Jackson Free Press

I missed who said the dumbest thing I heard this weekend, or I would be ranting about that idiot. Instead, I must rant about what was said.

While watching a game, the topic of conference expansion came up. In passing, I heard one of the talking heads at ESPN discussing how the Big Ten lowered their academic standards by allowing Nebraska to join the conference.

What? Academic standards in a sports conference is the dumbest thing I have ever heard of. Are both teams going to work on physics problems before the game?

Academic standards in sports conferences are an excuse to keep out teams conferences believe are inferior by using academics as an excuse. I can see it now. Folks, we can't play Boise State in football because of their low academic standards. The real reason is we don't want Boise State to kick our butts all over the field.

I guess when Syracuse leaves the Big East to the ACC, the reason will be because Syracuse felt the need to challenge the Duke basketball team in the classroom. It couldn't because of money. Nope, it was because the teams in the Big East didn't challenge Syracuse enough academically. I am sure when athletes pick their future university, the first thing they notice is the academic standards.

That must be why Mississippi and Mississippi State won't play Southern Miss every year. The Golden Eagles don't have the same academic standards the Rebels and Bulldogs do. Yep, USM can't keep up with the big boys in the classroom, so why play them? Or it could be MSU and UM are scared to play a team in this state that has 16 straight winning seasons, nine straight bowl appearances, and four conference championships?

Academic standards are a joke of a reason for not allowing a team to join an athletic conference. Just be honest, and say we don't want to get our butts kicked by team A, so we will keep them out and play cupcakes in our non-conference games.

If you are scared, say you are scared. Don't hide behind academic standards in athletics.

Follow Bryan Flynn at http://www.jfpsports.com and @jfpsports.