The University of Florida’s football coach earns $1 million a year — 10 times what the state’s governor pulls down annually. CBS pays $1.7 billion to broadcast men’s Division I basketball for eight years. The NCAA refers to the players who generate the interest that produces these kinds of numbers as “student-athletes.” Student-athletes on Top 20 football teams tend to have SAT scores 300 to 400 points lower than the median for incoming freshmen. They often receive illegal incentives, and the best teams are constantly under investigation. Universities compromise their standards, coaches cheat, and college presidents cower in front of sports-loving alumni because the stakes in NCAA basketball and football have gotten so high. College soccer? The NCAA’s Division I tournament costs a few hundred grand and barely breaks even. A small minority of players receive scholarships. The vast majority are accepted by legitimately meeting academic requirements. Coaches supplement their wages by running summer camps. They rarely get fired when their teams do not win. MLS has lifted the burden on college soccer to produce the nation’s elite players. Project-40 is for those not academically inclined, and it gives an option to talented collegians who find themselves in need of a professional environment. Project 2010 will provide another avenue for player development. College soccer is good enough that some players can still make the pros. But it remains amateur in an era when even the Olympics have dropped the pretense of amateurism. The system that MLS and U.S. Soccer are creating to develop talent is providing a variety of options for young players. While the NCAA copes with hypocrisies of big-time college sports — how can it possibly tame the monster it created? — the sport of soccer has created a reasonable system that is full of options for young players. FANS: LET’S HEAR YOUR VIEW Should college soccer have a more “professional” mind-set, like college football and basketball? Or is college soccer fine the way it is? Click here to log onto (Soccer) American Graffiti. Then click on the topic entitled “Your View: A real college sport” and respond to Mike Woitalla in 200 words or less. Don’t hold nothin’ back! Best responses will be reprinted in Soccer America Magazine. If YOUR View is selected, we’ll send you a cool t-shirt and pin… Because You’re FANATIC.