College Football Nation: BIG 12 Likes 10 and the Joker is Out

Jeff Hostetler FishWrap, FishWrap Archive

If you are a soccer fan then you are just about in heaven right now. You will have your next couple weeks occupied and not realize all the college football action is happening in court rooms and police reports. I will put in my two cents about the World Cup and the NBA playoffs since that is really all there is to watch … Man, can those guys act!

The reason I  bring this up is because I am glad football is a tough sport. A football player’s job is to knock the other player on his butt. I can’t even imagine how bad it would be if, say, Oklahoma and Texas are playing and the players are flopping all over the place from just a little touch. Thank goodness for football! Now let’s get into some news and thoughts from this past week.

Week 1 in the O’Bannon vs NCAA case was focused on what we all thought it would be focused on … money! O’Bannon is basically saying they go to school to play ball and then get an education. He also talked about how much money is brought in because of the athletes and they should get a share. He even took it a step farther and said Little League World Series kids should get some of the money they help bring in when ESPN is airing their games.

University of San Francisco economist Daniel Rascher states that there is even a way to pay athletes just off their television revenue like the pros. Really?!?!? You all know my stance. Let’s take better care of all the athletes but do not pay them. I think that Oregon’s Women Golf team can’t possibly bring in the revenue to pay them and their sport.

The NCAA does need to wake up to increase scholarship funds, medical coverage, and basic cost of living. A part of me just wants this lawsuit to go away and let us get back to focusing on the upcoming playoffs. If you want to read more about the trial, here is Alabama’s Tyrone Prothro’s testimony. They are pulling out the big guns for this trial. Leave no doubt!

The Joker is out at Florida. Gators’ wide receiver coach, Joker Phillips, has abruptly resigned for personal reasons from his position at UF. It later surfaced that he was out with a recruit during a period which the NCAA prohibits any contact with recruits. It was even stated it was a Miami coach who reported Joker on the violation. Let’s just wait until all the facts come out, but he just may be guilty of something, what with the way recruiting rules are often befuddling. Besides, the Gators wide receivers are better off, at least now, they will finally have someone to teach them how to block the other team.

It is going to be a long time until Florida can forget that play and that loss. Oh the Horror!

Last week, I thought my idea of having BYU join the BIG-12 was going to be a sure thing, but this week, it looks dead in the water. BIG 12 ADs stated they are okay with 10 teams right now and will not be seeking further expansion. Come on — the BIG 12 needs 12 teams. I think it is just a smoke screen for right now, the BIG 12 probably wants BYU but does not want to invite them until they have a 12th team to pick up at the same time.

Once those teams are in place they will realign the divisions, get a bigger TV contract deal, and return to actually being the BIG 12. I am thinking they get Cincinnati along with BYU but are just trying to keep the deal under wraps. Once again, BYU is more than capable of hanging with BIG 12 teams.

One last thing. Lousiana-Lafayette has extended their coach, Mar Hudspeth, for another 6 years. Great move! He has led them to three straight 9-4 seasons. He should have been coaching a BCS program by now. Anyone who can make that school a winner deserves to be in charge of a program such as Texas or even USC. He does so much with so little. Imagine what he could do if he had the resources like the bigger schools. Well, I will be paying attention to him if Florida’s Muschamp flops again this year. Here is a little look on how he does things with his “Rajun Cajuns”:

So far, it doesn’t look good for the NCAA in this lawsuit. Even if the NCAA somehow pulls out a “victory,” you better believe change is coming. The NCAA has this trial to deal with and at the same time has all the “BCS” schools wanting to break away and reform. Tough time to be working for the NCAA.

Until next week, check out the highlights from the 7-on-7 camps featuring the Rivals Top-100 recruits.

NATIONAL NEWS:

1. Another Bulldog to Auburn

2.  Kansas losing players

3. NCAA reaches video game deal

4. LSU CB arrested, what else is new?

5. College sports is big business

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