BCS (2006-13)
25 entries from the BCS era (2006-2013), oldest first. Open in the filterable browser.
“'Amateur' defines the participants, not the enterprise.”
In his centennial State of the Association address, Brand said athletes are not paid because they are students, not employees. He also argued that college sports should run their business side well, since amateurism describes the participants rather than the enterprise.
“They will wrench a playoff system out of my cold, dead hands. It's too much like moving toward having universities being farm clubs for the pros.”
Gee flatly rejected a playoff, arguing it would push universities toward being farm clubs for the pros.
“To a person, we expressed our support for the current BCS system.”
White criticized Georgia president Michael Adams's playoff push and said SEC presidents had unanimously rejected the idea in 2007 and supported the BCS.
“I believe the time has come for the NCAA to take control of the college football postseason.”
Reversing 20 years of opposition, Adams urged the NCAA to take control of the postseason with a four-team playoff after the major bowls, and to cut the regular season back to 11 games. He said the BCS had lost public confidence and TV networks had become too powerful.
“Maybe the NCAA can be Switzerland here.”
Brand said there was a new willingness to discuss a football playoff and offered the NCAA as a neutral place for those talks.
“There's a strong sense in that room of the slippery-slope view that there's never been a collegiate or professional playoff that's stopped at four teams.”
Explaining why commissioners rejected the 2008 plus-one, Delany cited the view that no playoff has ever stopped at four teams.
“There's no such thing as standing pat.”
Slive formally proposed a seeded plus-one (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3 in BCS bowls, with a title game a week later, plus an extra BCS bowl). Only the SEC and ACC wanted to keep discussing it, and Slive said there's no such thing as standing pat.
“The seeded model looked like a playoff, and we don't think a playoff is in the best interest of college football.”
Tranghese said he preferred an unseeded plus-one, where the title matchup is set after the bowls, over a seeded model that looked like a playoff.
“We want to maximize the number of students who learn these skills, not cut programs in order to pay salaries to a few.”
In a HuffPost column, Brand rejected the 'capitalism' argument for pay-for-play. He said most athletic programs don't generate enough revenue to pay players, and that paying a few would mean cutting sports that benefit many students.
“The collective presidents of America's major universities believe that the playoff system is not in the best interest of intercollegiate athletics or our universities.”
After President-elect Obama called for an eight-team playoff, Gee held firm, saying presidents of major universities believe a playoff isn't in the best interest of college athletics.
“If it was a developmental league, it should be done for that purpose, for the purpose of developing players”
Floated reviving an NFL developmental league (after folding NFL Europe), focused on offseason reps to develop players, subject to collective bargaining.
“Number One, I think there was a tsunami of Texas political pressure from Texas A&M and Baylor”
Explained why his 16-team 'Pac-16' superconference plan with Texas and Oklahoma failed: Texas political pressure, national fear of dominoes, and Pac-10 principles such as equal revenue sharing.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
At SEC spring meetings, Spurrier proposed that head coaches pay each of the 70 players in their traveling party $300 per game out of their own pockets. Seven SEC coaches, including Nick Saban, Les Miles, Will Muschamp and Dan Mullen, signed on.
“Clearly, this can be accomplished if all involved are willing to put their egos aside.”
In a letter to UT and A&M leaders, urged keeping the rivalry as a nonconference game, citing South Carolina–Clemson and the old Texas–Oklahoma series.
“These kids and I aren't involved with that. And the coaches. That's bigger than us. That's about administrators and that's about fans.”
Before what was then the last Texas–Texas A&M game, said realignment decisions were made by administrators and fans, not players and coaches.
“I hate to see the end of anything that has such rich history and tradition come to an end”
Lamented the end of the Texas–Texas A&M Thanksgiving rivalry due to the SEC move.
“Turning them into professional athletes is not the solution to the challenges we face right now.”
Emmert defended the new $2,000 cost-of-attendance stipend as support for students, not pay for play, which he said was not up for discussion. He also warned that realignment was causing damaging cross-country travel and fear-driven decisions.
“I don't necessarily think the slippery slope is theoretical. I think the slippery slope is practical.”
Delany argued that playoff expansion is a practical certainty rather than a theoretical risk, pointing to how the I-AA and basketball brackets grew.
No verbatim quote recorded for this entry; summary of the source only.
Swofford, who co-proposed the plus-one with Mike Slive in 2008, said he still supported it because it would give two more teams a shot at the title. He acknowledged worries that playoffs tend to grow.
“As long as I can go to the Rose Bowl, I don't really care.”
Delany opposed a four-team 'plus-one' playoff, calling it a slippery slope toward 8 or 16 teams and saying the only strong argument for it is financial. He said he was fine with dropping automatic BCS bids as long as the Big Ten kept the Rose Bowl.
“It's a big part of the Big Ten culture and the Big Ten brand.”
During the 2012 playoff talks, Delany first lobbied to host semifinals on the higher seed's campus to protect the Rose Bowl. He later said that if a playoff was inevitable, the 'best four teams' should be picked by a committee.
“I'm very foolish. I assumed -- and it was a rash assumption on my part -- that our friends over in the state capital would want to continue playing us. It turns out they didn't think we were as much of a rival as we thought of them.”
Called A&M's SEC move 'brilliant' for stability but said he wrongly assumed Texas would keep playing the rivalry game.
“We are allowing the best teams in the country to determine a national champion on the football field, and as a coach, that's what you want.”
Stoops welcomed the newly approved four-team playoff because it lets the best teams decide the title on the field, and praised it for keeping the bowl experience and making regular-season games more important.
“The courts will avoid wading into labor law at nearly any cost. The age restriction was collectively bargained, giving the legal system an out in cases like these.”
Said Clowney challenging the three-years rule would be a huge risk, noting the failed suits by Maurice Clarett and Mike Williams and courts' deference to collectively bargained rules.
“I am strongly against any player entering the NFL before he's three years removed from high school. In fact, if it was up to me, I'd raise the restriction to four years removed from high school.”
During the Jadeveon Clowney debate, opposed early NFL entry and said he would raise the draft rule from three to four years out of high school.
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