Ready for a college football playoff system? Yeah, I thought you were. Well, get excited, because according to Inside Higher Ed, it's being...EXPLORED!
The Obama Administration has assured Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, that it is exploring options to deal with concerns raised by Hatch and others about the Bowl Championship Series. Hatch has asked for an antitrust investigation by the Justice Department, and the administration said it is reviewing that request. A letter to Hatch said that the administration also is "exploring other options that might be available to address concerns with the college football post-season."
You may remember that Hatch brought the issue to the table after his state's undefeated Utes absolutely dismantled a heavily favored Alabama team in 2009's Sugar Bowl. Could this be the first definitive example of homerism being for the greater good? We'll see where this "exploration" takes us.
Good news! If you are planning on getting season tickets for the 2010 football season, you'll be paying less than you did in 2009. But that's only if you buy tickets for all the games; single game tickets will cost more. Confused?
The per game price for public and student season tickets will remain unchanged at $55 and $29 per game, respectively. All season ticket holders will pay less in total for their seats in 2010, since seven games are scheduled for Beaver Stadium this fall compared to eight in 2009. Single game ticket prices will increase $3 to $67 per ticket for the 2010 season.
However, considering that next year's schedule has fewer games, the price per game will stay the same.
Tuition, on the other hand, will almost definitely be increased. In a meeting with the Board of Trustees last week, Graham Spanier announced students should expect to see a tuition hike of between 2.9 to 4.9 percent.
Spanier also noted that the difficulty Penn State had attaining its appropriations this fall should have been a hint that tuition might have to be adjusted to compensate. If you haven't been paying attention, well, surprise!
As is it the media's job to play the blame game, let's start first with the Pennsylvania legislature. They wouldn't give Penn State the entirety of its appropriations request and now students have to make up the difference. Also, we can throw some blame on the university's representatives. Sure, they probably did their best, but why let facts get in the way of a good blaming? While we're at it, Graham Spanier probably had something to do with this monetary meltdown... and you thought he and Fast Eddy were friends!
But the main culprit, the real son-of-a-bitch responsible for the tuition hike, is NBC. They ruined late night TV and ultimately spurred the final decision to raise tuition.
It could be worse. Even a five percent increase isn't the end of the world (which is still in two years, btw). And at least Penn State isn't the University of California. They call that a riot? Raise our tuition 32 percent and we'll show UC how college rioting is done!
During the month of January, the NFL playoffs tends to hog the spotlight. NCAA football news is generally relegated to coaching hirings and firings and recruiting trends. What seems to be forgotten is the players in between the two levels of the sport - athletes that have begun the journey to turn pro. Saturday's East-West Shrine Game is one of the first milestones for these NFL hopefuls, and three Nittany Lions got an opportunity to show what they could bring to the field.
Check out how Andrew Quarless, Daryll Clark, and Jeremy Boone did after the jump.
Statistics have rolled in showing that the Capital One Bowl matchup between Penn State and LSU was the fifth most-watched bowl game this season. An astounding 7.8 million households watched our Nittany Lions beat those lame Tigers.
There are some other cool TV statistics for Penn State Football after the jump.
