NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Although a modest expansion of the NCAA basketball tournament appears to be on the horizon, the most radical change looming within the association and its marquee event at this week’s convention was who will be in charge of college sports in general and March madness specifically.
While college sports is in the midst of massive changes – and awaiting final approval from a federal judge a settlement of an antitrust lawsuit this will pave the way for billions of dollars in direct payments from schools to athletes – a new governance structure is needed to accommodate the more professionalized parts of the sector. NCAAmembership.
An early stage proposal, first reported by Yahoo! Sportyof the so-called Power 4 conferences — SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 — suggest the solution is to hand more control to that group, including running the NCAA championships.
“Well, we got autonomy on very specific issues. That was negotiated back, and I think we used it well,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Wednesday as he walked the long, winding path through the Opryland Convention Center from a Division I council meeting to an NCAA business session. “We haven’t used (autonomy) actively for some time and think it should be expanded.”
Sankey downplayed the notion that Power 4 was seeking to take control of the management and structure of championship events — the one function provided by the NCAA that hasn’t been seriously diminished in recent years and a responsibility that in many ways binds together an increasingly frayed association.
“There are a lot more issues than just championships,” Sankey said.
In 2014, the NCAA voted to grant autonomy to the then-Power 5, which at the time included the Pac-12. Autonomy allowed these conferences to establish permissive rules in certain areas without the approval of the rest of Division I (comprising 28 conferences and more than 280 schools). The first thing the Power 5 did was pass a rule allowing schools to increase the value of an athletic scholarship by a few thousand dollars, in most cases, over tuition. This had been a contentious issue within the NCAA for some time, as smaller schools feared being put at a competitive disadvantage by schools that flexed their financial muscle.
Now, if the settlement of the House v. NCAA gets final approval in April, schools will be allowed to spend up to $20.5 million starting next year on athlete compensation. The difference between the richest tier of Division I schools and the rest has never been starker.
With 1,100 member schools divided into three divisions, the NCAA needs to change the way it governs, and quickly. The P4’s proposal to take more control is just one of many options.
“We got a bunch of submissions from all kinds of people that we reached out to, okay?” said NCAA President Charlie Baker after his State of the Association address Tuesday. “My own view, and I’ve said this publicly, I think there are a lot of things at the NCAA that need to be fixed. I’m hard to convince … that the biggest problem we have is that we don’t do a good job of holding championships. I actually think that’s something we’re pretty good at.”
The NCAA has assembled a task force to sort through various proposals and ideas for a new governance structure, with the idea of having something new in place by next school year.
College sports governance isn’t a topic that attracts many fans, until it impacts the competition itself. This attracts everyone’s attention.
“That one took me by surprise,” Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said of the management of the Power 4 Division I national championships. “What the NCAA is built around, more than anything, is championship management. Their primary function is to manage 90 championships. The only thing they don’t manage is the CFP.
“So this one, I need to know more about the idea of an NCAA championship takeover.”
The idea of handing control of national championships to the P4s is particularly worrisome to the rest of Division I, because access to those championships, and the millions of dollars in revenue that comes with them, are often the lifeblood of their programs.
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, said the question of who runs the tournament isn’t so much a concern as how to do it.
“If there are things resulting from realignment, from a settlement in the House, from a change in the governance structure that are needs that we need to consider when the membership meets, including (Self-Regulation 4), but including others, then we should be open-minded about how we evolve that,” he said. “And if it’s the structure of the committees, if it’s the format of the championships, if it’s a distribution of revenue around some of the things that they’re going to make decisions on, then I think we should be open-minded about that.”
On expanding the basketball tournament, Gavitt said discussions are underway with three possible outcomes: adding four teams to the current field of 68 teams, adding eight teams or no expansion.
“I would say it’s not a foregone conclusion that the championships will expand,” Gavitt said.
Complications remain, including increased costs if more teams are added to the group. Gavitt declined to set a timetable for a decision, but acknowledged it would be helpful to have about a year to implement the changes. The NCAA should expand the women’s basketball tournament regardless of how many times the men’s tournament expands.
As for a new NCAA governance structure, it should be in place well before a ball is kicked or knocked down for the 2025-2026 sports seasons.
Baylor President Linda Livingstone, whose school is part of the Big 12, said Tuesday that with investment in Power 4 schools soaring, another iteration of autonomy is likely due. This doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a great Division I or a Power 4 breakaway.
“I think we have a really good opportunity now where everyone knows we have to rethink this decision-making model, this governance model in Division I,” she said. “And now the hard work of rolling up our sleeves is determining what is in the best interest of the Home Rule Conferences, but also other institutions outside of the Home Rule Conferences. »
WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson is concerned about P4 conferences trying to take over the NCAA tournaments, sharing a statement with other leagues.
“Opportunities should not be commandeered by a few to dilute the most equitable benefit for all.”
Jackson is on the D1 MBB committee. pic.twitter.com/P2C55nPjYz
– Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) January 24, 2025
(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
