NCAA Endzone

College football is a beautiful thing.

I love pro football, but the money element gets on my nerves sometimes. It seems like there is always someone crying that they’re not making enough money and that always bugs me.

College football doesn’t have that element. The players are playing for their education, and you get to see them play before they go pro.

I will never forget the first time I watched a Florida Gators game and saw Reggie Nelson run. My first thought was wow, and my second thought was that he’d get picked in the first round of the NFL draft. Of course, that turned out to be true. I was proud of myself for recognizing his talent, and glad that I got to see him play before he turned pro.

So what do you think of college football? Do you like it better than the NFL, or do you see it as a good way to pass a Saturday afternoon?

Two students alleged that Illinois broke state law when they decided to eliminate the school’s mascot, Chief Illiniwek, from football and basketball games.

A judge did not agree and dismissed their lawsuits on Tuesday.

The students alleged that the NCAA was putting pressure on the school to drop the mascot by threatening to sanction the school’s athletic teams. The NCAA denied this allegation.

The students have 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision.

NCAA, Illinois, mascot

Starting in 2008, the NCAA will require that student athletes wanting to compete at Division I schools complete 16 “core” courses in the traditional four years of high school, instead of the 14 now required.

Under the new guidelines, the NCAA will require students to have four years of English; three years of math; two years of natural or physical science; an extra year of English, math or science; two years of social studies; and four years of other core courses, such as foreign language, philosophy or religion.

Some students who had academic blemishes such as sagging SAT scores or substandard grades were exercising the option to essentially redo their senior year at a prep school. The new NCAA guidelines allow students to add only one core-course grade to their high school transcript after graduating from high school.

NCAA, student, athlete, education, SAT

ESPN recently reported that NCAA President Myles Brand would not be opposed to having five years of eligibility for college football players and that it might be favorable if redshirting were eliminated.

The ESPN article said 80 percent of Division I athletes get redshirted, and it takes them about 4.7 years to graduate.

I favor the extra year of eligibility it if it means that more student athletes would graduate because of it. Football players should be students first and football players second, and too often the opposite happens. The overwhelming majority of college football players will not go on to a career in the NFL, so they should definitely concentrate on getting a degree to see them through the rest of their lives.

NCAA, college, football, student, athlete, redshirt

Crimson Tide fans will be happy to know that Nick Saban is very close to signing his contract.

While attending the Southeastern Conference’s spring meeting, university President Robert Witt reported that the details of the contract are nearly finalized.

One of the things that was reportedly holding up Saban’s signature was clarification on endorsements. Apparently endorsements are a large part of Saban’s compensation.

So, does that mean we’ll be seeing less of Peyton Manning and more of Nick Saban?

Nick Saban, Alabama, Crimson Tide, contract, college, football, NCAA

SEC coaches voted 9-3 this week against an early signing period for college football, and they made the right decision.

It’s hard enough on potential recruits to have one signing period where they face disractions. Why make it two signing periods and create more distractions?

The bottom line is that college athletes should be students first and athletes second. Frequently it doesn’t work out that way, though. Coaches have already been told they can’t send text messages to recruits because it’s a distraction. There’s no reason in my mind to think that adding a second recruiting period would be any less of a distraction to potential recruits.