Boise State president Bob Kustra slammed the NCAA reform effort in an op-ed he has submitted to USA Today.

He aint holding back---

To assure the largesse that intercollegiate athletics needs to feed itself and to perpetuate the dominance of a few, for years now the NCAA leadership has carefully controlled the decision-making structure at the Division 1 level. In the past, the BCS structure guaranteed monopoly control, but the so-called “high resource” five conferences seem to pull the strings these days, with two of the conferences taking the lead in calling the shots for the others. It seems they are never satisfied with their bloated athletic budgets, especially when threatened in recent years by upstart, so-called mid-major programs that steal recruits, oftentimes beat the big boys, “mess with” the national rankings and sometimes take postseason bowl games and revenue away from the anointed few. If they have the resources to outspend their Division 1 colleagues with fewer resources, then why not fix the NCAA rules to do so.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2014/05/21...rylink=cpy

I have just become a Boise State fan.

The issue the Boise president ignores is that student athletes are demanding change--right now its in multiple court cases.

The P5 schools are trying to cut the student athlete movement off at the pass, because they know it means major sharing with those athletes--sharing all the profits that have allowed them to have bloated salaries for years now. They are hoping to do it with the fairly minimal changes they've suggested.

But the fact of the matter is--the P5 schools know there is going to be change and it has to happen or the entire collegiate sports model will be wiped out soon.

Boise could have spent like others for decades before the newer tv contracts and tv deals--but they decided to live off the major schools like so many others. Then when they saw revenues increasing in the last decade or two, they decided they wanted more of the pie the big schools had created and began with some gradual upgrades.

Now they and other schools are upset because the big schools are attempting to shore up college athletics for the long term and it might mean schools like Boise don't get to ride along anymore unless they make the full commitment.

(05-21-2014 10:06 PM)Tbringer Wrote:  The issue the Boise president ignores is that student athletes are demanding change--right now its in multiple court cases.

The P5 schools are trying to cut the student athlete movement off at the pass, because they know it means major sharing with those athletes--sharing all the profits that have allowed them to have bloated salaries for years now. They are hoping to do it with the fairly minimal changes they've suggested.

But the fact of the matter is--the P5 schools know there is going to be change and it has to happen or the entire collegiate sports model will be wiped out soon.

Boise could have spent like others for decades before the newer tv contracts and tv deals--but they decided to live off the major schools like so many others. Then when they saw revenues increasing in the last decade or two, they decided they wanted more of the pie the big schools had created and began with some gradual upgrades.

Now they and other schools are upset because the big schools are attempting to shore up college athletics for the long term and it might mean schools like Boise don't get to ride along anymore unless they make the full commitment.

That's one way to look at it. I think you're wrong in your opinion that these G5 schools are being parasitic. I tend to believe the overpaid P5 bloviates trying price smaller schools out of the picture. Bury them into debt till, hey waive the white flag. Yeah.....sounds right.

Coming from a guy who jumped to the Big East for the lure of easy TV money that looked like a mirage to many of his fellow conference mates and then negotiated a return to his conference that gave his school most favored nation status to earn unshared money is hysterical, surely this is from Sports Pickle and not a real report.

He doesn't like the change in governance because it leads to rampant spending? Where the hell has he been the last thirty or forty years?

This is a guy who paid $1.75 million to get his football coach out of his contract with Arkansas State (and most AState fans think our AD laughed all the way to the bank after a bum steer season). Unless I've missed the news, he has for years out-spent his conference competition on salaries

Coaching salaries have long passed the ridiculous level, to attract students schools are sending players 100 letters. IN A SINGLE DAY. They are installing internet workstations and iphone charging stations in lockers. They are furnishing locker rooms and meeting rooms more opulently than the homes of the typical ticket buyer. This too is an arms race he has engaged in.

But divert a little money to the benefit of student-athlete and suddenly it is an attempt to drive the little guy out with unfettered spending.

Let's all celebrate, the G5 has found its Gordon Gee.

You know some (not many but some) of those G5 schools actually played a role in college football getting as big as it has. And Boise has done an unbelievable job in the short time they've been D-1, as 20 years ago they were in FCS and now they are possibly a declining FBS power. "Decades" ago when they supposedly should have been investing they were a JUCO that became a university in an area of the country that is still remote today, let alone then.

sorry g5 fans but he needs to STFU.

for the record I am not calling out the G5, or even the top FCS teams as they are not really the problem. the problem lies mostly with all the schools below that group. the BSU prez just has the incorrect viewpoint on the entire situation.

his viewpoint is a huge spin on reality. this is not the p5 schools trying to screw the g5 schools. this is the p5 fighting back after decades of being held hostage by the rest of the ncaa. it is completely insane to have a school with a $100 mill athletic budget being dictated by a governing body whose membership overwhelmingly has less than $2.5 million athletic budget. It is insane that the rest of the NCAA acts like they are owed something from the p5 when they already get millions worth of tv revenue, buy games, and most importantly exposure because of the p5. The p5 has to bare the burden of a number of totally ridiculous rules that have no real purpose other than to hold these schools back because they are scared of the gap between p5 & the rest of D1 from widening.

i am a syracuse fan and saw this first hand. I saw a great conference get torn to shreds because non football/lower FCS schools were dictating what big money FBS schools can do. Now I am watching the same thing happen but to the entire NCAA. The p5 are not introducing these reforms blindly. they are not doing it out of the blue for personal gain, they are doing so because the status quo is unstable and can not continue. the p5 is getting nailed by lawsuits, scheduling chaos, etc. over rules that the rest of the NCAA enacted.

the stipend issue is very real because there are situations where athletes do not have the money to cover full cost of attendance. and here is what really burns my ass about the whole situation and really makes me furious that a BSU guy of all people is commenting on this:

BSU is literally the centerpiece of everything that is wrong with the current model.

they just got an NCAA wavier to give room & board to a recruit who was homeless. um hello???? knock knock Mr. BSU president. do you not see where the problem lies? do you not see how the same rules that the pac12 is fighting for are the same rules that are screwing you to? do you not see how ridiculous it is that BSU had to get a wavier in the first place over something so ridiculous & so arbitrary???? or maybe you would like to be reminded of those ridiculous NCAA sanctions with impermissible benefits of a $2 hotdog and letting a recruit sleep on the couch of one of your players????

the fact is that some of these changes are needed and the majority of which would positively affect every FBS school or the student athletes. almost all of them are no brainers if anything. so when i see someone from BSU criticizing this i instead see someone trying to block progress for his own personal gain. BSU has zero room to comment here because they have as much to gain with the majority of these changes as the pac. but here is one other thing to chew on prez......

remember that lil story of BSU saying $1 mill was not enough to play a home game against UNL????? or what about the time you tried to sue your way out of a $5 mill big east exit fee (the same fee that TCU paid) because you couldn't afford it???? BSU has proven exactly why the system is shattering. It is because of schools like BSU who do not have the resources to be with the p5. schools like bsu regardless of their athletics need the resources not just the athletic accomplishments to truly be at this level.

you can cry all you want about the big schools being afraid to play you, trying to squeeze you out because they are worried about competing against you ==> but hey????? aren't you guys doing exactly that in attempt to get your in-state rival to drop down to FCS because you don't want to compete with them academically, athletically, for prospective students/recruits, or for state funding?

so lemme get this straight: a p5 doing this to you is totally unfair, but you doing it to a fellow g5 school is fair game correct? um yeah......

and another thing for you to chew on: it has nothing to do with the p5 being scared to play you. no we are not a pro sports league. the ultimate goal is not to win NCs ==> it is all about the branding, academics, exposure, & association. schools LIKE playing other peer schools. they like being associated with other high caliber, nationally known schools. they like being in an elite class of major high resource schools and would prefer not to see that watered down, which is exactly what is happening right now with the truckload of FCS schools that keep moving up. don't hate the player hate the game.

if you had something offer academically other than being just 2 decades removed from your community/commuter college routes and middle of nowhere location maybe the p5 would be a little bit more inclined to play you. again: don't hate the player hate the game.

g5/BSU fans: I have nothing against you guys, your fanbase or your schools. you guys have done some great things and absolutely deserve a chance to win a NC in FBS. but with that being said these issues are very real and I see an NCAA body that is literally drowning the p5 and are too stupid to realize it. the ncaa body through their own greed caused this to happen and forced the p5 to take this stand.

sorry to single out BSU but they totally deserved it. no school has seen more growth academically, resource wise, and market wise than BSU as a result of FBS membership. they used their p5 association to go from an unknown to nationally known. they are guilty as **** of trying to screw other schools over and weed them out of FBS football and now they cry when it happens to them? but lastly they have pulled the "we don't have enough money" card way to many times and now they cry because the p5 is sick of schools pulling that very move? and they have had not one but two cases that highlight exactly what is wrong with the current system and why it needs change. and i didn't even touch the ridiculous mwc/big east move that BSU made to show just how hypocritical these comments are.

BSU should be the last one that should be commenting on this and this BSU president has made me lose so much respect for this school. because i just saw the most hypocritical comments/totally spinned talking points to have ever been mentioned by an FBS prez in such a long time.

attitudes like the one expressed like this guy are the exact reason why the p5 is being forced to take these measures in the first place.

LOL, he basically called the Big XII, Pac 12, and ACC the minion stooges of the Big Ten and SEC.

Also glad he accurately called them out as BS with them pretending this is all about the welfare of the "student-athlete"

.

Instead of engaging in ad hominem attacks, Kustra ought to address specific proposals or new rules and tell us why he disagrees with them.

What is he really mad about? He doesn't want to spend the money to feed athletes 3 meals a day? He wants to keep "short-sheeting" athletes on expenses instead of giving the full cost of attendance scholarships? He doesn't want to pay for medical insurance for athletes, or pay for them to finish up their bachelor's degree after their eligibility is up?

Kustra's university has enjoyed a ton of free publicity in the last 10-15 years, and they owe that to their football players and other athletes.

Oops, he wrote this on the same day Boise sold its stadium naming rights.

And he's getting called on the hypocrisy.

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football...albertsons

Quit your bitching. If you could be in the P5, you'd do it in an instant. If you hate it, then go D111 and get rid of scholarships and bloated athletic budgets and rampant commercialism (including your $12.5 million stadium naming rights deal).

Boise State owes the AAC $5,000,000

Our college athletics are simply a reflection of our country's current viewpoint on wealth- rich people are rich because they are awesome and poor people are poor because they suck. If we don't continue to stack the deck in favor of the rich people then we'll be spreading the wealth to poor people who don't deserve it and that would be anti-American.

It doesn't matter that during the BCS era Boise State was 171-34 and Duke was 47-131. What matters is that in 1953 Duke joined a new conference called the ACC and Boise State was just a junior college. And that's why in 2014 Duke gets to be in the half of FBS that shares 70% of the playoff revenue and Boise State gets to be in the half that shares 27%. Because to give Boise State an equal piece of the pie would be spreading the wealth, and that's just down right un-American.

(05-21-2014 11:25 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Our college athletics are simply a reflection of our country's current viewpoint on wealth- rich people are rich because they are awesome and poor people are poor because they suck. If we don't continue to stack the deck in favor of the rich people then we'll be spreading the wealth to poor people who don't deserve it and that would be anti-American.

It doesn't matter that during the BCS era Boise State was 171-34 and Duke was 47-131. What matters is that in 1953 Duke joined a new conference called the ACC and Boise State was just a junior college. And that's why in 2014 Duke gets to be in the half of FBS that shares 70% of the playoff revenue and Boise State gets to be in the half that shares 27%. Because to give Boise State an equal piece of the pie would be spreading the wealth, and that's just down right un-American.

I've got a real problem with a president who has been the poster child of chase the money, spend excessively on salaries and facilities in competing with the other institutions in his state as well as in his conference calling out the P5 for doing to him what he does unto others.

As to the "un-American", intercollegiate athletics operates in a far more capitalist manner than any of the dirty professional sports and their dirty professionalism. In major athletic activity, you have to look at pro soccer outside the US to find anyone more free market than intercollegiate athletics.

Americans embrace greed is good for intercollegiate athletics but despise it in our pro leagues.

(05-21-2014 11:25 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Our college athletics are simply a reflection of our country's current viewpoint on wealth- rich people are rich because they are awesome and poor people are poor because they suck. If we don't continue to stack the deck in favor of the rich people then we'll be spreading the wealth to poor people who don't deserve it and that would be anti-American.

It doesn't matter that during the BCS era Boise State was 171-34 and Duke was 47-131. What matters is that in 1953 Duke joined a new conference called the ACC and Boise State was just a junior college. And that's why in 2014 Duke gets to be in the half of FBS that shares 70% of the playoff revenue and Boise State gets to be in the half that shares 27%. Because to give Boise State an equal piece of the pie would be spreading the wealth, and that's just down right un-American.

the two are not comparable at all??????

wanna mention dukes extensive history/rivalries with FBS schools?

or their elite academics?

or their elite athletics (bb/lax)

the reality is that duke & BSU play in different leagues and if you put BSU in the ACC they would suck, but if you put duke in the (old) WAC they would dominate.

(05-21-2014 11:25 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Our college athletics are simply a reflection of our country's current viewpoint on wealth- rich people are rich because they are awesome and poor people are poor because they suck. If we don't continue to stack the deck in favor of the rich people then we'll be spreading the wealth to poor people who don't deserve it and that would be anti-American.

It doesn't matter that during the BCS era Boise State was 171-34 and Duke was 47-131. What matters is that in 1953 Duke joined a new conference called the ACC and Boise State was just a junior college. And that's why in 2014 Duke gets to be in the half of FBS that shares 70% of the playoff revenue and Boise State gets to be in the half that shares 27%. Because to give Boise State an equal piece of the pie would be spreading the wealth, and that's just down right un-American.

But this is the nature of life. If you were born to wealthy, loving parents who raised you in a nice suburb with good schooling, would you trade places with someone from the working class?

Helping them out and not being greedy is the correct attitude but why exactly should they be sorry that they were put in their position?

(05-22-2014 12:01 AM)john01992 Wrote:  

(05-21-2014 11:25 PM)perimeterpost Wrote:  Our college athletics are simply a reflection of our country's current viewpoint on wealth- rich people are rich because they are awesome and poor people are poor because they suck. If we don't continue to stack the deck in favor of the rich people then we'll be spreading the wealth to poor people who don't deserve it and that would be anti-American.

It doesn't matter that during the BCS era Boise State was 171-34 and Duke was 47-131. What matters is that in 1953 Duke joined a new conference called the ACC and Boise State was just a junior college. And that's why in 2014 Duke gets to be in the half of FBS that shares 70% of the playoff revenue and Boise State gets to be in the half that shares 27%. Because to give Boise State an equal piece of the pie would be spreading the wealth, and that's just down right un-American.

the two are not comparable at all??????

wanna mention dukes extensive history/rivalries with FBS schools?

or their elite academics?

or their elite athletics (bb/lax)

the reality is that duke & BSU play in different leagues and if you put BSU in the ACC they would suck, but if you put duke in the (old) WAC they would dominate.

you have proven my point to perfection. thank you, good sir.

p.s. bravo usage of the word "elite"

boise has earned every dollar from their budget
same can't be said about a SIZABLE portion of the p5.

duke has been utter garbage for most of the last 20 years. i REALLY doubt that they would have been a top wac or mwc school in most years.

break away and have fun with the boycotts and lawsuits.

Anyone still question that this is about to go down in August?

He should have just said The Big Ten and The SEC.

(05-22-2014 01:01 AM)BulldogNation Wrote:  boise has earned every dollar from their budget
same can't be said about a SIZABLE portion of the p5.

duke has been utter garbage for most of the last 20 years. i REALLY doubt that they would have been a top wac or mwc school in most years.

break away and have fun with the boycotts and lawsuits.

Let's face it, Boise State is an anomaly. They're mad because they found a winning formula and think it entitles them to a bigger piece of the pie. Do they deserve it? Does NDSU deserve FBS money just because they're performing at an FBS level? Part of me says no. The conferences generating the money naturally deserve more of the pie. P5 schools have the name recognition that's been bringing in the money for a century. Bad P5 schools probably have more pull than most G5 schools.

I think that Boise State is in a bad spot. You could argue that they've had enough on field success to warrant a bigger piece of the pie. However, you could also argue that Boise State has none of the qualities that landed schools into P5 conferences in the first place.

(05-21-2014 10:57 PM)moo Wrote:  Quit your bitching. If you could be in the P5, you'd do it in an instant. If you hate it, then go D111 and get rid of scholarships and bloated athletic budgets and rampant commercialism (including your $12.5 million stadium naming rights deal).

Hear, here.

There's a reason that the AAC in general, and UC/UConn in particular, is 100% aligned with the P5 on this issue. We are committed to running a big-time program, even if the university has to kick in extra funding to make it happen the right way. If Boise isn't, they should go back to FCS and get out of the way.

We still wish that we had better access to a national championship game, but when it comes to funding the student-athlete concept in a fair manner, we agree with the Pac-12 proposal.