NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two of the most powerful people in college athletics shared a room here Thursday after an unprecedented joint meeting of their schools' athletic directors.
Seated at a nondescript table in front of a dozen members of the media, commissioners Greg Sankey of the SEC and Tony Petitti of the Big Ten spent nearly an hour fielding questions about the raucous gathering of their top leaders.
They couldn't have looked more alike – Sankey in his blue checkered sports jacket, white collar shirt and dress shoes; Petitti, in white Nike kicks, a sweater and black ankle socks.
Competing fashion styles aside, the similarities brought them to this place: the Grand Hyatt in the bustling capital of country music, where the administrators of the nation's most powerful and richest leagues gathered for a somewhat historic gathering.
While no decisions were made, all of the topics that were to be discussed at Thursday's seven-hour summit were discussed: the future format of the College Football Playoff; arrangements regarding the schedule of regular season football and basketball games between the two leagues; and a post-House of Representatives governance and enforcement entity.
During a nearly hour-long meeting with reporters in a second-floor conference room, the two men shared details of their conversations as their athletic directors ran from the main entrance into the lobby below.
Sankey and Petitti assured the country that no, their conferences have no plans to separate themselves from the rest of college athletics. Several sharply criticized outside proposals that would change the shape of college athletics. They will wait until after this year's inaugural Expanded CFP before making any real decisions about the playoff format, partnership schedule and postseason play.
But what isn't said here is perhaps more irritating than anything said.
Put simply: The SEC and Big Ten plan to reshape college athletics. They are now car drivers, machine operators, ship captains.
For the most part, they believe they control the future playoff format (not all 10 FBS leagues). They will oversee the implementation of a new law enforcement model under the upcoming (non-NCAA) revenue-sharing concept. They could also — most believe — change the way their schools participate in postseason play (bowl?).
Thursday's meeting, although it did not lead to any actual decisions, is a clear first step towards finally making them. This is a leap towards change, a leap towards transformation in the most volatile era in the history of the industry.
Buckle up. The road is bumpy.
“Those who have the gold make the rules,” one Big 12 athletic director said.
These potentially annoying changes are just a point of discussion for now. Decisions take weeks, months, maybe even years.
What's clear, though, is what the end of this road will be: a guarantee of more playoff spots (perhaps some automatic league qualifiers), allowing them to play tougher regular seasons (probably against each other) and paving the way for: perhaps a conference an introductory tournament to the CFP at the end of the regular season. All of this generates more revenue for schools at a time when administrators are clamoring for cash in an era of athlete revenue sharing.
Many of these revenue-generating concepts are built into proposals to overhaul the college sports landscape that have recently been announced (College Sports Tomorrow) and unveiled (Project Rudy).
An offended Sankey sharply criticized the moment: “I don't think it's a coincidence that they have stepped up their public relations agenda in the wake of our meeting.”
Most, if not all, of the proposed concepts can be implemented by both leagues or power conferences as a whole, Petitti says: “I haven't seen anything in any plan yet that we couldn't do ourselves. Basically, it's about scheduling more good games and revamping the way you play them.
There is more to this path of change. Management of Division I will be divided, and power conferences will, more than ever, have exclusive power over their own rules and policymaking. They will select a third-party enforcement body and clearing house designed to achieve the settlement's main goal: eliminating the unwieldy supplemental compensation system.
What about bowling games? This remains uncertain. But as one leader recently told Yahoo Sports, “the days of schools losing money on bowl games are over.”
Buckle up and follow this bumpy road we're going down.
Petitti credits the “catalyst” for much of this change with the House agreement that would allow schools to directly distribute revenue to their athletes. This settlement will likely end as the final dividing line between the haves and have-nots and will no longer be the final straw for college athletics. The camel's back breaks.
“Change takes so many things,” Petitti said.
What he didn't say is clear: College athletics must evolve and operate more as a professional and business entity. That's because it is. If you pay players directly, you are a business.
“If you run a business,” says one high-level administrator, “you make business decisions.”
College sports have changed, are changing and will continue to change. While decisions were postponed, Thursday's meeting was another reminder: The SEC and Big Ten are in control of the changes ahead.
They drive a car on the bumpy road we call college sports. Will they finally break up together? Or will they take everyone with them? Will they end in compromise? Or one of the shared ones?
“It's a conversation starter,” Sankey said.
