I wrote this idea down the day UCLA and USC made their announcement about the move to the Big 10. Now with a run of teams jumping conferences, I want to get this idea out there.
This new power shift in college football has a lot of people wondering what will college athletics look like in ten years’ time. Perhaps it is time to introduce a Super League. In many ways, the Super League would end the NCAA as we know it. However, it also could create a new structure that allows schools like Alabama, Ohio State, and Notre Dame to compete regularly with schools on their level, while simultaneously generating even more revenue. It would also allow lesser schools to rebalance and form conferences with schools on their level.
The fun part of this is imagining what the Super League would look like. Here is my proposed grouping for the Super League.
The Schedule
Every season the teams play the other teams in their division. The rest of their schedule is made up of playing two teams from each division. The nondivision games will be played as home and homes. So one year Bama goes to Ohio State the next year they flip.
The Playoffs
The playoffs will be made up of the top two teams from each division. They will be seeded 1-8 based on the record, and point differential. The point differential will be important because it will encourage teams to go for the throat throughout the year.
What About Men’s Basketball?
Now a tiny point of controversy. The Super League will stretch across all their sports including Men’s Basketball.
One of the hardest parts of the Super League will be the official end of March Madness as we know it. The teams in the Super League in theory will succeed from the NCAA creating their own rules and regulations. Ones that allow them to straight up pay their players and recruit differently. But more on that in a minute. The good news for hoops fans is that the only historic powerhouses leaving the Men’s Basketball sphere are UCLA and USC. Their name recognition is too strong to not join the super league. Plus we need someone for Michigan to play every year in Basketball.
I have thought of situations where the other sports stay in the NCAA, but the ways in which the Super League would change the rules would completely violate the NCAA on a moral basis.
Recruiting and Payment of Players More League Rules
In theory, the Super League is just straight up paying their players. No NIL bullshit. We are talking about sponsors and donors just giving each school a payroll and they sign who they want.
In an ideal Super League there is no transfer portal but instead trades. Imagine what Oklahoma would have had to give Alabama for Jalen Hurts. Imagine the trades for Arch Manning. I’m salivating as I type the words.
You would also be able to sign players from other schools who are not in the Super League. So let’s say Josh Allen is killing it at Wyoming and Oklahoma really wants him. Fine but in exchange for poaching Josh Allen Oklahoma will have to pay Wyoming for Josh Allen. Just like they do in European Soccer. Also, you can only have 5 of these “non-drafted” players on your roster every year. They are also not eligible to be traded once acquired. This means if Oklahoma pays for Josh Allen they have to keep him, rain or shine.
The other thought I had would be to incorporate a salary cap. This will help create parody. I think my ideal salary cap is closer to the NBA than the NHL. Give schools a luxury tax for those 5-star guys like Arch Manning and see if it pays off.
Another giant point of contention is the actual contract. All contracts are guaranteed. So if you sign a kid at 18 who isn’t working out and you cut him, you have to hand him a check for his contract on the way out the door.
These strict rules are in place to keep schools from signing everyone under the sun and also force them to really be selective about who they chose.
Eligibility will be a significant point of contention as well. Redshirting and medical redshirts can still be a thing. But you only get four years to play. Once you take off that redshirt you have four years. Suppose you play a single game that counts as a year. The medical redshirt only counts for injuries that happen before the season starts.
ALSO, YOU AGE OUT AT 23. No ands, ifs, or buts. No more 26-year-olds playing for colleges. The rule gives you 6 years from the age of 18. If your School hasn’t gotten its money’s worth at that point then you ain’t ever gonna get it.
So that’s the idea. If people would like I will write a follow-up about everyone else and what the NCAA would do to re-establish itself after the forming of the Super League.
thoughtsfromthebench.com 