By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament just completed its second weekend, and for the first time in four years, the Arkansas Razorbacks didn’t play in it.

The Razorbacks advanced to the Elite Eight two straight years under Coach Eric Musselman and then made the Sweet 16 last year, but this year’s squad finished with a losing record at 16-17. The women’s team also did not make the tournament. Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock both fell just short of making the men’s tournament and giving Arkansans something to root for. 

This year’s March “sadness” follows a disappointing football season for the Razorbacks, after which Head Coach Sam Pittman found himself on the hot seat. In baseball, on the other hand, the Razorbacks are ranked number one. 

That bright spot aside, it’s been a frustrating seven months for Razorbacks fans. It’s not the first time that has happened, but what’s new is, it’s harder to know who to blame. 

That’s because two changes have transformed college sports. 

One is the ability of players to be enriched by their services, though not directly by the schools, through the supposed use of their name, image and likeness. In theory, NIL might have rewarded athletes for their performance, and for the resulting fame. Instead, it’s become a way to recruit pay-for-play athletes out of high school and from other colleges. The programs supported by the most outside money – which isn’t Arkansas – can get the best players. 

The other change has been allowing players to transfer from one college to another without sitting out a year through an online transfer portal.

That combination has made 18-22-year-olds well-paid professional athletes and free agents. 

Professionals without contracts

I’m not against paying players. It was always wrong and un-American to deny them the full benefits of their (at times dangerous) labor. This happened because well-paid NCAA officials and university presidents did what Walmart and Target cannot do, which is collude to set wage rates. Moreover, the current pay-for-play climate makes public what previously happened under the table, though at a smaller scale.

But now we have a system of second-tier professional sports without the first-tier professional sports’ long-established controls. There aren’t enough measures to create competitive balance, as with the pro leagues. Those include salary caps that limit the total amount paid to the entire team’s players and thus force all teams to prioritize. Another is the draft, which lets the teams with the worst records pick new players first. Moreover, college athletes do not sign long-term contracts, which create stability. And while those under-the-table payments are gone, there’s still little transparency. We don’t know how much these players are being paid, or really by whom. 

Some are hoping Congress will step in and fix this mess. Well, good luck with that.

As noted earlier, now fans don’t know who to blame. In the past, it’s always been the coach. They’re the ones making big bucks to recruit, hire assistants, create game plans, and decide what to do on fourth down. 

Now a coach can do all those things well and still lose because the rich folks didn’t donate enough NIL money. For that reason, a local sports radio host recently wished the Waltons would donate $1 billion to pay players to play for the Razorbacks. 

Time to alter expectations

College sports are now professional sports, which mean some fan expectations must change. One is the belief that players are motivated by loyalty to the school or state. Many understandably are making business decisions. Another is the tradition of fans storming the field or court after a big win. It doesn’t happen in the big leagues because it might endanger $10 million-a-year athletes. It shouldn’t happen with $1 million-a-year college athletes for the same reason. Plus it’s lame.

Finally, fans might have to accept that the Razorbacks program may have to prioritize. Arkansas has not been consistently good at football for decades. Its conference record since joining the Southeastern Conference is 104-152-2. Meanwhile, its basketball team at times has been very competitive, including the past three years. The Hogs were national champs in 1994. 

I’m not saying fans must give up on football. I am saying if you have limited resources, it’s easier to pay eight or nine basketball players whatever it takes than to pay 50 or 60 football players. 

True, you can do both if the billionaires donate enough money to buy victories. 

Since that hasn’t happened here, I guess it’s their fault?

Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 16 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevebrawner.