Dude, I couldn't disagree more on the NFL part.
You ask where the loyalties lie and then answer your own question by throwing it at the owners feet. Free agency is a players product. And THAT's when the loyalties died. The lack of 'Player to Team and Team to Player' loyalties died when the players finaly were able to get the free agency going.
And dream all you want about when they "Played for the love of the game" because they can say that all they want, but if the player salaries of today were given to the players back then, it would be the same result as today. They loved the game back then, but they had no choice. As soon as they started to get paid bigger and bigger and free agency caught on more and more, the loyalties and 'Love of the game' died faster and faster. It wasnt' the owners who killed the loyalties, it was the players union.
I'm not surprised that there is a sentiment out there that vilifies the owners. People make it sound as if the owners are greedy and evil. I's not like it's an oil or utilities company where they sell a product that all of us HAVE to have. It's entertainment. If you don't like it, stop watching it. There is nothing wrong with the owners wanting to keep as much of their money as possible. so I disagree with you. I blame the players. NOT the owners.
jmo
On to the college part.
Much more simple to me. I'm a Sooners fan by default. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. Everyone in my town were Sooners fans. It's all I knew. I am not an alum and I don't care that I'm not. I went to a small college in Washington. I here some talk about being an alum like the non-alums are posers. LMAO, I bet the schools still accept that merchandise and ticket money from non-alums.
Side note real quick because that reminds me..... To anyone reading this. If you are an alum from a school and didn't PLAY on the team, yet inject it into a football conversation that you're an alum, that's kinda poser to me. Just sayin'.
So having said that, I really don't care about conference loyalties. Like I said earlier, the only reason I give a damn about the wins and losses out of conference is because I live in dillusional SEC land. Where people down here STILL complain that that the national media doesn't give them enough respect.
I'm all for having 4 huge conferences with 16 teams each. So if a little school greediness get's us to that, then I'm all for school greed. LOL But I also know that economicaly it would hurt a lot of schools and recognize the traditions. So I have no right answers for college sports. I would just DIE if my alma mater Green River College, stoped playing ............ wait...... no football team.
But you were mainly talking about money and schools/conference loyalty if I read correctly. Some schools have more money for the obvious reasons. The term 'Nice guys finish last' comes to mind. Let's face it, the ones with the money have the leverage. And they are going to leverage themselves as big of a seat at the eventual table as possible. College football is going to go to bigger conferences. What good does it do for the bigger money schools to stay with the smaller schools if the future is less money and a smaller 'Share' so to speak?
The Big 12 (the way it was) was only in existence for 15 years I think, but don't forget that the old Big 8 conference stayed intact as far as teams. The North division was 6 of them. The problem, in my mind, is that Nebraska just became pathetic and so did the rest to a fault. Had Oklahoma and Texas been split up, things may have turned out different. Sometimes you just have to know when to 'Cut Bait' so to speak. It's not OU and UTs fault that everyone in the north is so terrible but it's certainly the case. And when you go seemingly unchallenged you start to lose competative respect for the others.
So to kinda answer your college part of your post, I think the loyalties are gone for a reason. And I think some schools may have to look in the mirror and realize that they rode the gravy train too long without contributing.
I will say this though........ That they better be careful. Look at how pathetic the once mighty Notre Dame has become. Might leverage themselves right out of ... well... leverage.
