Alabama and Ohio State should follow FSU and UGA's lead with future home-and-home series

College sports are changing so quickly that it's impossible to keep up with it all.

While all the attention has been on the expansion of the College Football Playoff and the subsequent death of conference championship games a result, something else has flown under the radar.

A week ago, Duke basketball announced a deal with Amazon for the exclusive broadcasting rights for three Blue Devils neutral-site non-conference games against UConn, Michigan, and Gonzaga. It was a landmark deal with Duke seemingly circumventing its own conference to snag a broadcasting deal on its own that it won't have to split with the rest of the ACC member institutions.

That figured to be just the tip of the iceberg. Other major programs with massive brands like Duke weren't going to just sit idly by and not cash in themselves.

It appears the first dominoes are falling from Georgia and Florida State, who had a home-and-home series scheduled for 2027 and 2028. The Bulldogs and Seminoles announced the cancellation of that series, while subsequently stating that they are actively working toward a neutral-site contest.

AKA, we are shopping that game to the highest bidder so that we can split the revenue 50/50 instead of sharing it with every other team in our conferences.

Alabama and Ohio State could be next with series cancellation

There's been plenty of speculation this offseason that, after the SEC expanded its conference schedule to nine games from eight, Alabama and Ohio State may not happen anymore.

On3's Brett McMurphy reported on Thursday that the series will remain on the calendar, with Alabama cancelling its series with Oklahoma State instead.

Now, the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes could cash in in a major way.

Alabama and Ohio State could come together and cancel the planned home-and-home series and pursue one or two neutral-site games in place. By doing so, they could sell the game(s) to the highest bidder and earn a massive revenue influx for their athletic departments in an era when rosters are continuously costing more and more each year.

It's a win-win for both the Tide and the Buckeyes, and you can bet that streamers like Netflix, Amazon, etc. would be lining up to pay a significant sum for the exclusive broadcasting rights of a game featuring two of college football's biggest brands.

The only loser?

Just like everything in this era of college sports, it's the fans. Traveling to different stadiums and experiencing those atmospheres is part of what makes college football fanhood so special. As soon as the Alabama-Ohio State series was announced, fans of both programs were circling the date for the opportunity to travel to Bryant-Denny and The Horseshoe.

But things have dramatically changed since that series was initially scheduled, and it would be fiscally irresponsible for both Alabama AD Greg Byrne and Ohio State's Ross Bjork to not try and milk as much revenue for their respective programs as they possibly can.

The best selling point both programs have is their brands. In a free market, those brands are worth significantly more than what they would make off the home-and-home series under their conference umbrellas.

So don't go planning that trip to Columbus next year just yet. Things could change in a hurry.

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