If you read this site often you know that we believe the top 70-80 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision will eventually create their own “super division” of college athletics.  The biggest schools in the biggest conferences are already pushing for the right to provide full-cost-of-tuition scholarships to their athletes.  The commissioners of the biggest, wealthiest conferences are behind the idea.  Embattled NCAA president Mark Emmert is as well.

But according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the divide between those who want to increase student stipends and those who don’t — or those who can’t afford to — is widening:

“In some ways, the issue has become a referendum on Mr. Emmert, whose attempts to get things done quickly have alienated certain factions.

‘There are some people who will oppose anything he supports, and that’s unfair,’ says Sidney A. McPhee, president of Middle Tennessee State University.  As head of the NCAA Student-Athlete Well-Being Working Group, Mr. McPhee has become chief arbiter of the stipend debate.

The issue has driven a wedge through an already divided Division I.  Some institutions, including those that don’t compete in football at the highest levels, say they simply don’t have the revenue to offset the added costs.  Others worry that making additional payments to players—no matter how small, and for whatever reason—threatens the amateur model.

Such opposition is one reason some of the wealthier programs are pushing for a further subdivision of the NCAA’s top level.  If they can’t get their way on issues like this one, some observers say, they’ll just take their ball and go play somewhere else.

The climate has frustrated Mr. McPhee, who believes that even the less-wealthy programs have an obligation to make a priority of players and their unmet financial needs.  ‘If you want to compete [in Division I],’ he says, ‘you’ve got to step up.’

It’s also a matter of fairness, he says. Institutions increase aid packages for other students all the time, so why shouldn’t they do it for athletes too?”

There are only three questions remaining, in our view.  First, when will the new “super division” be created?  Second, will athletes from all sports be paid (if not, expect litigation).  Third, if all sports are included, are we looking at a split inside the FBS or an overall split among Division I schools in every sport?

While the 70-80 largest, richest football schools would obviously be ready to start their own new branch of the NCAA, would their be some big basketball schools — St. John’s, Georgetown, Marquette, for example — that are prepared to pay athletes as well?  One would imagine so.

Rest assured, a split is coming and a new “super division” will be formed.  It’s just a matter now of when it will be formed and who will be a part of it.

A potential class-action lawsuit that threatens  the NCAA amateur student-athlete model has the association fighting back in court.

A federal-court filing on Thursday revealed just how big the stakes are and what college officials fear could be the end of certain athletic programs at some schools, including football, at the FBS level.

Specifically, should college football and men’s basketball players be paid?  Here’s what Texas A.D. Deloss Dodds and women’s A.D. Christine Plonsky had to say in the filing:

Texas “has no interest in a model that would force us to professionalize two sports to the detriment of the balance of the athletics department’s sports, fitness and educational programs.”

Wake Forest University president Nathan Hatch went even further.

The school ”might cease playing Division I or Football Bowl Subdivision sports entirely if pay-for-play became a reality…

“Instituting a pay-for-play model, even if the payments are deferred to after graduation would change the nature of the relationship Wake Forest has with its football and men’s basketball student-athletes. It would, essentially, turn those teams into professional squads. That would not be acceptable to Wake Forest.”

One issue that has university officials worried – Title IX and gender equity concerns.  California State University system chancellor Timothy White included this in his statement:

“Paying male athletes for their participation in sports would seriously undermine the objectives of Title IX and CSU’s ability to remain in Title IX compliance.”

These filings come as a result of  a judge’s  ruling in January allowed plaintiff’s lawyers to proceed with efforts to have the case certified as a class-action. The suit, initially filed against the NCAA and video-game maker Electronic Arts back in 2009, contends that, among other issues, defendants violated anti-trust law by conspiring to fix at zero the amount of compensation athletes can receive for the use of their names, images and likenesses in products or media while they are in school.

Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

Last year for Christmas, Florida punter Chas Henry got a Ray Guy rookie card as a gift from one of his mom’s co-workers.

Since then, the joke has been that if the Florida senior wins the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter, he’d have to get Guy to sign it.

Henry might have to get that card out of its frame in his family’s Dallas, Ga. home. He was named a finalist for the award for a second year in a row on Monday, putting him in the running with Georgia’s Drew Butler, who won it last year, and Iowa’s Ryan Donahue for the award.

“It means everything to him,” said Henry’s father, David, on Monday afternoon. “If you’re a punter, you don’t win the Heisman (Trophy). This the Heisman for punters.”

Henry leads the country with a 47.3-yard average on punts this year. That has helped the Gators (7-4, 4-4 SEC) rank first nationall in net punting with 42.24 yards per punt.

Florida has not had a Ray Guy Award winner since it was created in 2000.

“It’s a great honor, and it’s even a bigger honor, I guess, to be named twice,” David Henry said.

A national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, sports information directors, national media and former Ray Guy Award winners voted on the finalists and will cast a second round of ballots to decide the winner.

The award will be presented on The Home Depot College Football Awards live on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Content provided by Swamp Things – Gators Blog.

Florida's Chas Henry has posted the nation's best punting average while taking on kicking duties much of this season. (Orlando Sentinel photo)

In addition to Chas Henry’s added kicking duties this year, the Florida punter has continued to be one of the best in the country at his position.

Henry was named a semifinalist for the Ray Guy Award on Friday, the third time he’s been in the running for the country’s top award for punting. His 48.18-yard average per punt ranks first nationally. Twelve of his 33 punts have landed inside the 20-yard line and only 10 have been returned.

Henry has also been the team’s kicker since the beginning of October as Caleb Sturgis has been out with a hairline fracture in his vertebrae. He kicked the game-winning field goal in a 34-31 overtime win over Georgia on Oct. 30.

A national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, sports information directors, national media and former Ray Guy Award winners will select the three award finalists, who will be named on Nov. 22. Voters will then cast a second round of ballots to decide the winner.

The award will be presented on The Home Depot College Football Awards live on  Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

Content provided by The Slophouse.

Penalties have been a recurring problem for Arkansas this season.

It continued Saturday as the Razorbacks racked up a season-high 130 yards on 13 penalties in a 49-14 win over Vanderbilt. It marked the third time this year Arkansas had double-digit penalties and the second time the Razorbacks topped the century mark in penalty yards.

“That’s a lot of penalties,” quarterback Ryan Mallett said. “I looked at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter (Saturday) and I didn’t realize we had that many penalties. But that’s the little things we always talk about that we can’t do because it’s going to hurt us. We’ve just got to look at it, see what we did and work on that. We’ve definitely got to eliminate them, though.

“It’s just a lack of focus. It’s a lack of focus on all 11 guys.”

Arkansas leads the SEC in penalty yards this season and by a wide margin. The Razorbacks are averaging 74.1 penalty yards per game – more than 20 more than 11th-place Auburn. Only five other teams are averaging more penalty yards in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But it seems Arkansas’ opponents are playing to the level of the Hogs’ sloppiness – or vice versa. The Razorbacks’ opponents are averaging a league-leading 59.1 penalty yards per game, meaning on average there are 133.2 penalty yards each time Arkansas takes the field.

Asked about the penalties Monday, Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino said, “You know, we’re not going to talk a lot about the negatives. We’re going to focus on the positives and getting better, and then you work hard to get rid of the negatives.”

Defensive end Damario Ambrose said discipline is the key to eliminating the mistakes, especially at home.

“I know I personally jumped offsides,” Ambrose said. “I need to make sure I don’t do that. As an overall defense, sometimes when you start getting aggressive, you can start making mistakes. We just need to focus on the ball, eliminating mistakes and we’ll do better.”

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.

Content provided by The Slophouse.

Penalties have been a recurring problem for Arkansas this season.

It continued Saturday as the Razorbacks racked up a season-high 130 yards on 13 penalties in a 49-14 win over Vanderbilt. It marked the third time this year Arkansas had double-digit penalties and the second time the Razorbacks topped the century mark in penalty yards.

“That’s a lot of penalties,” quarterback Ryan Mallett said. “I looked at the scoreboard in the fourth quarter (Saturday) and I didn’t realize we had that many penalties. But that’s the little things we always talk about that we can’t do because it’s going to hurt us. We’ve just got to look at it, see what we did and work on that. We’ve definitely got to eliminate them, though.

“It’s just a lack of focus. It’s a lack of focus on all 11 guys.”

Arkansas leads the SEC in penalty yards this season and by a wide margin. The Razorbacks are averaging 74.1 penalty yards per game – more than 20 more than 11th-place Auburn. Only five other teams are averaging more penalty yards in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But it seems Arkansas’ opponents are playing to the level of the Hogs’ sloppiness – or vice versa. The Razorbacks’ opponents are averaging a league-leading 59.1 penalty yards per game, meaning on average there are 133.2 penalty yards each time Arkansas takes the field.

Asked about the penalties Monday, Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino said, “You know, we’re not going to talk a lot about the negatives. We’re going to focus on the positives and getting better, and then you work hard to get rid of the negatives.”

Defensive end Damario Ambrose said discipline is the key to eliminating the mistakes, especially at home.

“I know I personally jumped offsides,” Ambrose said. “I need to make sure I don’t do that. As an overall defense, sometimes when you start getting aggressive, you can start making mistakes. We just need to focus on the ball, eliminating mistakes and we’ll do better.”

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.