What will the NCAA look like in five more years?

untjim1995 · June 4, 2014

With the SEC's recent rant about creating a Division IV within the NCAA or going with the nuclear option of separating from the NCAA, what does the NCAA look like for football in the next five years?

I suspect the Division IV will be a trial balloon to see if the AQs like what they see from the NCAA fiefdom. If they don't like what they get, they will leave. The NCAA cannot have them leave, if only because they will take the NCAA Tournament and College World Series with them, which covers a massive amount of the NCAAs budget. As if Texas, Alabama, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida, etc...didn't run this thing enough, now they are probably going to get their way with a tighter division with higher payouts for created bowls and playoffs.

As for North Texas, what would it mean to us? Will we see a huge drop in attendance or will it be about the same? Would you expect to see different conferences start up if the AQs pull away fully from the rest of us, just to keep costs more controlled? Very interested to see what the board thinks this will mean for us, since the smoke is getting pretty thick concerning this Division IV setup.

THOR · June 4, 2014

I really dont care what the f they do...

I have football...tailgating...beer...im happy

elig57 · June 5, 2014

To be really honest, if the SEC wants to secede from the NCAA so they can get all the money, and player, and whatever else they want, that's okay. I think they'd end up being more like a little tiny NFL because of the way they want to run things. But that's all right with me. They can just go have fun for all I care. As for North Texas, and probably the rest of whatever conference we end in, maybe CUSA, maybe something else, I don't think too much is going to change. I think Mean Green fans (at least the ones that aren't casuals) will still come watch football wherever they play, and maybe we'll get a little less coverage, but it's not like we're gonna be an Alabama or Florida State any time soon anyway.

wardly · June 5, 2014

It will look like high school . [6a,5a,4a,]. The big conferences will be 6a, the old 1aa programs will be 4a, and all other division 1 conferences, like CUSA, will be 5a. This is the normal progressive separation of haves and have nots. Since CUSA,AAC,MAC,MWC,Sun Belt have a little but not a lot they will survive but not at the highest level. It makes no sense for ULM to be in the same division as Texas.

GTWT · June 5, 2014

Our goal should be athletics at the highest level. Anything less reflects badly on the university. Sadly, most people perceive UT, TAMU, LSU, & OU as 1st class universities. When we play UT or TAMU some of that perception rubs off on us. If the mega-conference formally separate from the rest of the NCAA the perception among the ill-informed will be that UT is a real university & UNT is something less.

VideoEagle · June 5, 2014

Do you really think of MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cal Tech, Columbia, Georgetown or Johns Hopkins as 2nd class universities? And I've never heard anyone suggest Alabama or LSU as top schools in any academic field. In fact, when Mizzu and A&M joined the SEC, they DOUBLED the number of AAU schools in the conference.

UT's athletic budget dwarfs every other school in Texas including A&M. Most of the schools in what is now the P5 conferences have had huge advantages in all athletics since the 1930s. They are also the one's facing lawsuits over the student athletes being paid. The P5 schools are now facing a very different set of problems than the rest of the 300 plus Division 1 schools. Giving them more autonomy doesn't really change the advantages they already have and have had for 70 years and gives them a chance to fix the problems they have.

I really don't think the P5 wants to break away completely. Just look at the 16 teams left in the baseball playoffs and 7 of the 16 are NOT from the P5. The TV ratings for non P5 teams in the NCAA basketball playoffs shows a HUGE demand. Neither of those tournaments would be nearly as popular without everyone playing, at least according to the TV ratings.

Let the P5 schools have the flexibility to solve their own unique problems. Everything else will be roughly the same as it's been for a long, long time.

Edited June 5, 2014 by VideoEagle

untjim1995 · June 5, 2014

Do you really think of MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cal Tech, Columbia, Georgetown or Johns Hopkins as 2nd class universities? And I've never heard anyone suggest Alabama or LSU as top schools in any academic field. In fact, when Mizzu and A&M joined the SEC, they DOUBLED the number of AAU schools in the conference.

UT's athletic budget dwarfs every other school in Texas including A&M. Most of the schools in what is now the P5 conferences have had huge advantages in all athletics since the 1930s. They are also the one's facing lawsuits over the student athletes being paid. The P5 schools are now facing a very different set of problems than the rest of the 300 plus Division 1 schools. Giving them more autonomy doesn't really change the advantages they already have and have had for 70 years and gives them a chance to fix the problems they have.

I really don't think the P5 wants to break away completely. Just look at the 16 teams left in the baseball playoffs and 7 of the 16 are NOT from the P5. The TV ratings for non P5 teams in the NCAA basketball playoffs shows a HUGE demand. Neither of those tournaments would be nearly as popular without everyone playing, at least according to the TV ratings.

Let the P5 schools have the flexibility to solve their own unique problems. Everything else will be roughly the same as it's been for a long, long time.

I tend to agree with your post. Since football is what drives this bus, I think that the NCAA Tournament and College World Series are not really players in this equation for the P5. Are they for the NCAA? No doubt, which is why the NCAA will never let the P5 major players get probation that hurts the school for too long (see USC, Penn State, Miami, etc...) The NCAA knows it will basically go under if the majority of P5 powers leave their organization. The fans, media, and players want to be associated in any way possible with those P5 programs, especially the big name powers.

I think they will get the Division IV thing going very soon, possibly wihtin the next 2-3 years. Will it change anything for us or most of the G5 schools? Nope. If you're BYU or Boise State, its real bad news, but to us in CUSA, or the SBC, or the MAC, or the AAC, it won't change much.

GTWT · June 5, 2014

Do you really think of MIT, Harvard, Yale, Cal Tech, Columbia, Georgetown or Johns Hopkins as 2nd class universities?

Nope. I consider those to be excellent universities - among the best in North America. Most people though have only a vague notion of who Cal Tech & Johns Hopkins are, and if they know anything about Georgetown it's that Georgetown has fielded pretty good basketball teams in the past.

The only justification I see for the expense of fielding athletic teams is the increased recognition that athletics brings a university. Perception is reality & we don't want UNT perceived as second class.

I believe that North Texas can become a major player in athletics. If that won't happen - if our school is doomed to perpetual second-class status - then I feel we should seriously reconsider our committment to intercollegiate athletics. We're too big of a school - too good of a school - to be associated with second-rate programs.

CMJ · June 5, 2014

Just as a note -- my Caltech grad girlfriend would kill me if I didn't correct you guys on the correct abbreviation for the school.

It's one word.

http://www.caltech.edu/

greenminer · June 5, 2014

CIT

Ben Gooding · June 6, 2014

Vanderbilt, Florida, and Ole Miss are damn good academic institutions within the SEC. As far as this fiasco getting ready to take place I hope that North Texas commits to becoming elite rather than settling for mediocrity.