RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (AP) 鈥� It鈥檚 no stretch to say that in the battle of wills, visions and, yes, national titles being waged across the college-sports landscape, the Big Ten has taken the lead.
Leaders in the conference currently holding the , and opened their annual spring meeting Monday with nothing more than the future of their business on the agenda.
鈥淚t seems like we鈥檙e paddling beneath the surface and we don鈥檛 really know what direction we鈥檙e going in,鈥� said coach Dusty May, whose Michigan 尘别苍鈥檚 basketball team won the championship a mere six weeks ago. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no easy solution to this. There鈥檚 no logical solution. There鈥檚 going to have to be some give and take.鈥�
A few big-ticket items have, in fact, been resolved over the past month:
鈥� The NCAA from 68 to 76 teams and opened a new $300 million revenue stream to fund it through beer and wine sponsorships.
鈥� The College Sports Commission won the in a test of its authority to enforce rules governing name-image-likeness payments to athletes that are now the norm 鈥� and are putting college sports programs in financial jeopardy.
Even those issues, however, aren鈥檛 fully resolved 鈥� for example, will the arbitration decision involving Nebraska football players lead to a lawsuit? 鈥� and they only scratch the surface of what’s yet to be hashed out.
Whatever conclusions the Big Ten comes to this week will only be one piece of the puzzle. The SEC gathers next week in meetings that will direct their own league鈥檚 business with a view of the wider picture in mind.
Big Ten’s idea for a bigger College Football Playoff gains support
The size of the College Football Playoff seems to be the most digestible of the thus-far intractable standoffs, but still, there鈥檚 no resolution on the horizon.
In this, the Big Ten also seems to have taken a step forward. A year ago, the conference stood alone in advocating for a move from 12 to 24 teams, while the SEC鈥檚 more-limited suggestion, a move to 16 teams, felt like a more plausible option, and one commissioner
But in the past few weeks, the Atlantic Coast and Big 12 conferences, along with the American Football Coaches Association, have all for 24 teams, which would provide more access.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to ask presidents and chancellors and boards to continue to invest in their football programs, it鈥檚 really important that they have hope,鈥� ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said last week.
Expansion would also likely bring about the need to abolish conference title games, which are increasingly meaningless and would be more so in, say, a world where the first- through fourth-place teams in every conference end up in the playoffs.
Another unchanged element: The Big Ten and SEC have all the power in this conversation and they do not agree. The upcoming season鈥檚 playoff will be a 12-team affair and the (plausibly movable) deadline to change for 2027 is Dec. 1.
Debate continuing in DC about a law for college sports
The start of the Big Ten meeting came while debate continued in Washington about legislation that could provide stability.
But late Monday night, the so-called SCORE Act got abruptly pulled off the schedule in the House rules committee in the latest delay for a bill that has for more than a year. Opponents, mostly Democrats, don鈥檛 want to give the NCAA the limited-liability protection it seeks, along with other elements they fear will undercut the rights of players.
The postponement came shortly after the Congressional Black Caucus added a new twist, pointing to the that opened the door for Southern states to eliminate Black-majority voting districts as a reason to object.
鈥淎t the very moment those same communities face coordinated attacks on their democratic representation, too many leaders across college athletics have chosen silence,鈥� the caucus said in a statement.
Meanwhile, negotiations continue between the two big-name policymakers on the issue in the Senate 鈥� Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. If they come up with a bill that could garner the 60 votes needed to pass the upper chamber, it would likely be the closest thing anyone has seen to something that could actually become a law.
5-year eligibility window could resolve some issues
The NCAA is moving closer to changing eligibility rules as we know them by eliminating most redshirt seasons and giving most players five years to complete five seasons of eligibility.
In a world in which athletic departments are struggling to allocate a shifting amount of funds ($20.5 million in revenue sharing from the schools combined with untold millions from third parties), having a better gauge of how long players will be at their schools is seen as helpful.
鈥淲e probably all look out for our own self-interest too often,鈥� said May, who won the title with a roster full of transfers. 鈥淏ut at Michigan, if we do take a transfer, that gives us a chance to almost assure them they鈥檙e going to get their degree while they鈥檙e still on scholarship.鈥�
The NCAA would also like to stop getting sued over eligibility rules, though without action from Congress, this one would appear to open a whole new set of lawsuits.
Can the new College Sports Commission function?
Underpinning all this discussion is the future of NIL and the agency created to police it — the CSC.
The 鈥減articipation agreement鈥� the commission sent out to Power 4 schools hasn’t been signed by all, which brings into question the commission’s ability to function as a robust enforcement arm.
The CEO, Bryan Seeley, will be in town Tuesday to present to the conference athletic directors.
Last week, news of the arbitration win came as he was doing the same at the ACC. He called it a win, but hardly the final say on the matter, some of which revolves around schools unwilling or unable to sign away their ability to take legal action.
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