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Intercollegiate Forum

Emmert Defends Decision To Move Events Out Of North Carolina, Likes Eight-Team CFP

NCAA President Mark Emmert today stood by the organization's decision to move its championships out of North Carolina over the state’s controversial House Bill 2, saying he was “fully supportive” of the action. Speaking on Day 1 of the '16 Learfield Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, Emmert said it was not a snap decision that led the NCAA to pull the events. He said the NCAA was "hoping and wishing that the state would modify its position." Emmert: "Ultimately, they didn’t. So the decision was made to pull out, and the ACC did the same. Those were tough decisions. It’s not some place we want to be as an organization. … It sets a standard and a tone that we’re going to have to be very attentive (to).” Emmert said a BOG subcommittee is looking at each of the NCAA’s championships and legislation specific to the states in which they are scheduled, which will have an effect on where the NCAA decides to schedule future events. During a wide-ranging interview with SBJ/SBD Exec Editor Abe Madkour, Emmert touched on a host of subjects, including amateurism. “My sense is, and the reality is, the legal definitions around amateurism, around student-athletes, are becoming increasingly solidified, which is a great thing,” Emmert said. He mentioned a Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling this week against a group of student-athletes who had sued the NCAA, arguing that they were employees. Emmert: “Those things are starting to make it clear what is and is not something that is subject to class-action lawsuits.”

IT’S ABOUT TIME: Emmert discussed the time demands placed on student-athletes, which he called the “single most important issue in front of us.” He said, "Everyone understands we need to make some real progress there. … When you roll in what’s going on with scheduling, changes with the practice model, it’s harder to implement. But it’s going to require everybody to change some of the ways they do things.” Emmert said the NCAA next month will have the opportunity to make changes to student-athletes’ schedules and the time demands placed on them, saying he has high expectations that changes will be implemented. He also mentioned conference alignment, saying, “We do need to be more sensitive to geography. Our conferences aren’t necessarily geographic footprints.”

SEATTLE SLEW: Emmert prior to joining the NCAA was President of the Univ. of Washington, and he joked that the CFP “sure got one team right” with its four-team selection. He said, “I was there when we went 0-12, so it tells you what kind of president I was at Washington and what my successors have done.” Emmert, who is in favor of an eight-team CFP, said he will be in Atlanta for UW’s CFP semifinal contest against top-seeded Alabama.

QUICK HITS:
* On the Big Ten playing games on Friday nights: “Is playing football on Friday night the right thing to do? Well, it generates resources to allow us to do a lot of things we want for our students.”

* On concussions: “We seem to be making progress. It’s still a very serious issue.” He said he believes there have been fewer concussion-related issues this fall compared to last fall.

* On Penn State's football team, which won the Big Ten and will play in the Rose Bowl: “It’s terrific. What they went through was an awful situation. But the football program is still Penn State and they showed it. The university has done an amazing job. They are on a terrific path.”

* On sexual assault in college athletics: “Issues around sexual assault … are smack dab in our wheelhouse, and we have to be ready to deal with them.”

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