Here are Ken Schreiber's parting thoughts as another college football season closes

No longer is college football just a fall sport. It's a season that never ends, with coaches focusing on recruiting; the transfer portal; name, image and likeness deals; and molding coaching staffs as there are usually yearly changes. That will get them to spring practice and eventually the summer when everyone reports for the coming season. Off the field, there continue to be developments both at the universities and within the conferences.

Last year, Georgia won its second championship in 41 years (1980). This year, the Dawgs won their second in a row and show no signs of slowing. Right now, the question has to be asked: Has Georgia surpassed Alabama has "King of the Hill?" It says here that as long as Nick Saban is at Alabama, it will always be the team to beat. This year, Alabama lost two games and both were on the last play. (Of course, losing quarterback Bryce Young to the NFL will leave huge shoes to fill.)

Warren takes his talents to Chicago

Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren announced he was leaving the conference to become president and CEO of the Chicago Bears.  Warren has held positions with NFL teams before but it appears he was not offered a contract extension and his three-year reign is over.

Warren was the architect of the expansion of the Big 10 to 16 teams, adding USC and UCLA. He helped negotiate the Big Ten's seven-year, $7-billion rights fee and his exit leaves a huge void in arguably one of the two most powerful jobs in NCAA sports.

The Big Ten desperately needs to have leadership address all salient issues, including disciplinary policy, scheduling, expansion and legalissues.

"I know a guy" who is perfect for the job but out of respect would never campaign for it because the conference of influence and affluence never would listen to a maverick fan with new and creative ideas that conflict with the Big Ten's "old school philosophy."

Start by rotating the schedule of games with schools agreeing to change the times of the games to accommodate the fans. For instance, why is the Michigan-Ohio State game played every year at noon? Because they've been doing that since before there were lights.

That game should always be played in prime time, maybe on Sunday if the NFL would cooperate by not playing that night. The conference would likewise agree not to compete with the NFL on a Saturday late in the season. That game would draw a blockbuster number without competition.  Remember you didn't just hear it here first, you only heard it here, period. But fuhgeddaboudit because it will never happen.

Harbaugh's looking for a raise

Did you see that MIchigan and Jim Harbaugh are being investigated for NCAA rules violations. Supposedly, Harbaugh is once again flirting with the NFL. Now that he has won the Big Ten, has been to the College Football Playoff twice and, most of all, defeated Ohio State two years in a row, his star is it an all-time high. It says here this is all about Harbaugh using the leverage to get a contract extension and a huge raise. Michigan really has no choice but to write a blank check for their "golden boy."

If he were to leave, I hope it's not another Pete Carroll-USC cheat show — as in after Carroll left for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks, the Trojans went on probation and became irrelevant for more than a decade.

USC's coach Lincoln Riley resurrected the program this year by bringing quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams with him, among many others from the transfer portal. As good as Riley has been both at Oklahoma and at USC, his glaring imperfection is that his teams regularly play little or no defense. He outscores his opponents, and while that works in the Big 12 and Pac-12, it is not as effective when you play such teams as Alabama, Georgia, LSU or Ohio State. You need to be competitive on both sides of the ball.  Until the Trojans start to develop players on defense, they will always have challenges to overcome.

Today's players have loads of opportunities

Wake Forest had a stud quarterback in Sam Hartman.  But when you play in the ACC for the smallest school in the Power Five leagues, you know the chances of competing for a national championship are practically zero.  Add in the fact that you can transfer to arguably the most recognized school in America, which regularly sees itself as a championship contender and what do you do?  You leave.  Which is exactly what Hartman did when he transferred to Notre Dame. There may have been some NIL money included to incentivize things.

Players now look at opportunities to play elsewhere for different reasons even before their teams have concluded their season. Why? Because they see better opportunities elsewhere. The problem with that is that the transfer portal is open before the season ends so players who committed to their team in August and played the entire regular season, leave before the bowl games.  Case in point is former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei, who left for Oregon State, and Notre Dame's Drew Pyne, who transferred to Arizona State. The NCAA needs to move the transfer portal opening to after the bowl season to stop this abuse.

Nothing like the college game

If you fact-checked me on my Final Four, I did not do well this year as both 'Bama and Oklahoma State did not make the College Footbal Playoff. But I did have Georgia winning it, at least five months ago.

The real winner here though, again. was me. Finishing my seventh year traveling from coast to coast each weekend to cover the top games, it has been a privilege. That the season ended with a dud — Georgia's 65-7 blowout of TCU — did not minimize the experiences during the year.

The Alabama-Tennessee game was one of the best games of all time and I was fortunate not only to be there but to hopefully tell you why it was so special.  The passion, pageantry and excitement that is college football simply cannot be duplicated because it's an original.

Covering the games is the enjoyable part but expanding on the games and bringing additional information on a national level each week has provided me with a platform to hopefully secure your attention, provoke some thought and, I hope, bring some laughter to your life.

I thank all of you for allowing me into your lives each week, your feedback and most of all, your continued readership. As I've stated before, it's been a blast.

Just 226 days until the 2023 season!

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ken Schreiber's parting thoughts as the college football season closes