When it comes to understanding what is going on in the ever-changing world of college sports, Dr. Harvey Schiller has a pretty good grasp of the concept. He served as the commissioner of the SEC from 1986-90, which under his watch expanded. Back then, Texas wanted badly to become a member of the SEC and nearly did. But at the last minute the state legislature wanted the Longhorns and Texas A&M to stay together, a deal killer for the SEC who did not want both programs, according to Schiller. Georgia was pushing for Georgia Tech while Florida was looking to get either Florida State or Miami into the conference. The SEC ended up adding Arkansas and South Carolina and became the first conference with a championship game.
“Today’s expansion reasons seem to be less on realignment as it is to financial as well as media support for owned networks,” Schiller said. “At the end of the day, not much has changed. The smart guys want to match up their programs with like programs. The dumb guys chase rainbows. Navy has been independent and Air Force is in a dwindling conference. I predict only a few moves in the upcoming weeks and then things will settle down.”
With all the changes, it seems like some colleges have been left out to dry.
“No real losers except for a few jobs,” Schiller said. “An underlying theme is for these universities to be more in control of their own future away from the complications of the NCAA. All would like to get more control of the NCAA basketball tournament. [Athletic directors] have tremendous pressure from sports other than football that will have a calming effect when considering travel.”
Another topic surrounding college athletics and money is whether the players deserve to be paid. With the amount of money college football generates from TV contracts, it’s debatable where the profits should go.
“Not paid, but an increase in allocations for certain fees, other costs of being a college student,” Schiller said. “A new need-based system would help all.”
Examiner columnist Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this!
