Bill Benner, columnist
Indianapolis Business Journal

"Those most interested in reform are no more than foxes guarding their own hen houses. (It is a mistake to assume) that all of college athletics is Division I-A football and men's basketball. That conveniently ignores about 300,000 student-athletes who are just that: student-athletes enjoying their experiences, getting an education, playing by the rules, not having their hands out, and living more or less happily ever after.

"Sadly, the media's zeal to cover and pander to the popular spectator sports has left the general impression the NCAA is all about big-time football and basketball and nothing else. At the same time, the NCAA has been unable to counter that perception and, therefore, it has become the reality. ...

"So where does this leave the NCAA? In my view, with a nearly impossible task to institute any kind of substantive reform because there simply are too many groups pushing too many agendas. And most of those agendas involve, again, football and men's basketball, with little regard to the overall mission of the Association.

"Listen, I'm not saying that the NCAA is perfect, but neither is any organization and especially one being pulled by as many forces as the NCAA. Should it strive to do better? Certainly. Should it throw up its hands and say there's too much to be done so nothing can be done? Absolutely not.

"But at the same time, all of us should be aware of those thousands of student-athletes who are having tremendous experiences participating in intercollegiate athletics for themselves and their schools, all the while going to class and getting an education -- and a free one at that, in many cases.

"There's not as much wrong with the picture at the NCAA as its critics and reformers would have you believe."

Christine Grant, former women's athletics director
University of Iowa
Christian Science Monitor

"If you really want to reform athletics, consider banning all midweek competitions and have events only on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday. I would also ban all 'voluntary' practices and suggest that a head coach make no more (salary) than the average full professor -- and an assistant coach no more than an assistant professor."

Robert J. Eno, faculty council president
Indiana University, Bloomington
Chronicle of Higher Education

Discussing a resolution submitted by a Big Ten Conference faculty group to reduce commercialism in college sports:

"We want to see athletes treated as students, not as a subgroup only on campus to make money. As long as intercollegiate athletics is designed to complement academic studies, it can reinforce academic performance and values. We think (the problems have) to do with with constant jacking up of the stakes, the introduction of professional standards in athletics."

Jim Delany, commissioner
Big Ten Conference
Chronicle of Higher Education

"When you think about it, some things are very difficult to do based on (antitrust) law. The NCAA can't control college football or college basketball television. I guess conferences can act independently, but there's always the danger of collusion. They could unilaterally disarm, but the likelihood of that is zero to none."

Coaches' salaries

DeLoss Dodds, director of athletics
University of Texas at Austin
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

"The question I would ask is, 'Is it worth it?' And from a business point of view, (Texas football coach) Mack Brown is absolutely worth what we pay him. We have 66 suites sold. Our season-ticket base has gone from like 36,000 to 50,000. Our foundation is growing to maybe the largest annual giving foundation in the nation at close to $15 million a year.

"What we pay our coaches is a small part of what the return is, and the return is all used to fund women's sports and other men's sports. ...

"We're living in a marketplace world. I could say, 'OK, we're not going to pay coaches more than, say, $40,000. And then we lose football games and our stature on the athletics side, and 360,000 alums are upset and mad at the university."