ND AD has a vision of two college athletic associations

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I'm not sure if you've had a chance to read this but it has some interesting thoughts about how the NCAA might end up splitting into two divisions--but not according to P5/G5.

“Forget the economics, the cultural divide in college athletics is getting too big,” Swarbrick said. “Any business association requires commonality of interests to hold together.



“The Oregon and Stanford economic models are similar. Their approach to sports couldn't be more different.”



Oregon is a public land-grant university with a mission to provide a practical education accessible to all. Stanford is a private research institution with a mission is to offer an elite broad-based education.



They both play in the Pac-12. In Swarbrick's future vision, they would be affiliated with different governing bodies.



There would be schools banding together because they adhere to a traditional collegiate model. For example, the Ivy League doesn't offer athletic scholarships or participate in the FCS playoff. Still, it is in Division I.



“It's a decision the Ivy League made a long time ago,” Swarbrick said. “Other schools will say, ‘Hey, we're comfortable with sort of semi-pro model.' That's a perfectly valid choice. But for some of us that's not a choice we're prepared to make and we won't.”



Swarbrick knows his stuff. If all this seems to be a trend toward an Olympic model, there's a reason. There was a time when the USOC held on to a pure amateur model. Now, no one cares if that dainty figure skater has a six-figure endorsement contract with a major airline.



...



“Most athletic budgets are somewhere around the 3-8 percent range” of the total university budget, according to Swarbrick. “The Stanfords of the world are not going to allow that 4 percent business unit [to] take them places they don't want to be.”



Think, then, of two college sports associations. One that includes the likes of Notre Dame, Duke, Stanford, Wake Forest, Cal, Northwestern and TCU. And another that includes most of the major-college land-grant schools.



...



Two associations would reflect differing academic approaches. Schools could conceivably still play each other -- as long as the public can digest a $20,000-a-year Isaiah Taylor from Texas bringing it up against Duke's Tyus Jones.

Very interesting. I actually like it. BYU could compete in the "collegiate model." Essentially the moderately large to big fish in a smaller pond. Kind of like a midmajor level of comp. Because of course the elite kids will want the money/payments. The Stanfords would lose some of their more elite talent and not necessarily dominate as might be anticipated.

Also interesting was the Dennis Dodd interpretation in the original link in which he takes a stab at predicting how the split to 2 divisions would shake out. He labeled them Federal Collegiate Athletic Association (FCAA) -- similar to the current NCAA -- and College Sports United (CSU) -- for semi-pros.



FCAA - 52 schools - Those who would remain under the current NCAA amateur model

- The Mid-American Conference (MAC)

- The Sun Belt Conference except for Louisiana-Lafayette

- Army, Notre Dame from Independent

- Vanderbilt from the SEC

- Northwestern from the Big 10

- TCU from the Big 12

- Cal and Stanford from the Pac 12

- Boston College, Virginia, Wake Forest from the ACC

- Conference USA except for La Tech, Marshall, UTEP, Western Kentucky

- Navy, SMU, Temple, Tulane, and Tulsa from the American

- Air Force, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, San Jose State, Wyoming from the MWC



CSU - Semi pro - 74 schools

- SEC conference minus Vanderbilt

- Big 10 minus Northwestern

- Big 12 minus TCU

- Pac 12 minus Cal and Stanford

- ACC minus Boston College, Virginia, Wake Forest

- BYU from independent

- Boise State, Colorado State, Nevada, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah State from the MWC

- Cincinnati, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, UConn, UCF, USF from the American

- La Tech, Marshall, UTEP, Western Kentucky from Conference USA

- Louisiana-Lafayette from Sun Belt



It would be interesting to see how conference memberships would shake out in this model too.

I wonder if the CSU Dodd is talking about would consider something that I've wondered about for a few years now.



What if the CSU approached the NFL and NBA to really make their teams semi-pro and their farm system.



For instance, NFL & NBA teams could bid to sponsor certain college programs. They could sponsor a maximum of three programs. Then from those teams, they would have a certain amount of input into the coaching staffs, so that these farm teams could run systems similar to what the pro teams run to help prepare players. Then each year, the NFL teams would get rights of first refusal for up to 8 players between their three sponsored teams and the NBA would get 5. Remaining players would enter the leagues through the regular draft system.



Imagine how much money Kentucky would bring in with NBA teams fighting to sponsor the Wildcats. How much would an NFL sponsorship of Florida St be worth?

I honestly do not see the BoT agreeing to allow BYU in a semi pro league.

They did with soccer

Two words Sunday Play, Does anyone think if the NFL gets more involved that this wont be an issue?

Screamineagle wrote:
Two words Sunday Play, Does anyone think if the NFL gets more involved that this wont be an issue?

I don't think that they would want college games interfering with their Sunday games, so no, I don't think it would.