We know that we have major problems with the NCAA, but no one wants to fix them. Ideas like paying athletes or unionizing athletes are crazy. The only reason that get any attention are that they continue to allow grown men to profit (behind the scenes) on amateur sports.
These are some ideas that I have. I'd love to know what they are terrible.
1. Coach Salary Caps - Cap an NCAA coach's salary at $250k. That is plenty of money. There will continue to be huge demand for jobs and we will keep great coaches. No college employee needs to be making $10 Million to coach a game.
2. Ban all advertising/licensing outside of TV commercials. This "Dr. Pepper BCS Championship" crap is just embarrassing. It should be in strict violation of amateur rules.
3. Make all conferences local. No more switching around due to TV contracts and backroom deals. This would also cut down on the amount of travel for revenue sports. The ACC should span from South Florida to Indiana to Upstate New York. Come on.
4. Offer a college major in Professional Sports (BA). I know this sounds stupid, but think about it. The courses could be existing courses based on skills an athlete might need to know (Financial Management, Marketing, PR, Legal). I also think it would interest the players in a real way. If you don't go pro, it is a great major for any business-related job. Remember, these would be existing classes; no need for a new department.
5. NCAA becomes a "real" regulatory department, not a marketing clearinghouse. These are now either State or Federal employees who have very transparent roles as regulators of amateur athletes.
6. Scholarship athletes are given extended time to finish their degrees if needed. This could be one or two more years. No more fake classes. They take real classes and if they can only shoulder 12 hours a semester, they have more time to graduate after their eligibility has expired.
I think there are serious remedies for the current problems, but no one wants to hear them. It is like Wall Street. Instead of stopping the corruption, they just let more people profit from it so they'll shut up.
Anyway, I'd love to hear some other ideas or arguments.