Will SEC, Big Ten greed ruin college sports as we know it?

March Madness tips off next week, bringing with it America’s unique burst of spring excitement … as well as piles of money.

Its basic structure is simple:

* Teams earn their way into the bracket either by winning the automatic bid of their conference (each conference gets one) or an at-large invite extended by a selection committee.

* Teams earn their seed in the field via the opinion of the same selection committee.

* Each team in the field earns one “share” of revenue for their conference, which is then divided up as the conference sees fit. Every time they win and advance to the next round, they earn another share. (This is slightly more complicated because the shares are spread out over multiple years, but it’s essentially the same thing).

It works. Opportunities, advantages and revenue are all earned. The tourney isn’t just a popular television draw, it’s a cultural phenomenon. The big schools generally win in the end but everyone has a chance to win — on the floor and at the bank.

It’s seemingly the exact opposite of how negotiations over the future of the College Football Playoff are going. Based on a series of recent proposals the Big Ten and SEC appear interested in guaranteeing rather than earning and codifying advantages, not simply winning them.

They appear focused on vacuuming up every last crumb of money they can rather than consider what is best for the whole of the sport, including into the future.

What will the College Football Playoff look like in the future? (David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

College football has no central authority — the NCAA does not run the postseason, including the future 12 (or more) editions of the playoff. So the Big Ten and SEC are free to try to strong-arm their way to the best deals that they see fit.

As such, they’ve proposed in recent…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/will-sec-big-ten-greed-ruin-college-sports-as-we-know-it-202735432.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-03-12 20:27:35

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