Current STUDent's plan to rectify College Football

[RE Tycoon]

Current STUDent's plan (I haven't been a STUDent for while now, will one of the mods PM me so I can change my handle?)...

I was reading this article http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1920867, and I came up with a great, reasonable, logical way to make college football "fair".

Drum roll please......
First, obviously get rid of the BCS. Second, set aside a percentage of the TV money and every Div I-A team's PROFIT. Then, you give every player on scholarship the same amount of money. Here's the kicker, the money given to each player is based on wins. So say a 12-0 team gets $100k per player and a 0 win team gets 1k. This way there is an incentive for kids to play hard and win and at the same time a bad team like baylor is not unfairly compensated while a team like Utah (in their undefeated season) isn't privy to BCS money on a year to year basis. This will give kids the paydays they want and it could allow the NCAA to set more stringent rules to where if they find that a player receives money from a booster that player is banned from participating in NCAA athletics for life and the program must forfeit a year automatically. This would be for major violations, say over $100 (total, not per incident), this way a cup of a cheer wouldn't screw a program.

I have no idea how much money would be in this pot, but you would most likely have to get rid of 20 or more teams to make the money enticing.

[bagice]

Not a bad idea, but it will never happen. Sad truth is, College Football is all about greed...money, players, bowls, tv contracts. The rich and powerful "haves" will never agree to give anything to the "have nots" unless they are forced to. The BCS is really run by a few powerful programs and entities that let just enough schools/conferences into the BCS to keep there from being an all out revolt. The whole BCS model is in place to help ensure that they get the most money, glory, and best players.

It will take a lawsuit or act of congress to bust up this cartel. I really don't see how the BCS could ever circumvent anti-trust laws if someone would seriously challenge it. It seems clear......No other NCAA Division I sport has this format, all other sports treat every member pretty much as an equal. But the biggest argument of all is seen in programs like BYU. They have challenged for National Championships in the past, they have huge sellout crowds, enormous fan interest, but they are excluded and schools like Baylor and Vanderbilt get to share the pie and all the perks that come with it.

In fact BYU has a valid argument that their ability to compete for Division I glory has been hampered by the unfair practices of the BCS.

Your plan is noble and ambitious, but the simple fact is that the BCS power brokers don't think their is anything to rectify, unless they can figure out a way to even further exclude schools.

Sue the Bastards!

[Water Pony]

Getting rid of BCS is desireable, but it will not happen. Why would the BC$ conference schools unilaterally disarm and let the mid-majors cut into their take $.

The bigger issue for me is directly compensating student-athletes. It shouldn't be an option, either ethically or economically. How about non-revenue sports? If it is only FB and BB, you lose alumni, who earned degrees without pay. Isn't the scholarship and the value of the degree already generous?

[EastStang]

You know John Thompson has espoused this theory for a long time about paying players. His view is that they are being exploited by some schools (i.e. UT, Cincy), and if they're not going to get a degree, they might as well get some money. I don't think it would lead to an end to the current cash cesspool that is college sports. Boosters seeking to push their school would still sweeten the pot. The NCAA will continue to give the big programs a wristslap. And in the end the BCS won't disband and such a program will only end up penalizing the mid-majors who don't have the big TV contracts and don't have huge budgets due to week after week sell outs.

[SMU Football Blog]

First, obviously get rid of the BCS. Second, set aside a percentage of the TV money and every Div I-A team's PROFIT.

Nice sentiment but it doesn't work. No college football team would make a "profit." The universities would find a way to keep all the money through capital improvements.

[tmustangp]

the bottom line is that there will always be powerful, uber rich alumni who are smart and can cover up the handouts... and crash is never traceable...

[WorldStang]

You know what would be a great fix. What if we set up college football in the same way England set up their Premiership Soccer League.

You have the top teams at the Premiership Level.. similiar to the BCS. Every year the bottom teams rotate out.. and the top teams from the Division 1 comes up. In other words.. the BCS teams would have to win to stay in the BCS and the top non-BCS would rotate in and take their place.

They have a yearly tournament called the FA Cup.. where all the teams play in a round robin tournament for a champion. We could set-up the Bowls this way as well so you have the top teams from the BCS and non-BCS compete. There would be no way for a non-BCS team to win the national championship.. but there would be a way for a non-BCS team to make become a BCS team if they were at the top of the table in comparison to the rest of the non-BCS teams.

Anyway.. that's my idea.. I think it would be great for teams to prove they belong in the BCS by winning. If they don't they're relegated until they can win among the lower tier schools.

[DiamondM75]

Let's keep it simple (KISS). All television and bowl money goes to the NCAA. Then every D1 team gets their 119th cut. Local schools get to keep their gate, parking and concessions money. The large programs with big stadiums and large fan bases will still get a larger income and the mid-majors will get a piece of the national market funds.

[abezontar]

yeah, but isn't that why we are in this mess now? Didn't they used to do it similar to that but because a few schools, (I want to say Oklahoma and somebody else) filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and won, the teams got to get their own individual TV contracts and it messed up the system for everybody?

[SMU Football Blog]

yeah, but isn't that why we are in this mess now? Didn't they used to do it similar to that but because a few schools, (I want to say Oklahoma and somebody else) filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and won, the teams got to get their own individual TV contracts and it messed up the system for everybody?

Yes, that did happen. The problem is magnified in football, because there is no NCAA postseason. In basketball everybody gets a cut of the postseason revenue based on performance and participation, either as a team or by conference. Not so in football, where there is no NCAA Div. 1A national champion.