College Baseball Reform

Yesterday in Rivals College baseball, there were a lot of heated comments that were initiated from comments I made. Some great questions were raised as it relates to my suggestion that Colleges fully fund their baseball programs and MLB help subsidize that. One question that I thought was intriguing was the following:

"Who get's the money first, the LSU's or the Rhode Islands?"

I'll answer that with a few more questions...Who gets the big money in football from the networks today? Would we rather see Cal Poly battle it out with Portland State or Florida duke it out with USC?

The power conferences have more resources, better athletes and more players drafted. So given the same scenario in baseball...if you were a decision maker for MLB...as a possible benefactor, which conference and teams would you invest more money into?

Using Cal Poly football as an example...to the people in the small town of San Luis Obispo, the Mustang football team matters...but they also know where they stand in the scheme of things...yet they still try like hell to make it work.

You see, Cal Poly is D-I FCS. They and others like them can play DI FBS teams and in some cases can compete very well. Remember the Appalachian State/Michigan game a few years back? Cal Poly was a few seconds away from handing a good Wisconsin football team a loss the season before last. Can they do that consistently...NO. There are several well known conferences that comprise the world of D-I FCS...Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Great West, Ivy League, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Pioneer, Southern, Southland and Southwestern Athletic. And they have their own championship. They are D-I, but are realistic about their zero percent chance of ever competing for a chance at a BCS or any other FBS bowl...So they have their own.

Many of these conferences also compete in D-I baseball...but other than the Missouri Valley, is it really fair that they must compete with teams from the SEC, ACC and others for a chance to go to Omaha? Or, should they compete in a different post season tourney...one that doesn't require them to be fully funded. One that maybe even plays a split schedule in early fall and a late spring?

Are their other conferences that may fall into this category that still gives players a great opportunity to play ball...even against the power conferences...but in addition, gives them a better shot at a separate post season tournament and a chance for some glory that they would not have otherwise?

Don't get angry people..I am throwing out ideas here...food for thought. Comments?