No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama were set to meet Saturday night, with the College GameDay crew, the President and extensive ESPN broadcasts expected. Washington State and Oregon State, meanwhile, had lost their place in the Pac-12 and the sport’s national conversation. The game was expected to draw large ratings. The column describes a widening divide between programs that can absorb a loss and teams whose place in the sport is less secure.
Who Gets to Recover
Georgia won national championships in 2021 and 2022; Alabama won them in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. Along with Ohio State, Notre Dame and LSU, those programs remain title contenders after a defeat, the column said. Their fans may “gnash their teeth and rend their garments,” but a loss doesn’t push their teams out of the championship picture.
The column contrasted that security with what’s at stake for fans of other programs, who watch games as tests of whether their teams can compete and belong. It quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Rich Boy”: “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me ... They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.”
Alabama had beaten Mississippi State 16 straight years. The teams played every year from 1948 to 2023, compiling an Alabama record of 65-10-1 across that stretch, and they belong to the same conference. Mississippi State ranked 15th in the SEC preseason media poll, while its athletic director faced offseason questions about whether he would fire the coach.
The Bulldogs opened with a dominant Big Ten road win at Minnesota, then followed with SEC wins over South Carolina and Missouri. Quarterback Taylor topped early Heisman Trophy lists. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on “College GameDay” the previous week, “If I was coaching right now, I'd be trying to get (Mississippi State quarterback) Kamario Taylor to get into the portal.” The column noted that Saban was airing political advertisements seeking legislation that would limit players’ ability to move.
Conference Places and Television Ratings
Washington State and Oregon State kept playing after the Pac-12 disbanded and reconstituted itself that year in a “lessened and deformed version.” The schools no longer had conference places, a shift the column attributed to television ratings rather than poor teams. They went from playing at USC and the Rose Bowl to traveling to San Marcos, Texas, for a USA Network broadcast. Their fans still loved their teams, but they could no longer dream of playing in the Rose Bowl or winning a national title.
The Beavers beat Colorado State so badly that the Rams fired their defensive coordinator during the game. That result didn’t return the teams to the national conversation. The column called the loss of conference standing a turning point for fans outside the traditional powers.
Pressure on the Middle Tier
Illinois collapsed in 2026 after coach Bret Bielema led the Illini to their most wins over a two-year period. The column cited Bielema’s decision to hire longtime Montana coach Bobby Hauck as defensive coordinator and use his 3-3-5 scheme as part of the collapse. Illinois had parted ways with Hauck before losing at home to Purdue, which hadn’t won a Big Ten game since beating Indiana around the time Curt Cignetti was losing to Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. The defeat was described as the worst loss of the Bielema era, and the reaction in Champaign as “atomic.”
The column said Illinois and other mid-tier Power 4 teams can’t afford to become bottom-feeders as power consolidates in the SEC and Big Ten. Leading programs have more resources, can recruit players from other rosters and accumulate power; middle-tier teams face pressure to justify their place. A 24-team playoff could give those programs more chances, but the column said a first appearance could lose its appeal, and poor television ratings could reinforce second-tier status.
Indiana offered a contrasting result. Previously grouped with Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi State and Purdue—or lower—the Hoosiers had gone 32-2 in their previous 34 games and won major honors. The column called the rise unprecedented and described it as an unfinished story. Cignetti was 65 and signed through 2033; the article also asked readers to imagine Indiana in 2035 with its roster and coach unknown. The column closed on the divide between established powers and the teams watching them: “They still think that they are better than we are. The world is constructed to make sure they remain right.”