Do academics mean anything anymore at college

RamblinRed

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This article just depresses me and further pushes me away from following college sports.
As every year goes by I am becoming less interested. I watched less college sports this year than I have ever done before. I contribute less than I used to. I probably watched more women's college basketball this year than men's. I certainly watch alot less college football and basketball than I used to.
I don't really follow recruiting that closely anymore because most of the young people are going to be gone in 2 years or less, so why bother getting invested in any of them.

I feel like I am maybe a year or two from just not following college sports anymore. Somewhere along the way we lost the thread. What is the point of following college sports if they really have nothing to do with college? I'd be all for college football being completely removed from colleges at this point. Just go make it a minor league professional sport.


As the enterprise moves away from the educational component of college athletics, the question must be asked: What thread of academics tied to athletics will be left? Are players moving closer to majoring in football? We're not necessarily talking about a degree program -- although, who knows, maybe that's in the cards -- but eroding academic integrity in this transfer climate.

Athletes will continue to play. They will go to classes. But does it even matter anymore if they graduate?

"Quite frankly, they don't care," one Power Four AD said non-specifically. "They care, but [athlete] mobility and money is more important than graduation right now."

It's a long-proven fact that the more a student transfers, the less likely that person is to graduate.

"When we look back five years from now, what will our graduation rates be?" wondered one member of an NCAA committee dealing with the eligibility component.

It has now become much easier to assemble and retain a roster in professional sports than in college athletics. In the pros, there are salary caps and team budgets.

In major college sports, pure chaos continues to reign.
 

leatherneckjacket

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This article just depresses me and further pushes me away from following college sports.
As every year goes by I am becoming less interested. I watched less college sports this year than I have ever done before. I contribute less than I used to. I probably watched more women's college basketball this year than men's. I certainly watch alot less college football and basketball than I used to.
I don't really follow recruiting that closely anymore because most of the young people are going to be gone in 2 years or less, so why bother getting invested in any of them.

I feel like I am maybe a year or two from just not following college sports anymore. Somewhere along the way we lost the thread. What is the point of following college sports if they really have nothing to do with college? I'd be all for college football being completely removed from colleges at this point. Just go make it a minor league professional sport.


As the enterprise moves away from the educational component of college athletics, the question must be asked: What thread of academics tied to athletics will be left? Are players moving closer to majoring in football? We're not necessarily talking about a degree program -- although, who knows, maybe that's in the cards -- but eroding academic integrity in this transfer climate.

Athletes will continue to play. They will go to classes. But does it even matter anymore if they graduate?

"Quite frankly, they don't care," one Power Four AD said non-specifically. "They care, but [athlete] mobility and money is more important than graduation right now."

It's a long-proven fact that the more a student transfers, the less likely that person is to graduate.

"When we look back five years from now, what will our graduation rates be?" wondered one member of an NCAA committee dealing with the eligibility component.

It has now become much easier to assemble and retain a roster in professional sports than in college athletics. In the pros, there are salary caps and team budgets.

In major college sports, pure chaos continues to reign.
I feel the same way. I am becoming more inclined to walk away from college sports each year. I no longer following recruiting the way I used to do. I definitely see the off ramp in the near future.
 

Dman374

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The answer to the title...
Mike Myers No GIF
Austin Powers No GIF
No Way GIF
 

ChicagobasedJacket

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425
This article just depresses me and further pushes me away from following college sports.
As every year goes by I am becoming less interested. I watched less college sports this year than I have ever done before. I contribute less than I used to. I probably watched more women's college basketball this year than men's. I certainly watch alot less college football and basketball than I used to.
I don't really follow recruiting that closely anymore because most of the young people are going to be gone in 2 years or less, so why bother getting invested in any of them.

I feel like I am maybe a year or two from just not following college sports anymore. Somewhere along the way we lost the thread. What is the point of following college sports if they really have nothing to do with college? I'd be all for college football being completely removed from colleges at this point. Just go make it a minor league professional sport.


As the enterprise moves away from the educational component of college athletics, the question must be asked: What thread of academics tied to athletics will be left? Are players moving closer to majoring in football? We're not necessarily talking about a degree program -- although, who knows, maybe that's in the cards -- but eroding academic integrity in this transfer climate.

Athletes will continue to play. They will go to classes. But does it even matter anymore if they graduate?

"Quite frankly, they don't care," one Power Four AD said non-specifically. "They care, but [athlete] mobility and money is more important than graduation right now."

It's a long-proven fact that the more a student transfers, the less likely that person is to graduate.

"When we look back five years from now, what will our graduation rates be?" wondered one member of an NCAA committee dealing with the eligibility component.

It has now become much easier to assemble and retain a roster in professional sports than in college athletics. In the pros, there are salary caps and team budgets.

In major college sports, pure chaos continues to reign.
They don’t matter and have not mattered for some time now at the schools that are winning and competing for national championships each season. GT is one of the only schools in the P4 continuing to attempt to mix academic (not offering true jock majors) with athletics.
 

Poodletop

Jolly Good Fellow
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174
Agree, I’m also losing interest in college sports. I no longer pay much attention to recruiting because why bother? 90% of these guys are convinced they’ll be making $$$$ in the pros so actually going to classes is just an annoying chore. They just can’t see that maybe 5% of them will even get a shot at pros, much less make any big money.
 

RamblinRed

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According to the NFL's College Advisory Committee - 1.6% of college football players will ever play professionally in the NFL.
That doesn't mean those will all of long successful careers. Many of them may only play a year, or never play for more tha minimum contracts.
 

Vespidae

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As the enterprise moves away from the educational component of college athletics, the question must be asked: What thread of academics tied to athletics will be left?
I think there's a bit of a romantic view of college sports as pure, or amateur (love of the game) etc and that the move towards $$$ is recent. I assure you it isn't. I know players personally who received exams and completed term papers slid under their doors at night by the tutoring staff. It's much more transparent now ... players now offer to pay fellow students to prepare and submit their coursework and there's virtually no compliance investigations into it.

It was always a little dirty ... we just see it now more than ever. In a way, it will be better to go ahead and unionize and institute work rules.
 

L41k18

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177
Correct Vespidae.
The Ivies were using paid ringers in the 1870s or so as soon as they learned people would pay money to watch this new sport.
 

Poodletop

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I believe the University of Chicago dropped football back in the 1930’s because it had gotten too dirty. Things haven’t really gotten any better.😞
 

RamblinRed

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I think these comments by Jerry Stackhouse after he was fired at Vandy (Which was justified) show how much things have changed in a very short period of time - 2-3 years.

"When we first started here, we thought that just getting on par with the other schools, having the facilities and things like that, would help. Now that's not enough," Stackhouse said. "Used to be where you could go, you make all the calls, you go show kids as much interest as you can, do all those type things. Now you got to reach out to their agents. You know what I'm saying? That's where it is in order to really get in the door. NIL, that's a big part of it. You have to be a player in that. Quite frankly, we hadn't been a big player in that yet. So those are the things that have to become a part of it."

I see on the message boards alot of talk about how much NIL is it going to take to get a player to come to a college. That is seriously messed up. Most of these young men - even at the factories, are never going to play a minute of professional sports (1.6% of college football players play at the NFL level, for college basketball players it is a little better as roughly 20% play professionally somewhere in the world), yet both they and the colleges are treating academics as an afterthought at best.

Stackhouse is also basically saying that having the facilities, putting in the time and effort to recruit and establish relationships with prospects is no longer enough. Now it is basically a money grab.

There has always been money involved at some places, but the sheer level of money now and how it has impacted the decisions being made are a real negative for the young men and college sports themselves.

I used to live and die by GT sports, that is not the case anymore. How I view college sports has changed radically. I gave up my season tickets. I watch very few games (Even GT's) live. Generally i'll DVR games and if they win I will go back and watch it if I have time. If they lose I don't even bother.

I gave up professional sports a long time ago. I don't watch NBA or MLB. I'll watch NFL playoff games that interest me. College sports is getting close to that point for me. This complete chaos where there are either no rules/regulations or they are not enforced in any way just makes it unenjoyable. There is no reason to watch to follow any players because they may be here today gone tomorrow. You don't get to enjoy seeing players grow and evolve.
 

Billygoat91

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Academics in major college sports (football and basketball) doesn't mean anything and hasn't for some time. Articles like this are just coming out because the whole facade of student athletes pushed by the NCAA has crumbled in the past few years. I think there are individual who care, but the system ad a whole doesn't. It really is a disservice to the athletes, though. A small fraction will go pro and make great money. The rest, if they squander their opportunity for higher education, lose out on the much more definite outcome of life changing money through getting their degree. It's easy for 18-22 yr olds to think about getting the bag in terms of one big pay out. It's harder to understand the difference that a middle-class salary over 30 years sets you up for life.
 

Bogey

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I think the situation with college sports is at a low point and cannot go much lower. I gave up my season tickets for basketball and baseball but with Cabrera, Batt, and Key in charge, I kept my season tickets for football.
I still think there is enough interest by responsible universities and their presidents to right the ship that has been led off course and corrupted mainly by the NCAA SEC, and tv networks. It indeed will take a Big Bang split to get back on track and I still am hopeful it will come in the next couple of seasons, fueled mainly by the AAU schools in the B1G and ACC. We are most fortunate to have President Cabrera leading us in this critical phase, along with his capable AD J. Batt.
 

dressedcheeseside

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I think the situation with college sports is at a low point and cannot go much lower. I gave up my season tickets for basketball and baseball but with Cabrera, Batt, and Key in charge, I kept my season tickets for football.
I still think there is enough interest by responsible universities and their presidents to right the ship that has been led off course and corrupted mainly by the NCAA SEC, and tv networks. It indeed will take a Big Bang split to get back on track and I still am hopeful it will come in the next couple of seasons, fueled mainly by the AAU schools in the B1G and ACC. We are most fortunate to have President Cabrera leading us in this critical phase, along with his capable AD J. Batt.
Aren’t the courts responsible for this NIL mess?
 

slugboy

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I think the situation with college sports is at a low point and cannot go much lower. I gave up my season tickets for basketball and baseball but with Cabrera, Batt, and Key in charge, I kept my season tickets for football.
I still think there is enough interest by responsible universities and their presidents to right the ship that has been led off course and corrupted mainly by the NCAA SEC, and tv networks. It indeed will take a Big Bang split to get back on track and I still am hopeful it will come in the next couple of seasons, fueled mainly by the AAU schools in the B1G and ACC. We are most fortunate to have President Cabrera leading us in this critical phase, along with his capable AD J. Batt.
I don’t see Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan, etc. as the leaders to put academics back in the locker rooms. Who are the “responsible” universities?
 
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