Doc: Power conferences seeking more control over NCAA championships, governance

MIAMI — A proposal from the power conferences stands to potentially reshape NCAA governance and championship structure, shifting more authority to the power leagues over rulemaking, policy decisions and even postseason events.

The proposal, a collaboration between the four power leagues, would give the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC rights to administer postseason championships, such as the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, assuming control of events that have long been run by the national association.

The proposal is described as a “working document” only and is not a complete or approved product.

But as the NCAA works to establish a new governance model to coincide with the landmark settlement in the House Antitrust case, the document indicates a clear direction from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC. They want an expansion of their previously existing autonomous legislative powers, not only for rule and policy making, but also for NCAA championships, controlling concepts such as tournament format, revenue distribution and selection committee process.

The proposal would create a new subdivision within the NCAA umbrella — an expected concept and one included in NCAA President Charlie Baker’s “Project DI” plan, which he announced in December 2023.

Yahoo Sports obtained portions of the document.

When they arrived, each power conference confirmed the existence of the proposal. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey cautioned that the proposal is only a conversation starter as all Division I leaders examine a new governance model.

“There have been seven to eight months of discussions about the NCAA governance decision-making process,” Sankey told Yahoo Sports. “We have a responsibility to develop an idea. We have circulated this with our conferences. We’ve let the NCAA president know. This is an important time for change. We think it is important to provoke thought.”

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors recently created a task force to explore a new governance model. Sankey is a member of the working group, which is called the Division I Decision Making Group.

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, a member of the NCAA Board of Governors, said leaders are trying to find a governance structure that “fits” modern college athletics. “More work needs to be done,” he said. “To me, this is part of the ongoing evolution of college athletics.”

The proposal from the power conferences does not signal the long-discussed breakout from the national association, Sankey and other commissioners say, and there remains a commitment to continue providing broad access to postseason events. That includes the NCAA basketball tournament, two events that provide automatic qualification to the champions of all 32 Division I leagues.

Dubbed “March Madness,” the tournament is the crown jewel of NCAA sports, perhaps most popular for its feel-good upsets of low-seeded, mid-major programs. The men’s event is worth nearly $1 billion annually, by far the association’s biggest cash cow, sustaining the athletic budgets of many non-football and FCS programs.

“We still see the championships as bonding,” Sankey said. “The basketball tournament is a national and American experience. I think what’s happening in March is pretty cool. The Cinderella stories are part of the fabric, and we respect that reality.”

Phillips called the tournament a “national treasure” and he remains “firm” in entry points to all leagues.

Brett Yormark, commissioner of the Big 12, calls the proposal part of a “complete overhaul of the entire model” and a necessary “modification” to give greater authority to the power leagues.

“We have no desire to compromise what makes college athletics so special, but instead want to make the necessary adjustments to reflect where the industry is headed,” he said in a statement to Yahoo Sports.

However, there are fears that giving the power conferences control over these marquee postseason events will limit the opportunities for these mid-majors and possibly even reduce their revenue shares from the tournament.

Such changes to the NCAA governing structure could require a vote of the full Division I membership — likely a difficult majority to achieve. Those in the other 28 conferences fear the consequences of ceding more authority to the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC, several non-football players and FCS executives told Yahoo Sports this week.

The power leagues, specifically the Big Ten and SEC, used threats of a breakout to consolidate more revenue during the CFP negotiations last spring. The four leagues also spearheaded negotiations for the house settlement, agreeing to millions of dollars in back injuries to former athletes, some of which will be paid by the non-power conferences without their input.

The moves have rapidly widened a gap between the four richest conferences in college athletics and everyone else. Already separated by massive resource and money shortages, the two groups are, some believe, approaching an unsustainable situation that is roaring towards eventual divorce.

“This could be a real battle for the future of what college athletics looks like,” one FCS executive said. “At some point we’re going to have to call their bluff and say, ‘Take your ball and go’. It seems to me we’re getting closer and closer to that happening.”

The chances of the NCAA adopting the power leagues’ proposal are uncertain.

The proposal was described by one as an “aggressive solution” that has “real legs” but by another as having little or no chance of passing in its current iteration. If the power leagues do not reach consensus in a full membership vote, they can withdraw from the association.

That presents another problem, though: The Power leagues and the NCAA entered into a 10-year deal as part of the House settlement that ties the entities together through 2035.

Power conference commissioners began circulating their proposal to school presidents and administrators earlier this week — a decision not coincidentally timed. The annual NCAA convention begins next week in Nashville, where leaders of all three divisions meet to debate and discuss key legislative items.

A new governance model is a long-debated issue that became a priority after the NCAA agreed to settle three antitrust cases over athlete compensation, most notably the House case. Starting in July, pending approval of the settlement in April, schools are allowed to share revenue directly with athletes in a historic step in college sports history and one that necessitates changes to NCAA rules and structure.

As part of the power league proposal, the NCAA Board of Governors and DI Board of Directors — the association’s top governing groups mostly made up of college presidents — will likely see their authority curtailed. The intention of the proposal is to create uniform policy among at least the four leagues.

For decades now, the NCAA has operated as a fractured group with more than 300 member schools in Division I alone, all with different resources and cultural philosophies. Often misunderstood, the NCAA is a voluntary membership organization where schools create rules that the association then enforces.

However, these rules have been attacked by the courts and state legislatures as violating antitrust laws, many of them because of the long-standing policy that prohibits compensation to athletes. With the rules now crumbling, the money-making powers of the top four leagues are moving closer to a professionalized model – a shift that necessitates wholesale structural changes, they believe.

In fact, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey and his presidents sent a letter to Baker in November expressing disappointment with a governance model NCAA staff showed commissioners at a meeting over the summer and urging the association to give power leagues much more autonomy, not just in management, but rules of the game and championship tournaments.

Sankey has long publicly expressed his frustration with the NCAA governance model for its slow, bureaucratic process and the inclusion of lower school representatives on policy committees. But lately, Sankey and other commissioners, namely Yormark and Phillips, have been jostling for both more championship entry points for their programs and representation on NCAA championship selection committees.

Currently, NCAA officials are in active negotiations with CBS and Warner Bros. Discovery on an idea to expand the men’s and women’s basketball tournament to add four or eight teams.