# Should some "college" sports be separated from college? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl, basketball-nba\ **Created:** [December 31, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-some-college-sports-be-separated-from-college/1012400 "2024-12-31T16:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-some-college-sports-be-separated-from-college/1012400/1 "2024-12-31T16:09:16Z")
My basic thought is that the link between big money college sports - primarily men’s foot and basketball - and their traditional role as amateur competitions involving student athletes is becoming more and more tenuous. With big money television contracts, underclassmen going pro, seemingly increased transfers and extended eligibility, huge coaching salaries, and now paid athletes, I’m wondering if the entire model ought to be rethought, and the big money sports be “spun off” from the colleges. Today I’m going over to my sister’s, as her husband wanted to host a party for my alma mater (Illinois) in a bowl game. I watch essentially no pro or college sports, and long ago concluded that Illinois would always find a way to lose the big game. I don’t really understand why our society seems so interested in college and pro sports, but it does not impress me as really integral with what I believe should be a core function of (especially public) colleges. If the sports truly generated excess revenue which was turned over towards education, that would be a different matter. But my understanding is that only a small minority of the biggest football and hoops programs actually generate excess revenues. So I would propose that college football and basketball be spun off into a minor league system - partially funded by the pro leagues. If a college wanted to somehow be related to a particular team - maybe sell its name to the team, that would be all right. But let’s stop the facade that these competititors are “student athletes.” (I was surprised to read a newspaper article saying star players in both teams in the game I will be watching today, will sit out the game, because of upcoming NFL tryout and transfer considerations.) A short search turned up [this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-money-and-us-college-football/988149/41), but nothing more recent. I posted this in GD rather than The Game Room, thinking some folk who never visit that forum - or, like me, who are not sports fans - might participate. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-some-college-sports-be-separated-from-college/1012400)._