Although Title IX was originally intended to help with education its become very important to something it wasn’t intended for womens sports. Here is some information to ponder while considering if Title IX is hurting mens sports or benefiting the country in general.

According to the latest data available from the NCAA there are 492 more women’s programs than men’s in Division I. There are scholarships available for women (32,656) and (20,206) for men.

The findings of a first-of-a-kind study of NCAA participation and scholarship data conducted by the College Sports Council (CSC) shows that in NCAA Division I “gender symmetric sports” (teams where both male and female athletes participate), female students are accorded far more opportunities than male students to compete and earn scholarships. As a result, the CSC is calling on the NCAA to equalize scholarship limits.

Findings of the study, the first of its kind to compare scholarship opportunities for men and women in NCAA Division I using the organization’s own data, include.

At the NCAA Division I level, there are far more women’s teams (2,653) than men’s teams (2,097). The study found the greatest gender disparities in favor of women in the sports of Volleyball (313 to 21) and Soccer (300 to 195).

Overall in “gender symmetric” sports, there are far more scholarships available for women (32,656) than for men (20,206). But those numbers don’t consider football in their data and instead compare sports that are available to both men and women.

Leaving football out provides a slanted view of scholarship opportunities. Football takes 85 men’s scholarships for each FBS team and 63 scholarships for each FCS team. That’s 10,200 scholarships available for 120 FBS schools and 7,749 scholarships available for 123 FCS schools (including five schools that were provisional in 2008).

Even in one of the only sports where there are more men’s teams, golf (285 to 228), there are still more athletic scholarships available for women (1,368 to 1,282.5).

In every “gender symmetric” sport with the exception of gymnastics, men face longer odds against getting a scholarship than women. By far, the most difficult athletic scholarship to obtain at the Division I level is in men’s volleyball, where there are 489 high school athletes for every full NCAA scholarship. Similar long odds exist for men competing in Track and Field/Cross-Country (221 to 1), Soccer and Water Polo (196 to 1) and Tennis (136 to 1).

Over the past twenty years, men have lost about a team each year while women have gained 3 each year. That pace has accelerated in recent years with men losing about a team and a half each year while women gain six annually.

Before Title IX. Things were different. The primary physical activities for girls were cheerleading and square-dancing. Only 1 in 27 girls played high school sports. There were virtually no college scholarships for female athletes. And female college athletes received only two percent of overall athletic budgets.

Since Title IX. There’s been real growth in the number of women who participate in sports, receive scholarships, and benefit from increased budgets. There are more opportunities to compete at elite levels through competitions like the Olympics, World Championships and professional leagues. Even more importantly, we know that playing sports makes women healthier. They’re less likely to smoke, drink, use drugs and experience unwanted pregnancies. Studies also link sports participation to reduced incidences of breast cancer and osteoporosis later in life. These health benefits for women and society alone should be reason to keep Title IX strong.

Why Title IX is still critical. The general perception is that girls now have equal opportunities in all areas of athletics. But that’s just not true.

In 2006 -2007 there were 3 million girls participating in high school athletics. They made up 41% of high school athletes, even though they represent more than 49% of the high school student population.

In 2005-2006 there were 171,000 women participating in college athletics. Women represent only 42% of college athletes, even thogh they represent over 50% of the college student population nationwide.

Each year male athletes receive over $136 million more than female athletes in college athletic scholarships at NCAA member institutions.

Women in Division I colleges are over 50% of the student body, but receive only 32% of athletic recruiting dollars and 37% of the total money spent on athletics.

In 2008, only 43% of coaches of women’s teams were women. In 1972, the number was over 90 percent.

They practice hard, and they have coaches – but is cheerleading a sport?
It probably depends on whose definition you’re using.

No doubt, most cheerleaders would tell you it’s a sport – just like gymnastics. But according to federal law, an activity can’t be considered a sport unless competition is its main goal.

And while many cheerleading squads participate in competitions, some say their primary function is supporting other athletic teams.

So here’s the interesting twist: It’s the law – specifically Title IX – that’s causing some colleges to call cheerleading a sport. Why? It’s a less expensive way of complying.

Take a look at Quinnipiac University. The Connecticut school decided to cut its women’s volleyball team this spring in an effort to save money. But controversy erupted when it proposed replacing the team by elevating cheerleading to a varsity sport.

Hard to blame the school, from a dollars and cents point of view:

Last season, Quinnipiac’s volleyball team had a budget of more than $70,000 for 11 players – that works out to $6,300 per team member.

The cheerleading squad’s budget was around $50,000 for 40 participants – about $1,250 per person.

So it still comes back to the question: Is cheerleading a sport? Or maybe, as in the case of Quinnipiac University, are schools willing to call it a sport just so they can get rid of costlier women’s teams?

From Catlanta in the forums on Title IX.

For starts, Title IX is settled federal law and for seconds, way too much of a political hot potato for Congress to change. I was not a fan of Title IX and felt that many male athletes were treated unfairly in the first few years of its implementation.

However, and this is a big however, since the advent of Title IX, medal counts for women from U.S. universities have skyrocketed in Olympic competitions. If the SEC had been a country, they would have placed something like fifth in total medals, and many of them were earned by women athletes. One SEC school, Auburn University, had 18 medals (7 of which were earned by women swimmers) and would have tied for 14th in the world, with Canada and Spain.

Title IX is making a giant positive impact on Team USA and, therefore, probably won’t be going away anytime soon, so might as well make the best of it.

So is Title IX hurting mens sports or benefiting the nation?

The complete list of finalists:

DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh (Soph., Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Sherron Collins, Kansas (Jr., Chicago, Ill.)
Dante Cunningham, Villanova (Sr., Silver Spring, Md.)
Stephen Curry, Davidson (Jr., Charlotte, N.C.)
Tyreke Evans, Memphis (Fr., Chester, Pa.)
Blake Griffin, Oklahoma (Soph., Oklahoma City, Okla.)
Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (Sr., Poplar Bluff, Mo.)
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame (Jr., Schererville, Ind.)
James Harden, Arizona state (Soph., Los Angeles, Calif.)
Ty Lawson, North Carolina (Jr., Clinton, Md.)
Jerel McNeal, Marquette (Sr., Chicago, Ill.)
Jodie Meeks, Kentucky (Jr., Norcross, Ga.)
Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut (Jr., Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania)
Jeff Teague, Wake Forest (Soph., Indianapolis, Ind.)
Evan Turner, Ohio State (Soph., Chicago, Ill.)

AP Top 25
1. Connecticut (67) 22-1 1,795
2. Oklahoma (3) 23-1 1,710
3. North Carolina (2) 21-2 1,672
4. Pittsburgh 21-2 1,583
5. Louisville 18-4 1,423
6. Duke 20-3 1,350
7. Wake Forest 18-3 1,242
8. Memphis 20-3 1,237
9. Michigan State 19-4 1,214
10. Marquette 20-3 1,137
11. UCLA 19-4 1,131
12. Clemson 19-3 1,097
13. Villanova 19-4 989
14. Xavier 20-3 893
15. Butler 21-2 762
16. Kansas 19-4 751
17. Missouri 20-4 395
18. Arizona State 18-5 389
19. Gonzaga 17-5 361
20. Purdue 17-6 353
21. Utah State 23-1 317
22. Illinois 19-5 303
23. Syracuse 18-6 280
24. Ohio State 17-5 216
25. Florida State 18-5 182
Others Receiving Votes
LSU 167, Washington 135, Texas 106, Florida 66, Minnesota 43, Dayton 31, California 16, Kansas State 8, West Virginia 8, South Carolina 7, Davidson 7, Miami (FL) 7, Utah 4, Arizona 4, San Diego State 2, Siena 2, Northeastern 2, Robert Morris 1, Boston College 1, Green Bay 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Texas 16, Minnesota 19, Washington 22.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Connecticut (30) 22-1 774
2. Oklahoma (1) 23-1 735
3. North Carolina 21-2 711
4. Pittsburgh 21-2 689
5. Duke 20-3 604
6. UCLA 19-4 554
7. Louisville 18-4 553
8. Wake Forest 18-3 541
9. Michigan State 19-4 521
10. Memphis 20-3 486
11. Clemson 19-3 456
12. Marquette 20-3 446
13. Villanova 19-4 416
14. Xavier 20-3 375
15. Butler 21-2 346
16. Kansas 19-4 300
17. Utah State 23-1 258
18. Arizona State 18-5 214
19. Missouri 20-4 162
20. Illinois 19-5 143
21. Gonzaga 17-5 124
22. Syracuse 18-6 115
23. Purdue 17-6 114
24. Washington 17-6 86
25. Florida State 18-5 62
Others Receiving Votes
Ohio State 55, Texas 50, LSU 50, Dayton 34, Minnesota 30, Florida 26, Davidson 9, Utah 9, South Carolina 7, Saint Mary’s 5, Brigham Young 5, California 3, San Diego State 3, Penn State 2, UNLV 1, Arizona 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Texas 17, Minnesota 19.

AP Top 25
1. Alabama (62) 12-0 1,620
2. Florida (3) 11-1 1,516
3. Texas 11-1 1,488
4. Oklahoma 11-1 1,480
5. USC 10-1 1,355
6. Penn State 11-1 1,257
7. Utah 12-0 1,216
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1,197
9. Boise State 12-0 1,103
10. Ohio State 10-2 1,069
11. TCU 10-2 885
12. Ball State 12-0 834
13. Cincinnati 10-2 824
14. Oklahoma State 9-3 798
15. Georgia Tech 8-3 708
16. Oregon 9-3 630
17. Georgia 9-3 495
18. Boston College 9-3 482
19. Missouri 9-3 479
20. Brigham Young 10-2 385
21. Michigan State 9-3 312
22. Mississippi 8-4 280
23. Pittsburgh 8-3 241
24. Northwestern 9-3 190
25. Oregon State 8-4 122
Others Receiving Votes
Iowa 66, Virginia Tech 47, Tulsa 13, Florida State 12, California 7, West Virginia 4, Rice 3, Connecticut 3, Nebraska 3, North Carolina 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Florida State 23.
USA Today Poll
1. Alabama (58) 12-0 1,521
2. Oklahoma (2) 11-1 1,397
3. Texas 11-1 1,396
4. Florida (1) 11-1 1,385
5. USC 10-1 1,298
6. Penn State 11-1 1,176
7. Utah 12-0 1,153
8. Texas Tech 11-1 1,116
9. Boise State 12-0 1,044
10. Ohio State 10-2 999
11. TCU 10-2 836
12. Cincinnati 10-2 770
13. Ball State 12-0 765
14. Oregon 9-3 658
15. Oklahoma State 9-3 613
16. Georgia Tech 8-3 590
17. Missouri 9-3 470
18. Brigham Young 10-2 461
19. Georgia 9-3 440
20. Boston College 9-3 435
21. Michigan State 9-3 414
22. Northwestern 9-3 333
23. Pittsburgh 8-3 154
24. Oregon State 8-4 127
25. Mississippi 8-4 126
Others Receiving Votes
Virginia Tech 41, Iowa 31, Tulsa 21, Florida State 15, Nebraska 11, Kansas 10, Connecticut 5, North Carolina 5, Rice 5, California 4.
Dropped From Rankings
Florida State 24, West Virginia 25.

AP Top 25
1. North Carolina (72) 3-0 1,800
2. Connecticut 4-0 1,694
3. Louisville 2-0 1,646
4. Pittsburgh 4-0 1,423
5. Michigan State 2-0 1,402
6. Texas 2-0 1,355
7. Duke 6-0 1,330
8. Notre Dame 2-0 1,291
9. Gonzaga 2-0 1,222
10. Purdue 4-0 1,161
11. Oklahoma 4-0 1,094
12. Tennessee 3-0 1,005
13. UCLA 3-1 916
14. Arizona State 3-0 767
15. Marquette 3-0 735
16. Xavier 5-0 600
17. Florida 3-0 535
18. Memphis 4-1 500
19. Wake Forest 2-0 414
20. Villanova 3-0 356
21. Georgetown 2-0 349
22. Miami (FL) 2-1 272
22. Kansas 2-0 272
24. Davidson 3-1 238
25. Wisconsin 4-0 214
Others Receiving Votes
Baylor 170, Syracuse 115, Saint Mary’s 111, UNLV 107, Ohio State 52, Clemson 49, Michigan 42, LSU 25, Texas A&M 25, USC 18, Siena 18, Brigham Young 16, Washington State 13, UAB 12, West Virginia 10, Creighton 6, Missouri 6, Rhode Island 5, Seton Hall 2, Georgia Tech 2, Illinois 2, Mercer 1, Oklahoma State 1, Virginia Military 1.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. North Carolina (31) 3-0 775
2. Connecticut 4-0 730
3. Louisville 2-0 697
4. Pittsburgh 4-0 635
5. Duke 6-0 625
6. Michigan State 2-0 615
7. Texas 2-0 576
8. Notre Dame 2-0 551
9. Purdue 4-0 516
10. Gonzaga 2-0 481
11. UCLA 3-1 437
12. Tennessee 3-0 434
13. Oklahoma 4-0 415
14. Arizona State 3-0 343
15. Marquette 3-0 284
16. Georgetown 2-0 251
17. Memphis 4-1 246
18. Florida 3-0 238
19. Wisconsin 4-0 171
20. Xavier 5-0 166
21. Miami (FL) 2-1 146
22. Villanova 3-0 143
23. Kansas 2-0 125
24. Wake Forest 2-0 123
25. Davidson 3-1 100
Others Receiving Votes
UNLV 58, Saint Mary’s 43, Ohio State 29, Baylor 27, West Virginia 19, Washington State 15, Syracuse 14, Siena 10, Creighton 8, Texas A&M 7, Brigham Young 6, USC 4, UAB 3, Clemson 3, Michigan 3, Oklahoma State 2, Washington 1.

AP Top 25
1. USC (61) 2-0 1,596
2. Oklahoma 3-0 1,485
3. Georgia (2) 3-0 1,437
4. Florida (1) 2-0 1,414
5. Missouri 3-0 1,389
6. LSU 2-0 1,274
7. Texas 2-0 1,140
8. Wisconsin 3-0 1,076
9. Alabama 3-0 982
10. Auburn 3-0 958
11. Texas Tech 3-0 904
12. South Florida 3-0 801
13. Ohio State 2-1 800
14. Brigham Young 3-0 788
15. East Carolina 3-0 781
16. Penn State 3-0 779
17. Oregon 3-0 679
18. Wake Forest 2-0 482
19. Kansas 2-1 445
20. Utah 3-0 428
21. West Virginia 1-1 179
22. Illinois 2-1 163
23. Clemson 2-1 160
24. Florida State 2-0 146
25. Fresno State 1-1 121
Others Receiving Votes
Vanderbilt 63, Oklahoma State 62, TCU 45, Boise State 38, Arizona State 36, North Carolina 31, Virginia Tech 28, Nebraska 21, Tennessee 15, Connecticut 13, Iowa 12, Kentucky 6, Tulsa 6, Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 4, Minnesota 4, Arizona 2, UCF 1, Ball State 1, South Carolina 1.

USA Today’ Poll
1. USC (57) 2-0 1,518
2. Oklahoma (1) 3-0 1,423
3. Georgia (2) 3-0 1,393
4. Florida (1) 2-0 1,335
5. Missouri 3-0 1,294
6. LSU 2-0 1,233
7. Texas 2-0 1,128
8. Wisconsin 3-0 1,027
9. Auburn 3-0 955
10. Texas Tech 3-0 887
11. Brigham Young 3-0 846
12. Oregon 3-0 783
13. Alabama 3-0 771
14. Ohio State 2-1 736
15. Penn State 3-0 724
16. South Florida 3-0 685
17. East Carolina 3-0 508
18. Wake Forest 2-0 498
19. Kansas 2-1 416
20. Utah 3-0 400
21. Clemson 2-1 233
22. West Virginia 1-1 159
23. Illinois 2-1 127
24. Arizona State 2-1 113
25. Florida State 2-0 110
Others Receiving Votes
Fresno State 93, TCU 76, Nebraska 49, Boise State 43, Kentucky 40, Oklahoma State 39, Tennessee 34, Virginia Tech 31, Connecticut 27, Vanderbilt 20, North Carolina 19, Iowa 14, Northwestern 10, California 7, Notre Dame 5, Michigan State 5, Colorado 3, Boston College 2, Ball State 2, Georgia Tech 2, Tulsa 2.

AP Top 25
1. USC (33) 1-0 1,577
2. Georgia (23) 2-0 1,525
3. Oklahoma (2) 2-0 1,458
4. Florida (4) 2-0 1,438
5. Ohio State (1) 2-0 1,347
6. Missouri (1) 2-0 1,336
7. LSU (1) 1-0 1,231
8. Texas 2-0 1,100
9. Auburn 2-0 1,067
10. Wisconsin 2-0 910
11. Alabama 2-0 865
12. Texas Tech 2-0 845
13. Kansas 2-0 825
14. East Carolina 2-0 762
15. Arizona State 2-0 744
16. Oregon 2-0 616
17. Penn State 2-0 607
18. Brigham Young 2-0 537
19. South Florida 2-0 493
20. Wake Forest 2-0 404
21. Fresno State 1-0 290
22. Utah 2-0 258
23. California 2-0 195
24. Illinois 1-1 164
25. West Virginia 1-1 163
Others Receiving Votes
UCLA 150, Clemson 73, Florida State 50, Boise State 22, Tennessee 15, Georgia Tech 14, Oklahoma State 11, Vanderbilt 7, TCU 6, Kentucky 6, Virginia Tech 4, Tulsa 3, South Carolina 2, Arizona 2, Connecticut 1, North Carolina 1, Rice 1.

USA Today’ Poll
1. USC (34) 1-0 1,481
2. Georgia (18) 2-0 1,454
3. Oklahoma (3) 2-0 1,370
4. Florida (3) 2-0 1,306
5. Ohio State (1) 2-0 1,289
6. Missouri 2-0 1,212
7. LSU (2) 1-0 1,198
8. Texas 2-0 1,069
9. Auburn 2-0 1,017
10. Wisconsin 2-0 946
11. Kansas 2-0 854
12. Texas Tech 2-0 755
13. Arizona State 2-0 737
14. Oregon 2-0 665
15. Brigham Young 2-0 628
16. Alabama 2-0 611
17. Penn State 2-0 547
18. South Florida 2-0 475
19. Wake Forest 2-0 419
20. East Carolina 2-0 375
21. Fresno State 1-0 300
22. Utah 2-0 235
23. Clemson 1-1 175
24. West Virginia 1-1 145
25. California 2-0 128
Others Receiving Votes
Illinois 124, UCLA 86, Florida State 50, Kentucky 28, Boise State 22, Tennessee 21, TCU 18, Nebraska 16, Georgia Tech 15, Arizona 11, Virginia Tech 11, Vanderbilt 8, Oklahoma State 7, Iowa 4, Colorado 3, Notre Dame 3, Tulsa 2, Connecticut 2, Bowling Green 1, South Carolina 1, Northwestern 1.

AP top 25
1. USC (21) 1-0 1,539
2. Georgia (20) 1-0 1,506
3. Ohio State (15) 1-0 1,497
4. Oklahoma (2) 1-0 1,432
5. Florida (5) 1-0 1,415
6. Missouri (1) 1-0 1,301
7. LSU (1) 1-0 1,207
8. West Virginia 1-0 1,108
9. Auburn 1-0 1,033
10. Texas 1-0 1,028
11. Wisconsin 1-0 849
12. Texas Tech 1-0 842
13. Alabama 1-0 834
14. Kansas 1-0 748
15. Arizona State 1-0 672
15. Brigham Young 1-0 672
17. South Florida 1-0 588
18. Oregon 1-0 508
19. Penn State 1-0 467
20. Wake Forest 1-0 414
21. Fresno State 1-0 242
22. Utah 1-0 214
23. UCLA 1-0 151
24. Illinois 0-1 147
24. South Carolina 1-0 147
Others Receiving Votes
Clemson 143, East Carolina 108, California 91, Boston College 36, Florida State 36, Cincinnati 35, Tennessee 30, Boise State 19, Bowling Green 17, Virginia Tech 14, Connecticut 9, Rutgers 6, Kentucky 5, Nebraska 4, Oklahoma State 3, Arizona 2, TCU 2, Tulsa 1, North Carolina 1, Notre Dame 1, Miami (FL) 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Clemson 9, Virginia Tech 17, Tennessee 18, Pittsburgh 25.

USA Today’ Poll
1. USC (23) 1-0 1,462
2. Georgia (20) 1-0 1,442
3. Ohio State (10) 1-0 1,385
4. Oklahoma (2) 1-0 1,344
5. Florida (3) 1-0 1,295
6. LSU (3) 1-0 1,202
7. Missouri 1-0 1,197
8. West Virginia 1-0 1,035
9. Texas 1-0 1,030
10. Auburn 1-0 962
11. Wisconsin 1-0 853
12. Kansas 1-0 820
13. Texas Tech 1-0 732
14. Arizona State 1-0 679
15. Brigham Young 1-0 629
16. Oregon 1-0 566
17. Alabama 1-0 538
18. South Florida 1-0 480
19. Penn State 1-0 450
20. Wake Forest 1-0 388
21. Fresno State 1-0 269
22. Clemson 0-1 186
23. Utah 1-0 158
24. South Carolina 1-0 134
25. Illinois 0-1 92
Others Receiving Votes
UCLA 91, California 79, East Carolina 56, Tennessee 56, Boston College 36, Florida State 29, Virginia Tech 25, Boise State 24, Kentucky 20, TCU 15, Connecticut 13, Cincinnati 13, Nebraska 12, Arizona 8, Oklahoma State 5, Notre Dame 4, Colorado 3, Georgia Tech 2, Bowling Green 2, Miami (FL) 1, Stanford 1, Tulsa 1, UCF 1.
Dropped From Rankings
Virginia Tech 15, Tennessee 18, Michigan 24.