This SEC-Big Ten Thing Should Have Arkansas Paying Attention
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — He probably didn't consider being in this position, but the bottom guy in a dog pile is where Hunter Yurachek is these days. Yurachek (or any other athletics director) didn't see all this stuff coming in 2017, or he might have picked a different path.
The press releases from the SEC and Big Ten were pretty straightforward with nothing definitive, but probably should send off alarm bells ringing at every school not in one of the big boy conferences. This has all the outward appearances of how complete insurrections begin.
The NCAA's days as it's always been known are numbered and that total is going down each day. The prediction from this corner for years is they are going to be reduced to the party planner for some conference tournaments. They won't need that high-priced, mega-millions in staff and attorney fees. The schools they will be making rules for and watching don't have the money to do much wrong.
Nothing is official. This is simply an "advisory" thing, but you can usually follow the money and get most answers. It's a prelude to war. The NCAA is about out of rules to enforce and things they can control and the "challenges" they present to colleges.
"These challenges, including but not limited to recent court decisions, pending litigation, a patchwork of state laws, and complex governance proposals, compel the two conferences to take a leadership role in developing solutions for a sustainable future of college sports," the SEC said in a joint release with the Big Ten.
That's really the polite way of saying they are going to be driving the bus, not hanging on the back door trying to find a way inside. Exactly what the Big 12 and ACC do is see even more teams bolting out the door. The pieces are moving constantly.
"The Big Ten and the SEC have substantial investment in the NCAA and there is no question that the voices of our two conferences are integral to governance and other reform efforts," said Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. "We recognize the similarity in our circumstances, as well as the urgency to address the common challenges we face."
"There are similar cultural and social impacts on our student-athletes, our institutions, and our communities because of the new collegiate athletics environment," said SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. "We do not have predetermined answers to the myriad questions facing us. We do not expect to agree on everything but enhancing interaction between our conferences will help to focus efforts on common sense solutions."
All of those statements are very politically correct. For a Razorbacks' athletic program reportedly struggling to keep up, this could at least show what they've got to be able to do. Right now it's a moving target that fluctuates almost daily. No wonder Yurachek probably has a hard time watching a game while looking at his phone all the time just trying to keep up.
The guidelines are there to pay players. You're going to see more corporate dollars required and now there are rumors about private equity investment firms. That whole goal is to take over struggling businesses that are poorly managed and turn the balance sheets around. A lot of college athletics these days fit that mold.
A lot of Razorbacks' fans want the teams and everyone involved to love the Hogs as much as they do. That's another diminishing number every single day. Now it's about money and everything is being treated as a regular business, where in a lot of places, feelings and welfare of people is ignored unless they need a marketing point.
You may not want to believe it, but that's the way it is these days. Just like coaches were hit with an atomic bomb in 2020 with a pandemic, the effects from that have rippled out, combined with a lot of other issues and now it's out of control. This is somebody with the money, clout and influence to control change.
They also have the biggest number of TV viewers. If you want to know what really drives the money, it's not the fans or donors. It's the eyeballs looking at games.
HOG FEED:
REVELATION FROM CRAIG O'NEILL ANNOUNCEMENT SHOULD HAVE YURACHEK WORRIED
GEOGRAPHIC SUPREMACY LEADS TO DOMINANCE FOR ARKANSAS, LSU
RAZORBACKS LOSE ONE OF TOP SIGNEES DAYS BEFORE SIGNING PERIOD OVER
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