Lincoln Riley Somehow Believes College Football is in a Great Place

Former Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley is no stranger to freezing-cold takes.

On Sunday, however, Riley provided a quote about the current college football landscape that may wind up in the rancid opinion Hall of Fame.

Despite the awful state of modern college football, Riley believes the sport is in a great place.

“Are there some changes that I understand people are having a hard time coming to grips with? Sure,” Riley said. “Again, I get it. But the alternative is pretty darn good. It’s creating some incredible matchups and seeing how the Playoff played out this year, and, obviously, that’s going to continue to evolve and just get, I think, better.”

“Our sport’s in a great place, and I think anybody that thinks anything other than that — I know there’s a lot going on with scheduling,” Riley continued. “I know everybody’s got an opinion on NIL, rev share, and the settlement. I get it. There’s all that stuff. Listen, we just sat through 10 days of Big Ten meetings where that’s all we’re listening to, but despite all that, we still have one of the greatest products in the greatest sport in the world. Let’s not forget that.”

Whether Riley cares to admit it or not, the fact that anyone believes the state of the sport is in a great space right now is blasphemous at best. Between NIL issues, House Settlement conversations, eligibility concerns, and more, college football has taken a turn for the worse.

Will things get better? Only time will tell, but with the trajectory the game is moving in as of late, that doesn’t exactly seem like the right path forward.