Ncaa restrucure

[xudash]

Discuss: http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/di-board-directors-endorses-restructuring-process-seeks-feedback

[Always Learning]

While I don't think the new division is going to happen this academic year, I do believe that it will be implemented in the 2015-16 academic year. The current NCAA recognizes that if they don't go-along to get-along, the 65 schools who want this will form their own "Athletic Association.' And why not? There is all that TV money out there and why should they feel restricted because of what some compass or religious want things they way they are and getting their slice of the pie.

Here is what the 65 schools from five conferences want and what the NCAA generally agrees on autonomy for the five conferences include:

1) Financial aid, including full cost of attendance and scholarship guarantees;
2) Insurance, including policies that protect future earnings;
3) Academic support, particularly for at-risk student-athletes;
4) Other support, such as travel for families, free tickets to athletics events, and expenses associated with practice and competition (such as parking).

What will this mean to Xavier and the like?

Assuming that the five conferences will have to include all sports (and women's sports) or spend years in court and losing, number one is going to be a huge financial burden for most, not all, of the schools in the five conferences. A wild guess that the "extra scholarship benefits" would cost $12,000 per, and that perhaps as many as 200 athletics on scholarship the annual bill would be $2.4 million per year. A pimble on their butt at places like osu, texas, FSU, or usc, but I wonder about the Wake's, the IU's, the Texas Tech's, and Washington State?

And flying in families for games? And their expenses? The insurance I understand, in fact currently a player can buy his own, but making it a benefit is something else.

I think when it goes into effect, it will give the basketball schools in the five conferences a huge, and I mean huge, recruiting advantage over say any school in the Big East, or the AAC for that matter. Prospect has a choice between a scholly from Xavier that covers room, board, books, and tuition or a scholly from say osu that includes room board, books, tuition along with $1,000 a month ("to cover the full cost of college"), plus travel expenses for his family to come watch him/her play? Think maybe osu has a huge advantage?

Funny thing is even now osu already pays for their cel phones (in case the coach needs to contact them), their on campus parking fee's, and if they are married, their medical insurance.

When this can of worms is let loose, I guarantee the worms will also include the "boosters." I recall the alumni director at osu in the 60's advocating that the football program just be a professional team and the only involvement of the university would be allowing them to be called osu.

[xubrew]

I believe that a third subdivision in football is pretty much assured. It will certainly change things, but I don't think it will change things quite as drastically as some are speculating.

For starters, although there technically wasn't a subdivision of power conferences in football, there practically was. There was a definite distinction between the BCS and non BCS, and there were even different standards and in regards to bowl tie-ins. So, the fact that a practically different subdivision is now becoming a technically different subdivision isn't going to change life on the planet as we know it.

Secondly, if a school wants to be a part of the power conference subdivision in football, the parameters they have to meet will likely be pretty high to ensure you don't have a bunch of MAC schools filing to reclassify. This is just me guessing, but I think you'll see things along these lines...

-A higher number of minimum sports. Instead of 14, you need 20 (or whatever they decide they want it to be).

-In addition to that, you must give out the full amount of scholarship money allowed for those twenty sports.

-I do think you'll see a stipend in place. Along with offering the full amount of scholarship money allowed for all student-athletes, they will also have to award the full stipend to all student athletes.

-A minimum on what your football budget, and overall athletic budget, can be.

That's just for football.

As for everything else, you'll continue to see the sub-division-less big mass of 351 div1 teams that we have now. Stipends will be allowed with the scholarship, but not mandated. This will most likely mean that schools who want to remain competitive in basketball will make them available for basketball players, but not so much the other sports (other than the one women's sport they'll give it to so they're still in compliance with Title IX). Most schools don't offer as much scholarship money for non-revenue sports as they're allowed to, so they probably won't offer stipends for those sports either.

We already have two subdivisions in football. Now, we're gonna have three. Things will be different, but I don't think they'll be that much different, at least not from a fan's perspective.

[Milhouse]

I get nervous reading this stuff. Really seems like it could absolutely destroy college basketball as we know it.

[Mel Cooley XU'81]

I agree Milhouse with this proviso.

My prediction is that someday soon the "five highest-resource conferences . . .to address their unique challenges" (the NCAA's quotes) will -- as a group -- put football media rights up for (my quotes follow) "investment" along with requesting "creative responses" about how basketball (men and women's) "content enablement" can be "synergistically leveraged" to benefit "valued fans and other dedicated stakeholders" and . . . "The Student Athlete."

In other words -- give us lots of money and we'll give you the football you want -- and some basketball you'll overpay for.

The basketball teams in the power conferences will get lots of money and separation from re-emergent "Mid-Major" basketball programs.

It won't destroy college basketball. Unless you're outside the power conferences.

Dash knows more about this stuff than I do...

[waggy]

X could still compete is my belief. It might however have to take on a 'cradle of coaches' approach.

[xubrew]

The power conferences will likely implement stipends in the neighborhood of $2000 to $5000. If the non-power conferences want to remain competitive in basketball, then they'll have to do the same.

[Milhouse]

yeah but they'll have to provide to every athlete right? Not just Basketball...

[xubrew]

The power conferences will likely offer it to every athlete, and that will be a stipulation of being a part of that subdivision.

Everyone else will only provide it to some of the athletes, but you can almost assure that men's basketball will get it across the board because it is a revenue sport and it's a sport that everyone wants to be competitive in. They'll have to remain within Title IX compliance, so there are some schools that will only provide it to men's basketball and one other women's sport, but I think just about everyone will offer it in men's basketball.

[Pault]

Pandora's box is opening...get ready for some shenanigans, cheating and seedy characters emerging. Scandals will abound, and the "haves" will reign. Not convinced that this good for college sports. I am very nervous...especially how it will impact places like X.

[xubrew]

Pandora's box is opening...get ready for some shenanigans, cheating and seedy characters emerging. Scandals will abound, and the "haves" will reign. Not convinced that this good for college sports. I am very nervous...especially how it will impact places like X.

There is cheating now. There are shady characters now. There are "haves" and "have nots" now. It's not possible for leagues like the SWAC to suck any worse than it already does.

The only impact it will have on schools like Xavier is that they'll have to pay the stipend if they want to remain competitive. At the end of the day, it's about the cost of a tuition increase, which schools always seem to be able to afford.

[xubrew]

I do kind of shudder at the idea that many teams that had very little chance of competing with the power conferences will now have even less of a chance. I'm a huge fan of the so-called mid-major and low-major leagues. I actually do watch them and follow them, and like the early part of the season when you see some of those intriguing OOC games (although the majority of them are just garbage, there are a few good ones).

Having said that, is it fair for schools that can afford to pay their players a stipend, and want to pay their players a stipend, be told that they cannot pay their players a stipend simply because other schools who don't want to do it don't want it to happen?? The attitude the power conferences have toward the Ohio Valleys of the world is "Screw you for trying to tell us what we can and cannot do."