Boise State once attempted to join a conference it felt was going to be a part of the power conferences in college football. The decision to join the Big East was later rescinded, and the Broncos remained in the Mountain West Conference. Now the president of the university is sounding off about the power shift around collegiate sports, criticizing NCAA reform initiatives seemingly engineered and orchestrated by the big-money conferences.
“The NCAA cannot fall prey to phony arguments about student welfare when the real goal of some of these so-called reformers is create a plutocracy that serves no useful purpose in American higher education,” Boise State president Bob Kustra wrote in a letter, according to CBSSports.com.
The timing of this letter is noteworthy because the Pac-12 has called on fellow power conferences -- the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC -- to endorse reform proposals in the NCAA. It is Kustra’s opinion the whole idea of reform is nothing more than a way to get the big conferences to control more of the money in college sports, suggesting academics is being put to the side.
“I have no doubt why the power conferences are working to separate themselves from some Division I universities who still see the value of equity and fairness in athletic funding,” Kustra wrote. “It’s time for the NCAA to take a stand for fiscal responsibility and the rightful place of intercollegiate athletics in American higher education...”
Kustra also took veiled shots at Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and SEC commissioner Mike Slive, two of the most influential people in college sports today. In Kustra’s letter, he makes note of two conferences “taking the lead in calling the shots for the others.” Delany and Slive have played a significant role in changes going on around college sports, thrugh expansion, playoff and rule discussions and initiatives in recent years. Whatever the topic of discussion is, Delany and Slive are two of the most visible voices representing some of the country’s largest institutions.
Does Kustra have a point, and will his concerns be addressed? Or will Boise State once again be left on the outside looking for a way to crack the party once again?