Ohio State Football: Balancing the Old and New in College Football

Nothing stays the same forever as we are witnessing with the rapidly changing landscape of college football, but how will we balance the tradition of old with the opportunity of new. That’s true with Ohio State football too.

It’s 9 am on Saturday morning in September and my family and I are driving to Lynd’s Fruit Farm in Pataskala, Ohio to pick our favorite Honeycrisp apples. We’re decked out in our Ohio State football gear just like everyone else at the orchard with the same idea before kickoff at noon.

The crisp fall air paired with sunshine, fresh apples, and the smell of kettle popcorn made for a perfect start to another college football Saturday. Apple picking each weekend before the Buckeyes took the field quickly became a tradition in my family.

I was born and raised in Pickerington, Ohio where we have overflowing state pride, love and respect for our neighbors, and, much like college football, place a huge emphasis on tradition.

I have since moved out of Ohio to Pennsylvania, yet somehow I haven’t forgotten how I was raised or what’s important to me. Instead, I’ve grown and adapted to becoming older and moving to a new region of the country.

My roots exclaim the importance of family, tradition, and respect just like the sport of college football. Despite moving 500 miles east, I still have the same basis of thinking — everything just looks different which comes with time.

Nothing stays the same forever as I’ve learned over the course of my young life.

The landscape of college football is undergoing a metamorphosis of seismic proportions right before our very eyes with the introduction of NIL and conference expansion.

The tradition and pageantry of the Red River Rivalry will still be there once they move to the SEC. However, it will take on a new look and feel to it. Its roots are strong enough to withstand the change in the midst of growth.

Some rivalries haven’t been as fortunate as Red River such as Oklahoma-Nebraska or Texas-Texas A&M which have fizzled out due to expansion.

Imagine a world without The Game or the Iron Bowl. You can’t. Trust me, I tried but it doesn’t work. Ohio State vs The Team Up North, Alabama vs Auburn, and Oklahoma vs Texas are seemingly immortal.

But now hop in the Delorean and look ahead to 2030 where Oklahoma and Georgia are meeting for the sixth year in a row as well as Texas and LSU. Amazing, isn’t it?

Sure, it sounds odd right now and doesn’t quite feel right, but that’s what makes college football the most special and unique sport of them all.

I’m a traditionalist and love the regional aspect of college football, especially with storied rivalries. But with the enhancements of technology and media, the game has taken a national form.

How the college football world will balance old-world traditionalists and the shiny and new mobile national landscape remains to be seen. However, I know that after the season’s end, the Honeycrisp apples always return the next year — whether they’re different in size or color, oftentimes better than before.

The apple seed is fed from strong roots that are deeply embedded in rich soil, much like the game we all know and love. As college football continues to evolve, we can rest assured knowing its storied history and rich tradition provide a strong enough foundation for the game to remain the same at its core despite its outward appearance looking different.