Time for the College Athlete to Take His Step into the Spotlight in 2012

The NFL is in the middle of a lockout.

The NBA is about 48 hours from a lockout.

Major League Baseball is in the middle of their season, but their collective bargaining agreement ends on December 11, 2011. 

What does this all mean for sports as we know it? 

First of all, it is no secret how popular football is in this country.  Year after year, the Super Bowl breaks television records, sales records, and just about every record of the same variation. 

However, college football is on the rise, and has been for many years.  There were almost 100,000 people in attendance at the Rose Bowl on New Years Day—and allow me to remind you that it featured a mid-major team in the TCU Horned Frogs. 

In terms of football, it doesn't appear that we will have a full-length NFL season, if we have a season at all.  Prepare for college athletes to take this opportunity them and run with it.  The highest ratings college football has ever seen will come in the 2011-2012 season. 

The NCAA part of football has one advantage over the professional version—NCAA football is about the TEAM, not the PLAYER.  Guys like Andrew Luck will now be known as a "Stanford quarterback" as opposed to "a first round pick." 

The NBA seems to be in the most trouble, when compared to the NFL or MLB.  According to David Stern and several other higher-ups involved in the talks, the players and owners are nowhere near an agreement.  How is this different?

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has at least stated that progress has been made, but the NBA has severe issues.  The owners want rookie pay cuts, a ten year agreement, and a flex cap of $62 million.  Players want to have longer agreements for contracts, a shorter CBA agreement, and an 18-year old age limit. 

The loss of the NBA for a year would not be largely harmful to basketball fans. Call me naive, but I'd be willing to bet that quite a few fans enjoy college ball more anyway.  You have to wonder if guys like Terrence Jones, a forward at the University of Kentucky who decided to stay for his sophomore year, saw the lockout as a potentially harmful situation.

Jones will now have more of an opportunity to shine, whereas new rookies may be jobless for a year.  Personally, the NBA stands to lose a lot of their own momentum with this lockout.  The NFL will keep theirs; again, I refer to that industry's constantly rising revenues. 

The NBA's ratings—for the regular season and playoffs—have fluctuated and been highly inconsistent over the years.  Meanwhile, NCAA basketball ratings only continue to rise. 

Finally, we focus on baseball.  NCAA baseball players have the most to gain from a professional labor dispute, and while I don't think any college athletes want to see their respective pro sports go on strike, these guys should seize the opportunity.

Like the NBA, MLB ratings are erratic, especially after the All-Star game.  However, NCAA baseball ratings are erratic as well. Even the College World Series has drawn low ratings, and it includes the nation's elite teams.

I've always loved to watch college baseball—they're younger guys that I can relate to, and I can also watch teams that are about winning, not about certain players.

With no MLB, is it really possible for college baseball to get some attention beginning in February?  I don't see it happening, but come on everyone!  Cheer the youth!

The main cornerstone and final bullet point here is that pro athletes and owners are showing how stubborn and irritating they can be with all of these lockouts and strikes on the horizon.  As fans, we just want to watch them play and want the athletes to want to play!

Let's give the college athletes a try. Look forward to 2012, the year of the college athlete!