REPORT: College Football Leaders "Mulling" Leaving the NCAA

Could we see a major overhaul in the governance of college football?

With 17 days left until the University of Georgia and programs around the nation kick off their 2022 season in week one, discussions are taking place about the future of College Football, specifically how and who will govern the sport going forward. 

Dating back to the introduction of the College Football Playoff structure, which brought about the creation of the CFP committee, a thought has always been in the mind of many about how long the NCAA will govern the sport before conferences decide to split away from the massive association and run the sport on their own. 

A major theory for years was that the "Power-Five conferences" would break away from the rest of college football and create their own world where they'd no longer compete under the jurisdiction of the NCAA and instead appoint their own "commissioner" to run the sport. This theory often meant leaving the NCAA with the "Group of Five conferences" and whatever independent schools do not leave. 

As conference expansion has been running wild over the past two summers, it seemed more and more likely that instead of the "Power-Five" breaking away, there could be two "superconferences" (the SEC and Big-10) that would break away from the NCAA. 

Wednesday evening, that turned out not to be the case. A report by Pete Thamel of ESPN stated that during the meeting between 11 college presidents and chancellors, which makes the College Football Playoff's Board of Managers, discussed the possibility of "major college football" breaking away from the NCAA. 

"Multiple sources told ESPN that the Board of Managers briefly discussed the possibility of restructuring how college football is governed, with the idea presented of major college football potentially being governed outside of the NCAA. The most logical place for the sport to be run outside of the NCAA would be under the auspices of the CFP, which was discussed on the call. The CFP currently oversees the sport's postseason playoff and has contractual ties to other marquee postseason bowl games."

- Pete Thamel

Thamel adds, "these discussions are in such early stages that it could be considered the first steps of a complicated process that would resemble a marathon." 

These conversations come after a failure this offseason to go along with the long anticipation push for an expansion of the current four-team playoff structure. With four seasons left on the College Football Playoff contract, it is possible that any further hold-ups in the negotiations of a new structure could see the CFP committee govern "major college football," as Thamel states. 

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