March Madness

NewUPFan wrote:If what I heard this morning is true, Cornell should not even qualify as a mid major (in the even more unlikely to be there than a mid major). I thought I heard that they don't have any players on scholarship. I would assume that, that means athletic and that they have some on academic scholarship. I know that it is Ivy League, but I figured that they would have athletic scholarships also.

Um..

At Cornell and several of the Ivy's students don't pay tuition and get stipends.

currently, grants ensure no student from a family that makes under $75K pays anything, and those from families that make between $75K and $120K would have to pony up more that $3K in loan debt. From that point the exposure is graduated.

So, basically everyone is on scholarship.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan08/finAid.html

mattywizz wrote:

DaTruRochin wrote:Funny how that works... And I love that they either play a 5 or a 6 in the FF?? Here's pulling for WVU and Baylor just for the sheer idea of zero #1 seeds!

YES! Especially because this is the year I picked all four #1s in the Final Four. This would have been such a better tournament if the committe had picked two teams to play for the championship and lined up the other 62 teams to play each other in a series of 31 meaningless games, let's for the fun of it, call them bowls.

The mystery has been solved. Matty=Jay Bilas' internet ego.

Purplegeezer wrote:

NewUPFan wrote:If what I heard this morning is true, Cornell should not even qualify as a mid major (in the even more unlikely to be there than a mid major). I thought I heard that they don't have any players on scholarship. I would assume that, that means athletic and that they have some on academic scholarship. I know that it is Ivy League, but I figured that they would have athletic scholarships also.

Um..

At Cornell and several of the Ivy's students don't pay tuition and get stipends.

currently, grants ensure no student from a family that makes under $75K pays anything, and those from families that make between $75K and $120K would have to pony up more that $3K in loan debt. From that point the exposure is graduated.

So, basically everyone is on scholarship.

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Jan08/finAid.html

Everyone that comes from a family that makes under $120K. Which would be, what, 50% of their student body?

mattywizz wrote:

Everyone that comes from a family that makes under $120K. Which would be, what, 50% of their student body?

Funny how $120K is considered to be lower income by some folks. Don't forget that most college income assesments make allowances for mortgages, rent , family living expenses, etc. Ever wonder why you see people buying big houses just as their kids are going off to College? it's a way to buy down assets and shelter income schools look at. It's not all that hard to make it look like you are struggling along at $120K for a couple of years... buy that vacation house in Vail or the Keys that you always wanted and all of a sudden you fall under that threshold pretty quick. Make a big down-payment on that Lear Jet.


And it goes beyond that. Cornell has a pretty generous academic incentive program, too. New York State has a Regents Scholarship program for in state students. Virtually every college bound kid in New York takes the Regents test. Basically, you take an SAT type test, and that helps determine how much academic scholarship money you get. Cornell plugs into that system, and add a matching program for out of state student.

I'd guess 2% pay anything like the full %48K it takes to go there. Most Cornell students come out of college debt free.

My question is, how do they get these guys to commit to playing ball for them? The honor system? Or is it strictly volunteers from their student body? How do they recruit?

They tell you you can play top level basketball, get a top education from an Ivy, and be plugged into a career with a great income from the results of that education and the networking going to an Ivy gets you.

And you get bumped ahead of all those other National merit scholars who applied.

Other than that, I guess they just do well with walkons.

Purplegeezer wrote:They tell you you can play top level basketball, get a top education from an Ivy, and be plugged into a career with a great income from the results of that education and the networking going to an Ivy gets you.

And you get bumped ahead of all those other National merit scholars who applied.

Other than that, I guess they just do well with walkons.

I understand that. What I'm trying to understand is the conditions of the agreement to play if there is no athletic scholarship. It sounds like they just take the word of the recruit that he will in fact play the sport when attending the school.

Well, yeah. a kid can decide to just focus on studies when he gets there, where at most schools if you quit you lose your scholarship money the next year.

If that was a big factor, there would be no seniors on any teams. I'll counter that a kid has the option to quit if the studies aren't going well and not worry about losing the scholarship. That's a pretty good safety net. It's why I went where I did... At most D1 schools, they own you.

At Cornell, thy are telling you the focus is on your academic life - and you can still compete. Amazingly, some people want to hear that.


There are thousands of D3 kids who put an awfull lot of effort into their sports. Cornell gives you the same chance at the D1 level.

Saw this from Nate Silver, who is convinced Tom Izzo is quite the coach:

And so long as Izzo remains their coach, you should probably subtract a seed or two from Michigan State the next time that you're filling out your bracket.

PilotNut wrote:GO BUTLER!

Butler is in the final! 52-50 or Mich State.

This is a night every mid-major fan should enjoy. If Butler can do it, another mid-major can. Why not the Pilots someday soon?

Kyle Whelliston wrote about how this win was for all the small schools in the past who couldn't quite get past MSU. Then the mid-major fans on Twitter started remembering all the other ones that got away against all the other big opponents in the tournament. Here's where the story gets really cool:

@TheSplenda: This one was for Eric Jackson's 15-footer that barely missed when #1 Purdue held off #16 UWGB 49-48 in 1995. #thanksdawgs

Yes, it's our Eric Jackson. Small world, huh?