<Ul> <Li> After losing the 1953 case The University of Denver v. Nemeth, where it was found that a student and athlete was owed workers' compensation, it has been argued that the NCAA created the term "student - athlete ." Andrew Zimbalist, in his book Unpaid Professionals (1999), claims the term was invented to prevent similar future litigation losses . </Li> <Li> In 2007, the case of White et al. v. NCAA was brought by former NCAA student - athletes Jason White, Brian Pollack, Jovan Harris, and Chris Craig as a class action lawsuit . They argued that the NCAA's current limits on a full scholarship or Grant in Aid was a violation of federal antitrust laws . Their reasoning was that in the absence of such a limit, NCAA member schools would be free to offer any financial aid packages they desired to recruit the student and athlete . The NCAA settled before a ruling by the court, by agreeing to set up the Former Student - Athlete Fund to "assist qualified candidates applying for receipt of career development expenses and / or reimbursement of educational expenses under the terms of the agreement with plaintiffs in a federal antitrust lawsuit ." </Li> <Li> In 2013, Jay Bilas revealed that the NCAA was taking advantage of individual players through jersey sales in its store . Specifically, he typed the names of several top college football players, among them Tajh Boyd, Teddy Bridgewater, Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, and AJ McCarron, into the search engine of the NCAA's official online store, and received the players' jerseys as primary search results . The NCAA took down player jersey sales immediately following the incident . </Li> <Li> Former NCAA President Walter Byers, in his book Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes, summarizes his criticisms of the NCAA's operation by stating that "Today the NCAA Presidents Commission is...firmly committed to the neo-plantation belief that the enormous proceeds from college games belong to the overseers (administrators) and supervisors (coaches). The plantation workers performing in the arena may only receive those benefits authorized by the overseers ." </Li> <Li> The National Collegiate Players Association (NCPA) is a group started by former UCLA football players with the purpose of organizing student - athletes . Their goal is to change NCAA rules they view as unjust . Two of the rules they focus on include raising the scholarship amount and holding schools responsible for their players' sports - related medical injuries . </Li> <Li> In March 2014, four players filed a class action antitrust lawsuit, alleging that the NCAA and its five dominant conferences are an "unlawful cartel". The suit charges that NCAA caps on the value of athletic scholarships have "illegally restricted the earning power of football and men's basketball players while making billions off their labor". Tulane University Sports Law Program Director Gabe Feldman called the suit "an instantly credible threat to the NCAA ." On September 30, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that limiting compensation to the cost of an athlete's attendance at a university was sufficient . It simultaneously ruled against a federal judge's proposal to pay student athletes $5,000 per year in deferred compensation . </Li> <Li> Northwestern University's Division One Football team was the first NCAA team to unionize in 2014 . </Li> <Li> South Park, in the episode "Crack Baby Athletic Association" (s15e05), made oblique reference to the NCAA and compared its rules to slavery . </Li> </Ul> <Li> After losing the 1953 case The University of Denver v. Nemeth, where it was found that a student and athlete was owed workers' compensation, it has been argued that the NCAA created the term "student - athlete ." Andrew Zimbalist, in his book Unpaid Professionals (1999), claims the term was invented to prevent similar future litigation losses . </Li> <Li> In 2007, the case of White et al. v. NCAA was brought by former NCAA student - athletes Jason White, Brian Pollack, Jovan Harris, and Chris Craig as a class action lawsuit . They argued that the NCAA's current limits on a full scholarship or Grant in Aid was a violation of federal antitrust laws . Their reasoning was that in the absence of such a limit, NCAA member schools would be free to offer any financial aid packages they desired to recruit the student and athlete . The NCAA settled before a ruling by the court, by agreeing to set up the Former Student - Athlete Fund to "assist qualified candidates applying for receipt of career development expenses and / or reimbursement of educational expenses under the terms of the agreement with plaintiffs in a federal antitrust lawsuit ." </Li> <Li> In 2013, Jay Bilas revealed that the NCAA was taking advantage of individual players through jersey sales in its store . Specifically, he typed the names of several top college football players, among them Tajh Boyd, Teddy Bridgewater, Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, and AJ McCarron, into the search engine of the NCAA's official online store, and received the players' jerseys as primary search results . The NCAA took down player jersey sales immediately following the incident . </Li>

The first intercollegiate athletic conference in the united states