Apr 21, 2014 01:39 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The NCAA is fighting so hard to protect its model of amateurism to save a large amount of money, at least that is what a new study from Drexel University suggests.

According to NBC Sports, the new analysis comes from the National College Players Association (NCPA) and Drexel University. The study estimates the fair annual salary for a Division I college football player from 2011 to 2015 should be $178,000.

Mike Florio noted the impossibility of taking the study seriously.

"Without scrutinizing the methods and assumptions and hard data on which the report is based, it's impossible to assess its accuracy," he wrote for NBC Sports last Tuesday. "And since the NCPA strongly supports the efforts to pay college players, potential agendas and biases come into play."

In 2010, CNNMoney.com reported the six richest athletic conferences breached $1 billion in profits after an 11 percent increase from the year before. The 68 teams in those conferences made an average of $15.8 million in a year, an average of $1 million per game. The profit margin was a staggering 49 percent, a mark any pro team would love to reach but cannot because of their payroll.

Study co-author Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports management at Drexel University, said such a proposal would turn college football into a farm system in the NFL akin to MLB's minor leagues. The one caveat is college football's immense popularity and profits would make the scouting, recruiting and signing process far more lucrative.

"The bidding war for athletes would likely be in the millions," she told NBC News.

"However, I think it all depends on whether or not a players' association ends up representing the teams and players," she said. "The salaries could be effectively bargained to have some sort of minimum guaranteed salary for all."

Since not every player would earn the same salary, the top players would make a lot more. For example, the researchers estimated Johnny Manziel would make $547,000 for the 2011-2012 season. In the same time period, she estimated Andrew Wiggins would earn $1.6 million playing basketball for Kansas.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Chicago ruled in favor of the Northwestern football team, allowing them to form a union. Since the NLRB's chapter in D.C. is expected to uphold the ruling through an appeal, the vote is expected at some point and other collegiate teams would be able to file for unions themselves.

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