Viva College Football!

They are doing it again. Despite great ratings and soaring popularity, the sport of college football is being reduced to a minor leagues for the NFL, again, by ESPN. Not knowing what to talk about in the off-season, ESPN.com has launched a ridiculous poll and accompanying stories to determine which college program has produced the most NFL stars. The constant focus on the NFL draft, which players will play "on Sunday" and the now crowning of a best program for producing pros, weakens their college football product while constantly reminding folks that the pro game is superior. Add in the fact that the great majority of their analysts consider the BCS and lack of a playoff ridiculous--and constantly say so on television--and the network seems to spend more time pandering to the sports radio callers from the Northeast and less to anyone who actually cares about college football.

Which is not to say that ESPN should become a shill for the NCAA, BCS or any university. I just want them to give me college football coverage that is about college football and not the NFL. I love the NFL and I love college football. They are separate and equal in my mind and should each be treated with respect. No one goes to college football games to see guys who may play on the next level, they go to watch good, hard-hitting football played by guys whose main interest should be winning that game and whose goals should be conference titles and bowl games. Did Texas fans not go see Colt McCoy play because he was not considered a better pro prospect than predecessor Vince Young? Should Wake Forest fans not be grateful for the four years of excellence given to them by departed quarterback Riley Skinner because he was then not drafted by the pros? Should all the teams that beat Oklahoma last year forfeit those victories back to the Sooners because OU had so much great NFL talent on their roster?

College football is a joy for a million reasons. Developing a small percentage of the players into eventual NFL roster fodder is not one of them.