We better have a plan!

[JOPO]

I certainly do not want to be limited to what the have-nots end up with. We have to be included in whatever rules the football conferences get to play by. No way I want any of us being lumped with Maine and Buffalo either!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/colleg ... -overhaul/

Nebraska president Harvey Perlman says revenue-producing schools want to keep the NCAA, but create new rules.
Nebraska's Harvey Perlman says revenue-producing schools want to keep the NCAA, but with new rules.
Getty Images

As university presidents from the five major conferences continue discussions in Washington D.C. this week on the NCAA's impending overhaul, the future of the NCAA continues to gain clarity.

Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a phone interview last week that he considers three key tenets to NCAA reform -- student-athlete welfare, governance changes and enforcement changes -- to be established in the next few months.

Nebraska president Harvey Perlman, who is the Big Ten's representative on NCAA reform, said the main objectives of the Big 5 leagues -- the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 -- are to "embrace the NCAA" while still maintaining "control over our own destiny."

Perlman said the discussions in Washington this week will revolve around a document outlining potential changes in the NCAA that have been agreed to in principal by representatives of the Big 5 conferences. "We're not anxious to move outside the organization," Perlman said.

It's becoming clearer that pronounced changes to the NCAA's much-maligned enforcement system are coming. NCAA enforcement has appeared to reach a nadir after multiple high-profile mistakes in the Miami case led to internal mass defections.

"The enforcement mechanism is flawed," Perlman said. "I think some attention needs to be given to it. I don't think it can continue in its current form."

Scott said there needs to be "some hard questions" about the "jury of your peers" model, as the Committee on Infractions is currently structured. He added that outsourcing enforcement is something that's been discussed.

"I'd say we're only at the idea stage and not very far along," he said. "We're looking carefully at involving outside resources. I'm sure that's something that will be considered."

The drumbeat for schools to break away from the NCAA or create a so-called Division 4 has faded away. Perlman said there's an aim to essentially get a separate set of rules within the current NCAA structure for high-revenue schools. This would mean that Maine's athletic department, with its inherent fiscal limitations, will not be able to vote to limit what USC can spend.

"We want to be able to administer, legislate and govern our affairs without having to achieve a consensus among all the rest of schools not as directly impacted as we are," Perlman said.

This would mark a significant shift in the NCAA governance model, as under the current structure Ohio State and Texas follow the same set of rules as Buffalo and New Mexico. This has happened despite a revenue gap that can be upwards of $100 million annually. There's a notion among presidents and athletic directors that there's no need for these schools to separate from the NCAA, as they've already separated themselves with their budgets, television networks and the salaries they pay their coaches.

Wake Forest president Nathan Hatch, the chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, will not be in attendance in Washington but said there are still complex issues to iron out.

"Obviously the NCAA Division I is so large, there's an agreed upon sense that more flexibility needs to be given toward the bigger conferences," Hatch said. "Even that's complicated. Are you taking about just the Big 5 or everyone involved with the college football? How that is specified, that's what has to be ironed out."

The pillar that everyone seems to be in agreement on is taking better care of student-athletes without paying them. Perlman stressed that there's no momentum toward paying athletes. But by separating the Big 5 in terms of governance, those schools may be able to better care for their athletes, be it with a cost of attendance policy, a stipend or something as simple as making more food available.

"The fact is that with all this revenue that we have, we can spend it on anything we want under current NCAA regulations, except to benefit student-athletes," Perlman said. "That's where we're regulated and prevented from doing things. I'm not saying we're going to pay them. None of us would agree to that. But there are a variety of areas to have opportunities among the five to consider the rules we want to live with."

Perlman declined to directly address what's in the document that's become the basis for this impending overhaul. He did say that it has not been shared with the other five Division I conferences.

"At some point in time, we want to engage the full group of 10 that are part off the college football playoff and other Division I schools and see if what we're asking for makes sense to them," he said. "Most of our interest is to find a way to engage within the traditional NCAA process to find way to achieve the things we need going forward."

Perlman said the timetable for NCAA changes is still on target for August. The key date on the calendar still appears to be the NCAA Convention in San Diego from Jan. 15-18. By that point, ideas will be formally presented.

"I think they'll be some significant changes," Scott said. "There's certainly significant concerns. Now that conferences are engaged at different levels, I'd like to see more significant changes."

[admin]

The drumbeat for schools to break away from the NCAA or create a so-called Division 4 has faded away. Perlman said there's an aim to essentially get a separate set of rules within the current NCAA structure for high-revenue schools. This would mean that Maine's athletic department, with its inherent fiscal limitations, will not be able to vote to limit what USC can spend.

"We want to be able to administer, legislate and govern our affairs without having to achieve a consensus among all the rest of schools not as directly impacted as we are," Perlman said.

As if there aren't already separate sets of rules for certain schools when it comes to finances. Not good at all.

[anXUfan]

I really hope they don't break basketball.

[Lavinwood]

College football completely ruined other college sports. Does the NCAA realize that there are many areas of the country where college football is not a big deal? For places like the NYC metro area, the Boston metro area, the Philly metro area, Baltimore metro area, DC metro area, etc. the football fix is gotten from the NFL. Some of the biggest metro areas don't even have a major college football team to root for, so at most people will jump on bandwagons i.e. Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, OSU, etc. But the NFL is still king in the places I mentioned. The NBA is big there too. College basketball is very big if the local programs are relevant.

It's really sad that the NCAA is about to ruin college sports by placing NCAAF above everything in the world because of the money it brings in. I can see it now: the Big 5 becomes its own thing and only play each other on a network combined together. It will be like Division 1 and Division 2. ESPN will cover the Big 5 and ignore the others i.e. Big East, AAC, A-10, Mountain West, WAC, etc. The Big 5 will get their own major NCAA Tournament while the rest of the schools get stuck with a lesser NIT type playoff. It's absolutely insane. Have they not done enough already dismantling the best basketball conference ever? I would not be surprised to see schools like G'Town, Nova, UConn, and Cincy join in one of the Big 5 conferences either with this direction becoming inevitable. G'Town football will go 1-A, and Nova football will go 1-A.

Very scary stuff…college basketball fans outside the Big 5 will be left hanging. Will anyone step up and finally put an end to this madness? I will never forget the day I was in the parking lot at SJU and heard on ESPN New York "Breaking news! Syracuse and Pitt in a shocking move are reportedly leaving the Big East for the ACC". From there on, I knew things would never be the same.

[MUSeashells&Balloons]

you can certainly add Denver to the list of markets that has low interest in college football.

[marquette]

College football completely ruined other college sports. Does the NCAA realize that there are many areas of the country where college football is not a big deal? For places like the NYC metro area, the Boston metro area, the Philly metro area, Baltimore metro area, DC metro area, etc. the football fix is gotten from the NFL. Some of the biggest metro areas don't even have a major college football team to root for, so at most people will jump on bandwagons i.e. Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, OSU, etc. But the NFL is still king in the places I mentioned. The NBA is big there too. College basketball is very big if the local programs are relevant.

It's really sad that the NCAA is about to ruin college sports by placing NCAAF above everything in the world because of the money it brings in. I can see it now: the Big 5 becomes its own thing and only play each other on a network combined together. It will be like Division 1 and Division 2. ESPN will cover the Big 5 and ignore the others i.e. Big East, AAC, A-10, Mountain West, WAC, etc. The Big 5 will get their own major NCAA Tournament while the rest of the schools get stuck with a lesser NIT type playoff. It's absolutely insane. Have they not done enough already dismantling the best basketball conference ever? I would not be surprised to see schools like G'Town, Nova, UConn, and Cincy join in one of the Big 5 conferences either with this direction becoming inevitable. G'Town football will go 1-A, and Nova football will go 1-A.

Very scary stuff…college basketball fans outside the Big 5 will be left hanging. Will anyone step up and finally put an end to this madness? I will never forget the day I was in the parking lot at SJU and heard on ESPN New York "Breaking news! Syracuse and Pitt in a shocking move are reportedly leaving the Big East for the ACC". From there on, I knew things would never be the same.

A few things in response to this;
1.) This is not the NCAA's doing, their hand is being forced by the P5, who would separate from them if they didn't capitulate.
2.) This move is designed to keep D1 together. Without these concessions there would be a split, and the Big East may or may not be left out in the cold on that. The tournament will remain the same under this arrangement, but the P5 will have a bigger recruiting advantage.
3.) G'Town and Nova will not go FBS (it's not called 1-A anymore). Nova had a chance years ago, never happened. Even if they did it would do them no good. There are teams out there that already are FBS and are much better positioned to make the jump. If the ACC gets raided, their next move is UConn, Cincy, Temple, or Memphis (in order of likelihood). No conference is looking for a G'Town or Nova starter project in football. I mean no offense to our Big East brethren, but that is the reality of the situation. G'Town tried to get into a P5 already, they failed.
4.) I'm going to assume there is some kind of "opt-in" for conferences that have the resources to compete. We have those resources and are willing to put them to use.

The sky is not falling, the world is not ending. We won't know 'til it happens and there's nothing we can do anyway. Why worry when we have a perfectly good basketball season to worry about ahead of us?

[whiteandblue77]

I really hope they don't break basketball.

I'm really not clear on what's happening and don't really care to waste my time, but the thing that makes me optimistic about the whole thing is that there already is a separation for football. The NCAA has never crowned a football champion. There are so many different fundamental differences between the two sports that I hope this can stay a "football thing."

[JOPO]

College football completely ruined other college sports. Does the NCAA realize that there are many areas of the country where college football is not a big deal? For places like the NYC metro area, the Boston metro area, the Philly metro area, Baltimore metro area, DC metro area, etc. the football fix is gotten from the NFL. Some of the biggest metro areas don't even have a major college football team to root for, so at most people will jump on bandwagons i.e. Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, OSU, etc. But the NFL is still king in the places I mentioned. The NBA is big there too. College basketball is very big if the local programs are relevant.

It's really sad that the NCAA is about to ruin college sports by placing NCAAF above everything in the world because of the money it brings in. I can see it now: the Big 5 becomes its own thing and only play each other on a network combined together. It will be like Division 1 and Division 2. ESPN will cover the Big 5 and ignore the others i.e. Big East, AAC, A-10, Mountain West, WAC, etc. The Big 5 will get their own major NCAA Tournament while the rest of the schools get stuck with a lesser NIT type playoff. It's absolutely insane. Have they not done enough already dismantling the best basketball conference ever? I would not be surprised to see schools like G'Town, Nova, UConn, and Cincy join in one of the Big 5 conferences either with this direction becoming inevitable. G'Town football will go 1-A, and Nova football will go 1-A.

Very scary stuff…college basketball fans outside the Big 5 will be left hanging. Will anyone step up and finally put an end to this madness? I will never forget the day I was in the parking lot at SJU and heard on ESPN New York "Breaking news! Syracuse and Pitt in a shocking move are reportedly leaving the Big East for the ACC". From there on, I knew things would never be the same.

A few things in response to this;
1.) This is not the NCAA's doing, their hand is being forced by the P5, who would separate from them if they didn't capitulate.
2.) This move is designed to keep D1 together. Without these concessions there would be a split, and the Big East may or may not be left out in the cold on that. The tournament will remain the same under this arrangement, but the P5 will have a bigger recruiting advantage.
3.) G'Town and Nova will not go FBS (it's not called 1-A anymore). Nova had a chance years ago, never happened. Even if they did it would do them no good. There are teams out there that already are FBS and are much better positioned to make the jump. If the ACC gets raided, their next move is UConn, Cincy, Temple, or Memphis (in order of likelihood). No conference is looking for a G'Town or Nova starter project in football. I mean no offense to our Big East brethren, but that is the reality of the situation. G'Town tried to get into a P5 already, they failed.
4.) I'm going to assume there is some kind of "opt-in" for conferences that have the resources to compete. We have those resources and are willing to put them to use.

The sky is not falling, the world is not ending. We won't know 'til it happens and there's nothing we can do anyway. Why worry when we have a perfectly good basketball season to worry about ahead of us?

As long as the Big East retains their seat at the table I don't care. Sorry but I have no interest in playing among the pee-wee leagues. Everyone in the Big East is all in, we shouldn't have to invest millions in football just to play top level basketball. That's bull.

[butlerguy03]

you can certainly add Denver to the list of markets that has low interest in college football.

Indianapolis, too.

[Lavinwood]

The thing I hate about NCAAF is how it kills NCAABB for one. It slaughtered the holy grail of hoops: the Big East. I remember looking at all the schools in our conference and just being in awe at the names. The fact that they played schools like ND, Pitt, Cuse, L'Ville, UConn, etc. was part of the appeal of attending a Big East school. Also, NCAAF has no true playoff. It's still politics and computer generations. Remember Utah going undefeated years ago, but since they weren't Michigan or Alabama they weren't allowed to compete for a championship. In NCAABB if Utah goes undefeated, they make the tournament and have the chance to win a national championship. There is almost no such thing as a Cinderella in NCAAF. Sure, App. State beating Mich. comes to mind, but how often does this stuff happen? Once every decade at most? Sometimes much longer.

How often do we see schools with 5,000 students in a mid major conference playing and beating schools with 30,000 students in a major conference in NCAAF? Almost never. Because that 5,000 student school would be a lower division entirely in NCAAF. In NCAABB, Grambling State can beat Louisville. The chance is there. George Mason, Wichita State, VCU, Valpo, Northern Iowa, etc. all these schools came out of nowhere to shock the world. THAT is what Cinderellas are all about. NCAAF considers Cinderella wins to be unranked USC beating #1 Alabama. USC is still a top football program ranked or not. It's not even close to the same caliber of upsets you routinely get in basketball.

College football, I despise you and what you've done to my beloved college hoops. Why college football doesn't do their own March Madness tournament is beyond me. Invite the little guys. Invite the powers. Allow for major upsets. The problem is that the larger football powerhouses have guys who are twice the size, twice as strong, and the big powers have enough money to buy the smaller programs many times over. There is a massive gap between Ohio State and Buffalo football. Just goes to show there is very little parity in NCAAF. Every year it's the same. Bama, ND, Michigan, OSU, Miami, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Texas A&M, etc. etc. it gets old very fast.