Welcome to college football’s fun, diminished regular season

We don’t know what will come out on the other side of this era of change in college football.

We only know that we are in the middle of it, that no one is seizing the reins and that once the tornado of court decisions, broken financials, Congressional hearings, playoff expansion, TV deals and pay-to-play settles into a status quo, the sport will look entirely different from how it did five years ago.

The mere happening of Texas-Ohio State, No. 1 vs. No. 3, to kick off the season at noon Saturday on Fox is the latest piece of evidence.

It’s tempting to say this game would never be played if not for playoff expansion allowing the possibility that teams can lose a game or two and still win a national title, as the Buckeyes did a year ago. This is mostly, but not entirely, the case.