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Florida Enters BCS Title Game With Top-Paid Athletic Director

Bloomberg News published a story featuring the salaries of the atheltic directors for nearly all the major NCAA schools in Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), with Jeremy Foley of the University of Florida ranked as the highest-paid athletic director. According to contracts obtained by Blooomberg through open-records requests, Foley earns a guaranteed salary of $965,000,

It’s Time to Give Academics Top Priority

University of Oregon biology professor Nathan Tublitz, who is also the co-chair of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, offered a commentary in the Eugene Register-Guard on the recent decision the the University administration to reschedule commencement in 2010 to accommodate hosting the NCAA track and field championships. Tublitz explains his opinion in the broader perspective

South Carolina Athletics Commits to Academics

The NCAA News The South Carolina athletics department will give $15 million over the next 15 years to the university, earmarked primarily for need-based student scholarships. Announced by Athletics Director Eric Hyman and President Harris Pastides, the agreement will help alleviate severe budget cuts due to reductions in state budget allocations for higher education. The

Major college athletes score low on SAT scores

A recent investigation by the Atlanta Journal Constitution of major college football teams found significantly lower average SAT score for college athletes than the remainder of an institution’s undergraduate student body.  The disparity was more significant for male athletes, with the largest average gap between the student body and football players (220 points), and the

BCS Teams Flunk Off the Gridiron

A report published by New America Foundation noted the low graduation rates of many football teams listed in the 2008 final regular season Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings.  The Foundation’s “Higher Ed Watch” noted that the two football teams competing in the national championship, the University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma, are not

Student fees part of bid for NCAA football at Texas San Antonio

The University of Texas at San Antonio officials will present to the UT System regents a plan to boost their athletic budget from $8.5 million to $19 million by 2016 by adding NCAA football and enhancing its other 16 sports.  According to a report by the San Antonio Express-News, the plan notes football will raise

Minnesota A.D. planning for fiancial hardships

The University of Minnesota athletic department recenty acknowledged its concerns about maintaining its $65 million, self-sustaining budget through the current economic crisis.  As posted by the Big Ten Network, UM athletics director Joel Maturi is concerned about the pending $426 million defecit in the state’s budget this year, although the athletic department may be held

Football Coaching Changes Quicken with Salary Increases

The football coaching carousel is already in motion at several major colleges and the 2008 football season has yet to conclude.  According to a recent report in USA Today, coaching changes are underway at 15 of the 119 NCAA Football Bowl Division institutions, 10 of them as a result of dismissals.  Next year, more than

BCS Bowls Are Not Necessarily Big Money-Makers

The Cincinnati Enquirer recently highlighted the risk-reward venture of the costs and revenues associated with the University of Cincinnati’s (UC) expected selection to compete in a Bowl Championship Series bowl in January as the football champion of the Big East conference.  While the BCS pays out $17.5 million per school competing in one of the

Do College Athletes Cluster Into Less Rigorous Majors?

On November 19, USA Today published an investigative story, “Athletes guided toward ‘beating the system.’” The article was the cover story for the 2-day special report that examined whether athletes are clustering in majors in disproportionate numbers from the student body; the extent to which athletics advisers guide athletes into ‘easier majors’ for eligibility and/or