A LOOK AT AUTONOMY IN DIVISION I ATHLETICS
One of the hot topics of the last year or so within collegiate athletics has been the implementation of autonomy for the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC). This is the second legislative cycle in which the new shared governance and autonomy process is being used. The biggest change from the previous method to pass rules is the autonomy portion, which permits institutions within the Power 5 to legislate rules that permit them to do more for student-athletes.
Autonomy is set up so that each school within the Power 5 gets one vote on each matter (65 votes). In addition, student-athletes have a voice during autonomy votes as three members of each conference cast votes (15 votes) for a total of 80 votes on each proposal. Previously, a number of rules were hard to pass because smaller institutions that faced budget challenges would vote against an item, even if it was for the betterment of college athletics and student-athletes. Phase I of autonomy included items such as providing cost of attendance. Phase II, to be voted on in January, includes many more proposals. Some of these items include:
- Permitting baseball prospects to use an agent when deciding to go professional or to college, as long as no benefits are provided, the prospect pays for the services and no future agreement is put into place;
- Permitting a student-athlete to use his/her name, image or likeness to promote his/her own business, provided it is not athletically related;
- Increasing the number (from two to four) and definition of family (more than parents) who an institution may pay for during a prospect’s official visit;
- Permitting student-athletes to purchase additional tickets for postseason events (they are currently provided six complimentary tickets);
- Prohibiting the use of a travel day as a day off;
- Prohibiting athletic activities during an eight-hour window between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., with the exception of competitions, to provide student-athletes with more time for academics, a social life and rest.
Because many of these proposals have a direct impact on student-athletes, our administration has engaged our student-athletes, specifically our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, to gather their thoughts. This morning, we met with the entire SAAC group, which is comprised of 23 student-athletes representing each team, and have also met with our SAAC leaders, McKenna Witt and Casey Skowron, to gather their thoughts.
We feel it is vital that we understand their thoughts and concerns so we can represent what is best for the University of Arizona and its student-athletes as we examine these proposals.
THE PROCESS OF SELECTING KICKOFF TIMES
With a 1 p.m. kickoff time last week versus Oregon State and another 1 p.m. kickoff coming next week when we host Washington State, we’ve received a number of questions regarding kickoff times for our football games, so we wanted to share a reminder on how these times are set. For a number of years now, the Pac-12’s partnerships with television networks have allowed the networks to determine kickoff times based on match-ups and the landscape of college football as a whole. Generally, game times are determined 12 days from the date in which the game will be played. Occasionally, the networks will exercise a six-day pick, which allows them to wait for the results of the current week’s games and place the most attractive match-ups in the most visible time slots.
TV’s involvement in the scheduling of college football games is something that has been here for quite a while, and is here to stay. This is definitely a case of not being able to please everyone because if we could, we would. We have found through gameday fan interaction, email and Twitter conversations that when we announce a day game, we hear feedback that some fans prefer night games, and when we announce a night game, we hear feedback on how some fans want day games.
We understand that for some of you there can be drawbacks to the way these items are determined, but we do feel the positives outweigh the negatives. We appreciate you accommodating the way these kickoff times are determined and thank you for joining us at Arizona Stadium.
A MESSAGE FROM A VISITING FAN
We talk a lot about wanting our fans to ‘Bear Down with Pride’ and making sure that we are good hosts when opponent’s fans are in our venues, so I wanted to share a very nice message we received from John Johnson, who is an Oregon State fan and was in Arizona Stadium last Saturday:
I have visited the U of A on two occasions when my Oregon State Beavers played the Wildcats.
I would like to commend the staff at the U of A and the Wildcat fans. They really know how to treat a visitor. Several people welcomed us to the U of A and to the city of Tucson. There was never one word of trash talk or any other kind of rude behavior.
I have tried to follow their lead when I am at home in Corvallis.
Thank you for leading a class act at the U of A.
We hope this is the standard response when someone visits our campus and we want to thank all of you for being welcoming hosts.
REMINDERS FOR MCDONALD’S RED-BLUE GAME
We wanted to provide another reminder that the McDonald’s Red-Blue Game will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday with doors opening at 11:30 a.m. The game is sold out and we’re looking forward to another great event showcasing our men’s basketball program.
Parking will be free of charge in the Cherry Garage on the corner of Enke Drive and Cherry Ave. as well as most surface lots on campus. Please be advised that Band Day at Arizona Stadium is also occurring on Saturday. This on-campus event is expected to draw large crowds throughout the day. Due to the size of both events, we highly recommend parking in the surface lots along Speedway and Cherry Ave. Please arrive early and allow for plenty of time to walk and enter the arena to get into your seats. Also, please note that Lot 6098 (swimming pool lot East of McKale on the corner of Campbell and Enke Drive) will be reserved parking.
If you weren’t able to secure tickets or won’t be in the area, the Pac-12 Networks will air a tape-delayed broadcast of the McDonald’s Red-Blue Game at 9:30 p.m. MST on Saturday night.
DOWN TO OUR LAST TWO HOME GAMES
In just over a week, the University of Arizona campus will be alive with the celebration of the school’s 101st homecoming weekend. Our football team takes on a much improved Washington State team on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. In addition to the UA homecoming activities, halftime will feature a special homecoming for two popular letterwinners. Bobby Wade and Ka’Deem Carey will be here for a special ring of honor halftime ceremony.
It’s hard to believe, but after next Saturday, we only have one home football game left. We finish with Utah on Saturday, Nov. 14. Not too many people thought Utah would be a College Football Playoff hopeful, but here they are ranked fifth in the nation and definitely in the conversation for national champion contenders. This is a big game. In addition to the fifth-ranked Utes, it’s senior day and we will honor Bob Baffert, a University of Arizona alumnus and world-renowned horse trainer who guided American Pharoah to last year’s Triple Crown, at halftime of the game.
Make your plans to “BE THERE” for these final two home games. The team needs our fans to make Arizona Stadium chaotic for the Cougars and Utes. Order your tickets online by clicking HERE.
HAVE YOU TRIED ECAL YET?
A quick reminder about our new digital calendar tool called eCal. This tool offers the opportunity to download our schedules to your digital calendar of preference (iCal, Outlook, Google, etc.). Look for the blue eCal button near the top right of all of our schedule pages. Just click on it to sync your calendar with ours. One of the biggest benefits eCal provides is the automatic update feature. If a date or time changes in the future, those changes will occur automatically on your digital calendar. In addition, links to buy tickets, the Text 4 Tix program, social media and other useful items are placed within each event listing for your convenience. Download today and you’ll never miss another game!
CATS IN THE COMMUNITY
Arizona’s student-athletes continue to be active in the community. Here is a sample of what they’ve done recently:
Oct. 6 – Emily Gerard from track and field volunteered at the UA Cares Carnival to kick off the season of giving on the UA campus.
Oct. 7 – The women’s basketball team spoke to the girls of Delta Academy about anti-bullying and being a true teammate.
Oct. 8 – The men’s basketball team wished the patients at Diamond Children’s a speedy recovery as they visited their rooms.
Oct. 9 – Kolton Lapa from men’s golf and softball’s Eva Watson spoke to tour groups about their experience as student-athletes.
Oct. 9 – The football team visited young Wildcat fans at Diamond Children’s before their game on Saturday.
Our student-athletes are looking to continue volunteering in the Tucson Community. If you know of a non-profit that would benefit from the helping hands of our student-athletes, please let us know by submitting an online request by clicking HERE. We won’t be able to fulfill every request, but we try to get to as many as we can.
TWITTER GIVEAWAY
Congrats to @suztr for being selected as this week’s winner of the #ByrneTwitterGiveaway. A member of the athletics department staff will DM you with more information on how to secure your prize so make sure you’re following @AZAthletics.
Here is this week’s Twitter giveaway message:
Welcome to the Wildcat Family @AZGymCoach and @UACoachJ.
@Greg_Byrne #ByrneTwitterGiveaway
Each week, we’ll provide a phrase accompanied by the twitter handle @Greg_Byrne and the hashtag #ByrneTwitterGiveaway for Wildcat Wednesday subscribers to tweet. We’ll select the winner(s) at random and announce in the following edition of Wildcat Wednesday. We hope you’ll have some fun with this and participate each week. As long as we’re seeing a lot of participation, we’ll keep the giveaways going throughout the year.
COMPLIANCE CORNER
We’d like to remind everyone that neither the institution nor fans can make posters for recruits when they are visiting the University of Arizona. If a University of Arizona staff member becomes aware of a poster bearing a recruit’s name on it, the staff member is required to take necessary action to stop the signs from being displayed. When it comes to recruiting, just remember to leave the recruiting to our coaches! Thanks for your continued cooperation.
ARIZONA NUGGETS
Volleyball’s Penina Snuka recorded her 1,000th career dig last week, making her just the second player in Arizona history to post 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career … Cross Country’s Molly Callahan won the women’s race and Collins Kibet took second in the men’s race to lead us to two victories at the Arizona Twilight … Allonzo Trier from Men’s Basketball was one of 20 players named to the watch list for the Jerry West Award, which goes to the nation’s top shooting guard … The NCAA announced that the inaugural Sand Volleyball National Championship will be held May 6-8 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
WEAR THE COLORS – SHARE THE PHOTOS
Thank you for wearing the colors and sharing your Arizona pride! If your photo submission did not make this week’s edition of the Wildcat Wednesday, please check our “Wildcat Wednesday” album at facebook.com/ArizonaAthletics.
NOTE: Please submit photos for Wildcat Wednesday with an original email touofaad@arizona.edu using the subject line ‘Wildcat Wednesday photo.’ Also, please ensure all submissions are clear and properly lit. We also ask that you identify everyone in the photo so we can highlight them accordingly.
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