University of virginia
Athletics in University Life
Download 242.89 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- Religious-Affiliated Athletic Programs
- Secular Private University Athletics
- Public University Athletics
Athletics in University LifeThe U.S. Department of Education requires, all NCAA and Title IV schools to report the numbers of students and coaches participating in the school’s athletic programs. Also required is the amount of money the school spends on athletics, broken down by gender, scholarship, and special separate categories for women and men’s basketball and football. When looking at the data in the following tables what is interesting is that the Div-III schools, no matter the category, do not earn the same amount of profits as athletics from the FCS schools. The main reason is that the larger schools have a bigger fan base because of larger amounts of alumni and television exposure. This allows the bigger schools to receive attention from more athletically talented recruits seeking athletic scholarships. Another issue is that Div-III schools are not allowed to give athletically based scholarships so that expense is not there for these schools. Without this expense, the schools can have successful programs without being competitive with each other on recruits. This is important because it limits NCAA infractions for this group. Religious-Affiliated Athletic ProgramsLooking at Table 5, the religious-affiliated schools all received profits from their various athletic programs. This is different from the public and private secular schools where Div-III schools all report a net gain of zero. This might imply that the religious schools’ students and administration value athletics more but this is not the case. USC, a FBS school, had a net gain of $0 revenue for the same reporting period. Also, because Div-III student-athletes do not receive free education based on athletic performance the students then must really want to attend the Div-III school and are willing to deal with the religious influence. The religion for these schools is more important than athletics. Table : Athletic Programs at Religious-Affiliated Schools 2009-201053
Notre Dame quickly became the pride of Catholic immigrants largely due to its football team’s success.54 The school used athletics, football especially, to promote the Catholic religion and not the school. This is a direct contradiction to how secular universities must use athletics to promote the identity of the university. As Robert Benne writes, “Certainly the growing pride in Notre Dame cannot be accounted for without reference to football; legendary figures like Knute Rochne made Notre Dame into a football power that soon surpassed the elite private universities with which it aspired to compete.”55 For many who attend Notre Dame the football team is one of the main draws. Many people grow up in “Notre Dame Families” without having any family members who actually attended the university.56 These “subway alumni” have created the identity of Notre Dame Athletics but the athletics are always connected to the sponsoring religion. Notre Dame is unique in terms of college sports because it enjoys a lucrative television deal with NBC which has exclusive rights to show the Fighting Irish home football games. Notre Dame received over $64 million dollars in total revenue during the 2009 season and athletics earned over $14 million dollars profit in the 2009-2010 season. Seven percent of the student population is active in playing athletics, receiving over sixteen million dollars in scholarships to the university. Notre Dame Football is independent and not a member of any athletic conference, 22 teams are members of the Big East Conference; hockey is in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. Notre Dame has 26 varsity sports teams, divided equally between men and women.57 The history of success on the athletic field includes 23 National Championships in football, fencing, men’s tennis, women’s soccer, and men’s cross country, women’s basketball, and men’s golf. Notre Dame also boasts having 32 Academic All-Americans in the last four years.58 Athletically BYU is independent for football and outdoor track and field. In 2011 BYU left the Mountain West Conference and joined the West Coast Conference for certain sports. Volleyball, swimming and diving will be a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. This is one of the few major football programs to be independent from a college conference. BYU is considered a NCAA FBS school. BYU has twenty-one varsity teams. The school has won ten NCAA national championships and 269 conference championships. The men’s basketball team has particularly been a source of pride for BYU, with twenty-six NCAA Tournament appearances and eighty-four winning seasons. Only one percent of the student population participates in athletics, but ninety-eight percent of the student body is LDS. The religion is the focus of the school and it affects the success of the athletic programs. The reason BYU’s football team is independent is because the Mountain West Conference wanted the school to schedule games on Sundays. Sunday for the LDS is a day to completely focus on religious activities. By being independent BYU will have a more difficult time rising in the BCS standings and being invited into big bowl games. This can cause financial difficulties and lost recruiting opportunities. Also, the school allows its players to leave for two-years to participate in their LDS sponsored mission trip. This is putting the religion first because to have a successful college program, particularly in high revenue producing sports like men’s basketball and football, continuity is a key factor. Wheaton is a member of Div-III and the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW). In the past five seasons Wheaton’s athletic teams have been nationally ranked in several sports including football, men’s basketball, and men’s and women’s swimming. The football team has been ranked in Div-III’s Top 25 and has seen post season play six times in the 2000s. Twelve percent of the student body participates in athletics. Wheaton clearly puts religion first in its athletic programs because like many Div-III schools recruiting starts with the prospective student-athlete submitting information to the athletic teams. While FBS schools send coaches and scouts out to look at players, Div-III schools do not have the personnel or money to recruit the same way larger schools do. Instead many Div-III schools have places on their websites where prospective student-athletes can fill out information. At Wheaton the recruiting form is pretty standard until you get to the second section. Before asking about academics or sports history the school wants to know about church membership. There are nineteen varsity teams at Luther and they are members of the NCAA Div-III and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). Luther has won 219 IIAC titles. Nineteen percent of the student population is active in Luther’s intercollegiate sports the most for the Div-III schools. Secular Private University AthleticsThe secular private universities are divided into who made profit and who did not for athletics. Looking at Table 6 Williams and USC both had no profits from athletics in 2009-2010 season. Compared to the data in Table 5 which showed each of the religious-affiliated universities regardless of the division it would appear that the religious-affiliated schools need athletics more due to the profit. Table : Athletics at Secular Private University Group59
Miami athletics is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and is a NCAA FBS. Miami has fifteen intercollegiate teams including football, men’s basketball, women’s swimming and women’s volleyball. Miami also enjoys the largest revenues in the secular private group of the study with over five million dollars profit to the university. USC athletic programs are some of the most rewarded in the country. A member of the Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12) and NCAA Division-IA, USC has won 92 NCAA National Championships and ten football national championships. Athletics at Williams host 30 intercollegiate teams. A member of the NCAA Div-III and the New England Small College Athletics Conference, Williams has won more NCAA Div-III Championships in more sports than any other school. The men’s basketball team has played in three final fours, and was the first team in their conference to win a NCAA Div-III. Williams has the distinction of being the only school in the NCAA to win the Director’s Cup and being ranked number one by U.S. News & World Reports.60 Athletically Amherst is in the same conference as Williams and the two schools compete against each other. Amherst has twenty-seven NCAA Div-III teams and has won eight NCAA titles and five consecutive top-4 finishes in the Director’s Cup.61 Public University AthleticsThe public universities are divided between the two FBS schools and the Div-III schools in terms of profits. See Table 7. Table : Public University Athletics62
Ohio State has one of the most recognize programs in the country. A member of the Big-Ten Conference, Ohio State is a FBS school with 36 teams. The school has won several national championships including, seven in football, men’s basketball, and swimming. Selected as “America’s Best Sports College” in Sports Illustrated, U-Texas is the number one Collegiate Licensing Company client with the amount of trademark royalties earned from sales of merchandise to fans. Money from these sales goes to the university and not only to the athletic department. The athletic department is separated into women and men’s with each getting their own athletic directors.63 U-Texas has eighteen varsity sports and completes in the Big-12 conference. The program has won forty-seven championships, including ten titles in swimming and diving. TCNJ is a member of the NCAA Div-III and the New Jersey Athletic Conference and the Eastern College Athletic Conference. There are 18 varsity teams and its co-ed swimming and diving teams have been in championship contention for over a decade. CNU is a member of the NCAA Div-III and the USA South Athletic Conference with fourteen varsity teams. The CNU football team is the only team in the entire NCAA to have won a conference title and advance to the NCAA playoffs in their first year of play. Directory: 2012 2012 -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? 2012 -> Annual InStructional unit plan 2012 -> University of Hawai‘i Maui College dental assisting program review october 21, 2013 2012 -> Committee on the rights of the child the rights of all children in the context of international migration 2012 -> Background on the Haitian Earthquake 2012 -> The Collected Wisdom of Science Olympiad Coaches 2012 -> Federal Communications Commission fcc 12-81 Before the Federal Communications Commission 2012 -> Aa and na members Dying from Tobacco 2012 -> [Baby Crying] 01: 04 [Ching Download 242.89 Kb. Share with your friends:
|