Glenn's take]

If you think that's bad wait until they unionize like the basketball team at Dartmouth did today. If it's a business and they need to be paid, they need to understand their business loses a ton of money and can easily go out of business. Football may survive but most of the rest could just go away

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

If you think that's bad wait until they unionize like the basketball team at Dartmouth did today. If it's a business and they need to be paid, they need to understand their business loses a ton of money and can easily go out of business. Football may survive but most of the rest could just go away

I don't think the players have even considered that as a business their team could go belly up. If all of college sports become a business, I think athletic programs will have to leave school alliances or face TitleIX sanctions. The football program can only support so much, which will be less if it is paying 85 players. This could be the end of college sports, how can you sustain a program and pay millions in salary. Someone much smarter than me will have to figure this mess out.

 

[backinky2018]

I understand the sentiment and I partially agree. I do think it will be exciting to see if UK can compete and at least maintain what has been built over the last ten years. If the playoff field is expanding, there is no reason why UK shouldn't work hard to earn a spot. 9-3 in the new SEC is worthwhile (though I'm not convinced that the committee will want to put a bunch of 9-3 SEC teams in the field).

 

[JDHoss]

But that is the reality of change. I love the college football season and the natural rivalries it has produced. Whether you win or not - the teams your school played is a rivalry that I (we) look forward to! Florida - 31 straight defeats - but looked forward to breaking the streak; Georgia - I still remember being between the hedges and seeing 33-0 with the Prince; Tennessee I still remember Scruggs hand off to Tennessee and the Cats upsetting the Big Orange without a quarterback!; and who will ever forget Coach Morris getting the victory drenching as LSU completes a hail Mary; and what about Tulane getting back to back to back, at least it seemed that way, pass interference calls - to March 80 yard in the dome with 30 seconds left! UK has managed to find ways to lose games, so many ways and so many times, over the years - but it is a game we still love. Kentucky football is no longer a laughing stock - and that has been the reward for staying a fan for over 60 years - its been a hard fought battle for respectability!

I grew up with a 12 team SEC most of my life. Then we became 14 for a dozen years and now this year we expand to 16. Currently looking like the SEC will/could explode to up to 32? I ask why? Everyone will have a "chance" to win the NCAA. I really got caught up in that thinking as well - Kentucky in the playoffs! Kentucky playing for the National Championship in football! All sounds great doesn't it?

But then I think about all of those great rivalry games we have had over the years. I think of those games disappearing from our schedule. We will get to play some new football powers for sure - Texas and Oklahoma are pretty big! I was looking forward to a schedule were we would be playing everyone in our conference every few years and they would all come to Kentucky to play eventually. I was even hoping that I might live long enough to see them all at Commonwealth (Kroger for you younger people - lol). But now it looks like that is not going to happen. Of course I have already waited over 12 years to see Texas A & M come to Lexington, but it appears that may never happen - lol!

Anyway, I just felt like chatting about the past as I have been watching all the talk about the NCAA football playoff expansion and schools fighting to get in and out of conferences. I realize that everything is changing - maybe for the better - but I have had some interesting memories - and as I look back it has been a lot of fun - win or lose - but as they say - winning is a lot more fun!

Maybe some of you can share some of your memories and thoughts as well. And as always................

Go Big Blue!

I remember the excitement of seeing the Cats in a rare TV appearance on ABC in John Ray's first game. We had just gotten a color TV, and even though the picture was still pretty snowy, as we lived in VA and our ABC station was WLOS in Asheville, NC, it was still glorious to watch UK in color. The game was a disaster as IU had a RB named Isenbarger (sp?) who ran for a thousand yards that day as they rolled us, and my dad reaffirmed his displeasure that we hired Ray instead of bringing Jerry Claiborne home, then turning around the following week and getting a massive upset of Ole Miss and Archie Manning. And yeah, poor Bernie Scruggs having that pitchout picked off by a UT DE and returned for a TD when the Cats were driving late for a go ahead score.

Beating a ranked Oregon St team in 1968

Darryl Bishop with a walk off pick six v Vandy to win the game as we sat there listening on the radio with our jaws dropped open trying to register what just happened.

Seeing the Cats in person for the first time in 1974 at Virginia Tech with the Cats thumping the Hokies 38-7.

Guys like Doug Kotar, Jim Kovach, Dickie Lyons, Mike Fanuzzi, Mike Siganos, Sonny Collins, Joe Federspiel, Warren Bryant, Art Still, Derrick Ramsey and so many more.

Those years weren't kind to UK football, but I have a ton of great memories from it.

 

[truebluewildcat]

CFB isn't going away any more than Google went away, or Wal-Mart went away. They both just grew too big for the garage and Bentonville.

Irony is that all the generations of fans that are waxing poetic and romanticizing are the reason it's growing and changing. Ya'll spent the money consuming it to where it has become what it has become.

Thus, it is now valuable beyond belief. That is all that is happening here folks. Growth in popularity and value.

 

[JC CATS]

Portal is the issue for me. We’ll have a lot of guys who stick but there’s always the threat of the big NIL schools swooping in and making some of your playmakers a priority while throwing around the big bucks. You also never know how your new portal guys are going to perform either, like our new QB and RB. I used to follow bball religiously and still do to some extent but the one and done era took some of the excitement away, really not much different with fball and the portal imo. That said, I can’t see a day where I’ll never be excited about fball no matter what the circumstances are. Only issue for me is never knowing how these transfers will perform until the season starts.

You never know how the freshmen will perform either. With the portal you have an idea Ray Davis will be good

 

[Grumpyolddawg]

I understand the sentiment and I partially agree. I do think it will be exciting to see if UK can compete and at least maintain what has been built over the last ten years. If the playoff field is expanding, there is no reason why UK shouldn't work hard to earn a spot. 9-3 in the new SEC is worthwhile (though I'm not convinced that the committee will want to put a bunch of 9-3 SEC teams in the field).

According to the new plan, at most there will only be 4 from a conference. 4 had 2 or less losses so I don't think there will be many 3 loss teams getting in, Big has 4-5 teams capable of 2 loss seasons to fight for the 4th spot too, so getting 4 in isn't a giveme for either conference.

 

[gamalielkid]

According to the new plan, at most there will only be 4 from a conference. 4 had 2 or less losses so I don't think there will be many 3 loss teams getting in, Big has 4-5 teams capable of 2 loss seasons to fight for the 4th spot too, so getting 4 in isn't a giveme for either conference.

Actually had not seen a limit. Spits 12-14 are highest rated last I saw- that could mean up to six from SEC or Big 10. I been traveling last 2 days.

Go Big Blue!

 

[BluegrassSportsNet]

I understand the sentiment and I partially agree. I do think it will be exciting to see if UK can compete and at least maintain what has been built over the last ten years. If the playoff field is expanding, there is no reason why UK shouldn't work hard to earn a spot. 9-3 in the new SEC is worthwhile (though I'm not convinced that the committee will want to put a bunch of 9-3 SEC teams in the field).

That’s my concern with this whole thing. A 9-3 SEC team is without question a top 15 team in every case, sometimes top 10. I fear they aren’t gonna get the respect they deserve. Under no circumstance should a 11-1 big 12 or ACC school get in over a 9-3 SEC. There’s beginning to be no reward for playing a significantly harder schedule.