Division 1 Sports and Your College Experience

Went to Oklahoma because it was free. D-1 athletics wasn't a deciding factor, but it didn't hurt. It definitely added to the experience. I was there during literally the five worst years in OU football history (I did the math on the records), but I was also in the building as a fan when OU beat Kansas the same day Kansas was back at No. 1 in the rankings.

And as others have said, covering D-1 programs was a great experience that helped me a ton professionally later. And the connections I made networking definitely helped get me where I am today.

 

As many of my friends eldest kids are applying to/deciding on colleges, it’s interesting how so many of the boys mention that going to a big football/basketball school is a factor. We are in NJ, where big time college sports are largely a non-entity.

 

I went the #MACtion route.

My freshman year, the football team was terrible and basketball made the Big Dance and won a game (they haven't been back since). My last semester (I graduated in 4 1/2), the basketball team was terrible and football won the MAC title. In between, I got to do some things with the student radio station, working football games (next-day broadcasts, but I got to interview Brian Kelly), women's basketball (from a Carrier Dome with about 200 people in it) and baseball, and did PA for the volleyball program, an experience that helped it become one of my favorite sports today. Throughout I've gotten to work with folks who are really ascending in the broadcast and print fields. At least at the time, the MAC always felt like something of a middle ground. Big enough to matter, where you'd see a handful of guys who would play on Sundays (Byron Leftwich, Joe Staley, Greg Jennings) or in the NBA (Chris Kaman), but small enough that it didn't feel like a minor-league chain in the talent development factory.

Whether I was working or as a fan, I never missed a home football game in five seasons, and even when we were bad, I went to just about any home basketball game where I didn't have a conflict. Students didn't have to pay to get in, and because the athletic facilities were all on the opposite side of campus from my residence hall, it was probably the most exercise I got during that time as well.