2009 Issue

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the preeminent National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) event. It consistently generates high television ratings and attracts millions of dollars of advertising spending. Given the limited analysis of the organizational conditions that frame these broadcasts’ production, this study examines the impact of influential actors on the representation process. Using a mixed-method approach, this paper investigates the production of 2009 BCS broadcasts, and examines the extent to which these broadcasts are consistent with college sport’s espoused educational mission. Through a critical examination of the dominant institutional logic that underpins their reproduction, this study reveals how such broadcasts reflect both past choices and future influences related to television production structures and practices.

Critics contend that intercollegiate athletic administrators, including compliance officers who work in highly formalized environments, generally exhibit restricted moral thinking that is defined by organizational rules (Lumpkin, Stoll, & Beller, 1999). Cognitive moral development’s dominance on moral reasoning research has assisted in supporting this argument because investigations are framed from one independent theory (e.g., justice) and measure moral reasoning (Walker, Pitts, Hennig, & Matsuba, 1995). As a result, the interdependent nature between individuals’ morality and moral reasoning in real-life work experiences is unclear. Using contextual practical reasoning as a framework, Pacific-10 compliance officers’ were interviewed to examine their morality and moral reasoning. The findings showed compliance officers engaged in practical reasoning in resolving day-to-day work-related moral problems. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the interdependent relationship among participants’ conceptions of morality, their moral perceptions and sensitivities, and their practical reasoning.

Over 16,000 international student-athletes competed at National Collegiate Athletic Association schools during the 2006-07 school year (NCAA, 2008). Many of these students came to the United States with far different sporting backgrounds than their United States-born counterparts, shaping their perspectives of high-level university sport competition. The purpose of this study was to examine differences among domestic and international NCAA Division I student-athletes’ views of the purpose of collegiate sport. Responses to a Purpose of Sport Questionnaire for 174 international student-athletes from 49 different countries were compared to those from 110 United States-born student-athletes. A statistical test of MANOVA revealed international student-athletes rated the competition aspect of the purpose of college sports significantly lower than domestic student-athletes. Utilizing a second MANOVA, comparisons were made between student-athletes from different geographical regions. Student-athletes from Western European nations rated good citizenship as a purpose of collegiate sport significantly lower than student-athletes from Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the United States.

Big-time college sport has successfully weathered one wave of reform after another for over 100 years. Yet, passionate debates continue regarding the educational impact of highly commercialized sport in American universities. The major purpose of this study is to identify the issues and assumptions that divide reformers and reform groups. It also makes explicit the conceptual models—intellectual elitist, academic capitalist, and athletes rights—they use to interpret the reality of commercialized college sport. This study does not test the validity of each model. Rather it explores logical connections between these models and reform policies likely to be pursued by those who embrace them. These conceptual models can also serve as building blocks for theory and future scholarly research.

During the past 25 years, men’s wrestling programs have suffered more program eliminations than any other nonrevenue sport team at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level (The NCAA News, 2006). While there were 363 NCAA wrestling programs offered to potential student-athletes in 1981 (The NCAA News, 2006), the number of men’s wrestling programs provided by the NCAA has diminished to 220 in 2008 (Moyer, 2009). With the struggling economy and the implications of the “arms” race (Christy, Seifried, & Pastore, 2008; Kennedy, 2007), the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and advocates of amateur wrestling must develop strategies to enhance the sustainability of college wrestling for future years. Thus, the research utilized the motivational preference literature as a guide to survey fans (N = 149) at the NWCA All Star Classic in an effort to improve promotional opportunities at future college wrestling events. Overall, the results illustrated that fans responded most favorably to the following motivational preferences: achievement, individual match-ups, and loyalty. Further, the research also utilized participant’s demographic information to identify the segmented motivational preferences exhibited by fans attending the event.

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at-large selection process is a highly scrutinized system. A selection committee made up of ten members is asked to select teams based on guidelines set forth by the NCAA. However, committee members indicate that other factors are also considered. Due to the financial benefits associated with a tournament appearance, it is important to closely examine the committee’s decision making process in order to identify possible sources of bias, which may put some teams at a competitive disadvantage. The purpose of this study was to examine direct and indirect attributes of teams that finished in the RPI top 100 between 1999 and 2007 (N = 695) to provide a critical analysis of the selection process. The results of a logistic regression model suggested that most of the criticism received by the selection committee is unwarranted. Overall, previous selections matched most of the performance-based guidelines that are used by the selection committee. However, conference classification was a significant predictor of selection, and this may provide evidence of a major conference bias. Specific misclassifications were identified in the examination, which help to illuminate this bias. In summary, this study discusses the importance of critically analyzing the tournament selection process due to the financial implications of an at-large tournament invitation. The results of this investigation provide vital information that could be utilized by the NCAA to monitor and adjust the current selection process.

Unintended pregnancy creates significant problems for college student-athletes. Reports over the last five years indicate that pregnant student-athletes conceal pregnancy, feel forced into abortion, or lose scholarships because of pregnancy. Health risks associated with participation in intercollegiate athletics while pregnant, new NCAA guidelines protecting pregnant athletes’ financial aid and wide variation among institutional practices make it essential for every college and university to have its own published policy about student-athlete pregnancy. A well-crafted pregnancy policy protects the health of mother and fetus, addresses continuing athletic participation eligibility, and guides institutional response. Further, such a policy needs to address the needs of the male student-athlete who is the father of the child. College health professionals involved in intercollegiate sports are particularly qualified to advise in this arena. A suggestion is made for college health professionals to help create a safer health environment by advocating for pregnant and parenting student-athletes.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of scholarship support, gender and sport-type (individual or team) on student-athlete retention. Student-athlete retention was defined by utilizing the Academic Progress Rate (APR) instituted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in February, 2005. A single mid-major Division I Conference provided data (eight institutions) on student-athletes participating from 2001-2005, resulting in 12,980 total observations. Data were analyzed utilizing analysis of variance (ANOVA), discriminant function analysis, and binary logistic regression to determine the extent to which scholarship support, gender and sport type influenced retention. Results indicated scholarship support alone was not significantly related to retention; however, gender and sport type were significant predictors of retention with female and individual sport athletes retained at a higher rate than their male and team sport counterparts. Additionally, the combination of scholarship support, gender and sport type emerged as a significant predictor of retention. These findings indicated certain populations of student-athletes leave institutions at a higher rate than others, and may suggest a need to target retention efforts at particular sub-sets of student-athletes.

Studies on graduation rates of college athletes have typically utilized subdivisions based on race, gender, and sport to allow for more transparent scrutiny of potential problem areas. However, subdivision by race has not been utilized when examining clustering of football players into academic majors. Clustering occurs when 25% or more of an athletic team shares a single academic major (Case, Greer, & Brown, 1987). Football media guides from Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schools were utilized to determine the academic majors of upperclassmen to explore whether race could be a factor in academic clustering. The results showed that Minority players were clustered into specific academic programs at greater rates than their White counterparts. While academic clustering occurred for both White and Minority players, the clustering of Minority players involved greater numbers of players enrolled in clustered majors, as well as the existence of a second clustered major at several schools. At six of the schools in the study, 75% or more of the Minority players were enrolled into just two academic majors.