BCS Picture No More Clear with Blowouts and No Upsets In College Football

The BCS Championship picture did not get any clearer after a weekend of solid domination of most ranked teams against their non-ranked or lower ranked opponents.  With blowouts like #1 LSU over # 17 Florida 41-11, #2 Alabama over Vanderbilt 34-0, #3 Oklahoma over #11 Texas 55-17, #5 Boise State over Fresno State 57-7, #6 Oklahoma State over Kansas 70-28, #7 Stanford over Colorado 48-7, #8 Clemson over Boston College 36-14 and #9 Oregon 43-15 over California, you get the picture, no new news and everyone claiming to be a legitimate contender for this year's BCS Championship.  LSU and Oklahoma however made the biggest statements dismantling highly ranked and well regarded football programs in Florida and Texas respectively.  Even #18 South Carolina, with a quarterback change, recorded the largest margin of victory against an SEC opponent since joining the conference 54-3 over the Kentucky Wildcats.

#4 Wisconsin was resting up with an open week, while all the other contenders were having fun and protecting undefeated records with the exception of Oregon, which lost its' opening game against LSU.  #10 Arkansas (5-1 1-1 SEC) is the only other team with a loss in the Top 10, which managed to enjoy a lopsided win, 38-14, against #15 Auburn, which had just returned to the Top 25 this week with a "nail bitter" road victory against previously ranked #10 South Carolina.

The batch of one-sided victories leaves little to be determined about the "Pretender versus Contender" debates being conducted on sports talk radio, sports bars and work places around America.  So the anticipation, debates, scenarios, speculation and "what ifs" will continue to flood the discussions about this year's season and the championship race.  Likewise, the debates over Heisman hopefuls will continue as all top 12 candidates provided Heisman style performances, with the exception of the Badgers' Russell Wilson, who could only watch during this bye weekend.

Money Can't Buy Love In MLB

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The long 162 game MLB season offered exciting finishes for some and extremely disappointing conclusions for others, but regardless of the result, the collection of 30 baseball franchises paid $2,789,752,055 in salaries to approximately 1000 to 1200 players on the active and inactive rosters.  The average salary of a player in the majors is $3,323.296.53.  Although misleading due to the gigantic annual salaries of players like; NYY Alex Rodriguez  $27.5M, PHIL Ryan Howard $25M, PHIL Cliff Lee $24M, MIL Joe Mauer $23M, along with NYY CC Sabathia $23M, NYM Johan Sanata $22.9M, NYY Mark Teixera $22.5M,  BOS Adrian Gonzalez $22M, MIL Ryan Braun $21M, BOS Carl Crawford $20.3M and PHIL Roy Halladay $20M, these average salaries are still the basis for an investment into talent that will ultimately generate performance on the field that will result into playoff teams, division championships, pennant races and World Series Championships.  What we are seeing more and more that money does not but you love or a championship.

While the Yankees clinched the division title with a 97-65 record over Tampa Bay (91-71).  The Yankees paid $202,689,028 for 6 more wins than the "Wild Card" Devil Rays, who paid $41,053,571 in salaries.  The Rays went as far in the playoffs as the highest salaried team in professional baseball while sporting the second lowest salary in MLB.  The Philadelphia Phillies appeared to make the best of their $172,976,379 salary overhead with a regular season record of 102-60, 13 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, who invested $87,002,692 in players for 2011.  The Phillies wasted the second highest payroll bowing out in five games in the first round of the playoffs, losing to St. Louis whose $138,543,166 payroll ranks fourth in the league.

The Boston Red Sox in a three way fight with NY and Tampa Bay, recorded 90 wins and 72 losses, with approximately 25% of those losses coming in the month of September, leaving the Red Sox home during the playoff season, and forcing a quality manager out, that will prove more damaging in the immediate future.  The Sox invested $161,762,475 for basically negative results and obvious disappointment.  The Los Angeles Angels ($138,543,166  4th  86-76), Chicago White Sox ($127,789,000  5th  79-83), Chicago Cubs ($125,047,329  6th  71-91),  New York Mets ($118,847,309  7th  77-85), San Francisco Giants ($118,198,333  8th  86-76) and Minnesota Twins ($112,737,000  9th  63-99) did not make the playoffs, leaving the fans and management scratching their heads and planning additional moves over the season that will undoubtedly involve more money to buy talent or potential for an unknown competitive result.  These six top 10 payrolls in MLB recorded 462 wins and 510 losses for the season.

The playoffs commenced with salary ranking match-ups of #29 Tampa Bay vs #13 Texas, #1 New York vs #10 Detroit, #2 Philadelphia vs #11 St Louis and #17 Milwaukee vs #25 Arizona.  Now the pennant race will commence without the top nine payrolls in the league, with #10 Detroit against #13 Texas for the American league Championship and #11 St. Louis matched with #17 Milwaukee for the National League title.  The regular season record for the six lowest payrolls in the playoffs was 562-410.  Only three top ten salaried franchises made the playoffs, 1, 2 and 10.  Only #10 Detroit moves on to the pennant race.

The 2011 season becomes just another modern day season proving that MLB and other professional franchises in professional sports are missing the mark in the salary investment of players and team chemistry and investing against salary based collective bargaining revenue share, and marquee named athletes that are not making several teams better from the free agent market.  The result is high payrolls, frustrated fans, managers, front offices and several losing seasons, in more ways than one.  Like our mothers always said, "money can't buy you love" and obviously it's not buying wins either.

Strange Events Define Week 5 of College Football

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Blocked kicks, missed extra points, controversial fumbles, questionable fumbles, poor play calling, bad clock management, fumble recoveries, TD returns, game changing interceptions and long runs were all a part of a wild and wacky Week 5 in college football on the first day of October.  All a part of the NCAA football experience. 

LSU, ranked #1, made little mystery out of its one-sided victory over young and limited Kentucky.  Although they did not cover the projected spread, they accomplished redemption of the last upset crafted by Kentucky when LSU was last ranked #1.  But the 35-7 victory sent a message that LSU is not planning on coming back to the field.  Any efforts to dethrone the Tigers will be based on a school's "A" game.

#3 Alabama touting an undefeated 4-0 record and possibly the best defense in the country to go with a top ten offense, would go to the dangerous "Swamp" for a road test at one of the toughest opponent venues in the country.  Alabama would simply manhandle and grind their way to solid control of the game against a promising #12 Florida Gators, led by the offensive specialist, Head Coach Wil Muschamp.  But a Nick Saban coached team would be far  superior with Trent Richardson, Marquis Maze and Eddie Lacy ripping through the Gator Swamp to record a 38-10 win for the National Championship contending Crimson Tide, who has to play LSU before the season ends.

#2 Oklahoma rolled over Ball State, 62-6 in no surprising fashion and is still a mystery as a contender or pretender.  Landry Jones threw for 425 yards and 5 touchdowns, but coach Mike Stoops squad is expected to have a couple of real test in the near future.  For now the Sooners have to be considered a contender.

#4 Boise State, much like LSU, saw revenge for their opponent for a previous upset last year, when Nevada was ranked #17 and the Broncos were ranked #2, to have their National Championship hopes dashed sending them to a consolation BCS Bowl, but no championship discussions.  Unranked today Nevada, was picked apart surgically, with 169 rushing and 160 passing, by the Kellen Moore led Broncos,  30-10  in this stay alive contest, for the "stepchild" of the NCAA, on their run for the BCS Championship.

Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinals has little trouble with UCLA 45-19, Luck threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns and was extremely efficient going 23-27 through the air.  The #6 Stanford (4-0) appears to be on a collision course with Oregon for the PAC 12 championship, but has to have the slight edge with Luck under center, the leading Heisman candidate and the heir apparent to the No. 1 NFL Draft slot.

Russell Wilson has been the find of an era for #7 Wisconsin (4-0).  The two-sport athlete has become the piece that may just get a very consistent football program to the championship level in just one season.  The NC State transfer and graduate student QB has led a very impressive offense to go along with a very solid and physical Badger defense.  It proved to be too much for the "Big Red" machine of Lincoln, Nebraska as the Badgers, under the field leadership of Russell, dominated the Cornhuskers 41-17.  The battle of the Big Ten powers proved to be more of a massacre than a fair fight.

#18 Arkansas gave #14 Texas A&M a "welcome to the league" come-from-behind stunner 42-38, after the Aggies led 35-17 at the half, only to be out scored in the second half 25-3 by the aggressive play of the Hogs and Tyler Wilson, who threw for over 500 yards, most in the second half.   With A&M set to join the SEC next year, which should move Arkansas from the Western Division of the conference to the East, to accommodate today's victim, the Hogs were not hospitable in the treatment of their future member.

#10 South Carolina (4-1) can't get past Auburn (4-1) again and the hopes of a perfect and special season eludes the Gamecocks again.  Now the Spurrier coached team, must find a way to get a QB on the field to get the ball in the playmakers hands.  The future success will be based on trying to recover and win the SEC.  This offense as of today cannot get it done.  Roster says yes, but play calling and execution say no.  The Gamecocks lose a close one 16-13 at home and remain winless against Auburn 0-7, three of those losses in Columbia, SC.  

The South Carolina arch rival, made their statement to be looked upon as the elite of the ACC, with a commanding win against the hosting Hokies of Va. Tech 23-3.  The game was a solid defensive dominance, with avery efficient offensive game plan and productive offensive series.  #13 Clemson (5-0) just outplayed the pride of Virginia football and took control of the ACC with their third consecutive win against a ranked opponent, and higher ranked in each case.  The road proves to be no problem for the team from Death Valley.

Robert Griffin III has been putting up unbelievable numbers for #15 Baylor 3-0 going for four straight against 3-0 Kansas State.  Griffin came into this game with more TD passes, 13, than incompletions, at 12 for the highest efficiency rating of all college programs.  Griffin took his 85% accuracy to K-State and completed 23-31 for 346 yards and five TD's, but one mistake a late interception, his first of the season, gave K-State (4-0) the field position to get close enough to kick the game winning FG, for a 36-35 upset of Baylor (3-1) and dampen the great season start for the Bears.  Griffin, a Heisman candidate, has 18 TD's and 21 incompletions and 1 interception.  But worst of all, the great performance ended in a loss to an unbeaten K-State 4-0 (3-0, 1-0).

Marcus Lattimore's second average statistical performance will have him losing ground on Stanford's Luck and the emerging Russell Wison, while Oregon's LaMichael James continues as the nations leading rusher ahead of Lattimore.  Richardson of Alabama, Baylor's Robert Griffin III and Denard Robinson of Michigan continue to put up Heisman numbers.   For More on The Heisman Watch

Who will emerge as the two BCS Championship teams, LSU-Oklahoma, Alabama-Wisconsin, Oklahoma-Boise State, Alabama-Oklahoma, Boise State-Alabama, Clemson-Alabama, Clemson-Wisconsin, Stanford-Boise State or a new combination of contenders after the second half of the dust of the season settles.

South Carolina and Clemson Start Down Memory Lane

With South Carolina and Clemson football programs both 4-0 to start the season, one can only think of the dream season for each of these programs and the situations that parallel those memorable seasons.  In 1981 Clemson coming of a 6-5 season in 1980, went undefeated and won the National Championship beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl to collect the No. 1 spot in the land.  In 1984 South Carolina recorded its best record in the history of the program, and arguably one game away from playing for a National Championship, but an upset by Navy late in the season denied the Gamecocks of the No. 1 ranking that awaited that evening if a victory would have been secured.  South Carolina went on to squeak by Clemson to end the season and then lose a heart breaker late in the Gator Bowl to finish 10-2.

What makes the two seasons for each significantly notable is that Clemson was coached by Danny Ford a 33 year old third year head coach.  The National Championship made him the youngest head coach to win a national title.  The Clemson Tigers were not ranked entering the season and were in no way in the championship discussions or consideration.  The team started its' season beating Wofford 45-10, Tulane 13-5, #4 Georgia 13-3 and Kentucky 21-3.  Three years later the 1984 Gamecocks were being coached by a highly regarded Joe Morrison, but still had not yet achieved any significant accomplishments as a football program other than providing the stage for George Rogers to win the Heisman in 1980.  That year South Carolina defeated The Citadel 31-24, Duke 21-0, Georgia 17-0 and Kansas State 49-17.  The Gamecocks would go on to string wins against Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, East Carolina, North Carolina State and Florida State before the streak would end at 9-0 at Annapolis, with the Gamecocks ranked #2 behind Nebraska who would lose their first game of the season earlier that day.  In 1981, Clemson was less regarded and would follow their 4-0 start with consecutive wins against Virgina, Duke, NC State, Wake Forest, #9 UNC, Maryland, South Carolina and #4 Nebraska to claim the National Crown.  Clemson would rise to the #14 slot in the polls and move to #9, #6, #4, #3, #2 and eventually #1 going into the Orange Bowl, on January 1, 1982, against the #4 Cornhuskers. This year, as was the case in 1981, Clemson was being coached by an apparent young inexperienced head coach in his third season and regarded as a team being rebuilt coming of an average season.  Does this sound like anything familiar with the 2011 Tiger unit exactly 30 years later, under the leadership of Dabo Swinney?  In his third full season at 41 is still considered young, he has taken Clemson from disregarded to victories over Troy, Wofford, #21 Auburn and #11 FSU and a #15 Coach's Poll and #13 AP ranking after week four.  

The arch rival Gamecocks on the other hand started the season nationally ranked with high expectations, following a strong regular season last year, that included the first ever trip to the SEC conference championship game.  The addition of the #1 high school player, Jadeveon Clowney, to head a top 10 recruiting class, to go along with the national freshman of the year, Marcus Lattimore, making South Carolina a team to be watched and projected to compete for the SEC championship again in 2011, ranked #15 to start the season.  The 1984 team was coming off a 5-6 season, and considered a team in progress of being built.  However, this team would climb into the national rankings at #20 and with the wins over Pittsburgh and Notre Dame, would then slip into the top 10 in week seven.  South Carolina had established an identity for its' defense, then known as the "Fire Ants" for their swarming philosophy and creation of turnovers.  This year's team is much the same even with the absence of the "Fire Ant" characteristics.  This team has been able to win games against moderate to competitive teams with big plays by the defense and special teams, and a strong running performance again by Lattimore, finding ways to win while question marks continue, weekly, about the inconsistency of the offense.  

Clemson 2011, in mirroring Clemson 1981, began the season with question marks, but while the names on the back of the jerseys do not display Jordan, Davis, Kinard and Tuttle, they now read Boyd, Watkins, Allen and Ellington.  While both teams have unanswered questions, Clemson 2011 is improving each week, and impressing even the earlier doubting analyst, and finding victories against mid major and nationally ranked BCS powers.  Exploiting the talent and speed of their youth blended with solid physicality from their veteran players, and now in the national picture.  South Carolina 2011 is going into the stronger part of their schedule, which is where the 1984 team established its national credibility with wins over highly regarded Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, and eventually powerhouse, FSU in week nine when they finally rose to #2.  In South Carolina's case, the stat line does not list Hold, Dendy, Hillary and Hagood, but more nationally recognized Garcia, Lattimore, Clowney and Ingram, but the events have the same buzz affect, the hope of a championship.

So "fast-forward" to now, Steve Spurrier and Dabo Swinney have orchestrated current #9 and #13 rankings respectively and now control their individual team's destiny.  By continuing to improve team efficiencies and performances each week until the final regular season game where, if both can maintain their winning ways, the storied rivalry could just decide which team has a chance to play for a BCS National Title.  In each of the historical seasons, the top football game in the state of South Carolina was won by the team with the best record.  In 1981 Clemson won 29-13 and in 1984 South Carolina won 22-21, with each game decided on the opposing team's field.  Either way, the Gamecocks and the Tigers have made the state of South Carolina relevant in the BCS National Picture.

   

Week Three of College Football Reveals….

Week three placed a scare in #1 Oklahoma, #3 LSU and #10 South Carolina.  While at another level of the Top 25 #21 Auburn was having their 17 game winning streak stunted by Clemson, Notre Dame was getting their first win of the season at the expense of #15 Michigan State, Illinois was slipping by #22 Arizona State  and Jacory Harris was dismantling #17 Ohio State in a game that would pit two schools with extremely severe NCAA infraction ramifications facing each school, as they try to rebuild both reputations and their national prominence.  All other ranked teams were handling business as usual, unless you want to call the Washington-Nebraska shootout a scare for the #11 Corn Huskers 51-38.

Then there is the brilliant stepchild of NCAA football, #4 Boise State, flexing its' muscle on Toledo 40-15, #12 Oregon released its' frustration on Missouri State 56-7, #23 Texas redeemed is previous upset by the Bruins to secure a basically one-sided game 49-20.  It was #20 South Florida making the loudest noise, with a 70-17 over the undermanned Rattlers of FAMU, but #2 Alabama was making the largest statement of the day, displaying a potent offense with the most impressive and stingy defensive unit in land.  It would appear right now that the road to a National Championship would take an early route through Tuscaloosa.

But there are a few Heisman hopefuls that will have a say-so in the final mapping of the road to a National Title.  Kellen Moore, the accurate QB for the Boise State Mustangs, threw for 5 TD's on 32-42 passes and 455 yards.  LaMichael James ran for 204 yards on 12 carries, with a long run of 90 yards for one of his three touchdowns on the day.  Not to be outdone, Marcus Lattimore would finish his day with 246 yards on 37 carries and also score three touchdowns to become the first RB to reach that total playing for a Steve Spurrier coached ball club.  Andrew Luck kept his supporters comfortable with his Heisman status with a 20-31, 325 yard day and two scores, as he barely broke a sweat in the lopsided victory over Arizona.  Landry Jones, who is an outsider in this class of stars, has been mentioned slightly in the award discussions, but did himself no favors with an effective but average performance, 18-27 199 yards and two TD's to go with two interceptions.  While Denard Robinson and his Wolverines were resting this weekend, Trent Richardson was busy keeping his name in the hat with a three touchdown day, with scoring runs of 58 and 71 while amassing 167 yards on just 11 carries for the day.  James has the most 200 yard games (4) over the last five years for any BCS running back.

So after three weeks, it appears that Alabama will be a force in the SEC, and the giant in that conference, slowly growing into its Nick Saban stature again.  Boise State should cruise through the Mountain West, but better yet finish undefeated to hang at one of the Top four spots in the polls and later the BCS rankings for an outside shot at the illusive BCS National Championship game.  Oklahoma is vulnerable for an upset and will have to rely on more consistent QB play and efficiency to go wire to wire to a Championship season.  Oregon may be able to reestablish its' place among the championship discussions by running the table, which will include Luck and company.  LSU will face the same challenge it faces every year, beat their Western Division foe, Alabama, just to get to the SEC Championship Game, which normally means the winner is one half of the BCS Championship Game.

Well there are many scenarios to consider early in the season, but with 25% completed, the Cinderella Story, Boise State versus South Carolina, the Moore led Broncos against the Lattimore dependent Gamecocks could give college football a story for the ages and possibly one of the biggest moments in sports for both institutions in the same year.  But we're just going into the second quarter of the season with a full three quarters of a season to play, but this is starting to look like something special if the two can find a way to will their respective teams to blemish free seasons.

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The 2011 College Football Season Is Underway

With week one of the college football season nearing conclusion following tonight's Miami-Maryland matchup, fans and media have final been able to talk about the quality of teams, Heisman Candidates, conference and national championship predictions and new stars to be tracked.  This a welcomed focus from the NCAA violations, pay of play debates, fired coaches and death penalty discussions.  In the end #5 Boise State has established itself again this year as a National Contender, LSU proved that it can win with the depth and athletes on roster, #1 Oklahoma is for real, #2 Alabama is ready to reign again, #14 TCU, #3 Oregon, #16 Notre Dame and #19 Georgia are probably waiting for next year, and #12 South Carolina has the opportunity to make the preseason computer predictions come true.

College football is probably the most exciting sporting event in America.  When you lose you fall to a place that redefines your season.  When you win it determines who you are and when you continue to win your hopes are magnified to establish the collegiate atmosphere that makes college athletics the best entertainment in America.  Many of us don't like the BCS, but the NCAA has continued to allow us to be excited about game day in our cities, game of the week on Thursdays, and national powers meeting on neutral fields to give us the preview of National Championship matches and the aspirations of finding the National Title in the unexpected cities.

With Boise State's win over Georgia and LSU's win over Oregon, the focus has to be on Boise State as they have again proven that they are the best of the Mountain West and possibly one of the best in America.    The Broncos don't appear to have another real test until week 10 when they host TCU, an early upset victim on day one of the opening season "five days of football."  While #4 LSU will make claim to their status with the dominance of Oregon, they will have a proving ground in the SEC that will force their championship caliber play ever week in their conference.  South Carolina saved the dream season with a series of unbelievable scoring opportunities in the third quarter early to secure an eventual victory that saved the Dream Season, generated by great recruiting in the last three years and the legend of coaching, Steve Spurrier, having one last run at the National Championship.  But first things first, the SEC East, then to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, a road paved with rocky obstacles in the SEC, starting in Athens with a desperate Georgia program.

This could be the year that Boise State plays South Carolina in the BCS National Championship game with South Carolina winning.  If that is the case will computers then rule the world, because only a computer could have credibly created that scenario, but the schedules actually present the series of games and match ups that allow this to be the most dramatic college football season in the history of the game.  Just think did baseball set the stage and is there credence in the concept that, "winning begets winning?  South Carolina is a top institution that has established itself as a power in athletics and a power in International and Research Curriculm.  Could this be the year that the school gets credit for doing it all right.  That's how big this season could be for the University of South Carolina.

Expectations are high in Alabama, LSU, Boise State, Oklahoma, #6 Florida State, #8 Texas A&M, #9 Oklahoma State, #10 Nebraska, #7 Stanford and #11 Wisconsin, but there is something about this "Cinderella Story" brewing in South Carolina, co-starring Boise State.

College Football Television Schedule

Pay for Play, No Way In The NCAA

Modern college athletics has become a major focus of egos, finance, investigations, corruption, cover-ups, infractions, penalties, suspensions, dismissals and scandals.  At the root of all of this, money, luxuries of life, cars, jewelry, and even tattoos and drugs.  The problem is said to be the NCAA and its member schools who are making tons of money on the backs and skills of the many student-athletes of its member institutions. Along with the coaches who are making millions of dollars and have no true commitment to the student-athlete.  The student-athlete is left to attend class, practice, work-outs and games with no opportunity for them to work and sustain any sense of fiscal or financial comfort while attending school and playing the sport of choice under scholarship.  A great surface argument and rationale for the recent consensus attitude, "if you place it in front of me, or make it available I'm going to get mine, nobody else is looking out for me".  So the stage is set for over zealous and selfishly driven boosters,  agent's or runners, to place these valuable luxuries of life, through cash and goods, into the hands of less than naive student-athletes who then have been tainted and become rule violators, ineligible players, and often an embarrassment to their family, community, institution and self.  Instead of the disclosure of such violations and atrocities, along with the sanctions that follow, becoming a deterrent, we find that the cycle of events is increasing and becoming more prevalent.  That's right, it is becoming the rule, rather than the exception.  

So, how do we fix a system that appears to have penalties in place for such infractions that hinder the violators from easily advancing their careers in many cases, and places sanctions that incur financial consequences, while placing burdens on many from advancing the momentum of program success.  We first have to look at the perception of college athletics.  No longer is a great value placed in the opportunity for a free education, once we devalued the asset of an education, we established the altered view of the role of the student-athlete, the institution and amateurism.  We have forgotten what a college is meant to be in the life of young adults and the improvement of our society.  We overlook the thousands of enrolled students who support the institutions with their tuitions for their education.  Many who have to work their way through school just to pay for tuition, books, food and lodging, all of which is paid for the student-athlete on scholarship.  We tend to overlook the academic responsibility to attend college and the reason we go to college to improve our opportunity in life for the future.  Athletics provides the same forum for those athletes who have an opportunity to move on to a profession that will pay them millions to perform in their sport of choice.  And to qualify, all they have to do is attend class, practices, workouts and perform to the best of their ability.  The reward, they move on to the job of a lifetime, their dream, the unbelievable, professional athletics.  The college or university becomes their nurturing showcase, without it they are just another athlete with dreams and desires, but nowhere to exploit the skills or display their talent.  With such a gift, an opportunity, why is it necessary to make this group of special humans any more human than the general scholarship student who has to maintain a much higher grade point average than the average student-athlete to retain their scholarship?  The ROTC scholarship student has to make class, make military drills and maintain a higher grade point average, along with being obligated to a three-year stint in our Armed Forces upon graduation.   Most will say, they chose that route, and the controverting response is that the student-athlete chose that route as well, with many more concessions than any other scholarship or non-scholarship students in all NCAA member institutions.

Now let's find the flaw in the NCAA, where student-athlete scholarships are for only one year, renewed annually based solely on the discretionary ruling of a head coach.  A student-athlete is vetted and recruited to an institution based on his or her athletic performances in high school, which the coaching staff is hoping will translate into a quality and even star-like performance at the college level.  If that does not happen then a student-athlete could lose that scholarship because the speculated potential of the respective student-athlete was not reached to the expectation or need of the coaching staff.  This is unacceptable as it contributes to the devaluation of the student-athlete philosophy.  If a student-athlete accepts a scholarship and enrolls in an institution and meets all the requirements in the classroom, works out at their maximum capacity, and contributes to the best of their ability they should be allowed to complete their education under scholarship regardless if they fail to meet the speculated performance level aspired by the coaching staff.  This of course being that all moral and ethical standards of both the institution and society are maintained.  That institutional obligation should be a part of the complete commitment of the NCAA member schools, as they should be viewed as equitable students and athletes.  This consequence to the coaching staff, institution and school, is a mere fiduciary responsibility to the results of vetting, recruiting and signing of a student-athlete to scholarship, that should be viewed as a contract.  A contract that is mutually sustained by the services of the student-athlete and the consideration extended of a free undergraduate education, that they have up to five years to complete.  If this is not changed, then a student-athlete should be allowed to change institutions without the inconvenience or penalty of having to sit upon changing institutions at the Division I level.  While the ambiguity of many of the NCAA rules need to be changed or amended, the next major flaw is the penalties for rules infractions having entirely too much to do with the program and the student-athlete and not enough to do with the coaches and athletic directors.  This needs to be overhauled promptly, as we have created a detour from the true destiny of our educational and amateur athletic system.

The resolve or compromise can be found in more commitment to the student-athlete scholarship, stiffer penalties for coaches of programs that break the rules, giving our student-athletes the tainted personal growth and development, bankrupted of integrity and nurturing a cheating mentality, and a delusional view of life as a responsible adult.  While the outside influences of boosters, fans, groupies and yes agents, will loom as the most uncontrollable feature in the college athletic environment, it can be countered with a regulated method of allowing student-athletes, after their freshman year, to sell personally provided sports gear and achievement memorabilia for an amount to be regulated and capped by the NCAA.  The proposed sale of sports gear would be limited to the amount of gear in any one season, not to exceed an amount determined by the NCAA and reported to the member school compliance department for proper documentation of the transaction.  All students would be given the simple method of reporting such sale, requiring the purchaser to sign a simple form of acknowledgement.  If a student-ahtlete would sell an item outside of the parameters set forth, then such athlete would be deemed permanently ineligible to continue playing at a NCAA member school.  If a coach knowingly allows a student-athlete to breach such a privilege provided by abusing the cap, or failing to report, then they would be likewise prohibited from coaching for a period equal to the term of a full scholarship, which currently would be five years, with the "5 to play 4" allowance to student-athletes.  This would allow athletes to offset the much argued inability to work and generate spending money for general social luxuries supposedly available to other students, while not increasing the budget of schools with lesser internal means to expand spending on student-athletes.  The obvious funding of this potential stipend would then be based on funding from third party sources and documented for regulatory control.  Likewise, the question of value of the respective athletes in  regards to payment systems being arbitrarily proposed, would be mitigated as student-athletes would be able to either promote their value on the playing fields and courts or market their qualities within the community through speaking engagements, youth programs, autograph signing and outreach programs that would foster other respect by the public that would allow their respective logo items and memorabilia to be sold up to the maximum allowed by solid community service and character-based issues.  Example of an interior lineman spending time at reading programs and visiting hospitals, versus the well publicized quarterback or running back that is known solely by his often announced achievements on the field.

Rules are not made to be broken, they are made to stop people from taking advantage of others.  Rules are made to set a level playing field, and equitable opportunity for fairness in competition.  Rules will be broken, but when you want to stop an increase of rule breaking, establish an environment wherein it is less necessary to break that rule and more detrimental to consider the infraction.  Pay for play, no way NCAA.