Well, this last year of college football as we know it is going to end sooner than we – or at least I – had hoped.  The 2023 Season for the Georgia Bulldogs football team will end on December 30^th in Miami at the Orange Bowl.  It will not extend into a playoff berth nor a chance to earn a third consecutive national championship.  

First, a few thoughts about this season and this team before we get into the weighty matters of college athletics, playoffs, money, and the state of “amateur” athletics.  UGA fielded a great team, and the coaching staff remains elite and among the best in sports.  They’re too often compared to an idealized version those who immediately preceded them, and not on their own merits and efforts, which have been substantial.

The critics of this team within UGA’s own fan base are few, but have made up for their numbers with volume.  They wanted the quarterback who ended up as a finalist for the Manning Award benched because he didn’t perform in his first game as a starter the same as if he already had the experience of his predecessor.  

It should be noted that many of these “experts” were sure UGA’s hopes at a title were finished when Stetson Bennett was named starting quarterback.  Many of them even doubled down, expressing frustration that Bennett decided to come back for another year – certain it would rob UGA of a chance to win back-to-back titles.

These same voices – always unaccountable for their ridiculous demands – wanted the Offensive Coordinator fired because “we should be winning by more”.  It’s almost as if they haven’t yet realized there aren’t two sides on every play, and that both offense and defense had a lot of growing up to do this year to fill the cleats of those now playing on Sundays.  

These folks also never want to hear about injuries.  UGA dealt with more injuries this season than any prior Smart coached team, and by a lot.  Still, the coaches and players adapted and strung together an undefeated 12-0 regular season.  

Many played hurt, many had to quickly grow into new positions, and as was evident in the SEC Championship game, threw everything they had into trying to win just one more time.  We need frequent reminders that college athletics aren’t about us and how much we care, or want to have bragging rights after a big win.  It’s about those players.  

They now own the longest winning streak in SEC history.  This is what they should be remembered by.  And the UGA faithful about what they endured and overcame to make that happen.

In future years this team would be in a playoff to determine who is “number one”.  This ranking has been and always will be mythical.  The drive to get there – and to keep fans focused on the quest – is worth billions.  

In a sport where the mantra is “on any given Saturday”, there will never be an undisputed best team.  The team that might be best in early September might not be the best by the time the playoffs conclude in January.  Any injury, any call by a referee, or any action (or in this season’s case, inaction) by the NCAA can change the entire map.

Expanding the playoff won’t change the arguments.  It just adds time on the clock, and keeps more in the argument longer.  If you don’t believe me just wait a few months.  March Madness now has four play-in games to get a field of 64 teams for basketball playoffs, and people still argue over it.

For those who believe the SEC is the center of the college football universe, you’ll likely have another let-down next year.  The league’s television deal with CBS is ending, and next season ESPN will have the first option on SEC games.  

Unlike CBS, ESPN has deals with other conferences, and their entire existence is based on keeping audiences across the nation engaged.  Don’t expect SEC homerism on ESPN (even though fans of other conferences believe there’s a steady diet of it already).  You’re still going to have an equal number of talking heads hyping lesser teams and saying they’re better, and keeping all conferences and teams relevant as long as they can.  Ratings demand it.

Meanwhile, college athletics is moving faster and faster toward a minor league professional sports organization.  Television has long dictated scheduling, but additional dollars pouring in from additional games, combined with Name, Image, and Likeness deals for players and legalized sports betting, is making it harder and harder to hide the commercialization of the sport.

Add in the effect of the transfer portal and the ability in many states for recruits to start receiving NIL deals while still in high school, and the pretense of amateurism is mostly dropped. This is no longer about trading football practice for a college education.  Athletic departments at competitive schools are now nine-figure businesses.

Is it all bad? No.  It will just be different.  Bigger stages, brighter lights but less tradition, fewer fixed rivalries, and less nostalgia.  

Programs that adapt will be fine.  Those that resist will look a lot like Clemson.

The future won’t be the same, but for me, it will still be painted in Red and Black.  It’s on to Miami, and then a brief rest before there’s a Spring game in Athens, with some returning friends and some new recruits ready to establish their own place in the Bulldog legacy.