Big 12 commissioner suggests new 'federation' within NCAA

George Schroeder | USA TODAY Sports

Secession from the NCAA isn't on the way – but a so-called "super division" might be.

Suggesting a special convention might need to be called to achieve "transformational change" in the NCAA, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby suggested Monday it's time to consider a new "federation" of schools with like resources – and perhaps separation by sport.

"It's probably unrealistic to think that we can manage football and field hockey by the same set of rules," Bowlsby said. "I think some kind of reconfiguration of how we govern is in order."

His remarks, made Monday morning during an annual state of the Big 12 address, followed strong comments last week from SEC commissioner Mike Slive, who said of the NCAA: "Moving forward, there are important questions that must be answered." Also Monday, ACC commissioner John Swofford told USA TODAY Sports significant structural and governance changes could come in January. Swofford suggested a separate division for the five power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC).

Bowlsby went further than Slive did last week. But Bowlsby said commissioners of the five power conferences have "unanimity" on the subject, and said, "I don't think anything I said was inconsistent with what (Slive) said."

"When I think about John Swofford and (Pac-12 commissioner) Larry Scott and beyond that as well, I think we all have a sense that transformative change is going to have to happen," Bowlsby added. "This is not a time when trimming around the edges is going to make very much difference."

The gap in resources within college athletics has never been greater, and it's growing. An analysis by USA TODAY shows the average SEC public school's operational expenses in 2011-12 were $88.5 million, according to the most recently available information reported by the schools to the NCAA. The average Mountain West school spent $41.3 million. The divide is expected to grow dramatically with the advent of the College Football Playoff.

"Northern Iowa and Texas aren't much alike," said Bowlsby, formerly the athletic director at Northern Iowa, Iowa and Stanford before moving to the Big 12 a year ago.

Bowlsby said he did not see a complete separation from the NCAA as a viable option, but said the threat of secession must be retained as leverage "as a last resort."

"I really think that leadership and the rank and file believe that there's a solution within the NCAA, and it's been along those lines that we've had the conversations," he said. "Could that change to something that's a little more harsh down the road? Possibly could, sure."

The problem, as Bowlsby and his peers see it, is two-pronged. Initiatives proposed by larger schools – the easiest example, he noted, is the idea of a stipend, or full cost-of-attendance scholarships – have no chance of passing because schools with fewer resources vote them down.

"It's virtually impossible right now to configure legislative proposals that have any chance of getting through the system intact that would accomplish anything in the way of meaningful change," Bowlsby said. "I think all of us are feeling that."

At the same time, the NCAA's governance structure, with its emphasis on presidential control, is seen as out of touch. The people who work daily in college athletics "feel like they're on the outside looking in," Bowlsby said. Bowlsby said he wasn't directing criticism specifically at NCAA president Mark Emmert, but said "we need to reconfigure the leadership of the organization," with athletic directors and commissioners as voting members of the NCAA's board of directors, which is currently populated by presidents.

"We need to reengage the practitioners," Bowlsby said. "The athletic directors, commissioners, people that work in athletics every day. I think it's unrealistic to think that people that spend hours a month on athletics can come up with the right agenda and have the time to move it through the system."

George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.