Knight Commission wants BCS revenue distributed based on grad rates

[UNTflyer]

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- While the conference commissioners continue to determine what college football's playoff will be in 2014, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics has proposed a new -- and radical way -- of distributing the hundreds of million dollars in new BCS media rights revenue.

The Knight Commission's report, obtained by CBSSports.com, recommends rewarding the individual schools and not the conferences based on academic standards and not on-the-field performance or market value.

Instead of dividing up the media rights revenues among the conferences, as it's currently done, the Knight Commission recommends the revenue is allocated to the individual schools. “The Knight Commission wants to ensure that the projected ‘new' media revenues from the FBS football postseason will be used to further strengthen the educational missions of our universities,” the Knight Commission said.

The proposal was sent to the 11 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners, BCS executive director Bill Hancock and the FBS presidents.

“It's noble to keep reinforcing the importance of academic success,” Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said.

The Knight Commission proposed three payout models -– a proposed graduation success incentive fund sorted by NCAA football graduation rate. The Commission's preferred model divides the football programs into three categories: Tier I (graduation rates of at least 70 percent), Tier II (graduation rates between 60 and 69.9 percent) and Tier III (graduation rates below 60 percent).

In the commission's preferred model, Tier I and Tier II schools would evenly split 50 percent of the new media rights revenue with the remaining revenue split among the Tier I schools. The Tier III schools would not receive any revenue. See the breakdown here

Based on the projected amount of the new media rights deal ($360 million), under the Commission's model Tier I schools would each receive $6.34 million, Tier II schools would each receive $2.1 million and Tier III schools would receive nothing – but embarrassment for their sub-par graduation rates.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/brett-mcmurphy/18842221/knight-commission-wants-bcs-revenue-distributed-based-on-grad-rates

[GrandGreen]

Yes, I can see a lot of worthless degrees being awarded if that is passed. The problem with academic reforms is there is no way to monitor them. Just because an athlete or anyone else for that matter has a good gpa or earns a degree does not mean that they actually earned, deserved them or the recipient is prepared for anything outside of college.