Championship Subdivision Football | FCS Football | Stadiums | Blogs | Forums

Talk radio this morning talking about paying NCAA athletes and listening I notice that once again, nobody offers up any real idea on how it would work. For the record, I am 100% opposed to paying NCAA athletes. When everyone was talking about I-A going to playoffs, everyone had their own idea on how it would work and everyone expressed those ideas very clearly. I had my own scenario where the four BCS sites would rotate through Quarters, Semis and Finals, etc... I'm not sure I've heard a single proponent of paying the athletes actually give even a rudamentary example of how it would work. Talk about a Pandora's Box. A few questions for any of you guys on the pay players side:

1. The NCAA limits the number of schollies you can give, so I assume they would have say over how many players can get paid. But would they have say over how much per player?

2. If there is a max "salary", does that mean that a QB at Texas can only be paid as much as a QB at North Texas?

3. Will a QB be paid the same as as Punter?

4. Paying athletes will not increase revenues one penny, so exactly from where is the money going to come? You don't think you can kiss lacrosse, swimming, track, etc... goodbye at most schools?

5. The only way I see this could work is if the "salary" limits are quite low. So a kid who thinks he's going to make millions when he gets to the NFL is going to be satisfied with $20k, 40k, whatever the number is from a school playing by the book... will this really stop the NCAA infractions?

I would have really really liked to be "not paid" to go to school and not have any student loans...Only graduated with 25k, but that's small money. Don't pretend for a second that they don't get something out of all of this. I'm all for changing the way the NCAA does stuff. Peanut butter on a bagel is not a whole meal. NCAA is crooked as hell and incorporating more money into the situation makes it more likely that there will be more issues than there ever should be.

this is a potential mess that few people have thought through

colleges should just sponsor a league of professional football teams of non-students. those schools have a choice- they can buy in to this league or not

the rest of us will continue to play real college football

I'd do it by cost of living. A player at Alabama would get less than a player at USC. And all players on scholarship get the same.

They should also be able to sign endorsements and profit from the use of their likeness and accomplishments.

I also think overall football scholarships should be reduced. 85 scholarships for a football team is inflated number - and, because of Title IX has already fucked a lot of men's olympic sports programs. I'd cut FBS scholarships roughly in half - to 45 or so.

One thing for sure is that the conferences cannot operate long term the way they are set up. I see football and basketball being in conferences that will be different from the conferences in all other sports. The other sports will be much more regional to limit the cost of travel and hopefully maintain the school's sponsorship of those sports. By doing this, it will create a divide of the revenue sports from the others so that it will be easier to justify payment of the athletes in those sports.

Now to the original question of how the athletes will get paid, I think the NCAA wants the schools to be creative in determining ways to do this. Many schools will allow the athletes unlimited meals instead of the limits that many now face. The schools can get better pricing on a group cell phone plan, clothing discounts, gas and movie allowances, travel, etc. that can stretch the benefit farther per dollar. I've heard that schools would rather provide additional benefits this way rather than paying them cash.

If the complaint is that the student-athlete has no money for extra food, clothes, travel, etc., then there should be some assurance that the money is being spent on those specific things. If a bum asks for money for food, I would rather give him food instead of money that he will spend on bandl's moonshine.