The Rest of College Football

[THE_WIZARD_]

Yawn.

NY, Cali, Illinois. All others are just playing.

[entropy]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The head of the Big Ten painted a dire picture Friday of what college sports would look like if players were paid. He said his conference likely would cease to exist and the Rose Bowl probably would not be played.

Jim Delany said the idea of paying players goes against the entire college experience and he couldn't see league members agreeing to it. If some did, he said, they likely would be kicked out of the conference because the move would create an imbalance among schools that could not be resolved.

The longtime commissioner said it also would bring about the end of the Rose Bowl as a traditional New Year's Day game between Big Ten and Pac-12 teams.

More From ESPN.com

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany's views in the Ed O'Bannon trial on athletes and academics surprised observers Friday, writes Mark Schlabach. Story

"There wouldn't be a Rose Bowl if either they or we were operating in a very different wavelength in terms of paying players," Delany said.

Delany followed NCAA president Mark Emmert to the witness stand in a landmark antitrust suit brought by former UCLA basketball star Ed O'Bannon and others. They dispute the NCAA's contention that college sports would be thrown into turmoil if players win the right to be paid for the use of their names, images and likenesses in television broadcasts and videogames.

Like Emmert, he said college sports would be irreparably damaged in many ways if a century-old tradition is breached by payments.

"These games are owned by the institution, and the notion of paying athletes for participation in these games is foreign to the notion of amateurism," Delany said.

Delany acknowledged that the Big Ten gets hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from its sports, with each school receiving a $25 million share of the proceeds. But he said most of that money goes into programs and academics, even at a time when coaches are earning millions of dollars a year.

Under cross examination, Delany was asked how much athletes get of the approximate $230 million a year the conference receives in broadcast rights and from its Big Ten Network.

[+] EnlargeJim Delany
AP Photo/Nam Y. HuhIn testimony at the Ed O'Bannon trial Friday, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said "the notion of paying athletes for participation in these games is foreign to the notion of amateurism."

"There is no athlete's share of broadcast rights," he said.

That might change someday if O'Bannon and others succeed in getting an injunction in federal court that would allow them to band together and sell the rights to their images. They envision a system where players get a share of the rapidly growing pool of broadcast money, with the money split equally among team members and handed out after a player leaves school.

The plaintiffs argue that the NCAA's rules on amateurism -- which Emmert testified form the core of the organization -- are illegal because they artificially stifle competition. Much of the testimony has concerned the way the NCAA defines amateurism at a time when billions of dollars are pouring into college sports and almost everyone but the athletes are making money from them.

The NCAA has said it would appeal any such injunction all the way to the Supreme Court if U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken rules against the organization. It could be years before the issue is settled.

Delany took the stand after Emmert concluded seven hours of testimony. The NCAA leader said he was opposed to paying players for anything more than the cost of attending university, but said that paying coaches millions of dollars a year was something that was commonly accepted.

Emmert acknowledged that when he was LSU's president he made Nick Saban college football's highest-paid coach after the Tigers won the national title in 2004. And when he was president of the University of Washington, Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian was the highest-paid state employee.

"I certainly didn't change any trend if that's your point," he told plaintiff attorney Bill Isaacson.

The trial is being held without a jury and is expected to last another week, with Wilken ruling weeks after that on the request for an injunction.

[entropy]

ESPN

Delany Testimony Hurts NCAA Case

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Players' attorney Michael Hausfeld had a long list of items he wanted Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany to address when he took the stand on the 10th day of the Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA trial.

Surprisingly, Hausfeld heard the answers he wanted before even asking Delany a question.

During Delany's direct questioning from NCAA attorney Luis Li, Delany had offered opinions that some college athletes spend too much time participating in their sports and freshmen shouldn't be eligible to compete so they can focus on their studies. Further, Delany had said, athletes should be given multiyear scholarships -- instead of one-year grants-in-aid that can be rescinded by a coach for seemingly any reason -- to help ensure they complete the work toward their academic degrees.

After nearly 2? hours of testimony, it might have been difficult for observers in the crowded courtroom to determine whether Delany was testifying for the plaintiffs or the defense. In fact, the NCAA might have been just as well off sending a member of the Drake Group or Knight Commission to the stand. The members of those academic think tanks, which have been highly critical of the commercialization of college sports, might have provided similar answers.

"Mr. Delany explained ... the reforms that he wants and that haven't happened and that require the approval of the NCAA and its members," players attorney Bill Isaacson said after court. "[He listed] all the ways athletes are classified differently from students. They are concerned that what we are proposing will result in a different classification. What Mr. Delany was describing was the all the ways that they're different now. Everybody knows that."

During Li's questioning, Delany, a former basketball player at the University of North Carolina and one of the most respected power brokers in college sports, said he believes once college basketball season ends, "we should put a lock on the gym." Delany said he believes it would be more beneficial for athletes to spend their summers away from sports, focusing on their academics or studying abroad.

Isaacson said the fact that many college athletes now practice, compete and prepare for their sports year-round makes them different from other college students -- and more like professional athletes.

"We don't think about a major college football player taking a semester abroad," Isaacson said. "With our children at colleges, it's one of the top things that colleges say: 'Think about our study-abroad programs.' We don't even think about that opportunity for college football players. It's just one of a long list of reasons they're different now. They're not integrated into academics. All that can be improved, and none of that will be hurt by sharing some licensing money."

Delany's testimony shot yet another hole in the NCAA's best defense to the O'Bannon efforts to transform the way college sports currently operate. The plaintiffs -- led by O'Bannon, a former UCLA basketball player -- are seeking an injunction from U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken to prohibit the NCAA from limiting what FBS football and Division I men's basketball players can receive monetarily for the use of their names, images and likenesses in television broadcasts, video games and other forms of marketing.

The NCAA's attorneys and their witnesses argued throughout the first two weeks of the trial that a pay-for-play system would irreparably damage the integration of academics and athletics on campuses while also destroying the competitive balance of college sports.

Delany and NCAA president Mark Emmert, who wrapped up seven hours of testimony before the Big Ten commissioner took the stand, both insisted that amateurism is at the core of the NCAA model.

If the NCAA can succeed in persuading Wilken in the non-jury trial that those balances must be protected, it will establish a justification of its rules prohibiting paying players, which, given testimony thus far, appears to be a clear violation of the nation's antitrust laws.

Delany, though, through his frank answers, didn't seem to help the NCAA's case on Friday. He has repeatedly talked about the reforms he wanted, but his words seemed to carry much more weight Friday with so much on the line for college sports' governing body.

Players' attorneys have argued that the NCAA and its member schools have failed to hold up their end of preserving amateurism, which is protecting their student-athletes from commercial exploitation. Again on Friday, Isaacson showed Emmert examples of student-athletes being featured on school marketing that included corporate logos.

"You heard a lot of testimony from Dr. Emmert about where reform is coming and where it's not," Isaacson said. "He talked about cleaning up the rule book and making it easier to read, basically a deregulation agenda, and maybe that makes sense. But he fully admitted that there's no reform agenda for commercial exploitation or commercialism."

At one point during Emmert's testimony, Isaacson asked him if he made Nick Saban the highest-paid coach in the country when he was LSU's president, and Steve Sarkisian the highest-paid employee in his state when he was president at the University of Washington. Emmert said he'd signed off on both coaches but didn't start the trend of escalating coaching salaries.

"You heard what the previous NCAA presidents were like and that they were echoing the same concerns that are no longer being said," Isaacson said. "It makes sense when your new NCAA president made Nick Saban the highest-paid coach in the nation. You're not going to make that person, no matter how distinguished or how smart, the person in charge of your agenda for reigning in commercialism."

NCAA managing director of research Todd Petr finished Friday's testimony by taking the stand and trying to explain how money is accumulated and distributed by the NCAA, a subject that has seemed to intrigue Wilken throughout the trial.

As the lawyer was nearing the end of Petr's explanation of how the NCAA spends nearly $850 million annually, Wilken interrupted.

"Are we done with all the money?" she asked. "Where's the rest of it?"

Apparently, Wilken had been adding what she was hearing.

"We're up to about $500 million," she said. "I'm looking for the big picture."

After her math was corrected, she learned there was only about $55 million missing -- pocket change in today's college sports.

[entropy]

Eight members of South Carolina's 2014 recruiting class may not qualify academically
By Sam Cooper
16 hours ago
Dr. Saturday

.
COLUMBIA, SC

With less than 50 days remaining from the start of the college football season, a significant portion of South Carolina?s 2014 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 16 in the country by Rivals.com, has not yet arrived on campus.

Offensive coordinator Steve Spurrier Jr. told The State that eight of the Gamecocks? 21-man recruiting class have not enrolled in school. The coaching staff is aware that ?not all of the remaining players? will qualify academically.

Defensive end signees Dante Sawyer and Kalan Ritchie previously announced their intentions to attend junior college after not qualifying academically. Junior college signee Jhaustin Thomas, another defensive end, also failed to qualify academically.

Additionally, cornerbacks Wesley Green, Chris Lammons and Darin Smalls, fullback Joe Blue and defensive tackle Dexter Wideman ?are still trying to meet qualifying standards in time to join the Gamecocks in August.?

?We would like to hope that at least two out of three (cornerbacks) are going to make it,? Spurrier Jr. said. ?That?s a pretty critical area for our 2014 football season getting those guys here.?

Four-star D.J. Smith and three-star Al Harris Jr., both cornerbacks, are both enrolled in summer classes and could be expected to see the field early.

The Gamecocks, who finished 11-2 last season, open their season at home against Texas A&M on August 28 ? a Thursday night showdown.

[entropy]

bama ducks MSU for USC

Alabama and USC will launch their 2016 seasons on Sept. 3 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

[+] EnlargeNick Saban, Jabriel Washington, Dillon Lee
AP Photo/Butch DillBy facing USC in their 2016 opener, coach Nick Saban and Alabama will fulfill the new SEC mandate to play at least one nonconference game against a Big Five conference school.

The Cowboys Classic will mark the eighth meeting between the programs. Alabama got the best of USC the last time the teams met, winning 24-3 in the 1985 Aloha Bowl.

The game against the Trojans is the latest of the Crimson Tide's high-profile neutral-site openers. Alabama will play West Virginia in Atlanta this season and Wisconsin in Arlington in 2015.

By adding the nonconference tilt with USC, Alabama fulfills its new obligation from the SEC to begin scheduling at least one nonconference game against a Big Five conference opponent starting in 2016.

Last summer, Alabama canceled a previously scheduled home-and-home series with Michigan State for 2016 and '17. Tide athletic director Bill Battle said at the time that the move was done because of "the uncertainty of conference football schedules in those years."

More from ESPN.com

If Alabama vs. USC is the type of luscious matchup we can expect in the playoff era, then college football fans should rejoice, Ted Miller writes. Story

But according to coach Nick Saban, he tried and failed to persuade the Spartans to move the game to a neutral site.

The 2016 game between Alabama and USC could feature an interesting storyline. Lane Kiffin, who was fired by USC last fall, joined the Crimson Tide as offensive coordinator in January.

Alabama won the last time it played at AT&T Stadium, beating Michigan 41-14 to kick off the 2012 season.

Florida State and Oklahoma State will play in the 2014 Cowboys Classic.

[THE_WIZARD_]

If Alabama vs. USC is the type of luscious matchup we can expect in the playoff era

Uh...USC from the Petey days perhaps...now...pffffft. I would rather see a slobberknocker like MSU-Bama.

Anyone else sick of the ESPN-SEC Love Affair already?

[entropy]

already? how about 5 yrs ago

[entropy]

i've boycotted ESPN has a result. Unless a BIG team is playing, I'm not watching

[The Oracle]

I was hoping FoxSports1 would put up a comparable product, but....nope. I still don't watch much ESPN. Only The Herd while I'm getting ready for work and once in awhile PTI. Other than that, it's shit.

[entropy]

I was too... I was hoping they'd have a serious football program, where true fans can get inside stats and details.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I fucking hate the SEC.

[whodean]

The Rest of CF

Saban laced into the rest of the SEC cowards again today, calling for a 9 game conference schedule.

[WM Wolverine]

With the SEC Network and 14 programs, SEC will have so much inventory, a 9 game schedule makes a ton of financial sense for their SEC Network. I don't think a lot of the programs have the balls for it, especially those with rivalries against ACC programs; Florida, Georgia, South Carolina,

[whodean]

http://www.si.com/college-football/2013/05/28/nick-saban-sec-scheduling

[entropy]

He has a brilliant grasp of the obvious.....

Big 12 commissioner Bowlsby rips NCAA, says 'cheating pays'
| By FOX Sports


Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby addressed the media in Dallas on Monday to begin the league's Media Days event, and he took the opportunity to put the NCAA on blast.

Bowlsby took the current model for enforcement to task, saying "cheating pays" in college sports.

“[NCAA] enforcement is broken,” Bowlsby said. “The infractions committee hasn't had a hearing in almost a year, and I think it's not an understatement to say cheating pays presently.”

Bowlsby continued on the enforcement staff: “They're in the battle with a BB gun in their hand. They're fighting howitzers. We have to find a way to make progress on it. It undermines the confidence of the system.”

The commissioner expressed his serious concerns with the NCAA's future, saying, "If you like intercollegiate athletics the way it is, you're going to hate it going forward. There's a lot of change coming.”

He outlined a difficult financial future in which expenses grow almost twice as fast as revenues. With autonomy -- a concept that's becoming more likely by the day -- among the Power 5 conferences, of which the Big 12 is included, more money will be required for better medical care for athletes, long-term educational opportunities and additional benefits. These, Bowlsby argues, will put significant pressure on athletic departments, and the result will likely be a net loss.

“Coaches and athletic directors aren't likely to take pay cuts,” Bowlsby said. “Over a period of time what we'll find is that instead of keeping a tennis program, they're going to do the things that it takes to keep the football and men's and women's basketball programs strong.

"In the end it's a somewhat zero-sum game. There's only so much money out there.”