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Could SEC, Big Ten leave NCAA? Here are 4 more realistic outcomes of new alliance | Toppmeyer
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- Could SEC, Big Ten leave NCAA? Here are 4 more realistic outcomes of new alliance | Toppmeyer
This alliance isn't capitalized, but it wields the influence to create change.
Last week, the SEC and Big Ten announced that university officials from those two conferences will form an advisory group to chart a future for college sports. These "Power 2" conferences are locking arms after the NCAA pleaded – unsuccessfully – for federal help to navigate NIL. Antitrust lawsuits mount against college sports' governing body.
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College sports has reached an inflection point.
This isn't the first interconference buddy group we've seen. Remember the Alliance – with a capital 'A' – that featured the ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12? Their pact became a farce, as evidenced by the Big Ten pillaging the Pac-12's cupboard.
It's debatable whether this alliance will achieve substantial evolution for college sports, but one thing is evident: The SEC and Big Ten, as super-conferences that collect the biggest media-rights profits and house some of college sports' most powerful brands, are not like other Division I conferences, and they intend to flex that muscle.
What could this SEC/Big Ten union produce? A full-on secession from the NCAA? Probably not. Here are a few likelier possibilities:
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1. Leverage to lean on the College Football Playoff
When negotiations were ongoing about whether to expand the four-team playoff, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey floated an idea: Maybe, the SEC would stage its own football playoff .
I don't think Sankey got close to embracing that idea, but levying the threat gave him leverage to negotiate for an expanded playoff that met his approval. That's a 12-team format with half the bids earmarked for at-large qualifiers. The more at-large qualifiers, the better for the SEC and Big Ten.
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This existing playoff contract is in place through the 2025 season. The playoff's future after that remains uncertain. With the Pac-12 becoming the Pac-2, Sankey wants to reduce the number of automatic bids from six to five and increase the number of at-large bids from six to seven. That modification failed to gain the required unanimous approval.
If the SEC and Big Ten work in lockstep and threaten to pull out of the playoff if they don't get their way, they could secure a playoff format and a revenue distribution model for the 2026 season and beyond that meets their liking.
2. What about a new SEC/B1G football playoff?
Could the SEC and Big Ten break away and stage their own playoff? Sankey sounds open to possibilities.
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"We want to see this get right," Sankey recently told Yahoo Sports , when asked about his commitment to the CFP after the 2025 season.
I don't think a playoff exclusive to the "Power 2" is imminent, though. The SEC, in particular, relishes boasting its superiority, but where's the enjoyment in that if you no longer compete with your subjugates? I suspect the "Power 2" would prefer to continue in a playoff in which some other conferences have at least nominal access, but where most of the bids and a high percentage of the revenue flow to the "Power 2."
Other conferences would be more likely to cave to SEC/Big Ten revenue and formatting demands if they believe the idea of those leagues breaking away is plausible.
3. Tackling big issues, like NIL, collective bargaining
The CFP is a shiny object – understandably so. Its future shape matters to fans. As I mentioned, though, I think a full-fledged SEC/B1G breakaway from the NCAA and the CFP is not a top priority for the "Power 2."
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So, what else could this "Power 2" alliance get up to?
Creating and enforcing NIL guardrails and managing athlete transfer free agency remains a lingering headache for the NCAA. For years, the NCAA sought – but didn't obtain – congressional relief in the form of federal NIL legislation or antitrust exemption.
To put it simply, the NCAA failed. Repeatedly.
In the absence of federal protection, the NCAA is repeatedly getting sued. Recently, the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia sued the NCAA in an ongoing antitrust case that alleges the NCAA's meager NIL guidelines run afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
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Maybe, Big Ten and SEC leaders will decide they're done waiting on the NCAA or Congress to find a solution that may never come, and they'll concoct one of their own.
Collective bargaining and sharing revenues with athletes are the elephant in the room that, to this point, no one has wanted to approach. A collective bargaining agreement could be the magic bullet that quiets the issues of NIL, transfers and antitrust lawsuits.
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The "Power 2" could become leaders in spurring collective bargaining talks while hammering out lawful NIL and transfer guidelines that avoid a barrage of antitrust lawsuits.
4. Or ... the SEC, Big Ten do nothing
Interconference alliances generate attention and spark conversation that "big change" is coming. That doesn't always occur. Exhibit A: The Alliance. What a flop.
Sankey previously co-chaired the NCAA Division I transformation committee. That committee led an NCAA modernization effort, produced a 48-page report that ranged in topic from athletes' physical and mental well-being to NCAA championships experience, and spearheaded some evolution. That transformation committee didn't touch the key issues of NIL, collective bargaining or revenue sharing.
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Perhaps, this "Power 2" union offers a renewed swing on those fronts. Or, maybe not.
Will this SEC/B1G group tackle big-ticket issues and put these "Power 2" conferences on a path to revenue sharing and collective bargaining to stem the barrage of antitrust lawsuits, or will they waste time with minor maneuvers that don't address the key issues facing college sports?
That's my prevailing question.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer .
If you enjoy Blake's coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered , or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfilter ed newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Could SEC, Big Ten leave NCAA? Here are 4 realistic outcomes of alliance
