College Sports

Billion dollar media rights deals and packed stadiums and arenas have protected students at most of the power conference schools from forking over big bucks in student fees for athletics, but their counterparts at schools in lesser conferences haven't been so lucky. This isn't exactly shocking information, but it's another interesting look at how uneven the playing field is in college athletics and the folly of some of the little guys trying to keep pace. It provides more ammunition for those who say it's time for another division for the schools with the biggest budgets. According to research reported in this Bloomberg story, students paid more than $2 billion in student fees for athletics two years ago at only the 227 NCAA Division I public institutions. The research done by Jeff Smith at South Carolina Upstate showed students at schools in power conferences with better academic reputations paid far less in fees than those at schools in other conferences struggling to keep up with the big boys, While all students pay the fees, only a small percentage participating on intercollegiate athletic teams actually benefit. Research done at Ohio University by David Ridpath found that students had little knowledge of how much they were paying in fees for athletics. Some of these students are taking out loans to pay for their education and they aren't happy to learn they're paying more than $1,500 annually at some schools toward athletics fees. Smith's research showed the students at the six public schools in the Big South were paying 25 times more in student fees than their peers at the public schools in the Big Ten. That is bound to make writing that student loan payment a little more painful each month. - - - Follow Kyle on Twitter @KyleRingo Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

Wes Durham is leaving Georgia Tech after almost two decades and the search is now on for the next Voice of the Jackets.  Any suggestions? Filed under: Georgia Tech Football

When someone says “Linebacker U,” what is the first thing you think of? Is it Penn State, the traditional answer, with legendary players at the position spanning from Jack Ham to Lavar Arrington to NaVorro Bowman? Or perhaps you’d take a program that’s had a lot of memorable names in the last decade-plus, like Miami (Ray Lewis, Jonathan Vilma) or USC (Clay Matthews, Rey Maualuga). Would you say UCLA? No? Oh, they’d like you to consider it: #linebackeru pic.twitter.com/psyVu1hswP — UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) June 17, 2013 First question: Why is the “U” in apostrophes? Is it an ironic U? Second question: Should a school be proclaiming itself Linebacker U when their last game involved giving up 49 points in a bowl? Teams with linebackers that good should probably be better at defense, no? I would wager that the impetus of this campaign is to help hype pass rusher Anthony Barr, who notched 21 tackles for loss (13 sacks) last season and finds himself on every preseason All-American and Heisman watch list. Inside linebacker Eric Kendricks had 149 tackles last year, and while that’s a potent duo, it’s a long way from this kind of branding or nickname. Penn State fans – who are sticklers for defending traditions – are handling this well, with their SBNation site simply responding: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... (breathes).. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA RT @UCLAFootball: #linebackeru pic.twitter.com/yG0SUFGb5S — BSD (@BSDtweet) June 18, 2013 UCLA has jumped the gun on this type of premature marketing before, taking out a full-page in the L.A. Times to declare that “The Football Monopoly in Los Angeles is Officially Over,” then losing the next four games to USC by a combined score of 134-28. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

"I think he's got the whole package and that he certainly has all the intangibles to be an all-conference type player [down the road]." That is a statement Ed DeChellis once reportedly made about the last player he recruited that actually played for him at Penn State, Jon Graham. With today's news that Graham will be leaving the program after two full seasons of action under a coach whom he didn't sign up to play for, we know for sure that he won't be fulfilling his all-conference potential in Happy Valley. Graham's time at Penn State wasn't so much enigmatic as it was perplexing. The end to his redshirt freshman season, in which he improved on his season averages in points, field goal percentage, and free throw rate during conference play, set the stage for a potentially (there's that word again) exciting 2012-13. But despite encouraging physical development reported by Pat Chambers himself this past offseason, his play never lived up to the hype; his minutes were almost non-existent towards the end of the season, taken away by a graduating junior on a team with nothing to play for other than pride. Watching him play, it wasn't difficult to see what ailed him--he didn't quite have the basketball brain to match wits with his obvious physical gifts. Sure, there were occasional flashes of what ED saw in him--the ten-rebound game against a then-ranked NC State in Puerto Rico, leading the team in blocks in each of his two seasons--but nothing ever resembling a B1G-caliber big man ever materialized. Graham finished 2012-13 averaging 1.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game--not exactly numbers you would like to see from a starting center on a team hoping to battle for an NCAA tournament bid in the nation's toughest conference. Alas, these things happen in college basketball. One look at CBS's transfer list is all you need to confirm that these things don't always work out. Unfortunately, these things haven't worked out for six undergrads (Jermaine Marshall and Sasa Borovnjak excluded because they completed their degrees) under Chambers, though it's worth noting five of these six signed to play for DeChellis. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding these departures, it's less than encouraging to see it happen so frequently. So we bid adieu to one of the more frustrating players to watch in recent Penn State basketball history. Obviously, we wish the best of luck to Jon. Whatever ED saw in you, we hope you find it in your next stop. Ok, so where does this leave Penn State heading into 2013-14? Assuming the roster doesn't see any further departures (knock on wood), and assuming Marshall won't double back (or triple back, I've lost count) on his decision to leave the program, Chambers is looking at an upper-echelon backcourt and an unproven and shallow frontcourt. Donovon Jack is the team's only returning scholarship player taller than 6'8". Freshman Julian Moore needs to hit the weight room hard before his slender 6'10" frame sees the floor. Brandon Taylor has the ability to play down low, but between his foul troubles and penchant for the three pointer he remains a bit of a question mark. Ross Travis is an excellent rebounder, but is he capable of being the anchor in the fabled 'Nova four-guard lineup Chambers has been talking about (and finally has the perimeter personnel to run)? Graham's departure and Jordan Dickerson's arrival makes that one available scholarship for the upcoming campaign. With the number of available grad transfers dwindling by the minute, it's conceivable the staff could dip into the JuCo market. The reported new Director of Player Development Ryan Devlin was hired away from College of Southern Idaho, so it appears Chambers is looking to dip his toes a little further into that talent pool. More likely, however, is that this spot goes unfilled for the upcoming season and saved for a swingman in the 2014 class, with top 100 prospects Terry Larrier and Mikal Bridges as the main targets. Ok, got all that? H

UCLA is just yanking our chains, right? #linebackeru pic.twitter.com/psyVu1hswP — UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) June 17, 2013 Yes, this is the same UCLA that has had four linebackers drafted into the NFL in the past century according to research done by USC blog Reign of Troy. On the other hand, Penn State CURRENTLY has 11 players who play as linebackers in the league (Navorro Bowman, Dan Connor, Sean Lee, Paul Posluszny, Tamba Hali, Cameron Wake, Josh Hull, Bryan Scott, Tim Shaw, Gerald Hodges and Michael Mauti). We won't even mention the Jack Hams, Lavar Arringtons, Shane Conlans, Walker Lee Ashleys or Brandon Shorts of the world even though we should and, technically, we just did. The official Penn State recruiting Twitter made sure to let everyone know who the real Linebacker U was this morning. WE ARE...LINEBACKER U! pic.twitter.com/hLVQ563oAv — Penn State Recruits (@PSURecruits) June 18, 2013 Follow @BSDtweet on TwitterAnd join us on FacebookAll BSD community members should review our current Posting & Commenting Policies before creating any posts or commenting.

Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema wants everybody to just slow down for a minute. Bielema, echoing some of his SEC rivals, according to AL.com is proposing a rule change that would mandate a 15-second substitution period after every first down, allowing coaches to make defensive substitutions. This would severely limit the effectiveness of no-huddle offenses, a trend that is continuing to spread around college football. His reasoning? The health and safety of players: “Not to get on the coattails of some of the other coaches, there is a lot of truth that the way offensive philosophies are driven now, there's times where you can't get a defensive substitution in for 8, 10, 12 play drives," Bielema said, according to AL.com. "That has an effect on safety of that student-athlete, especially the bigger defensive linemen, that is really real." The coattails he’s talking about are those of Alabama coach Nick Saban and Florida coach Will Muschamp, who have also spoken out about the potential dangers of not being able to give their defensive players breathers against relentless opposing attacks. The argument is essentially that if players are gassed on the field, they won’t maintain form or protect themselves as well, thus leading to injury. Not surprisingly, coaches who have found success going up tempo are against the idea of a 15-second cessation of offensive hostilities. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and Tennessee coach Butch Jones have all used or plan to use up-tempo attacks in the SEC and don’t agree with Bielema’s argument. “I'd say that's probably more of an in-shape issue than anything else," said Malzahn, who deployed Cam Newton within a lethal up-tempo attack as Auburn’s offensive coordinator to help win the 2010 BCS title. South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who won a national championship with the Fun 'n’ Gun at Florida, proposed a different solution to dealing with the no-huddle offenses proliferating across his conference. "Of course, the answer is for the other team's offense to stay on the field and get the other fast-paced team [to] stay on the sideline. As a newcomer to the SEC after leaving Wisconsin in December, Bielema’s previous job likely tarnishes the proposed rule change in the court of public opinion. The Big Ten is seen – particularly in the south – as the conference without any speed and a bruising, antiquated style of play. Looking at tempo numbers from the last five years, this isn’t necessarily wrong, but the SEC isn’t exactly sporting a go-go tempo, either. (The SEC average is likely to change with the recent influx of pace-pushing coaches.) Bielema’s team played at a crawl, ranking 114 out of 120 teams between 2008 and 2012. The proposed change is a chance of tactics for Bielema, who used to just subvert rules he didn't like. There are merits to Bielema’s argument, but it comes down to the same basic skill that separates good coaches from great ones: the ability to adjust. Everything from a heavier focus on conditioning to simply recruiting different types of players (less focus on wide, wall-like defensive tackles and more emphasis are more versatile linemen, for example) can contribute to slowing no-huddle offenses. And of course Spurrier’s plan isn’t wrong: If you don’t want to expose your defense to fast-paced assaults, hold on to the ball with your offense, run some clock and keep it out of the opposition’s hands. The Razorbacks face Ole Miss, A&M and Auburn this fall, so circle those games on your calendar to see if Freeze, Sumlin and Malzahn take special pleasure in demonstrating the power of not huddling to Bielema. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.

HERSHEY, PA – New Hershey Bears head coach Mike Haviland poses for a photo after being name the team’s new head coach Tuesday morning (Kyle Mace – Sweetest Hockey on Earth) Mike Haviland made a very good first impression. Haviland was named the 24th head coach in Hershey Bears history on Tuesday in a press conference at Giant Center. Haviland comes with an impressive background in coaching, including being an assistant coach with the 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. “When I got the call last week I was ecstatic,” said Haviland. “This is the premier franchise in the American Hockey League. To be selected and knowing some of the guys I was up against, it was an honor and a privilege. When you put that sweater on you have to understand that you are playing not for the name on the back but the name on the front. People demand a winner here. Guys have to understand that and will understand because I do. I understand what it’s going to take to win at this level.” I like my teams to play hard. I want them to be relentless on the puck. I like a puck possession game and team. I want to be a hard team to play against. I demand a lot from my players but I’m also fair.” Bears fans will remember Haviland from his days coaching the Norfolk Admirals from 2005 to 2007 where he won AHL coach of the year. He was also head coach In Rockford where he had another winning record before going onto be an assistant with the Chicago Blackhawks. The 45-year-old Haviland also won an ECHL Kelly Cup in 2003 with Atlantic City

Illinois-bound QB Lunt: Gundy lifted transfer limits

Former Oklahoma State quarterback Wes Lunt says Cowboys coach Mike Gundy lifted restrictions that blocked Lunt from transferring to 37 schools--including three of his top five.

It turns out that Mike Gundy did lift some of the restrictions on Wes Lunt's transfer, but that shouldn't matter. This should be the case to bring about change, if the NCAA is not too busy screwing up the Miami case to notice that the "student-athletes" it says it protects are being held hostage by some vindictive coaches. Gundy put significant and unnecessary restrictions on Lunt's transfer from Oklahoma State. It was spiteful to a quarterback who wanted to move on (and did, picking Illinois) and go to a school where he thought he had a better chance to play. That happens. And Gundy should not be lauded for eventually lifting the restrictions, as reported by Channel1450.com (via PistolsFiringBlog.com). Lunt told Channel1450.com Gundy did so only about a week ago, well after they were put in place in mid-May, and by that time it was too late. By the time Gundy called Lunt's high school coach to let him know, Lunt said he had lost contact with the other coaches he had been previously restricted from. "It was frustrating," Lunt told Channel1450.com. "I understand the Big 12, that's obvious. The others, it was a little frustrating, but that's part of it and I understand it. It's all good." Lunt deserves credit for taking the high road, but it's a mistake to sweep this under the rug just because it seems everything worked out. Lunt grew up about 90 minutes from Champaign, and the fit seems good. Good for him. And maybe that's where he would have gone, restrictions or not. That should not be the point. This case has to show that the NCAA needs to stop siding with powerful coaches and actually help out the young players who generally have no other voice. Lunt said Vanderbilt and Alabama were two schools that showed interest, but he couldn't talk to. "Alabama would have been cool to check out, but I couldn't talk to them," Lunt told Channel1450.com. Lunt was a highly regarded recruit and looked good at times as a freshman before getting hurt. He could still have a NFL future. Transferring doesn't mean a player can't make it big in the NFL, ask Joe Flacco about that. And you can easily make an argument that going to Alabama would be better for Lunt's NFL future than going to Illinois, but he didn't have that chance. Or, maybe he would have gotten a better education at Vanderbilt. But he couldn't talk to those schools for a few weeks as Gundy flexed his power over a teenager. Gundy should have never, ever been allowed to put those sweeping restrictions place if the NCAA wasn't more worried about a coach avoiding the very small chance he'd have to play a transfer in a bowl game than a 19-year-old's future. It's going to happen again to another player, unless some rules are put in place to prevent coaches from having too much power in this situation. Maybe the next player won't be fortunate enough to have a school 90 minutes from his hometown to settle at. Coaches should not be allowed total control over restricting a player who wants to transfer. When they do, it shows the absolute worst side of college sports. But does the NCAA and its conferences even care? There are the petty interests of millionaire coaches to protect, after all. - - - Want to join the conversation? Hit us up on Twitter @YahooDrSaturday and be sure to "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog.