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One day away from the start of the college football season and iniquities of powerhouse programs dominate the headlines.
The University of Miami Hurricanes have suspended eight players including starting quarterback Jacory Harris for anywhere between one game to six games. In the meantime they are waiting to see what the full breadth of the fallout will be after Yahoo! Sports’ exposé on impermissible benefits given to players by booster Nevin Shapiro going back to 2002.
The LSU Tigers are dealing with their starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and reserve linebacker Josh Johns being arrested for their part in a fight that left four victims injured with anywhere from scrapes, concussions and fractured vertebrae. Not to mention they have also suspended starting receiver Russell Shepard for an unrelated rules violation.
USC Trojans have their scholarship reduction begin and have one more year of postseason ban as the Pac-12 debuts.
There’s the University of North Carolina. Ohio State University. Boise State University. University of Oregon. The list goes on.
It just seems more and more apparent that it’s time to euthanize the NCAA. The rulebook has become so unwieldy that a juris doctorate degree wouldn’t guarantee any comprehension of eligibility rules.
To further exacerbate things there is almost no money going to the enforcement of said rules. They have to rely on Yahoo! Sports to do their dirty work. So does that make Charles Robinson the Upton Sinclair of college sports?
Of course all of this done in the name of amateurism. That is code for, “The NCAA doesn’t have to pay any taxes.” Basically it’s a complete sham.
Basically it boils down to this. The NCAA is corrupt. The schools are corrupt. The boosters are corrupt. The players are corrupt.
It’s time to end the quaint façade of amateurism and create a league that is more tenable. If that means paying players, fine.
But as it stands the NCAA needs to have a consultation with Dr. Jack Kevorkian.
Unfortunately all of this takes away the luster of the game which, as mentioned before, starts tomorrow. I lied. It doesn’t take away from the game since I’ll be sitting on my couch in my underwear flipping through channels until Monday night. Just keep that supply of Ruffles and beer coming, and I’ll be perfectly content.
Here’s the Week 1 schedule for all games broadcasted in Southern California. Enjoy.
Thursday
Murray State at Louisville. 3:00 p.m. ESPNU
St. Cloud State at California (PA). 4:30 p.m. Fox College Sports Atlantic.
UNLV at Wisconsin. 5:00 p.m. ESPN.
Mississippi State at Memphis. 5:00 p.m. FS Prime Ticket.
Drake at North Dakota. 5:00 p.m. Fox College Sports Central
UMass at Holy Cross. 5:00 p.m. CBS Sports
Kentucky at Western Kentucky. 6:15 p.m. ESPNU
Friday
TCU at Baylor. 5:00 p.m. ESPN.
Saturday
Kent State at Alabama. 9:00 a.m. KDOC.
Akron at Ohio State. 9:00 a.m. ESPN.
Utah State at Auburn. 9:00 a.m. ESPN2.
Northwestern at Boston College. 9:00 a.m. ESPNU.
Miami (OH) at Missouri. 9:00 a.m. FSWest.
Appalachian State at Virginia Tech. 9:30 a.m. KCOP 13.
Louisiana-Monroe at Florida State. 12:30 p.m. ESPNU.
South Florida at Notre Dame. 12:30 p.m. NBC.
Minnesota at USC. 12:30 p.m. ABC.
James Madison at North Carolina. 12:30 p.m. FSWest.
UCLA at Houston. 12:30 p.m. FS Prime Ticket.
Western Michigan at Michigan. 12:30 p.m. ESPN2.
Delaware at Navy. 12:30 p.m. CBS Sports.
BYU at Ole Miss. 1:45 p.m. ESPN.
Florida Atlantic at Florida. 4:00 p.m. ESPNU.
Louisiana-Lafayette at Oklahoma State. 4:00 p.m. Fox College Sports Central.
Eastern Washington at Washington. 4:00 p.m. Fox College Sports Pacific.
East Carolina at South Carolina. 4:00 p.m. CBS Sports.
Tulsa at Oklahoma. 5:00 p.m. FX.
Oregon at LSU. 5:00 p.m. ABC.
Boise State at Georgia. 5:00 p.m. ESPN.
Louisiana Tech at Southern Mississippi. 7:00 p.m. FSWest.
Northern Arizona at Arizona. 7:00 p.m. Fox College Sports Atlantic.
Colorado at Hawaii. 7:15 p.m. ESPN2.
Sunday
Marshall at West Virginia. 12:30 p.m. ESPN
SMU at Texas A&M. 4:30 p.m. FS Prime Ticket.
Monday
Miami (FL) at Maryland. 5:00 p.m. ESPN
