College football has always meant more to me than the final score. It carries memories of Saturdays with my father, Navy playing Air Force in Colorado Springs, regional rivalries, marching bands and traditions inherited across generations. My father once enlivened a college performance of “The Stars and Stripes Forever” by transposing the famous piccolo solo for his sousaphone. Whether that stunt or his grades eventually ended his collegiate band career remains part of the family mythology.

That is the college football I still love. Unfortunately, I am no longer certain it is the college football we are watching.

Oklahoma opened its season by beating UTEP 51–0. Next comes Michigan at the Big House, a game filled with history, uncertainty and genuine consequence. After that, Oklahoma plays New Mexico. At some point, we should stop pretending these mismatches are serious contests and admit that major programs are purchasing glorified scrimmages from schools that need the money.

The problems run much deeper than scheduling. NIL was sold as an opportunity for athletes to profit from autographs, endorsements and their public identities. It has instead transformed recruiting into an auction and the transfer portal into free agency. Major universities now operate professional football teams without the contracts, salary controls or roster stability that govern actual professional leagues.

Meanwhile, the institutions supporting college sports are facing their own reckoning. Tuition is soaring, enrollment is declining, public confidence is weakening and some colleges are consuming reserves merely to maintain their existing staffs and facilities. Wealthy football powers such as Oklahoma and Notre Dame will survive. Smaller universities may not. Their football programs depend upon student fees, institutional subsidies, local donors and payments received for playing games they are expected to lose.

College football is becoming extraordinarily wealthy at the top while the educational structure beneath it grows increasingly fragile. I will still watch Oklahoma play Michigan, and I will care deeply who wins. But somewhere between the multimillion-dollar rosters and the purchased blowouts, the sport must decide whether the word “college” still means anything.

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