The moment we get a professional alternative to NCAA football, this whole mess will start sorting itself out.
so what is your solution, Sam, according to your logic? Would you pay the student-athletes a salary? Would you pay them all equally? Would there be a merit-based bonus? Would you still include their tuition as part of the deal? Or would you set up a minor league NFL system, that is separate and distinct from any kind of college or university?
Any of the above should be tried, but probably a small stipend or endorsements to start...eventually leading to a full-fledged minor league in which the franchises are owned by or licensees of the universities. Optimally, you'd divorce the two entirely speaking from a strictly neutral standpoint - they really don't have very much to do with each other, but if you allow the universities to have a financial stake with the franchises, you can maintain teh tradition rivalries etc that make CFB fun.
http://twitter.com/#!/McMurphyCBS Most likely scenario remains Mizzou to SEC, and UConn/Rutgers to ACC. TV sets and academics matter...
yep. that leaves WVU with the remnants of Big East/Big12 merger. that's actually not bad. there's some good football there. would be even better if you could persuade Boise State to join, as well, which I think would be pretty easy to convince them of. current AP poll #4 - Boise St. #16 - West Virginia #17 - Baylor # 18 - South Florida #20 - TCU hell, that's more teams in the top 25 than the current ACC, right?
Boise is 1700 miles away from the closest Big East school (Marquette or TCU) - and over 2000 miles away from the east coast schools. I know they're desperate but that's a whole lot of Jet-A....
The conference of Misfit Toys look awful. That Baylor and USF game would be confusing with the same uniform colors. The Big East is like a AAA team for the ACC. Just bend over again Big East.
Can you state why? Note I said alternative, not replacement. Give the pro track people a place to ply their trade. Keep the amateurs in the amateur league. I'd love to see each NFL franchise start a little farm team a la baseball/soccer/basketball.
You're worried about two similar uniforms when the SEC could potentially have 4 Tigers (Auburn, LSU, Mizzou, Clemson) -- get outta here.
Nobody wants NCAA football to go away or even have a competitor, but it does make sense. If it did happen, hopefully it would force change. In the end I'm fine with college athletes not being paid, it doesn't affect me, but if I was in there shoes... man, I'd fighting tooth-and-nail.
I think the fear is what you have in baseball, where no one really cares about college baseball because none of the best players are there.
I'm with you and one of the reasons I no longer follow college basketball much is because the best players leave after one season. Way back yonder, I was just as big a college BB fan as NBA.
I seriously doubt that would happen. People are loyal to the school, they're loyal to the sport, but they're seldomly loyal to the player. If CFB's popularity is owed strictly to the fact it is a farm system for the NFL, well then, the NFL should snatch back that possible revenue stream with their own semi-pro league. *edit: I think college football would be fine, it would only lose a little bit of steam simply from the fact that there's only a certain number of entertainment dollars and attention span to go around for football. So a separate league would draw some $$$, interest, and eyes away from CFB. But it wouldn't wind up like college baseball, at least.
See, the one and done player is symptomatic of the lack of a really viable farm system in the NBA. If the best of the best went pro, and everybody else went to school for 4 years. Wouldn't that make college bball easier to follow?
Minor league basketball or football could never sell tickets without the established identity and tradition associated with colleges. They wold have less income and have to pay the players. But I do think in this era of 24/7/365 football preparations it is not a bad idea to extend student athletes a monthly allowance. It's not like they can have an after school or even Summer job. My 'off the top of my head' number would be about $300 a month.
Not at all for me. If none of the best played college bball I would never watch, EVER. The fact John Wall, Derrick Rose, KD, Beasley, etc played as freshmen kept my interest. Without those kinds of guys, count me out. I want the NBA to require 2 years of college in the new CBA. This way, the quality of players at the top levels of college bball would go up. The NBA would obviously benefit.
I see your point. Popular/great players do help a sport. I guess the casual fan (i.e. the spillover from pro sports) makes up a larger portion of the market than I thought. Even if it meant bringing CFB back down to earth, I think it would be good for the game and the schools... and most importantly the students. Amateur athletics shouldn't be run like this... we need a semi-pro alternative.
