The University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Board met Friday to discuss the NCAA’s role in the future of the “Group of Five” conferences and the possibility of paying student athletes.
Athletic Board Chair Dale Bjorling expressed an interest in re-evaluating the NCAA’s relationship with the “Group of Five,” a collection of power conferences including the Big Ten Conference and Southeastern Conference.
“There are several issues that are running parallel within the NCAA and one of them is their ability or inability to effectively enforce current guidelines and policy,” Bjorling said. “A second is whether or not those policies and guidelines are even applicable in the current environment.”
Bjorling later supported the idea of covering a student athlete’s “Full Cost of Attendance,” in which a stipend would be given to cover a student athlete’s extra academic costs in addition to tuition, and downplayed a “Pay-for-Play” model that attempts to pay student athletes their “fair market value.”
Athletic Director Barry Alvarez also announced to the Athletic Board that the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents had formally approved a football game against Louisiana State University at Lambeau Field in Green Bay for the 2016 season opener.
