Blame the NCAA for Ridiculously Priced Canes-Irish Tickets

The NCAA has no integrity. The cutthroat organization that oversees collegiate sports does everything possible  to prevent student-athletes from making a living but nothing to stop scalpers from profiting off the young men who play at sold-out stadiums. Just look at the price gouging for tickets to this weekend's game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, which will be played at Hard Rock Stadium Saturday at 8 p.m. Saturday.

On StubHub, one of the most popular ticket-reselling websites, the cheapest seats in the nosebleed section are going for $170 and prime sideline seats cost $1,200 or more. The same seats for the U's following home game against the Virginia Cavaliers are going for $15 and $80. (A suite ticket is on sale this week for $2,500.)

The Canes are ranked seventh in the nation, and the Irish are third.

In the '80s and '90s, when these two teams faced off in the Orange Bowl, if police caught you selling tickets for more than face value, your ass went to jail for scalping. The law doesn't apply to tickets sold online, but that doesn't mean the NCAA can't take action against people who resell game passes at a markup.

The association is more concerned with catching a student-athlete who accepts $100 to buy his child diapers or a free meal because he doesn't have money to eat.

Online scalpers are making bank off young men who play for free. The NCAA and its defenders argue football players get a free four-year education that comes with a college degree. That's a myth. The scholarships are often contingent upon whether student-athletes perform on the field. And every year, they are evaluated to determine their worth. If they can't play, there's no guarantee they will continue to receive a free education.

What's worse, the NCAA prohibits college athletes from getting real jobs. They should be getting paid. And there should be a cap on ticket prices and a ban on online scalping. The fact that the NCAA won't do that is a disgrace.

Follow Luke on Twitter: @unclelukereal1.