Canzano: Digesting the new college football proposal
Does it work? ...and other thoughts.
“College Sports Tomorrow” went public this week with a plan it thinks should replace the NCAA and College Football Playoff.
Per The Athletic:
The current CST outline would create a system that would have the top 70 programs — all members of the five former major conferences, plus Notre Dame and new ACC member SMU — as permanent members and encompass all 130-plus FBS universities.
The perpetual members would be in seven 10-team divisions, joined by an eighth division of teams that would be promoted from the second tier.
The 50-plus second-division teams would have the opportunity to compete their way into the upper division, creating a promotion system similar to the structure in European football leagues. The 70 permanent teams would never be in danger of moving down, while the second division would have the incentive of promotion and relegation.
Some thoughts…
• I’m intrigued by the concept. It solves some of the glaring problems facing college athletics and offers a measured, rational solution to the unsustainable mess forming in college athletics. Also, the relegation element incentivizes schools to invest in football or quit bellyaching. If you want to matter, you invest. If you don’t, you don’t.
• I’m skeptical that the SEC and Big Ten will embrace any changes to the system unless they’re squeezed into submission by the lawsuits lining up out there.
• The CST outline would bring Oregon State and Washington State back into the fold as top-tier members. It offers a hopeful solution for those schools. It also would separate football from other college sports, harness NIL, and embrace college football players as employees.
• The 20-person group that is driving the CST pitch includes Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud, West Virginia president Gordon Gee, and Brian Rolapp, a top executive in the NFL’s league office. According to The Athletic, the lead organizer is Len Perna, chairman and CEO of the search firm TurnkeyZRG.
• I need to know more about the potential involvement of private equity firms. I’ve spoken with a few firms that are currently on the sideline, salivating, stretching out, hydrating, and waiting for cash-strapped schools and conferences to wave them into action. Does anyone else have questions?
• Bob Thompson, the retired Fox Sports Networks president, offered on social media that he thinks 80 teams is “way too many.” Thompson suggested, “The top 48 moving up and out from the current model would generate as much TV revenue as the top 80 because the matchups would be consistently better.”
• The ACC took a meeting with the CST folks, per the report. The Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 did not, however, out of respect for their TV partners. You need no further proof that television is in charge of college athletics.
• It’s unlikely that anything will happen until the current TV deals expire. The Big Ten (2030) and SEC (2034) are contractually bound. So are the Big 12 (2031) and ACC (2036).
• It’s possible those deals could be unwound somehow, I guess. Or if Florida State and Clemson are successful in litigating their way out of the ACC, it could cause chaos. As one conference commissioner told me: “If the lawsuits prevail it hurts all leagues as it may make our bylaws moot.”
• I reached out to Washington State President Kirk Schulz on Thursday to ask what he made of the “College Sports Tomorrow” proposal. After all, it includes a home for WSU and Oregon State. Schulz told me he was still digesting it.
He told me: “We do need to have some of these conversations — and I am glad to see these ideas out in the open. Presently, if the Big 10 and SEC do not support something — not sure how it happens.”
Other stuff…
• FINAL FOUR PICKS: I like UConn to win the men’s Final Four. They’re just playing too well and look unstoppable. And I’ll take South Carolina to cut down the title nets in the women’s championship game.
That said, keep an eye on UConn women who are 2.5-point underdogs vs. Iowa in their women’s semifinal on Friday. That game should be a pick ‘em, shouldn’t it? I won’t be surprised if Geno Auriemma’s team pulls off the upset.
• BITE YOUR LIP: The Trail Blazers are having a terrible season. So bad that you can get into the April 12 Portland-Houston NBA game for only $3 on StubHub. That evening happens to be “Fan Appreciation Night” and the franchise is offering a giveaway to the first 10,000 fans who come through the Moda Center doors.
The prize: lip balm.
I’m told it’s “special-edition basketball” lip balm, and maybe it’s just what fans need after all the lip-biting this season. The Blazers are 20-56. I can safely say that the biggest wish of every die-hard Portland NBA fan is for Jody Allen to sell the team.
• UP-RISING: Great to hear that Cam Rising is healthy and under center for Utah again. Kyle Whittingham told KSL.com that Rising’s arm is coming back.
“When you have an injury like he had,” Whittingham said, “it affects your confidence in the ability to really step into your throw and rip through it. His arm strength is getting better, he’s shaken pretty much all the rust off.”
• MAILBAG: If you have a question for the weekly Monday Mailbag, drop it in the comment section below. Have fun with it. What’s on your mind? The best questions will be published in Monday’s installment.
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As recently as a year ago I'd have said I wouldn't like turning college football into a junior-NFL. Given what's happened since then, and what's likely to come, now I think it might be the best thing that could happen to the sport. Did some back-of-envelope pondering of how the seven 10-team divisions could be aligned, both to make geographic sense and preserve as many rivalries as possible (and even revive several that have gone dormant). I even restored some old conference names.
Big Ten: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota
Pac 10: Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State
SEC: Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky
ACC: Georgia Tech, Clemson, South Carolina, UNC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland
Big East: Miami, Florida State, West Virginia, Pitt, Penn State, Rutgers, Syracuse, Boston College, UCF, Notre Dame
SWC: Texas, Texas A&M, Houston, TCU, SMU, Baylor, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State
Big Eight+: Utah, BYU, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Louisville
Instead of lip balm, the Trailtankers should be handing out Preparation H for fan appreciation night to offer some relief from the way they've been screwing them the last several years.