THINK TANK.. paradigm shift? - pt. 2

By TexCane -

Aug. 14, 2026

Last week, I was talking to an old friend and fellow Miami alum. He said he was appreciative of our “WHAT IF” series regarding conference realignment scenarios. However, he didn’t believe any of them would solve the problems of college athletics.

OK, I asked why.

First, let’s call him Adam (not actual name.) In part one of this series, we heard about Adam’s views on the current NCAA and the paradigm shift needed for their survival. We heard about his plan to dissolve all the current conferences and replace them with twelve new regions with 132 total schools. He even gave us a hypothetical model of what it might look like.

In this edition, Adam will share his thoughts on eligibility, NIL, transfer portal, national playoffs, media rights and revenue distribution. That’s a mouth full!

Let’s get started.

Eligibility:

When speaking to Adam, he expressed pleasure with the recent move by the NCAA to install the 5-years to play five seasons eligibility rule. He believes 17-18 year old young men should not be playing against 26-27 years olds.

OK, that was easy. Next!

Name-Image-Likeness: (NIL)

Adam doesn’t feel the current NIL model is financially heathy for college athletics. He feels college student-athletes should be compensated financially for their services. He believes they should be classified as employees of the university to which they serve. College is a transition from adolescence to adulthood. Our student-athletes need to learn the basics of life. How to balance a checkbook. How to pay the rent. Etc. For their work as athletes, they should be paid based on the market rate for their work. Compensation should include tuition, room & board, plus a fair market salary for the the position. Let the market set the compensation.

Transfer Portal:

Adam feels student-athletes should be able to seek employment wherever they desire. However, to transfer schools they must forfeit one year of eligibility with each transfer. Once they use up their five years of eligibility, they can no longer college college athletics.

National Playoffs:

Adam believes in winning championship on the field of play.

The twelve regional champions will be invited to participate in a national tournament to determine a national champion.

He also feels schools and their student-athletes should strive for excellence in whatever they do. Participating schools in the national tournament will all receive a base award for their conference championship plus the final four schools will receive an additional award for advancing to the semi and finals.

Media Rights:

You knew we would have to get to the money issue eventually.

Adam believes all media rights agreements should be centralized, managed and controlled by the parent association.

He also doesn’t believe in a single contractor model. Contracts should be on a bid basis for each regions and limited to no more than five years (staggered). He values revenue predictability.

Revenue Distribution:

All one hundred and thirty-two institutions will equally share 40% of all annual revenue earned.

The twelve regional champions (football and basketball) will be awarded an additional 1% of all annual revenue.

The Final Four schools in football and basketball will be awarded an additional 1% of all annual revenue earned.

The national champions in football and basketball would be award an additional 1% of all revenue generated annually.

The remaining 30% of revenue will fund a single headquarter operation.

BOTTOM LINE:

One hundred thirty-two schools in 12 regions, competing for championships on the field of play. Student-Athletes being compensated under a real-life competitive market model with freedom of movement but with guard rails. A financial model that rewards excellence.

No more biased polls. No more secret selection committees. No more undue media control of the business.

That was easy!

Thank you, Adam!

GO CANES!