Finally....

[billybud]

I have been preaching here for six years about the fiction of 120 programs playing for the same championship....and the need to have a breakaway of the top programs...

Finally...some traction. Serious discussions....

Ohio State's AD...In an interview:

Q: There’s been some speculation that the NCAA could become obsolete, that the power conferences could essentially supersede the NCAA. Do you share that opinion?

A: Not really. That’s the wrong conversation. The NCAA is going through change. But I do believe we need to pause and look at our structure. I do believe we need to think of a different structure for certain schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska and Alabama and so on. There are probably 60-70 schools that are different than everybody else. We need to think about a different division for them, within the NCAA structure, not outside of it, a division that allows those schools to have its own legislation.

The best example I can use is the $2,000 stipend (toward) the cost of attendance. There are schools that can afford it and there are schools that can’t. As far as the recruiting rules, our recruiting rules should be different than it is at Middle Tennessee State. They’re Division I and they’re voting on our legislation or the legislation we believe is applicable to our level. I think we need to pause. I think we need to have a conversation about, ‘Should there be a different division within the NCAA structure that allows X number of schools to be legislated differently, but within the structure?’

Q: You’ve given it some thought, obviously.

A: Oh yeah. A lot.

Q: Are you a leader in that movement?

A: There’s a lot of conversation right now. Yeah, I’m having conversations with a lot of my colleagues. We don’t know what that would take, but the conversation has started.

[Spence]

Gene Smith isn't a very good AD. He hasn't been great for Ohio State so far.

[donovan]

Mr. billybud has always been correct in his assessment of the situation. A couple of comments

1. We talk about what the current rules and structure does to "inhibit" the programs of the large schools. What seldom gets discuss, in my opinion being more important, how it has obliterated many smaller schools in what they are doing either by acceleration of their programs or acquiescing to the folly of conference realignment. e.g. Boise State.

2. The fan base. Like most of you, I have been to almost countless college football games, in person, sat in the seats of the stadium. Most people in the stands go for so many reasons, the least is football. Football is an excuse for great social activity, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The football fans...those that like game, are not in the stands, but in front of their TV's. I have read on the pages of this board how many of you would prefer to watch on TV for valid reasons from, cost to seeing multiple games, to being home with family to actually seeing the game up close. That is what the large schools really want to capitalize on...the money and the money is in the media. I believe the Gene Smith's of the world want new rules, not for any other reason that money. Not good nor bad in and of itself, just need to stop being disingenuous about the motive.

3. Allowing major schools to have their own "rules" is a joke. They want no rules. And why not. Eliminate the definition of crime and crime goes away.

4. Getting the major schools separated from the smaller programs would be absolutely great for the smaller programs. Let the major programs live by the sword and die by the sword.

[Spence]

It takes lots of money to consistently compete that is true. I believe that if the large schools want to kick out the smaller schools then there should be a rule that they not play again ever. If the Gene Smiths of the world want to make pro like money, then they should start acting more like them. Start playing only themselves instead of loading up with cupcakes. If the Duke or Indiana can't compete, they should move out as well. Make a 32 team league with the top 32 teams in CFB and play only each other.

My opinion is that college football should make make football players be real students (not just a few of them, but all of them). CFB is a scholarship program. I think it's time to go back to that, not move two feet closer to minor league football. Gene Smith is all about making Gene Smith look good.

[billybud]

It is also the "cupcakes" that desire to play the bigger schools.

Why?

Because you have to beat the big boys to become a big boy.....The MAC know this well. They are Big Ten fodder, but playing better teams can build your program. Either play up or give up aspirations of moving up.

Been there. As I have recalled several times...FSU had to play away and away games against the big guys of the time with no hope of a return....

You have to bite the bullet and play Ohio State twice in Columbus, Michigan twice in the Big House, Michigan State twice in Michigan, Nebraska three times in Nebraska...and none of these teams have yet ever played in Tallahassee.

FSU played seven games in Baton Rouge against LSU to get one return....

But being "fodder" is the price one pays...and it can make you better.


There is no tension between Division II teams and BCS teams...Why? Because they all know where they stand. There is no pretension of an equal playing field.

[Spence]

That is why they shouldn't play again if the big boys want to go it alone.

[billybud]

It was the Big Ten who said "no more FCS schools"....

And they are right....

But there should be a way for the lower tier 1A teams to move up....

Maybe we need an Premier League model....

[donovan]

Maybe we need an Premier League model....

I'm pretty sure our Founding Fathers envisioned this very proposal and thus started the Revolutionary War.

[Spence]

If they are going to do this, there should be no lower tier games to pad a schedule and make a team look better than they actually are. The way to move up would be to apply to be a member after proving to be better than the competition in their own division and being able to financially compete as well. The "elite" teams can not have it both ways. They want their cake and they want to eat it too. The fact is that these teams aren't staffed well enough to compete with the other "elites" week in and out. The players aren't going to be able to go to school and be expected to keep up a schedule against the other elites. Professional players work full time at their craft. They play a completely different game that the college players play. They compete at a much higher level.

The elite teams can't survive in a world without their cupcakes. The fact is as much as people talk about how much tougher the power conferences are, they aren't that much tougher. It is hard to find a team that plays 3 top tier teams during their regular season. It is next to impossible to find one that plays 3 top tier teams 3 years in a row.

College football is a scholarship program. Same as any other scholarship program except they generate lots of money. It is about time people start treating them as such. Do we want to turn CFB into minor league football? Does anyone believe they will keep the same kind of fan support? Also look for the price of tickets to double. You already have to give $200+ to see Ohio State Michigan in person. 80 to see Buffalo.

[billybud]

The truth is...

That for padding your record...Illinois, Army, Washington State, Colorado, Hawaii, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Southern Miss, Boston College, Wake Forest....

Last year, would all be underdogs to teams like Georgia Southern, Wofford, Sam Houston State, North Dakota State.....(according to Sagarin).

[billybud]

Are you nuts?

College football is already semi pro at the highest level and has been for years....pure scholar athletes do exist..but primarily at the lower divisions.

Billion dollar TV contracts, coaches earning $4 million per year, football palaces for training facilities...this isn't college students spending an afternoon watching their team play an adjacent school. Did you really buy into the fiction?

If that is what you truly desire, go watch a baseball game or soccer game.

Now, when I graduated from HS in the mid 60's (1964), it was the way you envision. Athletes had to read and write, less than a handful of games were on B&W TV each week, coaches made less than a professor....and one could play a college career at many schools and never be on television.

But that model has been dead for decades.

[Spence]

Then it shouldn't be called college football. If what they play is minor league football, it is a poor example of pro football. They have to load up on cupcakes to make them look good. What they play in college barely resembles the pro game. They may be making big money, but take the school names away from them and they die. The only reason they sell tickets like they do is because of the schools.

[billybud]

It is really semi pro ball with a college sponsor....

When the Wonderlic scores are released by the NFL, one finds guys who are functionally illiterate who have been attending college to play ball.

WVU's recent draftee, Tavon Austin, scored a 7. That means that he really can't read on a 4th grade level....

And as a critic said...

"Austin should not be embarrassed by his 7; West Virginia should.

We should. We keep letting universities and the NCAA sell this student athlete lie while cranking out players who have so obviously learned so very little. We repeat the lie. We defend it.

And we have the audacity to call Austin stupid."


I have posted about the "scholar athlete" big lie for years, as you probably know.

[Spence]

It is really semi pro ball with a college sponsor....

When the Wonderlic scores are released by the NFL, one finds guys who are functionally illiterate who have been attending college to play ball.

WVU's recent draftee, Tavon Austin, scored a 7. That means that he really can't read on a 4th grade level....

And as a critic said...

"Austin should not be embarrassed by his 7; West Virginia should.

We should. We keep letting universities and the NCAA sell this student athlete lie while cranking out players who have so obviously learned so very little. We repeat the lie. We defend it.

And we have the audacity to call Austin stupid."


I have posted about the "scholar athlete" big lie for years, as you probably know.

I agree. but I don't think the answer is to promote more of the same on a higher level. It is time to get back to the student athlete. It is time to sanction schools who have kids who can't read or can barely read. Craig Krenzel for Ohio State a few years ago was a scholar athlete. Andy Katzenmoyer was a joke who played football at a high level. Krenzel has a life after football, Katzenmoyer really doesn't. They aren't doing these kids any favors.

[billybud]

I sneaked a peak at Ohio State's upcoming schedule...

OOC games with Buffalo, Florida A&M, San Diego St. and Cal (Cal was 3-9 last year). The Buckeyes should cruise through this fodder....

In conference, the schedule fall out nicely....I can see the Buckeyes going undefeated into the NC game.