Unionize NCAA players? No: Our view

For too many years, the NCAA and big-time college sports programs have wanted everything their own way: richer TV contracts, huge salaries and bonuses for winning coaches, and every dollar from ticket sales, corporate sponsorships and booster donations.

Now, the college athletes are fighting back, and last month they won a significant victory. A National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled that Northwestern University football players are actually "employees" who have the right to unionize.

The ruling might not survive appeal, and unionization is the wrong remedy for what ails big-time college football and men's basketball. But by fighting to organize, the players have found a way to expose the hypocrisy of the NCAA's one-sided way of doing business, always conducted under the guise of protecting what NCAA President Mark Emmert likes to call "the welfare of student-athletes."

The public sees the glamor side of the NCAA, in the March Madness tournament and the football bowl games. And, yes, the athletes are hardly downtrodden victims. When all goes well, they voluntarily play a game they love, receive the adulation of fans, earn valuable degrees for free, and emerge from college with a lifetime of memories and connections, even if they're not among the sliver who make the pros.

When things don't go well, however, you don't have to scratch too deep to see the seamy underside, long known by insiders and now being exposed by lawsuits, news accounts and the NLRB ruling:

• While the NCAA allows colleges to offer four-year athletic scholarships, it's optional. Many football and basketball scholarships are for a single year. Athletes can get dumped for all sorts of reasons: They aren't playing as well as expected. A new coach arrives. Some even lose scholarships after they are injured and can no longer play.
• While NCAA rules limit " countable athletically related activities " to 20 hours per week during the regular season, the recent labor ruling found Northwestern players spent up to 50 hours during the season. Doesn't that break the rule? Nope. Like other myths in the NCAA, this rule doesn't count travel, mandatory meetings, "voluntary" weight conditioning, medical check-ins, training tape reviews, etc., etc.
• While the NCAA touts the promise of a free education for athletes, the quality and success of that education can vary widely. Northwestern graduated 94% of its football players who entered in 2006, the most recent figure available. By comparison, Bowl Championship winner Florida State graduated less than half of its football players , compared with 75% of its students overall. The University of Connecticut, one of this weekend's Final Four, had a graduation rate for men's basketball players of zero .

The much-mocked unionization ruling is making the NCAA and college presidents squirm. As well they should. Even if collective bargaining isn't the right answer to these problems, a money-swollen system that leaves too many athletes injured or without useful degrees is unsustainable.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.