Regular readers of this blog know that I have regularly commented on the corrupt nature (see also here) of big-time college football and basketball.

Although corrupt, big-time college football and basketball resist comprehensive reform because – let’s face it – they are a very entertaining form of corruption.

But as this masterful (and quite long) Taylor Branch/Atlantic article explains, that resistance to reform is being challenged:

A litany of scandals in recent years have made the corruption of college sports constant front-page news. We profess outrage each time we learn that yet another student-athlete has been taking money under the table. But the real scandal is the very structure of college sports, wherein student-athletes generate billions of dollars for universities and private companies while earning nothing for themselves.

Here, a leading civil-rights historian makes the case for paying college athletes–and reveals how a spate of lawsuits working their way through the courts could destroy the NCAA.

And one of those lawsuits is by a former Rice student-athlete!

For anyone interested in the future of big-time college football and basketball, this is a must read. A series of short interviews of Branch are associated with the article and provided below: