Is it smart to stay in school?

It’s the weekend! It’s during the day. You may be bored… so you think, what’s on tv? Sports, obviously. At this time of year, football is a safe bet. It's something you'd be interested in, so what will it be pending you have a choice-- pro or collegiate? In other words, the NFL or the NCAA. And that is the point of the title... it's not a question geared for concerning you, it is meant to suck you in to read it. But the title is a question which may concern young, top athletes.

Just because collegiate sports are the gateway to the professional level, doesn’t necessarily make the quality of their game any less.

Some people prefer the college circuit for a few reasons. Among them, maybe they enjoy the change of new blood every year… Others prefer the pro ranks for a myriad of rationale– probably in particular because professional leagues are a collection of only the best the world has to offer.
The competition does not suffer in collegiate sports just because their players ultimately leave to enter professional drafts. This is because every squad of every collegiate team are on constant rotisserie. Therefore the playing field is always different, but still always is virtually equal. At the same time, every year, because of the new faces, it is quite different.

College basketball, after all, plays host to the most competitive event in all of sports. Like its name suggests, March Madness is complete madness. It is a tournament that takes 65 of America’s best college basketball squads—and those who have earned their way in—from all over the nation, and squares them off in a single knockout format. It results in the most compelling event in all of sports. It’s a whole month long of hoops goodness.

(image: NCAA March Madness bracket)

Professional leagues do not have an answer to the tournament. On the other hand, the collegiate ranks have nothing that compares to the spectacle of a single-game showdown championship like the NFL’s Super Bowl, undeniably the single biggest event in all of sports. College football does have a National Championship, but it it’s no Super Bowl College football doesn’t even have a playoff to get into the championship.
An area where the college game exceed the professionals is rivalries. There’s nothing wilder than a bunch of rowdy students cheering on their fellow students. Just ask any North Carolina or Duke student (or alum) what it’s like when their schools on Tobacco Road face-off in hoops… or in football, Michigan and Ohio State is a similar-sized rivalry.
Not to say that pro rivalries do not have the same prestige of a college one; that’s not necessarily true. They just hold different dynamics– in college, everyone is virtually the same age. Not only the fans, but the players themselves. This creates a strong bond between fan and team. With the usual level of conceitedness that comes along with that general age, packaged with a burning sense of passion for their team and hatred for the other team, as you may imagine, animosity peaks. (It only gets worse on top of all this when fans of the team drink, which may occur regularly).
In the case of Duke and Carolina– which is the biggest rivalry in basketball– both of their fan bases get together and meet the group of kids with the exact opposite feeling of team pride head-on, making things twice as combustible.
Overall, competition is better in pro leagues. You won’t see such smears in league-play as you will in college. Football is the major point abiding by this stat (just check out http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/scoreboard at any random week, and see the college games with scores that have 60-point spreads…). You will often see scores very lopsided in college football games. If you just watch the ticker go by displaying the NCAA scores, it isn’t rare to see these blow-outs every gameday. In the NFL, the games are much closer. Even if New Orleans plays Kansas City, the most lopsided of scores of the NFL do not compare to the disparity in college games.

It’s not rare to see a few college teams per year go undefeated throughout their season. In the NFL there has only been one team to ever accomplish this, the ’72 Miami Dolphins.
Competition level is likely is higher in some of the professional sport leagues, such aa basketball, because of younger stars and European-born players leap-frogging the college stage to go straight to the big-time.
Take for instance the case of “The Next Michael Jordan” himself, Lebron James. He had to answer the daunting question of where he wanted to play when he finished high school. Go to college or turn pro? Lebron’s decision could be the barometer of this article… Would it be varsity or would he head straight to the pros?

You have to wonder if James factored into account that another dynamic player took the college route and showed that it could be done that way. Carmelo Anthony was busy winning a NCAA championship at Syracuse while Lebron finalized his decision. Anthony gained ample exposure and more importantly, polished his game and did so gaining valuable experience while at Syracuse as a member of the Orange (images- Left: James in St. Mary's High School jersey; Right: Anthony in Syracuse jersey)
Anthony’s success must not have had a massive impact as Lebron opted to go straight to the NBA; thereby skipping the whole college beat.
Of course, people questioned his choice, calling it a mistake, especially as Anthony was having huge success.
Lebron had to factor in that his draft stock couldn’t rise by going to college. He was already likely to be the #1 over-all selection by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a stacked draft class. Money also had to factor in his decision to turn pro. It didn’t complicate his decision any when Nike offered him $90 million before even lacing up. He couldn’t have accepted this deal as an amateur athlete. If he went pro, he could accept this deal and capture all the royalties from endorsements he could dream of. And he would.

James was selected first, and Anthony third. James went on to win Rookie of the Year maybe shedding the light that Anthony’s college path was overrated. Anthony did only go to college for the one year though, after all. James definitely showed that he anyway, didn’t need the college game.
In basketball, James is not alone in choosing to go straight to the NBA and disregard the college game. It seems, in basketball anyway, more players go early than do complete school. Although for football, it seems towatd the other end of the spectrum.

You have guys like Matt Leinart. Like James, Leinart had a decision to make: go to college (stay in Leinart’s case), or go to the pros. Both of their draft stocks couldn’t rise any higher, as both were predicted as the #1 overall pick. Leinart already had earned his degree. His decision shocked most… he vowed to stay back and continue playing at USC. He returned just because he was eligible and loved the college atmosphere. Apparently he didn’t need the money (Leinart plummeted to ninth pick the following year and lost an estimated $40 million for his choice to stay, reports Sports Illustrated. Leinart still has to land the number one quarterback job in Arizona…)
Normally, money talks and professional leagues indirectly influence student-athletes to leave college. The temptations of receiving offers that cannot be refused also can’t be denied.
For James, skipping college was the best option; for Anthony, attending for one year was plenty; for Leinart, he stayed extra. I guess the choice is personalized. It isn’t really an arguable subject. There are just too many variables. It’s clearly up to the player… or, in this case, the viewer.

(For the record, Matt Leinart isn't even starting in the NFL. He is still waiting for his chance to replace Kurt Warner on the Arizona Cardinals)