2012 NCAA Football thread

[rams80]

And if he gets hurt, he still gets to go to school and get a degree.

Maybe. Depends on the school.

[Cujo]

Just in; BCS Presidents approve a 4-team playoff with a selection committee starting in the 2014-15 season. Also it is a 12yr deal according to ESPN.

Playoff plan to run through 2025

The NCAA presidents also announced that players would continue to NOT get paid for the billions of dollars they rake in for their schools.

They're also receiving a quality education that many of them wouldn't have the opportunity pursue without football.

They're also leaving school without having a 5- or 6-figure student debt waiting to be paid off.

They also get first-pick of any class.

They're also getting a little money to live off of due to having an athletic scholarship.

They're also getting free on-the-job training for future employment in athletics.

They're also getting free clothing and free trips across the nation.

That sounds awfully sweet to me.

Can somebody please, please, please explain to me what getting a college education and the game of football have to do with one another. Anybody..... ???

Why do schools even have athletics? In no way, shape, or form to the translate to the classroom. Being able to toss a football 50 yards doesn't have a goddamn thing to do with getting a degree in, well, any field! The reason schools have athletic programs is to make coin and nothing else. And all it's costing them to "rent out" athletes is what? A book, a seat, and a dorm -- which is virtually nothing when you consider they're helping sell billions in tickets and merchandise for each of these $chools.

[Geoff]

Gotta disagree, Cuj. What about when all these schools started athletic programs? There wasn't money to be made. What about all the smaller FBS schools, FCS schools, D2, and D3 schools that are taking more than just slight losses on their athletic departments? Most of the FBS athletic departments don't turn a profit but tend to limit it to only a slight loss.

[dfwabel]

Gotta disagree, Cuj. What about when all these schools started athletic programs? There wasn't money to be made. What about all the smaller FBS schools, FCS schools, D2, and D3 schools that are taking more than just slight losses on their athletic departments? Most of the FBS athletic departments don't turn a profit but tend to limit it to only a slight loss.

Have you ever read about how the NCAA was started? At least, read Taylor Branch's article from the November 2011 Atlantic Monthly (which has been linked on the CCSLC before) to give your opinion about schools having athletics. Read about the 1939 Pitt team which went on strike.

[Geoff]

Maybe I wasn't clear: schools with really old athletics programs did not start them for the money. Intercollegiate athletics were around long before the NCAA.

[dfwabel]

Maybe I wasn't clear: schools with really old athletics programs did not start them for the money. Intercollegiate athletics were around long before the NCAA.

Using your words, "schools with really old athletics programs"...paid their players a century ago. Yale did and American intercollegiate athletics cannot get much older than them.

Heck, George Gipp, was more than "The Gipper",in reality, he was a pool hustler who even bet on Notre Dame to win.

They started them for alumni donations a century ago. That WAS for money!

[Geoff]

I'm talking about way before the NCAA and you reference someone who played in the 1910s, after the NCAA had formed. Brilliant. But then again, I'm talking with the great, all-knowing dfwabel so by default, I am wrong.

Did athletics quickly become about money? Yes, but when Yale and Harvard had the first intercollegiate event of any sort in 1852, there was no money involved.

[rams80]

PROTIP: When driving on campus, maybe don't keep a stolen pistol in your car and maybe don't allow the cops to search the vehicle at a stop.

[infrared41]

Why do schools even have athletics?

Because athletics are fun, they create "school spirit", they generate interest in the college, and they entertain literally millions upon millions of people. How awful.

If it's solely about "making coin" then explain the value of Ohio State's rowing and track teams to me. Or the golf team at Michigan. Or the juggernaut that is Old Dominion's field hockey team.

The "big money" sports you're railing against pay for a lot of the the "small" sports we've never heard of. Again, how awful, right? Yes, some college sports are big time money machines. So what?

[thespleenenator]

PROTIP: When driving on campus, maybe don't keep a stolen pistol in your car and maybe don't allow the cops to search the vehicle at a stop.

I said this year that Georgia would win 8 games this year. Now I'm calling for 7.

[Cujo]

Why do schools even have athletics?

Because athletics are fun, they create "school spirit", they generate interest in the college, and they entertain literally millions upon millions of people. How awful.

If it's solely about "making coin" then explain the value of Ohio State's rowing and track teams to me. Or the golf team at Michigan. Or the juggernaut that is Old Dominion's field hockey team.

The "big money" sports you're railing against pay for a lot of the the "small" sports we've never heard of. Again, how awful, right? Yes, some college sports are big time money machines. So what?

That last line right there just un-did everything else you just threw at me.

ALL sports exist because of money. Fact: Colorado would have a baseball program if they knew they could make money off of it. But there's no money there, so they don't have it. I hate to say it, but Title IX also forces schools to have programs that don't generate money. In the end, schools make money off all sports they aren't forced to put on, and each and every "athlete-student" would take money over a scholarship. I can't see how anyone can really argue that.

[HedleyLamarr]

PROTIP: When driving on campus, maybe don't keep a stolen pistol in your car and maybe don't allow the cops to search the vehicle at a stop.

I said this year that Georgia would win 8 games this year. Now I'm calling for 7.

I'll take the over. How much you want to put on it?

Crowell isn't the be-all for Georgia's offense, anyway. If anything, Georgia's deeper at RB than they've been in years past, so losing Crowell won't hurt too much.

[infrared41]

Why do schools even have athletics?

Because athletics are fun, they create "school spirit", they generate interest in the college, and they entertain literally millions upon millions of people. How awful.

If it's solely about "making coin" then explain the value of Ohio State's rowing and track teams to me. Or the golf team at Michigan. Or the juggernaut that is Old Dominion's field hockey team.

The "big money" sports you're railing against pay for a lot of the the "small" sports we've never heard of. Again, how awful, right? Yes, some college sports are big time money machines. So what?

That last line right there just un-did everything else you just threw at me.

ALL sports exist because of money. Fact: Colorado would have a baseball program if they knew they could make money off of it. But there's no money there, so they don't have it. I hate to say it, but Title IX also forces schools to have programs that don't generate money. In the end, schools make money off all sports they aren't forced to put on, and each and every "athlete-student" would take money over a scholarship. I can't see how anyone can really argue that.

A. No, it really didn't.

B. So Ohio State has a mens golf team because it makes them money? (Also: Explain to me how Title IX forced that one on them.) I'm sure the Buckeyes mens fencing team sells out every home date, right? God knows I've waited for hours for a ticket to see the Ohio State mens tennis team. And the mens pistol and rifle teams? Forget it. It's easier to get a ticket to the Michigan game.

C. It's very easy to argue that because...well...you're wrong.

[Lights Out]

Not to mention, a large number of schools LOSE money on their athletic programs as it is, so paying players could be catastrophic to big-time college athletics.

Which really would be fine by me at this point. I'd be just as happy to have the D-League and the new USFL fill in the void and be done with the gross corruption and blatant rigging that surrounds NCAA football and basketball.

[Geoff]

ALL sports exist because of money. Fact: Colorado would have a baseball program if they knew they could make money off of it. But there's no money there, so they don't have it. I hate to say it, but Title IX also forces schools to have programs that don't generate money. In the end, schools make money off all sports they aren't forced to put on, and each and every "athlete-student" would take money over a scholarship. I can't see how anyone can really argue that.

By your argument, FSU started a sand volleyball team because they knew they could make a profit? Look at these courts and tell me where the fans that will put in the revenue are.

Cuj, do you know just how rare it is for baseball programs to make money? There are only a handful of NCAA baseball programs that run in the black. It's so rare that there was a comment during this season's CWS that went something to the effect of "some of these programs even turn a profit."

There's a reason sports like basketball and football are referred to as revenue sports. They're the only sports that bring the meaningful revenue.

[oddball]

Actually athletics and education have a lot to do with each other. They are both learning tools for an individual. You learn how to deal with pressure, you learn how to learn, you learn how to fail and succeed, and most of all, you learn what you like and who you are. It's also a stepping stone in life to prepare you for the next challenge. There is great worth in athletics to the athlete.

Throw in the fact that it's a great marketing tool for a university/college to get their name out to potential students who otherwise would not have known about the school. When I was looking to transfer, I did look at schools with good athletic programs and looked at which of them fit what I was looking for as far as a major and how much it would cost, etc. Did I go to them? No, but I did look at them and learn what each one of them had majors for and I could help direct another potential student to that school for an education. Athletics is extremely important in getting your school name out there and schools know it. How many kids from California would go to Kansas, Duke, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Florida, etc. without seeing their athletic programs on tv? Very few. Athletics gets you students that you wouldn't normally get without them.

[rams80]

This won't distract John L. Smith at all!

OK, let's just all get together and agree that the only thing the Pigs are dark horses for right now is a December trip to Memphis.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

This won't distract John L. Smith at all!

OK, let's just all get together and agree that the only thing the Pigs are dark horses for right now is a December trip to Memphis.

That comment section is why college sports exist. Without SEC football, millions of Americans would have to forge their own cultural identity. Making the performance of your football team the basis of who you are is much easier.

I don't understand the culture.

[FiddySicks]

This won't distract John L. Smith at all!

OK, let's just all get together and agree that the only thing the Pigs are dark horses for right now is a December trip to Memphis.

That comment section is why college sports exist. Without SEC football, millions of Americans would have to forge their own cultural identity. Making the performance of your football team the basis of who you are is much easier.

I don't understand the culture.

I really don't either. I've always felt that crazy passion for college sports should be left to college kids. It's one thing to have such a strong passion when you actually go to the school, that I feel is totally understandable. But those who follow with such passion who are 20 to 30 years removed from their college days and who wouldn't have the qualifications to go to that school at any point in their life anyway is just strange to me.

[ninersdd]

I think some of the enthusiasm comes from the fact that college sports are the biggest game in town. Tuscaloosa for example will never ever get a pro team, so the area/state gravitate toward the college team just cause it's the biggest team nearby.