Well, not really an explanation that supports it…but at least, explains why it is that way. Plus, a discussion of how almost all the schools in the SEC get around it, at least to some degree…most especially, Vandy.
While I would say this video is definitely worth the watch, I’ll also mention that you wouldn’t know Arkansas was in the SEC or even a successful program from watching this. We only get one brief mention IIRC. Particularly galling was when SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was commenting on the competitive balance of Baseball in the league, he mentioned that Vandy, MSU and Auburn were at the 2019 CWS…curiously failing to mention Arkansas was there as well. But other than that, there IS a lot of good information here that answers a lot of the questions i see posted on this board from time to time.
Looks like this was just released a few weeks ago.
Scott Stricklin is absolutely right. The Power 5 schools can find money for more baseball scholarships, and for more women’s scholarships in multiple sports to maintain Title IX compliance. But the have-nots can’t, or won’t, and they have a lot more votes than the Power 5. To be sure there are very good baseball programs outside the Power 5 that could probably find the money as well (Fullerton and Long Beach come to mind). But there are way too many who couldn’t, and they’re dictating to the ones who can.
Is college baseball a country club sport? Absolutely. Because of the scholarship situation, and because of the path to get to that point (travel ball, private coaching, yadda yadda, all of which costs money), and the fact is that it’s a lot more likely for white kids to have that money available. We had three black kids on the Hogs this year (Franklin, Starks and Battles). And that’s an unusually high number. There have been recent seasons where we were all white. LSU also had three this year.
They mentioned Arkansas’ program for out of state tuition waivers as a benefit, and it is. If you’re from Texas and you’re a good student (like, say, Kevin Kopps), it’s going to cost Rick Kopps a lot less to send his son here as a walk-on than maybe to take a partial scholarship somewhere else. But they’re absolutely correct that Vandy has a huge advantage with its endowment and Bama and Auburn, with no lottery scholarships or waivers, have a disadvantage (finally we find something where Bama has a built-in disadvantage).
College baseball has always been a partial scholarship sport with small coaching staffs - both before and after the advent of Title IX. It was an afterthought spring sport - like track and field. I wonder how many baseball scholarships the Hogs were giving when they were playing at Agri Park? I wonder how much was spent on it - not much according to Norm.
Scholarship limits have been going down, not up. At one time football scholarships were unlimited. Then they put in a limit of 105 in 1973 as a response to Title IX, cut it to 95 in 1978 and 85 in 1992. I can’t find any documentation of the historical levels in baseball, but I know it was 13 before it was cut to 11.7 in 2008. Of course, it’s also possible that in the 60s and 70s, sports like baseball got little or nothing. But when you’re playing at Agri Park in front of parents and girlfriends, it’s a little different than 11,084 at Baum-Walker.
Things change in life. College baseball, at least in the SEC, is becoming more popular and generating more revenue. It is time the scholarships were increased. The scholarships need to flow to the sports who generate revenue and interest.
Agree, but it isn’t going to happen as long as the UALRs and ASUs of the world can outvote the schools that care about baseball. But if the big schools break away, it destroys the CWS.
Dunno about destroying the CWS,….if P5’s do leave, small schools could play in the CWS and P5 could have their tournament……then the winners faced each other for the championship….could be a win win situation.
The fun of the CWS is that Dallas Baptist can win a regional and Fresno State or Coastal Carolina can win the whole darn thing. If the big baseball leagues break away, that’s no longer the case.
The 11.7 is in place because of calculations driven by Title IX. The NCAA put in other options to fund athletes in equivalency sports. NCAA 15.5.3.2.4.1 Academic Honor Awards lets universities provide academic money to athletes that meet ACT / SAT scores and or HS class rankings and it does not count against the 11.7 allotted scholarships. Shame on any university that has baseball players paying to play when they meet the academic requirements. The struggle is with the University in the way they award academic scholarships and with the NCAA to adjust the minimum score requirements. Stay away from fighting title IX regulations that you can win. I am thinking that there are players on every D1 baseball team across the country that meet the academic guidelines and are not getting any or very little academic money. You put on a uniform, put in 40+ hours a week on the sport, go to class as all other non athletes do, take out student loans, and the child of a faculty member, child of a university employee, at most universities can attend tuition free.
BTW, many non power 5 universities treat baseball as a way to get students in seats that pay tuition, housing, and food out of their own pockets. Reason is that they lose money on baseball. Worse yet, many of these universities don’t even fully fund the 11.7 scholarships. These athletes don’t just play baseball. They are baseball players and the game has shaped their character. If they have the opportunity to play they will pay to do it because it is what they are. NCAA and Universities take advantage of this every day.
Lastly, do not break apart the power 5 conferences from the mid majors. The NCAA structure is already in place for teams to play div 1, 2, or 3.
I found it interesting about how they got to 11.7. Baseball had 13 scholarships. The mandate was that all men’s sports were to be reduced by 10%, thus 11.7.
That (what Marty said) is the explanation given in the video linked above.
10% of 95 is 9.5, so would have taken the limit down to 85.5. I guess the powers that be didn’t want to have one person getting half a scholarship in a sport where it’s hard enough to compete with the elite schools offering a full ride. Why they rounded down rather than up is anyone’s guess.
Baseball was already dealing in fractions of scholarships for players at 13, so it really didn’t change their playing field too dramatically to drop to a fraction of a scholarship…I suppose.
Ive heard that explanation. The timing is more what I’m thinking about. Football went to 85 in 1992. Baseball went to 11.7 in 2008 according to the NCAA manual which shows when each provision was modified last.
