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TK1451 wrote:
As an aside, to people who find it hard to believe men are complaining about Title IX, most of the time it has nothing to do with scholarships and everything to do with schools cutting men's track/xc to comply with Title IX. The scholarship limits of 18 and 12.6 are decided by the NCAA, and a <50% difference isn't worth getting that worked up about. What gets men riled up is when the women's roster has 50 girls, and the men's team of 12 can't take deserving walk-ons or needs to cut underperforming members to keep the school in compliance with Title IX. It has everything to do with having the opportunity to pursue your dreams and very little to do with how much your family is paying a school to let you pursue those dreams.

Those who try to shift the blame to football have zero understanding of sports culture in America. Having a good tennis team benefits the members of the tennis team. Having a good track team benefits the members of the track team. Having a good football team benefits the entire student body. Home football games become a major (if not THE major) social focus of the week for students. When the team wins, social stratification disappears during the celebrations and nerds and frat stars and jocks celebrate together. Students carry a bit more swagger when they talk to high school friends who went to other colleges in the conference. I'm sure there are lots of people on this board who were cut from all the major sports teams when they were a kid and will hate football no matter what, but for the average college student, their college experience is enhanced by having a good football team. At some schools it's basketball, at some schools it's hockey, but this is America and on the whole football is king.

I have always proposed removing the top revenue-producing sport for each gender from the participation equality requirement. That way the Ohio State football team, which funds the entire athletic department budget, doesn't force the school to suppress 120 spots in other men's sports to maintain gender equality. But a school who has a terrible football team that doesn't generate revenue faces harsher Title IX restrictions, because they only get to deduct the 20-person basketball team instead of the 120-person football team, and they therefore have an incentive to shift the focus from football to other sports.

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