No. 2 Georgia and No. 6 Alabama were scheduled to meet Saturday night, with extensive ESPN broadcasts and large ratings expected. The column argued that the sport’s middle-tier programs face a more precarious future than its traditional powers. Georgia and Alabama can lose and remain national-title contenders. For schools outside that circle, poor seasons can put their place in the sport at risk.
The College GameDay crew and the President were expected to attend. The matchup puts two programs with recent championship records in the national spotlight: Georgia won titles in 2021 and 2022, while Alabama won in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2020. The column also named Ohio State, Notre Dame and LSU as programs whose fans and teams can recover from a loss and remain title contenders.
The Power at the Top
The column described a widening divide between football’s most powerful programs and teams whose standing depends more heavily on conference membership, results and television attention. Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State operate under different circumstances from programs such as Illinois, Mississippi State, Washington State and Oregon State, it said. The sport’s power, the column argued, is consolidating in the SEC and Big Ten. That could sharpen the division between “haves and have-nots.”
Washington State and Oregon State kept playing after the Pac-12 disbanded and reconstituted itself that year in what the column called a “lessened and deformed version.” The schools, it said, were no longer part of a real conversation about college football. Their fans still loved their teams, but couldn't dream of playing in the Rose Bowl or winning a national title.
The column contrasted those schools’ earlier trips to USC and the Rose Bowl with a Washington State and Oregon State trip to San Marcos, Texas, for a USA Network broadcast. It blamed the lack of conference places for the Cougars and Beavers on television ratings, not poor teams. Conference access and broadcast appeal, in that account, help determine which programs stay visible and which lose ground.
Pressure on the Middle
Illinois showed the risks facing a mid-tier Power 4 program. After coach Bret Bielema led the Illini to their most wins over a two-year period, Illinois collapsed in 2026. The column said one factor was Bielema’s decision to hire longtime Montana coach Bobby Hauck as defensive coordinator and use his 3-3-5 scheme. Hauck left before Illinois lost at home to Purdue, a defeat described as the worst loss of the Bielema era. The reaction in Champaign was “atomic.”
The column said teams such as Illinois can't afford to become bottom-feeders as power consolidates. Being bad, it argued, could endanger a program’s continued place in the sport. It also raised the possibility of a 24-team playoff as a way for middle-tier teams to get more chances. But simply qualifying could lose its appeal after a first appearance, and poor television ratings could reinforce second-tier status.
Recruiting and Unequal Security
Mississippi State had been picked 15th in the SEC preseason media poll, and its athletic director faced offseason questions about whether he would fire the coach. The Bulldogs then opened with a dominant Big Ten road win at Minnesota and two thrilling SEC wins over South Carolina and Missouri. Quarterback Taylor topped early Heisman Trophy lists.
Former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on the set of “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 called the comment ironic because Saban was airing political advertisements seeking legislation that would limit players’ ability to move. Alabama had beaten Mississippi State 16 straight years; the teams played every year from 1948 to 2023, with Alabama compiling a 65-10-1 record across that stretch.
The column said leading programs have more resources, can recruit players from other rosters and accumulate power. Its closing comparison cast the Georgia-Alabama game as “gods doing battle in the skies,” watched by fans whose teams face a less secure position. It quoted F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Rich Boy”: “They still think that they are better than we are. The world is constructed to make sure they remain right.”