college football under quarantine

interesting implications of a possible new normal:

https://www.theringer.com/2020/8/3/21349611/season-schedule-power-five-conferences-college-football-playoff

But college football is a lot of things, and a season exclusively for the Power Five is few of them. It’s clear that the Power Five teams have needs and goals that differ from everybody else’s. By playing games solely against each other, they will maximize both fan interest and profit. Maybe the Power Five schools will realize this arrangement is financially beneficial even in non-pandemic circumstances. But a few dozen teams with similar needs and goals making decisions that benefit each other isn’t college football. It’s a professional sports league. And professional sports leagues have to pay and provide fair treatment to their players. This feels like a lasting split, and the more bonds the College Football programs sever with the college football programs, the harder it will be for them to pretend they still have anything in common with the distant relatives they’re leaving behind.

None of this is a secret. The fact that NCAA Division I football is essentially a semi-pro league feeding the NFL and that everyone is profiting from it but the players has been evident for decades. It is rarely acknowledged by the sports media because it is so ugly and they profit from it as much as anyone else. The players seldom complain because they are so vulnerable to reprisals. Most of them are seen as easily replaceable parts and 'troublemakers' swiftly get the boot.

The players do profit if they are on scholarship (and manage to stay on scholarship) and D1 football and basketball "student athletes" also enjoy elite status and other fringe benefits compared to other students.

But the system is absolutely semi-pro at best and at worst, big school college athletics operates (via the NCAA and the major conferences) as a monopoly with ruthless corporate vision. Everyone in the system gets a career out of it except the players, where something like less than 1% get drafted to the NFL and an even smaller number will play more than three years in the pros.

That said, I suspect that the vast majority of athletes at all levels love their experience in college sports even though they realize they are but actors in a circus. They know that they aren't getting their fair share but they are kept just happy enough by the experience that they still participate.

The idea that a scholarship athlete necessarily benefits from their time in a university is spotty at best. Scholarship athletes are chosen for their athletic prowess, not their academic ability, which may be minimal or even wholly inadequate. Graduation rates have been notoriously very poor among scholarship athletes in the two big money-making sports at "power five" universities, where scholarship athletes are routinely expected to prioritize their sport over all other activities and those who struggle academically are tutored just enough to maintain the lowest standard of required achievement to keep them playing. The NCAA pretends to address this, but their first priority remains keeping athletes playing; learning still takes a back seat, despite gestures designed to quiet criticism.

I will say that scholarship athletes are generally well fed at the training table free of charge, so there's one real benefit they can count on, even if they never earn their degree.

What is a notoriously poor rate to you, Aimless? Just curious.

http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/graduation-rates
or this
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1731218-college-football-schools-with-the-best-and-worst-graduation-rates

Mens' college basketball also makes a lot of money but the number of scholarship athletes is way lower. But the grad rates are very good at the elite programs.

Also, as you probably know, it's hard to use graduation rates as a measuring stick given the percentage of students at, say, LSU who graduate. Hint: at LSU (and most schools), the official graduation rate for students overall is lower than the football teams. But that's partially because the non-students have a higher attrition rate.

I would also add that an enormous benefit for scholarship "student athletes" and "student athletes" in general is that their entrance requirements are, as you note, at much lower academic standards. So, a person can go to, say, the University of North Carolina on a football scholarship and have much lower admissions standards. Assuming that they graduate, which 75%+ of UNC football players due, that's pretty awesome. And as you note, they get really nice living facilities, their own dining hall, have amazing tutoring options, and get to travel the country.

There is a large number of student athletes who honestly cannot afford to go to college even if they have a "full ride". These kids don't have time for jobs during the off season, and there really is no off season. These kids often live far from home and literally have no way to get to and from college. They don't have idle spending money. There are many issues that are worthy of withering criticism and you and I agree (!) that the NCAA doesn't address this with much honesty.

Supporting college athletics even as a fan seems morally dubious I guess.

no return of the mac(k)

big 10 cancels season

holy shit

trump's fucked

the ACC is saying they'll go ahead no matter what

pac 12 is canceling, big 12 is on the fence

at least we still have idaho high school football

I told my wife as fall prepares to start “if I die of COVID (and I doubt I will) at least my sons will know I stood up for doing what is right and going to work & educating and molding young people rather than hiding” she responded “agreed “ ❗️❗️💪💪💪

— Coach Hargitt (@coachhargitt) August 10, 2020

sad about my problematic fave getting canceled :(

BREAKING: The Big Ten presidents have voted to postpone the 2020 college football season with hopes of playing in the spring, per sources.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) August 11, 2020

more like the small zero

smoll

sm0ll

if this swings Michigan and Wisconsin for Biden then it'll be the best thing the Big Ten has produced since Charles Woodson.

what a win for the democrats(?)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfJo3OrXgAIICG2?format=jpg&name=small

college football coaches are the worst people in america (#34985859340293849494 in a series)

Lou Holtz tells Fox News that college football needs to play amid coronavirus pandemic this fall: "Let's move on with our life! When they stormed Normandy, they knew there were going to be casualties -- there were going to be risks." pic.twitter.com/zZZ5qrFRFb

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) August 11, 2020

tbf this is the kind of shit that got him fired.

There's going to be a lot of unmolded young men out there!

lou is freaking deranged lol

Georgia State QB announces he has a heart condition from COVID 19 and won’t play this year https://t.co/aH4CawZdsi

— trey wingo (@wingoz) August 20, 2020

BREAKING: #PennState's director of athletic medicine, Wayne Sebastianelli, says that cardiac MRI scans revealed that roughly 30-35 percent of Big Ten athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 appeared to have myocarditis. https://t.co/md4p1IoaLh

— Parth Upadhyaya (@pupadhyaya_) September 3, 2020

oh

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EiDe5zeXkAQPJ01?format=jpg&name=small

cool they can also check for CTE posthumously, this sounds super humane

Guys. GUYS. I found the Michael Scott of college football. pic.twitter.com/NdEvpYFlkg

— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) September 16, 2020

i don't *really* care about college football, but i definitely appreciate Oklahoma and LSU being beaten at home

hate this guy

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney: 'On board' with Black Lives Matter messages, but not politics

^ A man torn between his need to recruit Black players and his need to soothe the multi-millionaire alumni who bankroll his program.

"i mean i'm okay with black people scoring touchdowns, that's gotta count for something"

xp apparently this all started because a 'law enforcement officer' called into dabo's radio show and asked him if he supported 'these people'

anyway he's old school, grew up in alabama, can't be expected to let the coloreds mess up the uniforms or make money or be 'political'

totally understandable racist behavior, who could blame him except everyone

SABAN HAS THE RONA

:-0

hope he's ok, but the SEC's covid attitude has been sickening, and the league deserves a dose of reality

LSU/Florida has been postponed until Dec. 12

hopefully Alabama's AD recruited another, younger 5-star coach that is ready to take saban's place, and saban will never get another opportunity as he watches his dream slip away, hobbled on the sideline.

cold but fair

UK won at Tennessee for the first time since like 1986 and biggest win by points since like 1932 today.

Kentucky has some more O-linemen that will be playing in the NFL soon.

Alabama will definitely not let Saban transfer without setting out a year.

Saban's test was apparently a false positive. He's had three negative tests since and we be on the sideline tonight. Cool.

He released a statement, "Don't be afraid of covid."

everyone who goes into remission should blab to the world “don’t be afraid of cancer!”

aaaaand trevor lawrence has covid

btw wtf nebraska

'we're not allowed to catch covid from wisconsin, so please let us catch it from chattanooga'

Indiana whupped the Wolverines today. Michigan looked slow. Harbaugh might be joining you know who in looking for a new job in January.

Good day all around.

Indiana's Michael Penix Jr. should start getting some talk as a big QB to watch and like many lefty QBs he's kind of fun to watch. Big thing with him is just not getting hurt again.

https://wgntv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2020/11/GettyImages-1284436894.jpg?w=1280&h=720&crop=1

they shouldn't be playing, but at least it's resulted in michigan and penn state getting fucking smoked

They got Michigan State now too...knock wood they can complete the set by beating the Buckeyes next week.

It would figure that IU would have their season of the century in the middle of a plague.

I do hate Dabo, though.

But ND would have had their outstanding 5-star center for the playoffs if they played a 6 game season, for example.

pic.twitter.com/pHHYgGYh9h

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 2, 2021

excellent

Clemson scores a TD with 10:42 left in the 4th quarter. OSU's win probability instantly drops from 99.9% to 99.8%. lol

didn’t think that alabama could ever be the most likable team in a four-team playoff but here we are

lebron’s buckeye fandom is by far the worst thing about him, really puts a dent in his otherwise unassailable greatness

didn’t think that alabama could ever be the most likable team in a four-team playoff but here we are

lol otm

I hope bama smokes em

I’m surprised at what my thread has become.

Clemson lost by more points to a worse team, so they get 4th imo.

I’m surprised at what my thread has become.

fair

but we're here now and still full of hate

Dabo: No regrets about ranking Ohio State 11th
Kelly irked by questions, 'narrative' after ND loss

lol fuck you forever

DaVonta Smith and Najee Harris are just amazing athletes. Its kinda hard to know how good Mac Jones actually is because those two guys are freaking Plastic Man after they get the ball.

OSU is pretty good too, but I don't think anyone has Alabama's depth.

ND played pretty well yesterday and really played a bit better than the scorching they took in the media in the ACC championship game than the score indicated.

Cincinnatti was literally a play away from beating Georgia yesterday. Georgia's defense is punishing and Alabama dropped 40 on them.

Being a homebody this year with everything going on, I have watched a few games this year.

Texas canned Herman, Steve Sarkesian reportedly the top candidate.

Saban produces as many new (or rehabbed) head coaches as he does star players.

Tommy Tuberville gets sworn in and the Capitol’s defense immediately falls apart.

— Bunkie Perkins (@BunkiePerkins) January 6, 2021

bunkie otm

lol

Harbaugh's new contract will pay him a base salary of $4 million in 2021, which will increase to $4.426 million in 2025. He can earn a maximum bonus of $3.475 million in each year of the contract, including $1 million bonuses for winning the Big Ten championship and the College Football Playoff National Championship, and $500,000 bonuses for winning the Big Ten East Division and reaching the CFP.

otoh

Harbaugh had one year left on his initial contract at Michigan, which paid the coach slightly over $8 million in 2020.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1IsCGpUcAIbnrh?format=jpg&name=small

I realize there's a desire to put a local spin on non-local stories, but this seems crass.

Texas and OU leaving the Big 12 and hoping to join the SEC??????

I got to wonder at what point the SEC/Big10/ACC & PAC12 say f-it and just break off and become a 'super league' for football.

i wonder when conferences are gonna start kicking schools out. why share football money with vandy et al

Vandy's a charter member, so there's probably some bylaw that makes them untouchable. But I get what you mean.

Ole Miss Rebels coach Lane Kiffin preaching accountability to team after losing 30 pounds in offseason

#leadership #america #bocaratonbowl

clemson rushing vs. georgia: 23 attempts, 2 net yards

should be an exciting mercer vs alabama game today

mercer beat (checks notes) 'point university' 69-0 last week, so i'm sure they'll give the tide all they can handle

they will divide the SEC into 8 divisions so the good teams don't play until the 4 championship games

Nice win for the Ducks over the Buckeyes, but it was very strange and a bit unnerving to see more than 100,000 people packed together, screaming non-stop, and not a mask in sight. Remember when choir practice was considered a huge super-spreader risk?

looks like ND will pull off the upset

kind of alabama to let mercer score twice (seriously)

nice win for oregon

lol irishes

fuck texas amirite pp

Yeah. Good luck in the SEC when you cannot beat the middle of the pack over there.

Sophomore QB Connor Bazelak was pretty impressive last night against UK. He pretty much kept them in the game by himself. He plays really smart and has some accuracy, pulling off some really impressive passes on 3rd down keeping drives going. I would not be surprised if down the line Bazelak will follow fellow Tigers Blaine Gabbert and Chase Daniels into a long fruitful career as a Sunday afternoon clip board holder.

Missouri sophomore...

pic.twitter.com/zZEgdPrVSb

— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) October 2, 2021

i don't mean to support the alternative, but: lol texas

aggies are kinda gigging alabama right now

Watched quite a bit on Saturday.

Penn State is better than Iowa, not by much but some but after their starting QB Sean Clifford went out so did their passing game.

Ironically a grad transfer from Penn St. Will Levis had the game of his life for UK against LSU last night. Levis can run really well for his size.

I had no doubt Texas would blow that lead yesterday as no lead is safe in the Big 12 as apparently defense has been outlawed in that conference.

UK probably has their biggest game since Bear Bryant was coaching next week at Georgia. It would be worth the LOLs if they won to completely turn over the SEC apple cart as it would guarantee Kentucky will lose to Vanderbilt or Tennessee in a couple of weeks. That said, UK does have some talent that will be playing on Sunday on this club especially on the O-line and defense. They got a couple skills guys that could also end up in the big leagues too.

a&m’s qb impressed me late in that bama game

Georgia's defensive front is top notch. I've seen pretty much all the good college teams once this year, no one is going to push those dudes around. I think the only team that beats them is going to have to get turnovers from G's offense or be able to throw the ball really well.

lol penn state

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCaQyQ3X0AE6QeQ?format=jpg&name=small

cursed image

that was easily one of the stupidest sporting events i’ve ever watched

Met dr4ke l0nd0n's parents fying out of lax. So nice i want usc to win now.

wow, blasphemy

Iowa State and OK state was a good game. Did not mind Gundy getting beat there as that dude seems like a serious douchenozzle.

Iowa State's QB is a pretty good college QB, perhaps a future coach or clipboard holder as he plays really smart. They got a WR and a TE that look like they maybe got the skills to play in the pros too.

Playing QB for the Indiana Hoosiers should come with some hazard pay. For the second time this year they pretty much got their QB killed making an awesome throw. Poor Mike Penix I don't think is going to survive playing for Indiana and that dude has a really good arm and some skills. Jack Tuttle got smashed by about 600 pounds of Buckeye roid rage earlier tonight.

Ryan Day with the beard even looks more like a jerk. I hate the f'n Buckeyes and hope (but doubt) that the Wolverines kick their ass.

That Zach Harrison is a f'n beast, dude is like 6-7 and runs crazy well for his size. Hard to believe that dude is only 21.