Question: What's your interest level in college football right now?

[mdb-tpet]

All of the complaints above plus we are in the transition after a legend at Alabama. Although I was watching less even with Coach Saban at the helm toward the end of his tenure because, there's a lot of joy and excitement when climbing the ladder of success, a bit less after you get there, and a lot of dread as you slide back down a bit. We're somewhere in the slide down and find our new position on the success ladder from Coach Saban's peak, which is the least exciting to me. Now if we can turn this ship around and show some dominance again, then I'll be more excited. Lastly, I couldn't care less about the other 645,003,304 division whatever college teams.

 

[Bama9001]

The game is an absolute mess and I don't know how it can be fixed. The clock is ticking.

I watch Bama but not as religously as I use to...not even close. It no longer takes precedence over everything else on Saturdays. Just don't watch many other games and one of the big reasons is the disgusting behavior of the players these days. What happened to sportsmanship? Baically the game is degenerating just as our overall society is, and pretty much for the same reasons.

Yes, i'm old. I remember Joe Namath playing although I was very young then.

 

[BamaNation]

NIL, Portal, automatic conferance playoff invitations, ridiculous number of bowls, players opting out are killing the sport.
AKA, its the money.

As for watching interest... I look at if the stands are filled. If the local fans don't support a team, why should I care? Same for bowl games, in most cases. Bowls in all cases are all manufactured content for ESPN. The only games that matter are the CFP playoffs. Every other game has 30 players on each team who are transferring, sitting it out, too "special" to participate even though they're getting paid. There really does need to be contractual obligations on the players that they must participate in ALL games for which they are healthy or they have to pay back the U.

The dates of coaching "transfers" also needs to be fixed so that they're not leaving before end of a season / bowl / CFP. That part is asinine - maybe even more than player transfers. Schools should not give permission for any coach to talk to any other team before the end of the season - not regular season ... their last actual game. Sue the bejesus out of any school for contractual interference if not adhered to.

The core problem for all of it is there is zero actual accountability for anyone involved in the whole process.

If guys (players/coaches) want to leave, let'em leave but make'em pay dearly for doing so.

 

[CoolBreeze]

Wow, that poll is very revealing, thanks for posting. Seems we are all of the same opinion generally on this board but I imagine we are also a different generation. I am pulling the Tide man. Funny how we are the program the world loves to hate but statistics show we are the most watched...quite the phenomenon. Anyway, Roll Tide and hope we can beat the sooners on Friday!

 

[CrimsonTusk]

I've been a Bama fan since I was 10 yrs old. 56 years ago. Momma raised me right. We were on a cruse during Thanksgiving and 2 games were played,... Eastern Illinois and auburn. I did watch the auburn game. Did not watch the Eastern game. I didn't miss it and was really hoping we wouldn't make the playoffs. My stress level has been lowered, a little.

 

[CaliforniaTide]

My interest has declined in the sense that I give no bandwidth to the other teams on Alabama's schedule, even the rivals. I only care about watching Alabama, when I can. If I can't watch them, I'll follow along online.

Case in point - I'm taking my family to go see the David movie on Friday night. We bought those tickets weeks ago, and due to other family events, can't really move from that date. I didn't change anything when Alabama's inclusion to the playoffs was announced. I'll watch what I can when my family and I get home. I used to watch the bowl games religiously growing up - it was a part of Christmas to me. Now, I have no clue who is playing and when, and don't really care.

 

[Krymsonman]

My interest is about the same as it's always been, but I am beginning to have a lot of doubts. At the end of the year, I used to think about what BAMA had coming back the next year and how good we might be, but now it's all a crapshoot. No one knows who will or won't be there for the next year. There's no such thing as building a team or developing players anymore. I'm still a BAMA fan, but I really prefer the old days, which actually were just a few years ago. But then again, I've had so many changes at work that I've learned to roll with the changes.

 

[Bazza]

What bothers me the most?

The stupid commercials!

There's WAY TOO MANY of them........and they are DUMB!

Everything else I can live with!

 

[PGDocBama]

Parity has taken some of the appeal away for me, though I know that is not true for everyone. Fans of smaller or weaker programs are probably more engaged now, which is a positive for them. From my view, though, it has flattened the sport and removed the sense of dominance and excellence that once defined the top teams.

This shift sets the stage for a deeper issue. Once the competitive landscape became more level, the forces shaping player behavior and team culture began to matter more than the games themselves.

With NIL, many top players are earning as much as, or more than, position coaches. Because of that, they often feel less pressure to listen or develop under coaching the way players once did. If another program offers more money, they can leave quickly. That dynamic weakens the mentor relationship and shifts the focus from growth to short-term gain.

The effects of NIL do not stop with money alone. When financial incentives are tied directly to individual players, the idea of building something over time starts to break down.

The transfer portal adds to this problem. Players can move almost freely, so teams are rarely deep or stable. That lack of continuity makes it hard to build chemistry, which usually takes more than one season. The constant turnover hurts overall play, and the product on the field feels worse than it did before 2020. Systems never fully settle, and players often look unsure or disconnected on the field.

Taken together, these changes reshape what a program even means. Stability and shared identity matter less when rosters can turn over so quickly.

Together, NIL and the transfer portal have reduced loyalty. Players may wear the uniform of a school in Tuscaloosa, but they do not feel connected to the University of Alabama itself, or to the program’s identity. It feels more like a temporary business arrangement than being part of something larger or lasting.