Is the NCAA on life support?


Are those small schools like Robert Morris and the college of Charleston about to lose their "Div. I" status?
In truth, yes and yes. In reality, no and yes. The situation is complicated.
Here is what is transpiring right now. 
Colleges and universities across the country are doing something that is incomprehensible to athletes and coaches: cutting college athletic budgets. This includes eliminating sports. 
What others are doing is something that is anathema to athletics: They are putting education first. Sports are decidedly extra-curricular, and while they bring in revenue, they also create intolerable situations. 
Some smaller schools are cutting sports programs. For instance, in Pennsylvania, Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh announced late last year that it was cutting seven sports, and in 2010, their cross-city rival Duquesne cut four. RMU had 23 sports and an enrollment of 4,468 according to a very good story in the Post-Gazette on June 1. (URL below)
If you think that the small colleges and universities are the ones that are suffering, you will be right. In fact, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) is trying to expand its muscle along with the other "power" conferences. These include the Pac-12, the Big 12, the Big Ten, the ACC, and Notre Dame. 
According to a story on CBSSports.com, the largest income in the SEC was $125 million, garnered by Alabama. However, they were not the wealthiest on the list. That belongs to Texas of the Big 12. which pulled in $163.2 million. Ohio State was second ($142 mil), Michigan was third ($140 mil) and Alabama was fourth. 
Of course, since Penn State has those sanctions provided by the NCAA because of the Jerry Sandusky, they could not be close to those teams, right?
Think again. PSU is eighth with $108 mil. How is that possible? Two reasons: A stadium that can seat more than 100 thousand people, and a conference, the Big Ten, that has its own television network and throws much of that back to the institutions themselves. 
For the sake of clarity, Pitt had an income of 57.6 mil in 2012. (URLs are below) Why so low? That is what happens when you tear down your on-campus football stadium and replaced with a 12 thousand seat basketball arena. They have to beg people to take a bus across town to see a game. Give thanks to the geniuses who made that move. 
The SEC has made clear that it wants to control its own programs without the NCAA, although their verbiage is much less confrontational. 
The NCAA basketball field of 64 is next. Coach K from Duke made clear after his team was eliminated in the first round that more of the ACC teams, along with good teams from other conferences, deserved to be playing in the tournament. Those small schools that everyone loves in March Madness? Look for the automatic berth to the lowest conferences to be eliminated. They will have a slew of play-in games to reach the tournament to keep the TV audience enthralled.
Here is my recommendation. Eliminate those schools and conferences that want to play big-time college football and basketball. Make them a minor league for the NFL, still using names like Pitt or Penn State. Eliminate the academic aspect of it. If a student wants to earn a degree at one of the schools, give him or her that opportunity. 
In fact, the NFL and NBA get away with murder compared to Major League Baseball. The former two do not have to support a minor league. 
The colleges could strong-arm the professional leagues to pay for the rights to the players. 
As for the remainder of universities and colleges, make them Div. III across the board. No direct scholarships, but they could use that previous athletic money to give them financial and academic aid along with federal and state financial aid, which is what almost everyone uses today. 
Change is on its way.

URLs
Post-Gazette story

USA Today financial database
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/

Equity in Athletics data
2012: http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/
2013: http://www.aztecmesa.proboards.com/thread/34616/total-athletic-revenues-team-conference?q=Pittsburgh

SEC story
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/jeremy-fowler/24575975/mighty-sec-has-everything-nothing-in-common-with-ncaas-little-guys

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