LOSING INTEREST IN COLLEGE SPORTS

Chuckinden

All-American
Jun 12, 2006
18,995
5,945
113
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
 

Phil_The_Music2

Heisman
Nov 29, 2010
3,214
12,969
113
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
I'm with you. It started for me with Cal seemingly not caring about championships and only caring about draft night. Pope has been pretty pedestrian overall. Officiating has been horrendous for years. Now the NIL and transfer portal stuff. It's just not fun anymore. I hold on to it because I was born and raised to be a Wildcat fan. That's tough to let go of completely.
 

UKBB4Ever

All-Conference
Jul 3, 2025
1,789
3,116
113
Government needs to stay out of it. The market will correct itself.

NIL sponsors will determine the value.

What will happen is a huge imbalance. Top 1-3 guys are going to make more. The others will make less.
Will that cause more internal problems?

Coaches will have to become better managers. Good ones will adapt. The rest won’t.
 

TFCat11

Heisman
Mar 25, 2019
5,852
10,399
108
Kentucky was never meant to compete in this type of NIL environment. There’s a reason there’s not a single professional team (from any sport) in the Commonwealth.

Just like the Big Red Machine and other small market teams in the pre-collective bargaining era in the MLB, UK will become what the Cincinnati Reds are today, if they’re not already.

Nothing we can do, but play the hand we were dealt.
 

Smeegs

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2025
553
1,537
93
I’m right there with you. To be honest, i’m not sure if I ever would’ve become much of a UK fan if CBB back then was the way it is now. The sport would not have drawn me in enough to become emotionally invested.

But now it’s in my blood, so I feel like I can’t quit it.
 

BBNUK4Life

Senior
Mar 13, 2026
132
551
93
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
I understand but the thing is, kids HAVE ALWAYS been paid. Now it's just out in the open for everyone to see and other schools now have funds to help compete with the blue bloods.
 
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exo6desmo

Sophomore
Mar 25, 2026
82
147
33
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
My dad said the same thing when I told him Duke paid a player 7 million for one season. I don't think he watched a game after the first half of the Gonzaga game. I didn't watch a whole game since the Louisville game.
 
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Monday Nitro

All-American
Jul 3, 2025
4,148
7,009
112
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.

The only way to enjoy it is to watch on gameday and put no more into it. Following every minute of recruiting, looking for clues, etc. is a setup for frustration. But some love being frustrated.
 
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warrior-cat

Hall of Famer
Oct 22, 2004
191,655
156,315
113
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
Hardly ever see players stay more than a year now. Can't get that invested in players because the very next year they may be playing for your rival.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,999
81,168
113
Government needs to stay out of it. The market will correct itself.

NIL sponsors will determine the value.

What will happen is a huge imbalance. Top 1-3 guys are going to make more. The others will make less.
Will that cause more internal problems?

Coaches will have to become better managers. Good ones will adapt. The rest won’t.
It’s not feasible to not have the government regulate it now. The NCAA or schools will never have the power to rein this in because each city/state will always have a donor judge who will rule differently on every case that gets brought before them across the nation. You can’t have fair competition when the entity who oversees the sport but doesn’t have power to regulate it or enforce rules.
 

megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
15,629
15,795
113
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
I am the same way. When Kentucky plays, I will watch the games, but not with the same intensity and emotional investment as in the past.
If I have something better to do, I will do that, watching the recorded game later ... if I feel like it.
NOTE: I am 73 and have been a fan for over sixty-five (65) years, along with being a UK graduate (May '74) and a Fellow.
 

Resignmarkpope

Sophomore
Mar 13, 2026
160
125
43
I have been a UK fan for 60 yrs and having trouble adjusting to the current climate of college sports. I'm almost to the point of not caring or watching anymore.

I miss the pre NIL days and now totally uninspired with the current college sports climate.

I don't know what the answer is for myself, but I'm totally not happy about it.

It has changed so much for me and certainly not for the better.
It’s really only fun when you’re winning
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,999
81,168
113
I understand but the thing is, kids HAVE ALWAYS been paid. Now it's just out in the open for everyone to see and other schools now have funds to help compete with the blue bloods.
They may have been paid, but they could t transfer free every year. Didn’t get approved for 7-8 year stints, and didn’t make this kind of money. It’s a totally different animal now that it had ever been. You basically have unrestricted FA every season, limited salary caps with no real enforcement, and players who don’t care at all about where they play. At least in the past guys had a connection to where they went to school. They at least pretended to be students. Now they probably don’t even do online classes or even step foot in a classroom ever.
 

JDHoss

Heisman
Jan 1, 2003
16,524
40,177
113
My interest in college basketball has tanked to the point that I only care about watching UK and ETSU, because of the emotional connections. NIL doesn't have as much to do with it as does the quality of play, where on most nights, the games devolve into rock fights and FT shooting contests with numerous replays. When you have a sport with 40 minutes of live action and it's taking over 2 hours to get the game in, there's a problem, and for most of the country, college basketball has devolved into a 4 week sport that starts in March. The game is badly in need of an officiating overhaul and rule changes....

* Hire more officials and pay them enough that they're not working more than 3 games a week or have other side jobs. In the summer, they can attend officiating clinics

* Go to 4, 10 minute quarters, and no FT shooting (except for fouled in the act of shooting) until there are 5 team fouls. Rest the fouls to zero at the end of each quarter.

* Widen the lane to the FIBA width.

* Make the 3 point line 23 ft, which splits the difference with the current NCAA/FIBA and NBA distance.

* Experiment with the Elam Ending in the preseason games and NIT, or at the very least, come up with something to stop teams from constantly fouling at the end of games when they are down double digits and trying to extend the game.
 

*Fox2Monk*

Heisman
Jun 10, 2009
44,999
81,168
113
Why are you such a stupid *******? Not everyone who disagrees with you is a boomer. Me nor my dad are boomers.
These young people throw around the boomer stuff like crazy. Like it makes them sound cool or something. You boomers don’t know squat! I can’t wait until they become 50+. They will feel exactly the way older people do now about the things they love and the changes in the world. It gets worse every year.
 
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megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
15,629
15,795
113
I long for the days when players played for the name on the front of the jersey. Give me a team of 5 mountain boys and I like my chances. I think we need to recruit more kids ftom eastern Kentucky if you catch my drift
I assume your post is serious and will address it as such.
Kentucky is a national program and needs to recruit nationally to be successful.
You may "like your chances" ... but Kentucky would have absolutely no chance of being any kind of remotely competitive team ... ZERO !!
Losing in historic fashion wouldn't be good for anybody, even the devoted fans in Eastern Kentucky, much less the players themselves.

For reference: How many of the TOP 100 All-Time scorers in Kentucky history are from Kentucky, much less Eastern Kentucky ??


Note: It is interesting, if not very odd, that Kentucky has never had a player from South Carolina. What's that all about ??
 
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BBNUK4Life

Senior
Mar 13, 2026
132
551
93
They may have been paid, but they could t transfer free every year. Didn’t get approved for 7-8 year stints, and didn’t make this kind of money. It’s a totally different animal now that it had ever been. You basically have unrestricted FA every season, limited salary caps with no real enforcement, and players who don’t care at all about where they play. At least in the past guys had a connection to where they went to school. They at least pretended to be students. Now they probably don’t even do online classes or even step foot in a classroom ever.
Agreed. Just didn't feel like saying all that but you nailed it lol
 
Feb 25, 2025
179
221
43
These young people throw around the boomer stuff like crazy. Like it makes them sound cool or something. You boomers don’t know squat! I can’t wait u til they become 50+. They will feel exactly the way older people do now about the things the love and the changes in the world. It gets worse every year.
I‘m 55.
 

Anon1774630942

Freshman
Mar 27, 2026
69
66
18
It’s not feasible to not have the government regulate it now. The NCAA or schools will never have the power to rein this in because each city/state will always have a donor judge who will rule differently on every case that gets brought before them across the nation. You can’t have fair competition when the entity who oversees the sport but doesn’t have power to regulate it or enforce rules.
It's chaotic anarchy. The worst run pro sports league is monumentally better than this free for all. It can't sustain. At this rate, there will be maybe 5-6 schools able to compete for a NC annually. It leaves for zero parity.

Some easy rules - one transfer max, unless your coach leaves. 2 year contracts. Age cap.

With the annual transfer, the reward of development is literally zero. What is the point?

The B10 looks like it's in pole position across all sports with the way things are shaping up. It's already happening.