Archive For The “ACC” Category
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| James Madison vs. Virigina Tech (HamptonRoads.com) |
This article from the Virginian Pilot-Online might have escaped your attention, but it could be something that has deep-ranging effects on collegiate athletics.
While the bill only affects schools in Virginia, if other state houses take up similar legislation across the country, it could deeply impact and potentially hurt smaller public universities across the country.
The article, written by Harry Minium, says it like this:
Old Dominion, Norfolk State and many other state schools will have to depend more on fundraising and ticket sales and less on student fees to fund their athletic budgets under a bill signed into law by Gov. Terry McAuliffe Sunday night.
McAuliffe signed HB 1897 without any amendments. The bill, sponsored by Del. Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, sets limits on the percentage of athletic budgets that can be funded through student fees.
“I am very happy to see that Governor signed the bill,” said Cox, the House Majority Leader.
Cox said he introduced HB 1897 to try to slow the increase in student athletic fees, which he said has been one of the major drivers behind a 122 percent increase in tuition and fees since 2002.
At first glance, this bill might seem to have a worthy goal – an attempt to halt the reliance on certain public institutions on reliance on soaking students in order to fund their athletics departments. Look at the bill more closely, though, and you start to wonder if that was the intent of the legislation at all.
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The talk around collegiate athletics is “Division 4”, after “Big 5” commissioners Mike Silve, John Swofford and Bob Bowlsby floated the idea of a new subdivision over the past few weeks.
Normally the talk of the big conferences breaking off from the rest of FBS would elicit so much yawning from the likes of Patriot League schools.
Unless, of course, you’re on the table for Division 4 membership.
No, this isn’t a typo, or a crazy theory. Sportswriters are contemplating what Division 4 might look like, and the Patriot League is being contemplated as a possible league to be a part of that subdivision.
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Exactly when is a media entity not entitled to report on itself?
This is the question I frequently pose to myself when ESPN, Fox and CBS report on anything about college realignment issues in general.
It’s especially true about this report made by Jeremy Fowler of CBS Sports.Com, which purports to be an inside look at who has the “most say” in realignment – TV networks or the conferences themselves.
The good news is that there are a lot of revealing insights into the top men running the show in collegiate athletics, including media people and conference commissioners. The bad news is that it reads like the writer is trying to snooker the reader into thinking that TV has no influence over realignment – when a keener, more independent look at the quotes reveals anything but.
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If you’ve been following collegiate athletics like I have, you’ve undoubtedly seen the latest news flying around this week as colleges have been dumping long-standing conferences like, apparently, top military brass have been dumping husbands and wives.
Maryland abandons the ACC, a conference which they’ve called home for 50 years, to join the Big 10, for little other reason than cash money to bail out their near-bankrupt athletics department. Rutgers abandons the Big East, a conference which they’ve called home for more than 20 years, to join the Big 10, for little other reason than cash money to fund their struggling athletics department.
From there, all hell has broken loose, as Louisville has leapt to the ACC to replace Maryland, while the Big East seems convinced that East Carolina and Tulane are acceptable replacements for the Cardinals and Scarlet Knights, and the forgotten conferences of FBS, Conference USA and the Sun Belt, reshuffle their deck chairs to refill their conference with new members as the Big East poached Tulane and East Carolina.
From the perspective of this reporter who clings to academics when it comes athletics, it’s awfully depressing viewing to watch.
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