SEC Ponders Potential Big Five Move

[60Shock]

No matter which way the NCAA decides to go, this is not going to end well for us.

"The Southeastern Conference sent a strong message to the NCAA: provide the Big Five some autonomy or they'll form their own division.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said if the Big Five conferences - which also include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big 12, Big Ten, and the Pac 12 - don't get the flexibility needed to create their own bylasws, the next step would be to make a move."

[Shocker1976]

I think the BCS Football boys are going to receive the autonomy they seek; while I also think this will impact the Shockers I am unsure of just how impactful this will be.

[DUShock]

I fear our alma mater is few short years from total irrelevance due to decisions made decades ago. I am not arguing the merit of the decision nor do I care to discuss it.

[DUShock]

I think the BCS Football boys are going to receive the autonomy they seek; while I also think this will impact the Shockers I am unsure of just how impactful this will be.

I hope you are correct and that it is a minimal impact. Sorry for stating/affirming the obvious.

[WSUwatcher]

This will have far more impact on football than it does on other sports. Schools like WSU who take basketball seriously can afford the extra costs for athletes when you're talking about 13 scholarships, so they won't become non-competitive in basketball recruiting. Where they can't afford to pay the big bucks is in a sport with 85 scholarships. Boise State will be affected far more than WSU is.

[wu_shizzle]

As watcher said, I'd be more concerned if we played non BCS football.

We may be better off and better prepared.

[Veritas]

Talk continues regarding expansion of B1G and PAC 12 which would cherry pick Big XII teams including UT, OU, KU, and a few others leaving KSU, ISU, TCU, Baylor and possibly OSU on the outside.
Shox gotta continue to invest in Basketball.
Go Shox!

[DwShock]

All of this greed is one of the reasons I no longer care for college football.

[mattdalt]

Talk continues regarding expansion of B1G and PAC 12 which would cherry pick Big XII teams including UT, OU, KU, and a few others leaving KSU, ISU, TCU, Baylor and possibly OSU on the outside.
Shox gotta continue to invest in Basketball.
Go Shox!

I disagree with your list. If you don't compete in football, nothing else matters to this BCS group. So maybe UT, OU, TCU, Baylor and OSU, EVERYONE else will be crapping the bed. With the most recent reshuffling, KU found out real quick, no one cares about their basketball when the BCS football schools are talking.

[Aargh]

Oh, goody, we'll be able to watch minor league football on Saturdays and major league football on Sundays.

I think the NCAA will "make a deal" to give up control of Big 5 FB and retain control of basketball. The NCAA is funded by basketball and the football schools pretty much already take the huge majority of money generated by football.

The NCAA doesn't lose much by giving up control of football, but if they lose the Big 5 in basketball, the NCAA's cash flow is severely impacted. I don't think either side wants the court fights that could drag out for decades, so I think there will be a compromise to avoid that. The compromise will be to let BCS FB go its' separate way, but the NCAA keeps control of basketball and the current structure in place.

[WSUwatcher]

I think that's a very plausible scenario, Aargh. The big money event for the NCAA is definitely the basketball tournament, so they'll want to keep that. Football is already largely out of their control from a revenue standpoint.

[Veritas]

I disagree with your list. If you don't compete in football, nothing else matters to this BCS group. So maybe UT, OU, TCU, Baylor and OSU, EVERYONE else will be crapping the bed. With the most recent reshuffling, KU found out real quick, no one cares about their basketball when the BCS football schools are talking.

If the B1G had to choose between KU, OSU, Baylor, or TCU, I think it's a slam dunk with KU.
OSU will always be second fiddle in OK, B1G doesn't want Texas schools.
The rest can go to to the PAC 12. The odd Big XII schools with heavily invested football programs that don't get cherry picked by B1G and PAC XII could be in a situation.

[moshock]

I think the P5 will ask for and receive permission to pay their athletes including their MBB program and the smaller conferences won't be allowed to do the same. That will be a problem.

[ShockTalk]

I think the P5 will ask for and receive permission to pay their athletes including their MBB program and the smaller conferences won't be allowed to do the same. That will be a problem.

So, what's the chance that if the B5 get to pay their football and basketball "students" that other schools/conferences that wish to do the same can. I don't see the Big East, MWC, and AAC standing for anything else.

It could lead to re-alignment where some basketball schools from the MVC, A-10, Horizon, WCC, and a few others form a "basketball only" conference and leave their other sports where they are. Non-paying schools will not want to play against paying schools within the same conference. Any chance?

[The Mad Hatter]

So, what's the chance that if the B5 get to pay their football and basketball "students" that other schools/conferences that wish to do the same can. I don't see the Big East, MWC, and AAC standing for anything else.

It could lead to re-alignment where some basketball schools from the MVC, A-10, Horizon, WCC, and a few others form a "basketball only" conference and leave their other sports where they are. Non-paying schools will not want to play against paying schools within the same conference. Any chance?

The articles I've seen certainly seem to indicate a desire to let any school that wants to "run with the big dogs" the opportunity to do so (it certainly doesn't hurt the Big 5 to let others in on their game since they still have a competitive edge and excluding them hurts their ability to build consensus in the NCAA), but what that would look like is hard to say. Will they really be able to get the rules shaped so that particular schools get to follow some rules even if the rest of their conference doesn't? Would it require the aforementioned conference realignment? If the latter, it could actually work in WSU's favor to create conditions more favorable to WSU finding a conference realignment home. Or it could be a disaster for WSU and similar schools. I honestly have a hard time saying, but it will be interesting to watch.