Small Schools Want Everyone To Be Small Comment Count

Brian

Two notable developments in the world of NCAA committee flerbydoo. One: schools without money say schools with money shouldn't give a small slice of that to their athletes.

The NCAA's plan to give athletes a $2,000 stipend may be in trouble.

The legislation, passed in October, now faces an override challenge at January's annual NCAA convention, a decision that could create an unusual discrepancy between recruits who have already signed national letters-of-intent and those who have not. …

Berst said 97 schools have signed onto the override measure, more than the 75 needed for the NCAA board to reconsider the stipend. If that number hits 125 by Dec. 26, the legislation would be suspended.

Two: schools without money say schools with money should give fewer scholarships out.

The NCAA's Resource Allocation Working Group, an offshoot of the summit conducted by NCAA president Mark Emmert last August, finalized a list of proposals that are designed to cut costs and to free up money for other areas within athletic departments.

The proposals include trimming the maximum number of scholarships for Football Bowl Subdivision programs from 85 to 80, for Football Championship Subdivision programs from 63 to 60, and women's basketball programs from 15 to 13.

What does Todd Graham think of this?

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He likes it almost as much as he likes private jets, leaving schools after one year, and making his wife wear oriental rugs as blouses*.

Say what you want about the vast and overarching corruption of the NCAA and its conspiracy to alienate workers from the fruits of their labors, but at least the big schools, cognizant of that hypocrisy, tried to bridge a portion of the gap this year. The NJITs of the world are shooting it down despite the change being completely voluntary:

The board approved a measure allowing conferences to vote on providing up to $2,000 in spending money, or what the NCAA calls the full cost-of-attendance.

The legislation poses no financial burden on anyone who doesn't have the money. If that creates an unbalanced playing field, 1) no it doesn't since your training table is already rice and beans and 2) it damn well should.

Only someone as blinkered as USA Today's Christine Brennan—whose collected works should be entitled "TITLE IX TITLE IX TITLE IX"—could think voluntarily closing a gap between living expenses and scholarships is "unfair" because it doesn't let womens' athletics set more money on fire.

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Title IX makes sense at institutions where no one is actually making money for the school. It ceases to do so at places where college athletics becomes a massive transfer scheme from statistically poor basketball and football players to statistically wealthy (and, in the case of women, increasingly overrepresented) non-revenue athletes who can afford tennis lessons and whatnot.

It is incoherent to have these two groups under one roof. There's a fundamental divide between schools that are unprofitable by choice and those that are inherently so, a fundamental divide between schools where mens' basketball and football players have economic value only the schools are realizing and those where every athlete is a net expense. Before you condemn the big ones, realize that it's the small ones and their futile attempt to maintain a "level playing field" that is preventing larger schools from making even token moves towards a fairer system.

It's probably time for another split, or at least serious saber-rattling from the schools that drive the revenue the NCAA subsists on. The remoras at the bottom of the D-I pool need to be reminded who the sharks are.

*[Congratulations, Arizona State. You've hired a guy who just displaced Bobby Petrino as the go-to-reference for skeezy mercenary coaches. I know you can't pass up a guy who took Pitt from 7-5 to 6-6 that quickly, but… actually, maybe you can.]

Comments

oHOWiHATEohioSTATE

December 16th, 2011 at 3:35 PM ^

that they can be the next TCU or BSU. Maybe its the pride their alumni have in just getting a shot against the big boys. Maybe its the chance to have the Thursday night MAC game on ESPN and the extra exposier for their school.

Also look at all the schools that have come up the ladder the last few years. Louisville want from CUSA to the Big East. Then Utah went from the WAC to the Pac 12. Now its TCU and BSUs turn.

mikoyan

December 16th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^

I'll use EMU again.  Right now there are a couple Regents that think EMU should stay at Division I for the prestige or whatever.  That's probably been the case ever since they joined IA back whenever.  But as an alumnus, I have to ask, is it prestige when you're one of the perennial whipping boys of that Division?  I often ask why EMU chooses to remain at IA....and then I realize there are other sports that they are competitive in (track and swimming come to mind).

MI Expat NY

December 16th, 2011 at 6:33 PM ^

It's a fine plan in theory, but I think you would run into some unintended consequences concerning longterm prospects of a 60 team super-division.  

First.  I think it's fair to say that the American public does not have high interest in watching what they consider to be "second-rate" professional sports.  The minor leagues of all the various sports do not have huge attendance numbers and are rarely, if ever, on television.  Americans prefer watching European soccer to MLS.  The WNBA has never garnered any interest from the public at large.  Currently, college football and basketball walk a fine line between being minor leagues and different sports entirely.  I'd be concerned of a slippery slope if the top football powers separate themselves even more from the rest of college sports, that one day, the majority might just see college football and basketball as second level professional teams.  

Now, I don't think that would happen immediately, or even necessarily very quickly, but it ties in to what I see as the second problem.  What happens when 25 of those teams have a losing record every year?  What happens to schools that after feasting on three cupcakes a year, find that it's a struggle to get to 8-4, and find themsselves on the wrong side of .500 more often than not?  Fan bases dwindle pretty quickly.  Look around at some of the fan bases that are losing right now.  Traditional non-powers such as Northwestern, Indiana, Vanderbilt, etc. only sell-out if a road team fills half the stadium.  Mississippi and UCLA, two "name" schools can't come close to filling their stadiums.  Florida State doesn't sell-out and they're not even bad, just mediocre.  How quickly would Purdue's fans abandon ship, if their good seasons are 4-8 instead of 7-5?  Same goes for anyone that couldn't count on being an upper tier team in their conference every year.  We're the diehards, we don't see it, but there are a ton of casual fans that follow college football, who probably wouldn't if their team never sniffed 10 wins. 

Asgardian

December 16th, 2011 at 1:41 PM ^

Why is the exact amount of tuition and on campus room & board at your particular institution considered a level playing field?  Just because it's zero cash exchanging hands doesn't mean that they're all worth the same.

A degree from Michigan is ALREADY worth WAY more than a degree from EMU (both explicitly defined as what regular students have to pay, and implicitly defined as the increase in your human capital/future earnings potential).

Adding an additional $2,000/ year in living expenses for playing at Michigan is not going to change that "wealth gap" dynamic one bit.

Smash Lampjaw

December 16th, 2011 at 1:56 PM ^

I do not enjoy trying to resolve these issues. I have built a firewall between the half of my brain that loves big-time college football and the half that knows that revenue sports do not belong in the academical village. The University of Chicago made a wise choice long ago when it opted out, a choice that Penn State ought to be considering right now.

enlightenedbum

December 16th, 2011 at 2:09 PM ^

If we condense everything to economics, then Dave Brandon is to be lauded for his genius wallet extraction schemes and Title IX is a blight.  And also the entire system is stupid, we should decouple it from colleges and just make it a minor leaugue for the NFL/NBA.  At which point the Dave Brandons of the world can gleefully extract everything about the experience that make us prefer it to the NFL and suddenly we're all Toledo Mud Hen fans.

But wait, there are larger issues involved, like these are supposedly educational institutions whose purpose is not to provide an entertainment product for dudes whose privilege stinks across the internet.  Which is exactly the same reason the stipend should be put in place, which is good news for everyone!

Title IX is a red herring to this argument, just like communism.

M-Wolverine

December 16th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

That free market principles are supposed to reign when it comes to Title IX, and the value of the work produced by the athlete, but when it comes to letting the market decide whether there's a want/need for say, "legacy" uniforms, it's all about tradition, and doing what's right, with the Athletic Department being an arm of education, and not a money making entity. Not sure it works for the free market to apply to the player's labors, but not entity as a whole; or that the University should be above money making and be about a greater mission, unless that involves opportunity for non-money making athletes.  Can't really have both.

c-man

December 16th, 2011 at 4:30 PM ^

I'd square the circle by arguing that the "legacy" uniforms and traditions arguments are a question of long-term vs. short-term thinking. If they differentiate college football from other sports consumption opportunities then jettisoning them damages the long-term value of the Michigan 'brand' for short term jersey sales. So there is a perfectly rational free-market argument for actions that cost money in the short term (even if only by way of opportunity cost). That's my read on Brian's argument.

To the extent that Michigan gains differential brand equity by a greater attention to tradition in all its forms, it could make sense to do so even when other rivals are exercising those opportunities. So long as there is a way for Michigan to extract value from that tradition (e.g., higher-value TV rights, broader fan base, 110k attendance in down years).

M-Wolverine

December 16th, 2011 at 4:41 PM ^

But a reasonable case could be made for it. I don't know that Brian ever has. He has made points that it's college, and that making a buck shouldn't be the bottom line with everything; that tradition matters. I can't recall him ever saying it's a better business model to consider long term marketing strategies.  Though it very well might be. It's an interesting case; I just don't think it's his.

LIZARD4141

December 16th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^

These kids aren't being forced to play college football. I think its crazy to compare college athletes to slaves. Just wait until the NFL develops a minor league system that pays blue chip high school athletes.

Feat of Clay

December 16th, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^

They are not slaves, true. 

But once they get on campus, aren't there serious contraints as to what they can do to better their own (or their families') day-to-day living situation?  For many athletes, it doesn't matter; they have some means to just enjoy the free education, housing & meals (and other perks), knowing that the payoff (from having a degree) is even better down the road. 

That stuff is great.  Athletes are privileged to get it.  But if you are one of those athletes with  not much spending money, very little financial security, no safety net, and a family who is struggling?  It has got to stressful that as a scholarship athlete, with serious constraints on your time and NCAA rules governing the kind of work you can do until you graduate, you can't do much to help your family now, even something as simple as earning some of your own pocket money so they don't have to sacrifice to send it to you.   Actually, I'll bet it goes beyond just stressfull--it's also galling when you see the revenues rolling in related to athletics. 

It's not slavery, no, but I have trouble imagining that those NCAA regulations feel like bonds sometimes.

I wonder if people would be more supportive of this effort if there was a means test associated with it, as for need-based aid. 

 

funkywolve

December 16th, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^

If were looking at this from a perspective of whether a sport produces revenue or not, shouldn't we start looking at individual teams?  I'm guessing some of the better and more established women's basketball programs might be revenue producing sports - Tennessee and UConn come to mind.  Heck, I bet women's basketball at UConn might produce more revenue than the men's football team.

WolvinLA2

December 16th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^

The crazy thing is, Todd Graham, in addition to being a huge asshole, is just not a good coach.  He had on year at Rice where he was very mediocre (7-6).  Then he went 36-17 (.679) in 4 years at Tulsa where he won zero Conference USA titles and beat pretty much nobody at all.  Playing in the weak C-USA, he only went 22-12 (.647).  He then took Pitt, who is usually pretty decent, to a 6-6 record. 

Even if he was a super nice guy, is he a guy worth stealing away from Pitt?