Mike Farrell Sports

College Football Recruiting, Opinion, and Analysis

Super League Offers Logical Divisional Format Unlikely to Breach CFB’s Selfish Iron Curtain

College Sports Tomorrow has produced a plan that would solve college football’s crisis.

Pin
Inside NCAA Headquarters located in Indianapolis on Friday
Inside NCAA Headquarters located in Indianapolis on Friday

By Rock Westfall

College Sports Tomorrow has produced a plan that would solve college football’s crisis. The blueprint includes impressive solutions for realignment, NIL, transfers, and the calendar. But the plan faces long odds of being implemented because of entrenched interests.

Who is College Sports Tomorrow and TurnkeyZRG?

College Sports Tomorrow (CST) is comprised of pro sports owners and college administrators. Members include David Blitzer, owner of the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia 76ers; Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns; NFL executive Brian Rolapp; Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud; and TurnkeyZRG chairman and CEO Len Perna. TurnkeyZRG is a well-connected search firm that works exclusively in college sports.

As first reported in The Athletic, the CST blueprint addresses all of college football’s major problems. It would provide much-needed stability and increased media sponsorship. That plan would do much to centralize the sport with a unified front for TV packages and a form of graduated revenue sharing.

The CST blueprint also includes a fascinating plan of 80 teams (70 permanent) with eight divisions. Seven of the divisions would have members from former Power Five conferences, with an eighth division comprised of Group of Five programs that would face relegation and promotion. The divisions emphasize geography and seek to preserve or reignite historic rivalries wherever possible.

More Sports News

Back to the Future Divisional Format Offers Promise & Potential Debate  

The most fascinating study in the CST proposal is the divisional format. This configuration would go a long way toward bringing college football back to the past, and that is a good thing.

For example, the West Division would return to the former Pac-10 Conference format. That would certainly make more sense for travel, expenses, recruiting, fan proximity, and hassle than the current ludicrous format.

The fun begins in the Southwest Division, where, in essence, the old Southwest Conference would return. The SWC folded in 1996 because of its renegade outlaw ways. To see it restored would be sensational, especially for fans of those days of close and hated rivalries.

The proposed Plains Division is the ultimate hybrid with teams historically tied to the Big 12, Big Ten, Mountain West, and former Pac-12. Veteran fans would love the DNA of several schools tracing back to the old Big Eight Conference.

The proposed Midwest Division has an interesting twist, with Missouri being plucked from its current home in the SEC to play in a Big Ten-oriented set. Two other odd transfers in the Midwest would be Louisville and Cincinnati. But the rest of it is solid Big Ten DNA.

The day of reckoning for arrogant and independent Notre Dame would finally come in this proposal. The Fighting Irish would be placed in the Northeast with a diverse group of teams currently located in the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12.

The proposed Southeast and South Divisions would keep SEC traditionalists happy. The divisions are comprised of ACC and SEC programs. But a major point of contention could be South Carolina and Florida transferring from their current SEC zip codes into the ACC-oriented Southeast Division. On the flip side, they would be in a division with respective intrastate rivals Clemson and Florida State.

Rounding out the 80 teams, there is the Under League Division, a group of ten teams that would face relegation and promotion.

The best thing about the proposed Super League Divisions is the emphasis on geographic locales. The current stupidity of long-distance relationships of financial convenience would end. In particular, Cal, Stanford, and SMU joining the ACC, while UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington joining the Big Ten in 2024 is the ultimate example of a bridge too far regarding proximity, culture, and history.

While not perfect, the CST format offers an appealing old-school flair that helps take college football back to its roots. Perfection is impossible and should not be the enemy of something great. 

Rare is the Surrender of Power, Greed, and Riches

This space has continuously called for the end of college football’s current state of lawlessness and the insanity of its current calendar. The CST puts an end to all of it. And perhaps that is the problem. It would solve all major problems.

“Follow the money” is the adage that applies to the likely death of the CST proposal. You can also add the word “power” to that ancient wisdom.

There is no incentive for the Big Ten and SEC to surrender their present power, influence, and wealth held with an iron grip.

Currently, college football can have its cake and eat it too. The Big Ten and SEC get most of the money and College Football Playoff spots, and everyone else gets enough table scraps to serve as cannon fodder. Consider it the Major League Baseball model. And in MLB’s defense, it does seem to work, at least financially, though at the expense of at least half of its markets.

The CST format would be the rising tide that lifts all boats, which is why it will be sunk.

Like many politicians, college football would rather have issues than solutions.

Category: , Tag: , ,
Pin

You’ll Also Like