[CTcard]

I've said this elsewhere (maybe even here).  The solution is not that hard.

1.  Require the NFL to form a development league as there is in NBA and baseball.  That can and should be reserved for those who have no interest in college and/or demand to be paid for their services;

2.  For those who want to go the college route, do that - and play by NCAA rules (that means scholarship and perhaps a small stipend and perhaps some kind of medical insurance for life-long injuries sustained while playing college ball - but that's it); and

3.  Here's the kicker:  the NCAA should negotiate the TV deal globally and then allocate funds equitably across the entire university landscape.  (Oh, and impose a pay limit on coaches - at say $1.5 or $2M per year).


Again, why is this hard, or even controversial?

Those would probably be very good changes, though nothing ever solves everything.

But why this is hard is not too tough to figure out.

"1. Require the NFL to form a development league. "

Who is going to do the requiring?

Certainly the NCAA or individual colleges cannot. I suppose the federal government could - though it is pretty hard to imagine the government requiring one specific business to get into another specific business.

Next, while probably a good idea overall, it certainly would not be a panacea. I don't see that the NBA Development league has solved all the NCAA-related problems in mens basketball. If anything the problems with basketball are worse - lower graduation rates than football for example and more agent-related scandals.

"2.  For those who want to go the college route, do that - and play by NCAA rules "

This one isn't hard in theory, it is the case right now - plus or minus just how big the scholarship is and the details of medical plans.

However, points #1 and #2 together are not going to stop the desire of various boosters to cheat to win, or various would-be agents to try to secure potential clients as early as possible. So, the opportunities to skirt the NCAA rules would likely still be there. Whether the desire to do so remains would probably depend on just how many go to the proposed D League and how good the conditions are there.

"3.  Here's the kicker:  the NCAA should negotiate the TV deal globally and then allocate funds equitably across the entire university landscape. "

Of course you realize that this used to be the case. Then in the early 1980s the Univ of Oklahoma, backed by UGa, sued the NCAA over this monopoly of TV rights as a violation of the Sherman and Clayton antitrust laws. The case went to the supreme court where Okla won, and the TV free for-all began. While I guess it would be nominally possible for all of the Universities to voluntarily cede their TV rights back to the NCAA, it is not going to happen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Boa...f_Oklahoma

I would also love the coach's salary cap. But, I also suspect that would go to the courts as an anti-trust violation and hard to see how coaches would not win their case.

-------------------
I feel like a giant kill-joy writing that, because for the broadest health of the system those would probably be good changes. But #1 and #3 just ain't gonna happen.

[CTcard]

I've said this elsewhere (maybe even here).  The solution is not that hard.

1.  Require the NFL to form a development league as there is in NBA and baseball.  That can and should be reserved for those who have no interest in college and/or demand to be paid for their services;

2.  For those who want to go the college route, do that - and play by NCAA rules (that means scholarship and perhaps a small stipend and perhaps some kind of medical insurance for life-long injuries sustained while playing college ball - but that's it); and

3.  Here's the kicker:  the NCAA should negotiate the TV deal globally and then allocate funds equitably across the entire university landscape.  (Oh, and impose a pay limit on coaches - at say $1.5 or $2M per year).


Again, why is this hard, or even controversial?

Those would probably be very good changes, though nothing ever solves everything.

But why this is hard is not too tough to figure out.

"1. Require the NFL to form a development league. "

Who is going to do the requiring?

Certainly the NCAA or individual colleges cannot. I suppose the federal government could - though it is pretty hard to imagine the government requiring one specific business to get into another specific business.

Next, while probably a good idea overall, it certainly would not be a panacea. I don't see that the NBA Development league has solved all the NCAA-related problems in mens basketball. If anything the problems with basketball are worse - lower graduation rates than football for example and more agent-related scandals.

"2.  For those who want to go the college route, do that - and play by NCAA rules "

This one isn't hard in theory, it is the case right now - plus or minus just how big the scholarship is and the details of medical plans.

However, points #1 and #2 together are not going to stop the desire of various boosters to cheat to win, or various would-be agents to try to secure potential clients as early as possible. So, the opportunities to skirt the NCAA rules would likely still be there. Whether the desire to do so remains would probably depend on just how many go to the proposed D League and how good the conditions are there.

"3.  Here's the kicker:  the NCAA should negotiate the TV deal globally and then allocate funds equitably across the entire university landscape. "

Of course you realize that this used to be the case. Then in the early 1980s the Univ of Oklahoma, backed by UGa, sued the NCAA over this monopoly of TV rights as a violation of the Sherman and Clayton antitrust laws. The case went to the supreme court where Okla won, and the TV free for-all began. While I guess it would be nominally possible for all of the Universities to voluntarily cede their TV rights back to the NCAA, it is not going to happen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Boa...f_Oklahoma

I would also love the coach's salary cap. But, I also suspect that would go to the courts as an anti-trust violation and hard to see how coaches would not win their case.

-------------------
I feel like a giant kill-joy writing that, because for the broadest health of the system those would probably be good changes. But #1 and #3 just ain't gonna happen.