Does college football need fixing? That could be argued.

It’s inarguable that there are broken aspects to the sport (see the calendar), but at the same time, the sport is gobbling up as much money as it ever has.

As I reflect on the last year, I’ve come up with two whacky ways I think college football could improve on some of its issues. I stayed away from the calendar and the portal because everyone at this point knows something has to give there.

1. NIL-Incentive-Based Preseason Bowl Games

I’m typing this out with a quad box on my TV that features three bowl games (this was written on Dec. 31), so just know if the bowl system doesn’t innovate, I’ll still be here for it.

With that said, there is no denying that the bowl season has been losing its luster over the past decade or so. So, let’s try to find a way to spruce things up. My suggestion (which I don’t think is necessarily original): move them to the next preseason.

That may sound all sorts of backward, but is it more backward than a team having to turn down a bowl because they don’t have enough players to field a team? Is it more backward than a handful of teams going into bowl season with cobbled together coaching staffs because their coach left for another job?

Here’s my idea: Based off conference finishes, teams will be slotted into bowl games to start the next season. Using the Texas Bowl as an example, say it hosts the third-place finisher in the Big 12 and the fifth-place finisher in the SEC (would’ve provided a Utah vs. Texas matchup based on this season’s results). Then, the Texas Bowl’s sponsor would have to pony up some money (how much, I have no idea) for some NIL during next season’s games.

You could argue that the roster that makes the bowl should get the NIL, which I won’t put up much of a fight arguing about, but it going to the next season’s roster would benefit the program going into the offseason. Coaches would be able to recruit the portal with, “Oh, and we’re in the X Bowl, which pays out X.” Maybe it would also be enough to keep some of the players undecided about hopping in the portal to stay in a spot.

It’s a reward to the program for having a good season that they now have the extra recruiting tool and a reward for players in that they get paid. AND it provides The College Football Playoff committee more potentially relevant interconference data points come the end of the year. It’s a win-win-win, as far as I’m concerned.

Things that would need to be figured out:

For one, a lot of teams already have nonconference games scheduled way in advance, so you’d have to deconstruct some of those deals.

Secondly, teams ineligible for a bowl would have a relatively quick turnaround to get a game scheduled. But basically every other college sport puts schedules together much quicker than football, so I think you’d be able to work around that.

2. Region-Based Promotion, Relegation

From a fun idea that could somewhat realistically be implemented smoothly to something that is bat-poop crazy that the powers that be would never agree to.

This prompt is sort of two in one, as it would take conferences realigning (again) plus the implementation of a European soccer-esque promotion-relegation system.

Starting with the conferences, nothing makes sense anymore. USC is in the same conference as Rutgers, despite the two schools having about a 40-hour drive between them. Cal and Miami share a conference despite having about a 45-hour drive between them.

I say the conferences should come together (already not going to happen) and divide schools up based on geography. Not just the Power Five, either. The American Conference hosts UTSA (San Antonio, Texas) and Army  (West Point, New York). Conference USA has New Mexico State and Delaware. Those leagues don’t have the TV revenue to afford such travel expenses as easily.

So, the Power Five returns (welcome back, Pac-12!), and each of those league’s get paired with a Group of Five conference. The winner of the Group of Five conference and the last-place team in the Power Conference would switch leagues (or potentially play a winner-take-all postseason game?). Base media rights payouts would be uniform across the P5 leagues (again, never going to happen) and in the G5.

Let’s say it’s Pac-12/Mountain West, Big 12/American, Big Ten/MAC, SEC/Sun Belt and ACC/Conference USA.

I still think the college football regular season means a lot, but this would only add to that for literally every team. There’s even intrigue for teams having bad seasons. A late November game between two teams that are 2-9 might be must-see TV.

Aside from helping with travel costs for schools and fans, the regionality of things would also bring back some rivalries and create others.

Take the state of Texas, for example. There are six Group of Five programs in the Lone Star State, and those six schools are in three difference conferences. Rice (Houston, Texas) shares a conference with Temple (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) but not with Sam Houston (Huntsville, Texas). I imagine a lot of players on those G5 Texas teams know one another and would probably very much like to prove that their college team is better than someone they grew up playing in high school. Same for regular students. Say Joe and Bob grew up as friends in Dallas. One went down to Texas State for college and the other went to North Texas. That game has a new level of care to it for bragging rights over your buddy.

Things that would need to be figured out:

Money means this idea is dead on arrival. Schools in the Big Ten or SEC right now would have no interest in sharing their portion of the pie, even if it was for the betterment of the sport. Could you imagine one of those Big Ten teams who woke up on third base despite basically never being relevant in football agreeing to a system that could have them relegated to the MAC? No way. College Football Playoff payouts to the league would have to be big with the regionality of things. The more teams that league gets in, the more money that league gets to divvy among its schools.

Promotion-relegation also isn’t as smooth an idea in college sports as it is professional sports because of A, the transfer portal, and B, eligibility. If a Group of Five team was good enough to win its league, the difference in P5 media rights money and G5 media rights money would need to be enough for the G5 team to retain at least portions of its roster rather than the whole thing getting blown up, forcing an underfunded team into a stronger league while having to replace a large chunk of the roster. But even if that money is enough for rising G5 schools to retain their rosters, what if that G5 school was filled with seniors?

Then would anyone belong to any conference anymore? Or is it sort of like the NFL but rather than AFC and NFC its Big 12, SEC, etc.?

It’s messy, there is no doubt, but if somehow the whole system was reset, I think this system would be a ton of fun.

The NIL era continues to be wild.

PublishedJanuary 7, 2026 11:20 AM EST•UpdatedJanuary 7, 2026 11:02 AM EST

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Copy Link

Since the NIL era began in college athletics back in 2021, the landscape of college sports has often been described as ‘The Wild, Wild West.’ As we enter 2026, that phrase doesn’t do the current situation any form of justice. There were at least some laws in the Wild, Wild West.

While there are rules – it would be more accurate to just call them guidelines – when it comes to what you can and can not do regarding NIL, they very much feel optional at this point in the proceedings. 

Newly appointed Florida head coach Jon Sumrall recently joined Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow on OutKick’s Hot Mic and gave a very real example of just how little sense said NIL guidelines make.

With Florida being sponsored by the Jordan brand, one would imagine that Sumrall could hand out as many pairs of shoes as humanly possible to players after their careers wrap up in Gainesville. But no, that isn’t the case at all.

“We give out Jordan Brand shoes here, because we’re a Jumpman school,” Sumrall noted. “So, that’s like a cool, hip thing. And I’ve got all those Jordans on my desk here, but we can’t give them to the players after their careers are over because the monetary value is too great. It’s called an extra-benefit.”

“I’m like, the shoes are worth a couple-hundred bucks, I don’t know maybe a couple thousand bucks, I don’t know how much they’re worth. But, we’re already paying these dudes. Why can’t we give them these shoes?”

That’s a valid question, coach.

Jon Sumrall being introduced as Florida’s next head coach. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

Many players are being paid six to seven figures per season to play, and are paid that sum regardless of performance, but handing out a pair or two of shoes that your team is already sponsored by is a no-no.

Good luck trying to make that make any sense.

The funniest piece in all of this is that someone at Florida likely had to tell Sumrall shortly after he was hired that he wasn’t allowed to hand out shoes. The look on his face when he was told that had to have been priceless.