In news that wasn't a surprise to anyone, the NCAA voted overwhelmingly today to allow the five BCS conferences (I know the BCS isn't a thing anymore, but it's just easier to call them that) greater autonomy. Basically, the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC will be essentially allowed to make their own rules on issues that relate only to them, while maintaining the current Division I structure.
We all knew this was coming. If they weren't given this power, the major conferences were threatening to create their own division (Division IV, if you will) or, worse, break away from the NCAA altogether. Nobody wanted that, including the school presidents and the five conference commissioners. By doing things this way, these 65 schools get that certain level of independence they were looking for, which will allow them to do things that make sense for them.
Critics of this system will undoubtedly view it as the rich getting richer. While that's probably true, the old system didn't entirely make sense, either. Not all schools are created equal, yet the BCS programs, the other big-time football schools, schools with FCS football teams and those that don't have football teams at all were basically considered to be pretty much the same under the previous structure. That always seemed odd. Everyone was understandably going to look out for their own interests (which is the main reason why the Big East is now two different conferences).
It's because of these different priorities that the full cost-of-attendance stipends that the NCAA approved three years ago ultimately got shot down by the full membership. I get why this didn't get that final approval. That's a tremendous financial burden that some of the smaller-level schools wouldn't have been able to handle. And that's not something that really could've been optional, because those that couldn't afford and/or chose not to give stipends would've been put at an incredible competitive disadvantage, which wouldn't be fair.
Now, the BCS schools will be able to enact these policies without having them shot down by the lower-level Division I members. They'll be able to cover a student-athlete's entire cost of attendance. They'll be able to offer four-year scholarships. They'll be able to establish their own staff sizes. And recruitment procedures. And practice policies. The big boys are no longer limited by what the little guys are able to do. And, quite frankly it never really made sense for Texas and Florida to have the same rules as North Texas and North Florida in the first place.
College sports were already a haves and have-nots situation. Nobody's kidding themselves about that. Sure there are some schools that are now lumped in with the "little guys" who don't necessarily consider themselves to be in that group (UConn, Cincinnati and BYU come to mind), and I'm curious to see if those schools would be able to implement some of the Big Five's policies if it's within their means (which it would be for some programs in the American, Mountain West and Big East).
Of course, the "have-nots" still have a chance to override the autonomy legislation, but that seems incredibly unlikely. Especially because nobody wants the alternative. March Madness is one of the best things the NCAA has going. No one wants that to change. Not even the power conferences. But if they aren't given what they want here, you can say goodbye to March Madness as we know it. Because Division I as we know it would be no more.
Along with this vote taking place today, I saw another article where some of the Big Five schools are actually in favor of only playing each other in football (I'm counting Notre Dame as part of the ACC, even though, as everyone knows, they're independent in football). The opinions seemed to be mixed. And I can see both sides of it. Although, I'm more inclined to agree with the dissenters.
And the debate about football schedules actually illustrates the greater point here. Some of the lower-level schools need that million dollars they get for having their football team go lose to Ohio State. A lot of them rely on that money to fund their entire Athletic Department, not just their football programs. If that were to go away, it would be even more crippling than letting Oregon give an extra couple thousand dollars a year to its student-athletes (that's an important thing to note, too, it's not just football and basketball, if you're paying them, you've got to pay everybody).
This doesn't mark the end of Division I. In fact, it might signal a new beginning. Because this legislative autonomy for the Power 5 conferences is the start of even more changes to the NCAA's governance structure. And ultimately, I think it's going to be a good thing. For both the big-time football and everybody else.
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