NCAA Double-A Zone: Service academies, Big 12, SAT and $2.999 October 8, 2008

Service academies, Big 12, SAT and $2.999 - Oct 08, 2008 | 9:59:38

posted by: Howard Smith

Here's a great article by John Feinstein about Army, Navy and Air Force's football programs. Unfortunately these football squads don't receive the national recognition that BCS schools do (outside of the annual Army-Navy game), and it's a shame. These players embody what it means to be student-athletes, and as Feinstein says, they are "some remarkable young men." A few months ago, we debated about whether service academy star athletes should be able to forgo their required service to play professionally. What do you think about this issue?

Many people believe the SEC is the best conference around. This year, however, there appears to be a shift in power to the Big 12. The conference currently has four of the top seven teams in the country (Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech). It will be interesting to see what happens when these top teams start going head-to-head, and it all begins this weekend when Oklahoma and Texas square off in the Red River Shootout. Missouri and 17th-ranked Oklahoma State will also meet this weekend. Which is the better college football conference this season - the SEC or Big 12?

We talked a few weeks ago about how some schools are going away from using standardized tests scores from the SAT or ACT as a measure for college acceptance. The one thing about standardized tests is that they are exactly that - standardized. In a culture of inconsistent grading scales from one high school to another, at least tests like the SAT are the same for everyone. Do you think the SAT and other standardized tests should be considered for college admittance?

The Scarlet and Gray is going green. Ohio State has collected over 150-tons of recyclable goods during its 11 football home dates in the past two seasons. Kudos to Ohio State for this initiative and hopefully more schools will continue to make this a priority at their sporting events.

Nine Division II basketball games will be televised this upcoming season on CBS College Sports Network. It's great to see D-II basketball get some national recognition (similarly to D-II football this season) because these student-athletes deserve it. Hopefully we will see some Division III action on a national platform in the near future.

This morning, I drove by gas stations in Indianapolis promoting $2.999 a gallon, an enjoyable sight to see. Hopefully this trend of lower gas prices continues around the country, which will help intercollegiate athletics departments lower their immediate travel expenses from what they previously anticipated.

Comments

I'm going to quote a comment from the original Washington Post article comments section on the John Feinstein piece, because I couldn't say it any better myself.

"I could get with the gist of this article a lot more if it wasn't painted as big guys vs. little guys. Because that's simply a matter of perspective.

It's true the big networks are missing some great college football, wonderful traditions and the like. But aren't the people at Navy just as clueless about The Citadel and VMI, and those guys just as clueless about the Coast Guard-Merchant Marine rivalry?

Those guys would kill to get a sliver of the attention the worst Army-Air Force-Navy game gets, so when you talk about small-college football and guys playing for the love of the game, remember that depending on your perspective, those guys are just as much the big spoiled brats as they are the overlooked good kids who deserve more attention."

posted by: Pat Coleman | 10/09/08

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