The New York Timesdiscusses the growing trend in College Football: weak teams play strong teams for the money. The University of Buffalo, will play Auburn and Wisconsin this year. The probability of UB beating either team is smaller than the probability of GWB admitting a mistake or the Conservative Congress controlling spending. Yet, even though UB will suffer total humiliation and AUburn and Wisconsin will receive a bump in the polls due to the blow-outs, UB still schedules the game. Why? There are $750,000 reasons why.
The NCAA allow schools to schedule 12 games, which will enable schools to make more money on home games. But rather than schedule a decent opponent that will offer a competitive game, Auburn students will have the luxury of watching UB play. This seems to be the growing trend around the league. Texas will play Sam Houston State on 9/30; Penn State plays Youngstown State (I-AA ) on 9/16. Miami (FL) plays Florida A&M (I-AA team) on 9/9.
Rather than purchase textbooks or other items related to education, students will pay for sports passes, which at some schools seem insanely high for quality or product and quality of experience but are necessary for the social coercion in the culture of the university. Student athletes (or just athletes) spend more time at practices, etc., rather than in the classroom or working (how is it that student atheltes do not need to work though almost every other student needs to work to afford a college education?) to earn some cash for the semester. At some point, will any University admit that football or basketball players are not students idurng the semester in which their sport plays and let them (1) be athletes in season and students in the off-season or (2) just pay the atheletes a fraction of what it makes from "using" them to make money or (3) just admit that the university is just a business and no longer in the business of education but rather just a farm system for major sports teams.
But, on the bright side, my school has a brand new scoreboard, on top of their brand new practice facilities, and on top of their coach, whom earns $2,000,000 or so for leading a average team, to an average record, in a BCS division. The last "major" victory the school won was back in 2002. Yet- I always have something to talk about with my class when they do not read their assigned work.
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And just as student-athletes are just athletes during the semester in which they compete, most students are just sports fans during those semesters, especially during the football season. Come Monday morning, students are either so excited about the weekend's victory that they can talk about nothing else, or they are so bummed out from the loss that they can hardly participate in class discussions. Nearly all students (at least at our school) are too wrapped up in their college sports teams; it's not just the athletes who participate.
I can't wait to see the new scoreboard. Money well spent, I'm sure.
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