Blessing in disguies?
The realignment schedule will not move because of this suit, regardless of the outcome. The big change that will occur if the plaintiffs prevail is that all athletic scholarships will disappear. Jim Delany threatened this when "cost of attendance" came into being, and Swarbrick hinted at it as well. He said that the B1G would adopt the NCAA Div III model: no athletic scholarships, no cost of attendance money. The other conferences must follow that plan. The risk is that former scholarship athletes will file a class action suit to recover past pay for their services. If any Div I school has established a payment structure for athletes, that will determine the market value to which they will be entitled.
I don't know if the Div III model would be such a bad change. Many have bemoaned the problems created by big money in college sports. Television would still buy the content, alums would still care about the teams. Might be a blessing in disguise.
Football athletes who are not suited for academic life will need an alternative step before entering the NFL. With any luck, a minor league will appear and perhaps much of the bribery and cheating will take place over there instead of in college football.
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In response to this post by Lakeridgehokie)
Posted: 10/22/2018 at 4:25PM