Without being hyperbolic, the slow and steady exploitation of college football—N.I.L., playoff expansion, power-grabbing by the Big Ten and S.E.C., the increasing flaccidity of the NCAA, among innumerable micro-developments—has become the leitmotif du jour in professional sports. At some point, it seems increasingly clear, the economic realities of college football will offer their own sort of manifest destiny—leading, perhaps, to a divorce from the rest of college sports. Indeed, as forces from mediacos and private equity watch the scenario unfold, it’s increasingly impossible to fathom the notion that the toothpaste can be put in the tube. One day, we will consider it quaint that Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams only appeared in a few Wendy’s commercials rather than launching his own Kardashian-sized branding enterprise based on the consumer whim of the moment. That all seems like a foregone conclusion, one way or another, leading us to the world that the Fab Five first presaged all those years ago.