What is College Football coming to?

[warriorfan808]

With all the new contracts floating around and all the talk about expansion this and more money for that, when will it ever get out of hand? I wouldn't be suprised if we could be hearing them talking salary cap soon. College football is sounding more and more like a monopoly every year.

[MisterPurple]

With all the new contracts floating around and all the talk about expansion this and more money for that, when will it ever get out of hand? I wouldn't be suprised if we could be hearing them talking salary cap soon. College football is sounding more and more like a monopoly every year.

I was thinking about this (partially in a slightly different matter) myself.

As a hockey fan, it is upsetting that the NHL is locked out. Hell, I watch football, baseball, and basketball too, so any time any of those leagues face a lockout or strike, it affects me.

I think NCAA football and basketball is in a very tumultuous period. It is ever-changing, for better or worse. It is no secret that sports is no longer just about athletics. It isn't big business, it's humongous business.

With the money made by schools, conferences, the NCAA, and who knows what other alliances, even college sports is tied to huge amounts of money. This had led, quite naturally, to the argument that college athletes should be paid.

While this argument has its merits, I am wholeheartedly against it. Primarily, it is because I am a traditionalist, and still believe in the concept of the student-athlete, that the education should be the "payment". But I am not naive that others are making numerous millions of dollars off these players. So there has to be another level:

I believe if athletes start getting paid, we open up a huge can of worms. Off the top of my head:

How do you scale their pay?
Will it increase the gap between the haves and have-nots?

As a fan of a "mid-major" non-BCS team, the latter question bothers me most. UH has a hard enough time competing with the big boys. Recruiting mainland players to a place where their parents likely won't attend many home games is tough enough. I believe that without some kind of very strict plan, the big teams will be better able to recruit prime players. The problem may not be as bad in football than in basketball (roster size).

Then, about a week ago, I saw again how much bowl payouts are for the big bowls. Man, it's even more than I thought! Now, seeing how much some college coaches are getting paid... it's getting crazy.

College football is sounding more and more like a monopoly every year.

Well, I already think it is. Though technically it probably isn't (I'm not educated about business or law, so I don't know how it's defined), for all intents and purposes it is. And so is college basketball.

Another idea I tossed around my head along the lines of my Liberty Bowl thread is having the runt conferences break away from the NCAA and joining the NAIA or forming a whole new association. Another big dream, I know... it'd probably be about as successful as the USFL.