A Case for INDEPENDENCE
November 2, 2026 -
by TexCane
Miami president Joe Echevarria stirred the pot last week when he declared Miami would seriously consider going independent if the Protect College Sports Act is passed into law.
It’s hard to imagine going back to independence after we fought so hard to get membership in the Big East and the ACC. But college athletics has dramatically change over the last decade.
Ok, the team here at CaneReports, sat down and discussed the case for independence.
Why should Miami go independent? Here are a few reasons it could/should happen.
MONEY:
ACC member schools have been fighting a massive revenue gap with the SEC and Big Ten conference for almost a decade. and it’s getting worse every year despite every effort to reduce that gap. The financial gap makes it harder or impossible for ACC schools to remain competitive on the fields/courts, in the transfer portal, NIL and facility improvements.
COMPETE FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Miami has clear continuity of leadership from the top to the bottom of the university. Even the university president Joe Echevarria is taking an active role in keeping Miami positioned to compete with the best in college athletics. He has publicly said Congress should defeat PCSA. Miami’s alumni and fans have built a huge NIL fund raising arm. But the financial gap with the “Super Two.”
INVENTORY:
There is a clear case for Miami to go independent, but only if there are other big brands go also.
Why? Scheduling.
Notre Dame has struggled to get schools to play them. It would take at least eight strong brands as independents to make enough attractive inventory of games.
Not only for football but all the Olympic sports each university sponsors. If Miami, Clemson, FSU and North Carolina go independent. joining Notre Dame and UConn, that would give each independent school five strong brands to schedule in both football and basketball, Still not enough strong and attractive games for a twelve game schedule in football but a good start.
Who else might join the independence movement? There are two schools who’s relationship with their current conferences are shaky at best, LSU and Texas Tech. Add LSU and Texas Tech to the list of renegade independents. That’s eight strong and financially viable schools.
There could also be other schools that would consider independence. Penn State was once an independent. Are the Nittany Lions ready to come out from under the shadow of Ohio State and Michigan? Same goes for USC and UCLA. The possibilities are there.
Now we are talking availability of eight to ten strong programs that can improve strength of schedule for playoff consideration and a drive lucrative media deals. It would give a network the ability to secure programming assets based on individual value.
Which NETWORK(s)?
A network offering both broadcast and streaming distribution could put together a very strong calendar of games. It would be unique because each school would negotiate independently with a single network. There are two that come to mind, FOX and NBC.
For example, let’s say NBC with its national flagship network of broadcast stations and its Peacock streaming services could make a big splash into college athletics. They already have a media rights agreement with Notre Dame. Sign the other seven school and that would give them a deep and strong inventory of schools. FOX is reportedly not happy with its current deal. Either or both could strengthen its position. And those foundational schools would drive and control the financial futures of their athletic departments.
Notre Dame
Miami
LSU
FSU
Clemson
UNC
Texas Tech
UConn
It would be a foundation of what appears to be a conference, but is not. They bring a long history of national championships and currently very strong programs in either or football or basketball.
BASKETBALL?
For basketball, enter into a scheduling agreement with the Big East. Now you have monster basketball inventory at your disposal. A network could build close to a year around inventory of college sports for a society of hungry athletic fans.
BOTTOM LINE:
With a strong inventory of national brands, a network could quickly rise to the top and foundational schools could finally control their financial futures. They stop eating small slices of pie and start eating turkey.
There’s the case for independence. And Joe is leading the way.
GO CANES!
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