Random College Football Discussion Thread

[SmoothPancakes]

Wait ... ESPN has created and runs some of the bowls? Well I'll be damned.

Don't go overboard here. It has nothing to do with the "everyone gets a trophy!" bullshit. The old requirement was 6-5. With the move to the 12 game schedule, they could have either chosen 6-6 or 7-5. They went 6-6 because of -- wait for it -- MORE MONEY!

And that's why I personally don't think anything will come of this, ever. Those extra teams that the ACC, Big 12, Big 10, Big East, Pac-12 and SEC, along with the teams that CUSA, Mountain West, Sun Belt, MAC, and WAC are able to get into bowl games with a 6-6 record, is that much more money for the conferences and teams. I just can't see them cutting out a dozen or more bowls, cutting out the number of teams in bowl games, and just throwing all that money away. Sure it makes for great sound bites and quotes in the newspaper, but in the end, that's money that won't be coming in any more, and no way in hell would they willingly cut down on the amount of money they make/get each year.

[JeffHCross]

Well, the reality is that while I'm skeptical of the claims that the BCS bowl teams are losing money (that's the "truth" but not the "whole truth"), I can't imagine that the 6-6 teams are not losing money. Those bowls don't get shit for attendance. The teams, and the bowls themselves, have to be hemorrhaging money.

[morsdraconis]

WVU lost something in the neighborhood of $250,000 by playing in the Orange Bowl (on a fuckin' Wednesday) because of the lost revenue from HAVING to buy 25,000 tickets or some shit (of which, we sold like half of through our school's ticket department). Very few bowl games are actually productive for teams. It's just the nature of it, sadly.

[SmoothPancakes]

Yeah. teams and the bowls themselves are hemorrhaging money. But the conferences, with the more teams making bowl games the better, are getting some good payouts from all the bowl games. I forget how much it was the Big Ten, SEC, etc made this past year with all the bowl payouts.

[JeffHCross]

WVU lost something in the neighborhood of $250,000 by playing in the Orange Bowl (on a fuckin' Wednesday) because of the lost revenue from HAVING to buy 25,000 tickets or some shit (of which, we sold like half of through our school's ticket department). Very few bowl games are actually productive for teams. It's just the nature of it, sadly.

Not necessarily true. Ohio State reported the same for last year's Sugar Bowl, but that didn't factor in the money that we get from the Big Ten through shared bowl revenue. So we made money, but all the reports said we lost.

[JeffHCross]

Wednesday is going to be very interesting.

[baseballplyrmvp]

Wednesday is going to be very interesting.

[cdj]

Nebraska NCAA Violations: NCAA Puts School On Probation In Illegal Textbooks Case

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The NCAA put Nebraska on two years' probation and endorsed the school's self-imposed fine of $38,000 on Wednesday as part of an impermissible benefits case involving textbooks and school supplies.

The NCAA spared Nebraska a stiffer punishment for what the Division I Committee on Infractions determined to be major violations across multiple sports over multiple years.

Nebraska reported the problem and last July acknowledged that it had improperly distributed nearly $28,000 in textbooks and other school supplies to athletes from 2007-10.

The school initially proposed that the athletic department pay a fine of $28,000. Athletic department spokesman Keith Mann said the university bookstore is adding $10,000 to the amount because it believed it shared culpability. The $38,000 will be donated to local charities and the probation will run through Jan. 31, 2014.

"We are pleased the NCAA chose to accept our self-imposed penalties without additional sanctions," athletic director Tom Osborne said in a statement. "We are also pleased that the NCAA Committee on Infractions noted there was no intent to violate NCAA rules and no members of our coaching staffs were involved in the matter. We regret that this violation occurred."

The NCAA allows schools to cover the cost of required course textbooks in athletic scholarships but not extra, professor-recommended books. Nebraska said it uncovered the violation on its own and determined that 492 athletes in 19 sports received books and supplies that were not required.

Individual athletes received a benefit ranging from approximately $580 to incidental amounts, the NCAA said. Because the violations included a large number of student-athletes and sports over portions of five academic years, the university agreed it failed to monitor its program.

Osborne said the athletic department failed to properly communicate with the bookstore concerning the NCAA rule regarding the use of athletic department funds for the purchase of required and recommended textbooks.

"We have taken corrective measures to ensure a violation of this type does not happen again," Osborne said.

Nebraska said in its report to the NCAA that there was no intentional wrongdoing, monetary reward or competitive advantage gained by the athletes involved.

The school said the average extra benefit was less than $60 per athlete. The total value was calculated by taking the cost of the book when purchased, minus the amount refunded to athletics when the books were returned.

[SmoothPancakes]

[AustinWolv]

Great job, NCAA. O-lie-o is still laughing all the way to the bank.

[cdj]

Until this news came out, I didn't know that schools were not allowed to provide 'recommended' textbooks to student-athletes. That seems to be hypocritical in the claims that they are 'student-athletes.' I understand not every school can afford it, but for those that can, why should the NCAA punish everyone? (I say that as someone who typically doesn't criticize the NCAA often.)

The two-year probation and fine increase seems a bit much. Unless players were pocketing the money for reselling the books (the last sentence implies the money went back to the Ath. Dept.), I fail to see how this is a big deal.

I can't imagine that some five-star prospect is going to get swayed to come to Nebraska over USC, Texas, etc. because the Huskers are going to give him extra textbooks. That seems like the last thing on the mind of an 18-year old - and I'm pretty sure the school wasn't using it to any sort of advantage. There are some dolts in the Athletic Department and I'm guessing someone there fell asleep as the article implies. Fire the boob and move on.

[JBHuskers]

So Les Miles is all butthurt that Gunner Kiel went to Notre Dame instead.

[bdoughty]

Recruiting is tougher than it looks.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-...015506961.html

[JBHuskers]

Considering I have had Chik-fil-a before and live in an area that doesn't have one. I understand

[AustinWolv]

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefoot...recruit-020112

[psuexv]

Considering I have had Chik-fil-a before and live in an area that doesn't have one. I understand

Personally I think Chik-fil-a is overrated. The sandwich is good but it's way overpriced and I have to eat like 4 sandwiches just to be full.

[morsdraconis]

Chik-fil-a sucks ass. Give me Wendys' Spicy Chicken Sandwich any day over Chik-fil-a.

[psuexv]

Chik-fil-a sucks ass. Give me Wendys' Spicy Chicken Sandwich any day over Chik-fil-a.

I could eat one of those right now. And aren't they only .99?

[morsdraconis]

I could eat one of those right now. And aren't they only .99?

Nah, the spicy ones are the ones that are $3.40 or somethin' but for ~$7.00 you can get a large size fry and drink with it and you're golden.

If you haven't done it before, get it plain with some Wendys barbeque sauce on the side (which you promptly put on it). Makes it that much hotter and it fuckin' tastes AWESOME.

[ryby6969]

How does everyone feel about their school's recruiting class? I am very excited at the kids we are bringing in. I think there could be some nice sleepers in our group.