Stanford legend Andrew Luck is understandably concerned about the future of college football.
The landscape of college football has changed dramatically over the past few years due to conference realignment, NIL and the transfer portal. The sport could receive yet another facelift if the College Football Playoff expands to a 16-team format in 2027.
During an appearance on "The Triple Option" podcast, Luck talked about the importance of schools holding onto their traditional rivalry games. He's worried some of the best rivalries in the sport will be diminished each year.
"I hope we don’t lose some of what makes college football special. Like, Oregon playing Oregon State is a really cool game. The Apple Cup in Washington is cool. I’m sad that the West Coast doesn’t have a premier conference because that conference was awesome. I was part of it. It was great. Thankful to be in the ACC. It’s awesome. But I hope we don’t lose the rivalries, I hope we don’t lose the rituals," Luck said, via On3.
"I hope we don’t lose the connective tissue that makes college football – it’s big, big, big business. It’s also silly. Like, a lot of it doesn’t make sense. A lot of it’s been built off of geographic rivalries. And I love that. I love growing up a college football fan. I grew up in Europe because my dad was working for NFL Europe. But I would turn Armed Forces Network on every Saturday and all they showed was Penn State. So, I hate Penn State because of that, right? Show me somebody else. Show me the Mountaineers. I want to see West Virginia. My dad played there."
This has been a concern for years now.
Back in 2023, former Alabama coach Nick Saban said he was worried about conference realignment impacting college football's rivalries and traditions.
"There's a lot of traditions that we've had for a long time in college football. I think we're in a time of evolution for whatever reasons. Some of those traditions are going to get, sort of, pushed by the wayside, I think. It's sad. The Bedlam game is over because Oklahoma chose to leave the Big 12, period. It's not nothing to do with Oklahoma State. Do I like that? No. Do I like that conferences have broken up in the past? No, I don't."
Unfortunately, Saban's concerns didn't stop teams from erasing tradition for increased revenue.
