The culture of college football is changing and that includes how the sport handles its offseason.
As CFB moves further towards an NFL model with lengthier schedules and its own version of “free agency,” spring games continue to go by the wayside — something Paul Finebaum weighed-in on in the wake of Alabama’s latest decision not to broadcast its annual A-Day Game.
“I understand it… but I also think it’s somewhat disappointing for fans, because I don’t need to tell you how many times on a Monday after an Auburn or Alabama spring game, somebody called you because they saw the spring game and they saw this wide receiver do or running back do unbelievable things,” Finebaum told “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.”
“I mean, I always used to laugh because I think we read too much into it, but it was an inflection point of the spring. Now it’s not,” he continued. “I think the most important thing for spring games is for fans to participate. Now again, [a lot] of these young guys who are walk-ons — they have the biggest moment of their career in a spring game, and on national television too, by the way. But ultimately, I think we’re just in a different era now.”
Finebaum also noted that TV networks haven’t been putting a lot behind most of these spring games in recent years and giving them the stage they once did.
“These games were not exactly being showcased anymore. I mean, I think last year there was, I think Alabama may have been one of the few SEC schools that was the only one that was actually on network television,” the ESPN commentator shared.
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“Most of them have been moved to digital. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But they’re not quite getting the showcase they were 15 or 20 years ago.”
Gone are the days of spring games being the unofficial start of the college football season. But most people would probably trade that for an expanded Playoff format and the pomp and circumstance of Saturdays in the fall.
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