WHAT IF… a new college association emerges?

September 23, 2026 -

In part one of this series, we examined the real possibility of a large contingent of NCAA schools forced to breakaway from the association to form a new association in order to compete at the highest level of college athletics.

Today, we will breakdown who those schools might be and a potential structure for this new association.

For the purpose of discussion, let’s call this association the United States Collegiate Association or USCA.

The USCA could consist of 48-52 schools from the current NCAA Division I ranks. The breakaway would be led by schools in the current Atlantic Coast, Big-12, American Athletic, PAC-12 and Mountain West conferences plus selected schools. The USCA would also invite current NCAA independents Notre Dame and Connecticut (UConn). While Notre Dame may elect to remain independent in the NCAA, we chose to include them in USCA with a special financial incentive ($100M).

The USCA could be organized into four regional divisions of 12-13 schools each.

Here’s our take on a potential USCA structure.

SOUTH DIVISION:

Miami

FSU

Central Florida (UCF)

South Florida (USF)

Clemson

Georgia Tech

North Carolina

Duke

North Carolina State

Wake Forest

Virginia Tech

Virginia

Tulane

NORTH DIVISION:

Notre Dame

UConn

Syracuse

Boston College

Army

Navy

Pittsburgh

West Virginia

Louisville

Cincinnati

Memphis

James Madison

Liberty

CENTRAL DIVISION:

Colorado

Air Force

Utah

BYU

Boise State

North Dakota State

Wyoming

Kansas

Kansas State

Iowa State

Oklahoma State

New Mexico

UNLV

WEST DIVISION:

Houston

UTSA

SMU

TCU

Baylor

Texas Tech

Arizona State

Arizona

San Diego State

Stanford

California (Cal)

Oregon State

Washington State

Schedule: Each school would play a 12-game regular season division schedule. The top two teams in each division would participate in a national championship tournament over the holiday season.

Bowls: The USCA would use six traditional bowls plus a championship game at a select location.

TV Markets: The USCA would have presence in twelve major U.S. TV markets including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas-Worth, Phoenix, San Francisco Bay, Boston,, Miami, Raleigh-Durham, Pittsburgh, Louisville, and New Orleans.

Football Brands: The USCA would feature major football brands, including Notre Dame, Miami, FSU, Clemson, North Carolina , Virginia Tech, and Texas Tech.

Basketball Brands: The USCA would feature basketball brands, including Duke, UConn, North Carolina, Kansas, Virginia, Louisville, Houston, Arizona.

Centralization: All USCA operations will be centralized at a single headquarters to reduce operating costs and internal; competition.

Revenue Distribution:

> 60% of all media rights revenue would be split evenly between all schools.

> 20% of all revenue would be allocated to the championship tournament participants based on tournament performance.

> The final 20% of media rights revenue would be allocated to cover association operating costs.

BOTTOM LINE:

1. Championships earned on the field of play.

2. College athletics returned to the fans through regionalization.

3. No more secret selection committee.

4. No more biased polls influencing tournament selection.

5. No more network influence in the selection process.

6. Peace and stability for college athletics.

GO CANES!