Look for Division 4 to revolutionize college athletics

[admin]

This has been discussed for some time and seems more plausible with the recent troubles of the NCAA and the possible action against them regarding the O'Bannon lawsuit. It would be truly awful for the non-BCS leagues:

Get ready, then, for Division 4, where those BCS schools (Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, ACC, SEC) are going to set their own rules.

• Theoretically they not only will be able to pay players, but pay them as much as they want -- $5,000, $10,000 per year? Why not? In the new governance structure, there'd be no MAC schools to vote it down.

• Forget a four-team playoff. How soon could Division 4 officials institute an eight-teamer? As soon as they damn well please.

• Might as well forget "Division 4" as a formal label too. Couldn't the schools sell naming rights since the NCAA that now will only nominally oversee big-time football won't have much of a say?

Think of the new subdivision as the NFL -- Nike Football League – if the shoe giant wins the contract.

• There would be fewer chances for legal liability. Instead of the NCAA fighting the O'Bannon lawsuit, Division 4 could openly negotiate with video game manufacturers, use players likenesses, numbers, names and faces -- and distribute the revenue back to the players.

Once again, what could the NCAA do? Bowlsby's statements suggest the association has lost leverage.

• Division 4 could set its own scholarship limitations, make its own enforcement rules. Bowlsby specifically expressed frustration at NCAA enforcement which has not distinguished itself lately -- or at all. Think of Division 4 setting its own recruiting rules.

Fortunately, this was written about the NCAA tournament. Talk about David and Goliath.

Don't worry about the NCAA tournament. In this setting, the BCS schools would participate in it. The rub would come when Michigan plays a Miami (Ohio) that doesn't pay its players some kind of stipend. But what, really, would be the difference from now? Both sides already admit a competitive and recruiting disparity.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... -athletics

[sandw04]

The only leverage the NCAA might have would be to accept the "Division Four" members for all sports only. In other words, if they broke off for football, then they would also have to go their own way for basketball. If the Big 5 conferences were able to pull off breaking away, it would cause some fundamental changes for college sports. Maybe these changes wouldn't be so bad for smaller, non-conference schools. It would save a ton of money being spent to compete with the big guys.

[BillEsq]

The only leverage the NCAA might have would be to accept the "Division Four" members for all sports only. In other words, if they broke off for football, then they would also have to go their own way for basketball. If the Big 5 conferences were able to pull off breaking away, it would cause some fundamental changes for college sports. Maybe these changes wouldn't be so bad for smaller, non-conference schools. It would save a ton of money being spent to compete with the big guys.

I mentioned this before in some other post. The problem for other schools is they will lose so much more money. Some conferences make more money being punching bags for the big schools that it pays for the entire athletic department. If the split occurs any school left in the old division one will be hurting. No NCAA tournament revenue, No revenue from playing big schools, and lower revenues due to loss of relevance across the board.

All i can say is for those who think the era of expansion and conference realignment are over or in a lull your probably in for a shock. I just hope they don't destroy the good things about college sports while chasing the almighty $.

[shupirate98]

If the BCS schools want to break off I say good riddance. They want to create their own cash-grab division for football but will still deign to play us in the other sports and take money from the cash-cow NCAA Tournament? No way, let the NCAA slam the door in their face. Let them play only amongst themselves not just in football but in every sport. Good luck to the Pac-12 schools in trying to fill out a non-conference schedule when the nearest opponent is in Texas. Good luck trying to set up a championship tournament when you only have a total of 64 or so schools. Yeah, we'd miss playing North Carolina and Kansas and so on at first. But they'll miss us more than they'd ever imagine. There are more than enough non-BCS schools to create a very viable division with a very viable championship. I admit the first obvious reaction to seeing this possibility is that it's a disaster. But the more you look at it doesn't look so bad. A level playing field with like-minded institutions competing against one another, all having a legitimate opportunity to succeed. Isn't that what we like about the new Big East? Take that spirit nationwide. Honestly, why should Providence College be competing with the University of Texas? What exactly do those institutions have in common with one another?

[yorost]

No, your gut reaction was probably right, it would be a disaster for us.

[DudeAnon]

Man this would be catastrophic if they completely split from the NCAA. I say, let them run football how they want and keep the peace in everything else.

[BillEsq]

If the BCS schools want to break off I say good riddance. They want to create their own cash-grab division for football but will still deign to play us in the other sports and take money from the cash-cow NCAA Tournament? No way, let the NCAA slam the door in their face. Let them play only amongst themselves not just in football but in every sport. Good luck to the Pac-12 schools in trying to fill out a non-conference schedule when the nearest opponent is in Texas. Good luck trying to set up a championship tournament when you only have a total of 64 or so schools. Yeah, we'd miss playing North Carolina and Kansas and so on at first. But they'll miss us more than they'd ever imagine. There are more than enough non-BCS schools to create a very viable division with a very viable championship. I admit the first obvious reaction to seeing this possibility is that it's a disaster. But the more you look at it doesn't look so bad. A level playing field with like-minded institutions competing against one another, all having a legitimate opportunity to succeed. Isn't that what we like about the new Big East? Take that spirit nationwide. Honestly, why should Providence College be competing with the University of Texas? What exactly do those institutions have in common with one another?

While in my heart i would love to say good riddance... the reality is that if the Big Schools split and the BE is regulated to Division 2 it would be a disaster. I don't think they would miss anyone at all. Lets face it I went to a Division 2 powerhouse for undergrad and as many know here i do follow them. However I doubt many on here know who won Div 2 last year and would be surprised if anyone even watched the final four games that made TV. IF the regulation occur and your school does not make the jump with the larger schools this will be your new reality.

Personally I think these kind of radical changes would be disastrous for college sports, and I'd hate to see it happen. However there is a lot of money on the table and no-one connected to any of the decision making parties have called me for my advise. At this point i've kinda just prepared myself for the inevitability that the make up of college sports in a few years will be drastically different from what i think it is now. Oh well.

[BEwannabe]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/22847993/life-to-the-bcs-look-for-division-4-to-revolutionize-college-athletics

the most revealing thing in this article is this,“Northern Iowa and Texas aren't much alike,” said the same Bob Bowlsby, who also spent eight years as AD at … Northern Iowa. In 8 words Bowlsby summarizes what I've been telling you, you can insert Georgetown thru Depaul in place of Northern Iowa and/or Ohio State etc in place of Texas and the storyline is the same. I'm not equating Georgetown to Northern Iowa or the NBE to the MAC, rather Northern Iowa and Georgetown aren't Texas or the likes of Texas.

Personally I think the Big Boys are getting ahead of themselves, similar to my thoughts about NBE. How are the Bigs going to run the balance of their athletic departments? Where will they compete for Championships in all sports? The Bigs nonrev sports are every bit as big of drain on their AD's as they are on small schools maybe even more so. How do these institutions move forward delivering the college experience for all of their athletes when 99% of them go pro in something other than athletics? Confusing time in college athletics.

[billyjack]

These football schools would end up bickering amongst themselves. Within 4 years of a split, they'd be chasing off Washington State and Wake Forest, then Texas Tech, etc... eventually, these brainless dinosaurs would construct a 10 team "superconference" that would once again eat itself somehow. All of us are so fortunate to be together in MAJOR METRO AREAS that love HOOPS. Let Kansas play Appalachain State and Troy in hoops ooc forever.

[billyjack]

EDITED: My previous post didn't come out the way I was hoping.

Let me summarize--> Georgetown should never, ever aspire to be Texas. It should be the exact opposite. Georgetown doesn't need Texas.