A Jersey Guy: It's Time for CFB and CBB To Govern Themselves
It wasn't a concession speech, but it was close.
When NCAA President Mark Emmert suggested to the media that it was time for the organization to play a smaller role in the business of big time college athletics, his message couldn't have been clearer.
The NCAA no longer had the appetite for controlling the destiny of athletic programs generating billions of dollars of revenue.
Let the big boys govern themselves on the sticking issues such as IML, transfer portal and an expanded playoff system.
""For decades, 50 years or more, the tendency has been that anytime there's an issue or concern, it's moved up to a national rule,'' said Emmert. "Whether it was something advanced by a school or a conference, it was always kicked up to the national level.
|"m confident we need to reconsider delegation of a lot of things that are now done at the national level...it should only be at that level if its the only place it can get done, if that's the only place to make sense to have a rule developed and enforced.''
The direction Emmert was leading the NCAA is also clear, which is an organization that which will enforce and govern rules only regarding competition during NCAA sponsored events.
For the numerous critics of the system, who complain about the "quasi' amateurism which exists in college football and basketball, those must be words with a sweet tone.
Which begs another question: Who is going to bring together the vast interests in college football and basketball?
What is necessary is also obvious: We need a Commissioner of College Football and a Commissioner of College basketball, who will have the power, experience and knowledge to keep the conferences in check in a fair and equitable fashion.
Emmert said the time frame for this to happen is still in the future, but the mind set and atmosphere is to do it sooner rather than later.
Great idea. So here's a suggestion.
Have a group of football power brokers entice former Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany out of retirement for one last hurrah milestone to his career.
And do the same thing with outgoing Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski. for the basketball-istas.
Delany has the power and prestige to bring all 10 FBS conferences under one tent, with their own set of eligibility rules, which would also encompass the changes which are ongoing because of the new transfer portal regulations and the money that the players will be making by monetizing their image and license.
It would be an adult only organization, with profit being the primary motive, which would then generate educational opportunities for all schools.
If you want to talk about "student-athletes'' and graduation rates as primary recruiting topics, play at a smaller, lower level.
In basketball,Coach K, could do much the same thing with a sport which is closer to an NBA "B" league atmosphere.
Let's start with college football. Someone like Delany, who guided college football through its early BCS growing pains, would be perfect to oversee a sport as it moves towards a 12 team playoff system.
The biggest problem with FBS football is the different voices coming from each of the conferences, each with their own agendas.
Delany has the prestige to bring all the divergent voices together, sending one message, while not denying that the motivation factor was $$$$.
Basketball is a different subject.
College basketball has 358 Division 1 schools competing, all of whom are technically eligible to participate in the 68 team NCAA Division 1 men's basketball tournament.
The main issue in college basketball is not post-season play, but the transfer portal in which upper tier major teams can poach off lower tier teams without much consequence.
Coach K has not been shy about offering his opinion on various topics of his sport. Placing him in a leadership role for college basketball would merely make it official.
None of these changes will happen immediately-but moving towards compartmentalizing college big time college football and basketball is a step in the right direction..