There is one wonderfully consistent trend on this blog...the universal hatred of the NCAA.

While I have stated the NCAA in its current state is a horrible organization, I also think a better understanding of its history would be helpful in explaining why it acts the way it does now. For those who want to read a summary on the background of the NCAA click here. 

My summary:

College football in the late 1800's/early 1900's was a brutal sport. How bad was it? in 1904 there were 18 deaths on the field. At that time there were a little over 150 colleges playing football. There were no divisions or classifications. It was so bad, in 1905 the President of the U.S. said something had to be done and urged the athletic leaders from the top schools to clean up the game. This was primarily because the President was a big fan and public sentiment was swaying against such a brutal sport.

So that is why a central controlling organization was formed. Rules needed to be created to ensure the safety of college athletes. Of those 150+ schools playing football, only 62 joined this charter organization. In 1910, the organization officially changed its name to the NCAA.

By 1921 the organization hosted its first National Championship. Now the NCAA had two purposes. Ensure the safety of the athletes and host championship events. 

Fast forward to the 1940's, post WWII, the NCAA adopted principles which covered financial aid, recruitment, and academic standards. The goal was to ensure amateurism in college sports because schools had been breaking the rules intended to keep college athletes safe. The NCAA now had three objectives: safety of athletes, host championships, keep a level playing field. This did not stop the breaking of the rules.

In the 1950's, under a new leader, the NCAA expanded its role to control live televising of football games. During this same period, the NCAA also established a system to investigate violations and enforce penalties. See, these institutions for higher education, these bastions for the development of people, didn't want to follow the rules or play fair and keep people safe. They wanted to win.

Mid point summary: in the span of @50 years the NCAA went from, "Ensure the safety of college athletes" to...

• Ensure safety of college athletes
• Host National Championships
• Keep playing field level (through amateurism) 
• Control TV broadcasting rights
• Investigate and enforce penalties

In the 70's there were now 667 member institutions of the NCAA. The big schools and the little schools all trying to compete at the same level was a failing goal. There was significant discontent. There was a plan for the large schools who benefited from TV exposure to break away and form their own league. The NCAA then created DI, DII, and DIII structures to allow schools to compete against like institutions and have more of their own governance. 

I loved these two quotes from then President of the NCAA (link to article): 

The association could have kept drifting apart because of the great difference between the large and small schools. No longer will the big guys be telling the little guys what to do or vice versa.

I don't think you will hear any more stories about the super conferences.

Unlike the previous willful expansion of responsibilities, this was an effort by the NCAA to cater to what many of the institutions wanted. In fact, the vote to push this through took only an hour which is incredible given the animosity which had been brewing for years, the egos involved, and the large volume of votes needed to pass. 

Now comes the really interesting period and transition...

The Southwestern Conference...for a great history lesson, click here. In short, at one point in the 70's & 80's every school in the SWC was either under investigation or on probation for repeated major recruiting violations. They didn't care. (Side note, Texas A&M, under the leadership of Bear Bryant, was part of this. Now you have a better understanding of Alabama's cheating background.) I mean, literally didn't care about the NCAA and their "rules". For SMU, TCU, Texas Tech, Houston, and Rice to compete with Texas, Texas A&M, and Arkansas for the same recruits in the state of Texas, only one thing worked, $$$. Well, the big schools weren't going to lose recruits to these smaller schools without a dirty fight. There was enough oil and real estate money around the state of Texas to fight this out. 

Now this little battle within the SWC made the rest of the DI college leaders quite upset. See they had been breaking the rules for decades, but not like this. And no little conference from Texas was going to best the SEC, Big Ten, Pac 10, ACC, etc. 

So in 1984, the college and university presidents decide they are going to become more involved in the governance of the NCAA. They now set the agenda for the NCAA.

In 1987, in response to the debacle that is the SWC, the NCAA (now under presidential guidance) issues the Death Penalty on SMU. 

This is the shockwave moment. 

College presidents now held the controls of the most powerful weapon to control athletics on campuses, the ability to take away money. 

If a football or basketball team can't compete in championships, get on TV, or can be disbanded all together then money will not come into the conference/school. No money, no athletic programs.

And the SWC died. 

At this point, the leaders of the NCAA said F#$k This! We are not going to be held responsible for killing anymore schools or conferences. Yet, the NCAA was too big to fail. So, over the next 20 years, NCAA leadership ceded power to the college and university presidents.  And guess who was all too happy to take control?  At this point, the full agenda of the NCAA is guided by the presidents. 

Here's a quick run down of the major changes which have happened during this time:

• TV rights have been given to conferences and schools
• The college football championship is outsourced to an independent third party and the proceeds go directly to the conferences/schools
• Approximately half of the revenue from the men's NCAA basketball tournament goes to the conferences/schools (here's a link to the 2024 NCAA annual revenue distribution plan)

Notice the trend... under the president's agenda, the control of the money is primarily no longer under the NCAA and most of the key revenue is directly distributed to conferences and schools. 

Here's how the agenda has changed regarding rules enforcement for football and basketball (source): 

1946 to 1983 (37 years): 

Total Major Infractions

• Football: 103
• Basketball: 69

Television Penalties: 58

• 1 year (17) 
• 2 years (30)
• 3 years (8)
• 4 years (3)

Postseason Penalties: 83

• 1 year (40)
• 2 years (33)
• 3 years (7)
• 4 years (3)

Probation: 119

1984 to present (40 years) (using 1984 as the break point because that is when the presidents took over): 

Total Major Infractions

• Football: 109
• Basketball: 103

Television Penalties: 18

• 1 year (14)
• 2 years (4)

Postseason Penalties: 57

•  1 year (40)
• 2 years (16)
• 3 years (1)

Probation: 167

Interesting trend. Major Infractions are up 23% over a mostly similar time period, yet major penalties are down -47%. Not only is the volume of penalties down, the severity of the penalties has reduced. You won't even get banned for more than 2 years from TV or post season play anymore. Yet probation, which is a joke, has gone up 40%. 

What does this tell you about letting the monkeys run the zoo? 

Now the modern day NCAA...

In 2010 the NCAA realigned to three primary principles: 

• academic success
• student-athlete well being
• fairness

You'll notice, these are closely aligned with their original responsibilities and goals from the early 1900's. All of the scope creep the NCAA added on their own to have a stake in financial interests from the 40's - 70's has been taken away by the president's. Even enforcement has been largely neutered as seen in the trends above and the NCAA's stance towards the UNC situation which should clearly fall under academic success, yet they punted on that one. They also host the championships still, although the crown jewel of football is not in their purview.

The issue of lawsuits should also be addressed. There are basically three levels of entities which could be sued: a school, a conference, the NCAA. Despite the trend of where the money is actually going, the NCAA remains the primary entity which will get sued because it functionally sets the rules and has the easiest pockets to reach into when looking across the total college sports landscape. And the presidents are all too happy to let the NCAA go to court instead of one of their individual schools.

One final area to understand is enforcement. 

The NCAA is supposed to set rules to keep a fair playing field and enforce those rules assuming the schools will cooperate. The NCAA has no legal power to gather evidence. Their only recourse is through handing down punishment. So punishment will only be handed down once incontrovertible proof is somehow attained. However, the SMU lesson has not yet been forgotten. This mitigates any major penalties from being passed down again. Yet, any punishments which are levied, are enforceable. This is what encourages schools to self report. It's better to report a minor violation and take the small punishment, than to not report it, take the chance a former employee is bitter (hello, Dudek!) and have real evidence fall in the lap of the NCAA who will levy a punishment if given the chance. It's all they get to do!

What is the NCAA today? An old man without dentures being forced to maintain peace amongst the family while the children plot to get their share. 

That is the condensed long and bizarre history of the NCAA and its member institutions. I hope it provides some insight on what a cluster the organization has become and how it is not necessarily a bunch of old men sitting in suits running a cabal. No, that would be the presidents. The NCAA is simply the shield the presidents get to hide behind. 

What are the options going forward? 

This is difficult, because any answer begins with wresting control away from the presidents. What would make presidents want to give up the control they have had for 40 years? At one time, politicians would have been the answer like it was in 1905. That is no longer an option. That leaves the legal & financial systems. Either greed will suck the NCAA dry of any operating funds or a lawsuit will finally make the organization untenable. 

Should that happen, I believe there is a role for a third party organization to support the objectives of student athletes and maintain a fair and balanced playing field. 

There are three key areas I think a new organization should focus:

1. Maintaining a fair playing field. Any athlete will tell you they want a fair chance to compete. A new organization needs to be able to set the rules and legally enforce them. This organization should also have diversity of voice. The athletes, coaches, and leaders should all have equal voice. The adults have proven they are all about money (leadership) and/or winning (coaches) , so let the kids have an equal voice & vote. 
2. Health & Safety. Playing sports takes a toll physically and mentally. While it is a choice by the athlete to play the schools & conferences benefit. A new organization should have purview of a health care program to support the short and long term physical and mental needs of athletes. There are many ways to implement this, but it needs to be a system which accounts for the needs of all athletes. 
3. Financial & Legal Voice. Athletes need a better voice in this new landscape to get fair access to revenue and be protected from sketchy agreements. It can't come from the schools, coaches or conferences because they have a conflict of interest. A new organization needs to be a voice in the room during the TV contract negotiations between the schools/conferences and networks to make sure the athletes interests are considered. Support for navigating NIL agreements needs to come from an independent party. Even if it is simply providing advice to hire a lawyer to review it. Make that a service available to kids and families who are not familiar.

The adults are going to argue and bicker about every dollar. Let the conferences, schools and networks own all of that but give the kids a voice, a legit voice with equal strength. That is the opposite of what it has been for the past 125+ years. That is what a new organization needs to be built on.