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They don't practice like we did in high school

We know who the best teams are.  We always have.  But we've eliminated the randomness where Northwestern can go to a Rose Bowl because Michigan upsets Ohio State, and Northwestern doesn't have to play them.  And we've eliminated caring about even going to a January 1 bowl, or the Rose Bowl.

I love fall.  I love fall cooking.  I like Oktoberfest and pumpkin (sorry) beers.  I associate those things with college football, and thus it's all still somewhat intertwined.  But I certainly no longer love college football.  I'm not even sure I like it.  It has fallen behind the NFL and the MLB playoffs in my watching hierarchy

It's interesting, the time I was at UW or planning to attend had a blend of A. A team that made a run to being undefeated in Nov. with no business doing so, B. A couple hype cycles that fell drastically short, and C. Seasons that made it clear bowl placement was kinda secondary (teams of differing qualities kept going to the same bowls for standings reasons). And it totally short circuited my interest in begging for an undefeated rise in the polls or staring at bowl stuff. 

I ended up drawing more inward. I focus on games and season records, as well as stats and schemes I find interesting. I was at a time hooked to the poll horse race thing, but after watching mid-teams get to 5-0 and fanbases whine, I stopped caring. Win the games, assemble the record, the rest takes care of itself (or doesn't, but it only doesn't at the end). Games are good. Watching teams put together good seasons is good. The rest became window dressing, with smaller stories or fanbase neuroses being more interesting than poll position or postseason placement, at least to me. 

I suppose I count myself a little lucky that different kinds of disappointment as a student didn't lead me away from that joy. 

This is incredibly frustrating.

Consider this:
As we all know, NFL draft picks go first to the worst teams in an effort to maintain some sort of balance by giving the worst teams a jump on the best young players. When the Browns returned in 1999 they got the first pick and selected Tim Couch. In the 20-odd years since then they have only finished ahead of the hated Steelers a few times (I think three but don't care enough to go look it up). The point is that the Browns have picked ahead of the Steelers almost every year and usually WAY ahead. Despite that, if you look at Cleveland's first round picks it is a whose who of NFL busts while Pittsburgh's almost universally had successful NFL careers.

I'm honestly not exaggerating (at least by much) when I say that the Browns might literally have been better off to make their selections by throwing darts at a wall with prospect's names rather than whatever method they actually used because you have to figure that random chance would at least occasionally work out.

truly is an art not a science. 

Tim Couch went #1 overall. Tom Brady went in the 6th round. Crazy.

It's not totally random of course.  There is some correlaation between high draft pick and NFL success, but the exceptions stand out.

I think pining for the past can be limiting, we can still enjoy the present, I think, or I do anyway (the last two seasons were pretty fun).

In this world, money drives actions (with some exceptions).  It's inevitable, no reason to blame someone for being greedy.  Like most here, given a choice I'd go back to the Olden times (maybe the 1920s...).  I enjoyed the irrationality of bowls and rankings and MNCs.  Most humans want structure and certainty, a la NFL.  And there is the money.

Very clearly, CFB is being NFLized, and that will continue.  I'd guess most 30 year old fans think it's for the best.

I think pining for the past can be limiting, we can still enjoy the present, I think, or I do anyway (the last two seasons were pretty fun).

In this world, money drives actions (with some exceptions).  It's inevitable, no reason to blame someone for being greedy.  Like most here, given a choice I'd go back to the Olden times (maybe the 1920s...).  I enjoyed the irrationality of bowls and rankings and MNCs.  Most humans want structure and certainty, a la NFL.  And there is the money.

Very clearly, CFB is being NFLized, and that will continue.  I'd guess most 30 year old fans think it's for the best.

I'm with you. I like all the changes because it benefits the player. At the end of the day that's all any fan should care about. The players.

Not about to be one of those "get off my lawn" or "back in my day" dudes. Different eras have different set of circumstances, different rules. Things change, grow, evolve. That's life.

I'm with you. I like all the changes because it benefits the player. At the end of the day that's all any fan should care about. The players.

I hear what you're saying, but is the game for the players, or is it for the fans?

If it's for the players, then they should all be fine with playing in front of nobody but their parents, in some back sandlots near the exit of the girls' gym.  Right?  And they should be fine with zero compensation of any kind, since the game is just for the players.  Right?

Except that's not how it works.  That's not how ANY of this works.

Without the fans there's no money to distribute to the coaches and players, there's no talk of NIL or "NFLization" of the sport.  There's no problems at all.  Line up your 11 best against the 11 best from some school a couple miles away, let the parents watch, and call it a day.