Saving College Athletics... reorganize structure

There is an old saying…

Change only occurs when the pain to stay the same exceeds the pain to change.

This series takes a deep dive into what the College Sports Commission needs to make happen in college athletics to remain a viable fabric in our society.

In part two of our series, we are going to examine the current NCAA structure and the steps needed to make it more manageable.

Structure…

The NCAA has structured athletics into levels of participation. The focus will be on the top tier, called Division I (D-1). D-1 has seen unmanageable growth over the last twenty-five years. Today, D-I has a membership of 133 schools (and growing). Way too many. Many schools have membership but lack the resources and commitment to be athletically competitive.

Why would a school desire D-1 membership? Money. More on that later.

Here’s our first step in taking back control of D-1.

STEP ONE: Reduce D-1 membership to 80 schools, organized into four (4) conferences with ten schools each.

STEP TWO: Eliminate the current Power Four conferences. This is the first gigantic hurdle for the CSC. Politics must be defeated to make it happen.

The four new conferences will be named Coastal, Midwest, Central and West.

STEP THREE: Back to the future

Taking college athletics away from its geographic roots was a mistake. Give the game back to the fans. Organize the new conferences by geographic proximity, even if threatens the current power structure.

In Part 3 of “Saving College Athletics,” we will present a “mock-up” of the first of four new conferences and their membership.

GO CANES!