Why College Football Should Be Banned

In more than 20 years I've spent studying the issue, I have yet to hear a convincing argument that college football has anything do with what is presumably the primary purpose of higher education: academics.
That's because college football has no academic purpose. Which is why it needs to be banned. A radical solution, yes. But necessary in today's times.

Football only provides the thickest layer of distraction in an atmosphere in which colleges and universities these days are all about distraction, nursing an obsession with the social well-being of students as opposed to the obsession that they are there for the vital and single purpose of learning as much as they can to compete in the brutal realities of the global economy.

Who truly benefits from college football? Alumni who absurdly judge the quality of their alma mater based on the quality of the football team. Coaches such as Nick Saban of the University of Alabama and Bob Stoops of Oklahoma University who make obscene millions. The players themselves don't benefit, exploited by a system in which they don't receive a dime of compensation. The average student doesn't benefit, particularly when football programs remain sacrosanct while tuition costs show no signs of abating as many governors are slashing budgets to the bone.

If the vast majority of major college football programs made money, the argument to ban football might be a more precarious one. But too many of them don't—to the detriment of academic budgets at all too many schools. According to the NCAA, 43% of the 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision lost money on their programs. This is the tier of schools that includes such examples as that great titan of football excellence, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Blazers, who went 3-and-9 last season. The athletic department in 2008-2009 took in over $13 million in university funds and student fees, largely because the football program cost so much, The Wall Street Journal reported. New Mexico State University's athletic department needed a 70% subsidy in 2009-2010, largely because Aggie football hasn't gotten to a bowl game in 51 years. Outside of Las Cruces, where New Mexico State is located, how many people even know that the school has a football program? None, except maybe for some savvy contestants on "Jeopardy." What purpose does it serve on a university campus? None.

To read the complete article by Buzz Bissinger in the Wall Street Journal, click here.

Being Number One Isn't All Its Quacked Up To Be

The last two weeks have proven to be a graveyard for number one ranked teams in college football. Last week Alabama was humbled 34-17 by the South Carolina Gamecocks and yesterday their replacements at the top, the Ohio State Buckeyes, were pummeled by #18 Wisconsin Badgers 31-18. It's not easy being the best, you end up having a big old target painted on your back. So maybe the Oregon should be a little scared right now having being voted into the #1 spot.

Try telling the Ducks they need to be worried and that'll ruffle a few feathers! No heartburn happening in Eugene. For the first time in their history the Oregon are number one, on top of the college football pile. Still the Ducks are playing UCLA and USC in their next two games, both good teams in their own right, capable of beating anyone on the day. But will Oregon be looking over their collective shoulders trying to catch a glimpse of the hungry packs chasing them down? Nope, I doubt it, they will just keep on trucking, doing what they do best, although flying under the radar will now be kind of difficult.