NCAA Football Report (Week 11)
This week football took a back seat and at the same time the full focus of a much larger problem throughout the world.
There is a proud tradition of great football at Missouri as they are one of the big schools in the NCAA.
So when they bound together to protest the reports of racism the NCAA world took notice.
They were a big part to a larger protest regarding racial issues at Missouri where there had been reported threats and racial slurs both on and off-campus.
African-American groups on campus had begun protests after little was done to correct the issues of racism at Missouri with one student undertaking a hunger strike after he claimed that he was hit by the car of the university’s president while protesting.
The protesters wanted these issues to be recognized and wanted the president of the university to resign after he had done little in the wake of these accusations.
The protest made big news but Wolfe was not going to resign until the football team decided to join the protest.
The team decided that they were not going to play another game until Wolfe resigned.
Only a few days after the team joined the protest Wolfe did resign as the groups at the school got something they were looking for throughout November.
The concerns over racism not just at Missouri but throughout the world are a massive issue right now but this protest highlighted something different about the world of North American sports.
It was a great show of solidarity by the players on the team who are as much a part of the student body that has to deal with those issues on a daily basis.
What it brought up is the power that sports can play in major issues as it took a football team from a school that loves its football to threaten to boycott games for the president to resign.
That is an important thing to see the NCAA where student athletes have been in the midst of a battle with the NCAA to make life livable for them.
Many of the student athletes are given scholarships that cover the cost of tuition but receive little other help.
That leaves these athletes, many from poorer backgrounds, by themselves to find money for rents, food, books, and any other expenses that come with living by yourself in college.
It can leave a lot of these athletes struggling to get by and struggling to get what they need to be elite athletes.
For the last few years that old way of doing things has come under fire as former players have sued the NCAA and EA Sports for using their likeness while a demand to pay players has grown.
The problem is that more often than not the players playing in the main sports are unable to talk about it for fear that they may lose out on their opportunity to play professionally.
If they speak out there is a possibility of their careers coming to a slow end and NFL scouts never seeing them.
It has been a slow fight for players and those wanting to see players paid but the Missouri protest could be a sign of just how powerful the student athletes are when they’re organized.
The Missouri players threatened to miss games and almost immediately they got the results they were looking for.
That threat could have cost the school a lot more than just money as they would have started to turn plenty of public opinion against them.
When you take football away from people who love football things start to change and public pressure increases to bring the sport back.
That is the power of the student athletes that can move mountains if they are organized.
It is easier said than done as the risks may not outweigh the rewards that might never come.
It is a tough thing to organize the players together and risk losing a career but Missouri showed the power that the players truly have in making changes in the way things are done.
Key Scores:
#1 Clemson Tigers 37 – 27 Syracuse Orange
– The Tigers remained on the top for the second week in a row but they did not do a great job of staying there as they struggled against the Orange and although they won they only won by ten points in a game that might see them drop if only slightly
#2 Alabama Crimson Tide 31 – 6 Mississippi State Bulldogs #17
– The Tide are making a massive run through the end of their season and they continued that run against the Bulldogs with a convincing win over a team that has had their number in recent years as the Tide were impressive for another week
#12 Oklahoma Sooners 44 – 34 Baylor Bears #6
– The outcry about Big 12 teams was heard once again as Baylor remained out of the top four teams but the CFP committee proved once against hey were right as Baylor dropped a close one to Oklahoma ending the Bears’ playoff hopes
#24 Houston Cougars 35 – 34 Memphis Tigers #21
– The Cougars and the Tigers were two great stories this year especially in Memphis where it was expected that they were headed close to the playoff but another loss is sure to end any hope of a big bowl for the Tigers
Next Week:
Michigan State Spartans vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (Saturday November 21st; 3:30 pm ET)
– The Buckeyes are undefeated but for many they have yet to have a true test in their season but this game about the Spartans may mark their first real test as Michigan State looks to knock the defending champions out of the top four
Baylor Bears vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys (Saturday November 21st; 7:30 pm ET)
– The Bears are not about to play in the playoffs but the Cowboys still have a chance and both teams will face-off with the Bears trying to knock off the Cowboys and get closer to the Big 12 championship while staying the hunt for a major bowl
Boston College vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (Saturday November 21st; 7:30 pm ET)
– It shouldn’t be a great game but the Irish need to impress to stay near the top of the rankings and they try to do so at Fenway Park where their latest Shamrock Series game takes them to the legendary ballpark with plenty on the line
TCU Horned Frogs vs. Oklahoma Sooners (Saturday November 21st; 8:00 pm ET)
– The Sooners just knocked off one of the top Big 12 teams in the country when they beat the Baylor Bears and now they try to do the same by beating the Horned Frogs and making their case for the Big 12 Championship
The Sport Addiction 