The Ongoing Transformation of College Football Governance

The landscape of college football is undergoing significant changes. Schools and conferences are in constant negotiations to increase revenue. A major factor behind the current shifts is conference realignment. High-profile programs like USC and UCLA found themselves trailing financially compared to their Big Ten and SEC counterparts. This has sparked discussions about expanding the College Football Playoff, with these conferences advocating for more teams and games.

Beyond these discussions lies a deeper question: the role of the NCAA and its current structure. In 2025, Tony Petitti, Big Ten Conference Commissioner, addressed these issues at the Big Ten Football Media Days held in Las Vegas. Some experts have proposed that the Power Four conferences should depart from the NCAA to create their own league with a distinct organization.

Prominent voices like Kirk Herbstreit have contributed to this debate. He discussed the potential for resolving issues like name, image, and likeness (NIL) through a collective bargaining agreement between conferences and players within a new entity.

I think the Power Four needs to break away, Herbstreit shared in a conversation with Front Office Sports. Create their own world, create their own governing body. Allow the Group of Four to create their own world. Allow them to have their own playoff. Much like FCS and Division II and III. Just create a new level, which would be the Power Four. Let’s create a new governing body, let’s put a commissioner. If we need to unionize the players, to allow them to create a CBA to avoid the antitrust laws, make the rules, come to an agreement like the NFL does on both sides.

There are also suggestions that the Big Ten and SEC, as two of the most successful conferences, should formulate their arrangement. Surprisingly, one Big 12 athletic director agrees. Jamie Pollard from Iowa State expressed his views publicly before a 2024 game against Baylor.

Let them break away. We should break away from them, Pollard mentioned to reporters through Brett McMurphy. Let them go, but they have to go in all their sports and see how fun it is to play baseball, softball and track when it’s just the 20 of you. That’s what I think we should do, but I’m one person & that’s probably a little more draconian.

Pollard also noted, If you’re going to do it, you don’t get to just do it in football and then keep all your other sports with us. No, take them all. See how fun it is.

These comments reflect the current tension between the leading superconferences and other Power Four members. While there is mutual benefit across the conferences, there are significant disagreements on revenue distribution strategies. Greg Sankey, SEC commissioner, also engages in these discussions throughout SEC Media Days.

Though it may seem improbable for the Big Ten and SEC to fully detach, the possibility of the Power Four separating from the NCAA is increasingly plausible. With each entity seeking a more substantial financial share, change appears inevitable.