Is Mike Slive bluffing about forming a Division IV? Go ahead, make his division.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  14m
You think Mike Slive's bluffing about forming a Division IV? Try him. http://ow.ly/xsdca

Scarblog:

DESTIN, Florida - It was no idle threat and no empty promise. Mike Slive always chooses his words carefully, and no matter how softly he speaks them, it's obvious when he's serious.

It was very obvious how serious he was Friday afternoon.

When the SEC commissioner threatens to pull out of Division I and form a new Division IV if the NCAA doesn't give the big boys the autonomy they want in the form they want it, he means it.

"We need to face up to change," Slive said in his final visit with the media to conclude the SEC's spring meeting. "It is time. I do believe this is a historic moment, and if we don't seize the moment, we'll be making a mistake."

...

"If in August the board rejects the steering committee's recommendation, you should call me up," Slive said.

[jbcarol]

Seth Emerson @SethEmerson  ·  21m
In the face of lawsuits, and in a "historic moment," the SEC invokes the idea of a "Division 4." http://www.macon.com/2014/05/30/3123593/secs-slive-raises-the-specter.html ...

[jbcarol]

Hey, Mark Emmert. Still think you're in charge of the NCAA?

You may still officially be president, but Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive clearly is running the show. And if you insist on clinging to some outdated business model that worries more about the have-nots than the dwindling haves, you may be scripting your own funeral, sad though that might be.

In case you missed it, Slive may have delivered the strongest statement yet about the future of big-time college football schools when he said of his conference's demands for more benefits for his student-athletes:

"I am somewhat optimistic it will pass, but if it doesn't, our league would certainly want to move to a Division IV. My colleagues, I can't speak for anybody else, but I'd be surprised if they didn't feel the same way."

Call it a threat, an ultimatum, saber rattling (unlikely), or a promise (highly likely), but flush with both the confidence and credibility that comes with handing out checks of more than $20 million to each of the SEC's 14 member schools at the conclusion of their annual spring meetings Friday, Slive also has another "C" word that Emmert lacks at the moment: Clout.

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Well, one thing is almost certain about this situation.  There are going to be some major changes in college athletics soon, one way or another.  The NCAA has some very important decisions to be made......sounds like they can't afford to screw this one up.

[Inhogswetrust]

Unless unscrupulous and unsavory politicians (which describes all politicians) get involved autonomy is inevitable.

[jbcarol]

At SEC meetings earlier this month, commissioner Mike Slive threatened to support a movement for the power conferences to break away from the NCAA if the governing body didn't agree to certain reforms — something that would obviously drastically change the college football landscape and college sports as we know it but also likely leave schools in the non-power conferences in the lurch.

University of Central Florida coach George O'Leary, this week at practice, weighed in on this idea with some pretty direct (if not slightly offensive) thoughts on the matter:

"They sound like the South during the Civil War," O'Leary said according to the Orlando Sentinel. "If they don't get their way, they're going to secede and start their own country. ... I think college football is in real trouble."

O'Leary added: "I think some of these schools have forgotten where they came from."

O'Leary in 2001: "Due to a selfish and thoughtless act many years ago, I have personally embarrassed Notre Dame, its alumni and fans.

""Many years ago, as a young married father, I sought to pursue my dream as a football coach. In seeking employment I prepared a resume that contained inaccuracies regarding my completion of course work for a master's degree and also my level of participation in football at my alma mater. These misstatement were never stricken from my resume or biographical sketch in later years."

"I can't understand how you could go all those years and not catch or correct it," former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian said at the time.

[jbcarol]

Paul Finebaum @finebaum  ·  Jun 4
And I suppose George O'Leary studied Civil War history while working on his master's degree at NYU.

[Sweet Feet]

Im not fully understanding the full gist of this. What is Slive trying to do?

[ricepig]

Not sure what you mean by Title IV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Title_IV

[LZH]

And to think we have people around here that say "Thank God for Mississippi".

[ricepig]

And to think we have people around here that say "Thank God for Mississippi".

Pretty sure he meant Division IV, but I couldn't pass it up.

[Mike Irwin]

It would be a separate division in the NCAA comprised of schools from the top five major conferences only.

The purpose would be to ditch the mid majors preventing them from outvoting major conference schools on issues like paying athletes extra money beyond scholarships, room & board.

[Big Papa Satan]

Pretty sure he meant Division IV, but I couldn't pass it up.

IVth Dumbest Fanbase.

[WilsonHog]

Think of it as Title IX for female gnomes.

[josh_sec33]

Lol at everyone, but I'm gonna be nice and actually try to answer.

Currently you have to have a certain percentage of ALL division I schools and player reps agree to a rule change or policy change with regards to scholarships, sport rules, scholarship limits, etc. I want to say it's 65-70 percent. Regardless, the Power Five conferences (SEC, Big X, Big XII, ACC and Pac-12) don't have the numbers by themselves to pass anything that they want. They have to have the smaller schools help them out. With Basketball and baseball, they can actually all five conferences vote no, and still see the policy passed as there's enough schools to pass it without them. So basically, without the support of the smaller Div 1 schools, nothing is getting changed.

So, with the talk of player unions, and students who can't eat and pay for their entire year's tuition and room in board in some schools and cities due to varied cost of living, the Bigger schools in the power 5 conferences want to increase what they can give the athlete, guarantee medical insurance and a stipend to deal with the cost of living in more expensive areas. Obviously the smaller cash strapped schools don't want it, so anything that gets mentioned gets voted down immediately. Division IV is basically the counter attack from the big schools.

Division IV basically says that they would split themselves away from Division 1 and create their own division which means the large schools would have COMPLETE control over adjusting policies to fit the needs of the athletes. Implications? C0USA, Sunbelt, MAC, MWC, etc. get left out from any revenue sharing since sharing is done within the division. Small schools won't like that. Bigger schools then may not be allowed to participate in Division I tournaments, like March Madness or CWS if the small schools want to entrench. Div. IV would undoubtedly make their own tournament. Bye-bye Cinderella. Smaller conferences don't want it, because now they are at a recruiting disadvantage. "Well, Arkansas is offering this, this and this. What are you offering ASU?"

Slive is basically pointing out the end result of basically continuing to have the hard stance against the power 5 to be able to adjust a few things that they feel are necessary for their conferences to the smaller conferences. Just a little brinksmanship.

[Sweet Feet]

Lol...multitasking haha meant division IV. Thats funny as hell lol my bad

[Kevin]

Knew it was a matter of time.  Big boys will break away and make their own rules

[goodguytex]

Knew it was a matter of time.  Big boys will break away and make their own rules

It will happen sooner or later.

[jbcarol]

David Morrison @DavidCMorrison  ·  14m
Blog- SEC commissioner Mike Slive on Big 5 autonomy: "I am so optimistic that we'll get where we need to go."- http://bit.ly/1oAFrGR

Would you and the other 'Power 5' leagues really split off into a 'Division IV' if your autonomy suggestions are not approved by the NCAA?

"I've said about all I'm going to say about that during our meetings in Destin. It's now time for everybody to come together and meet. I'm very optimistic we'll make the adjustments that the steering committee has recommended to the board. Now it's time to go to work. I think we've done enough talking about that."

How do you think the competitiveness of the league's men's basketball is coming along?

"We've made a lot of adjustments. We weren't happy a couple of years ago. Of course, now we're coming off a great postseason, with three of our teams going as far as they did and two in the Final Four. Our athletic directors have unanimously given us the authority to approve non-conference schedules. The first year we were into it late, but this year we're into it full force. I think you're going to see the kind of non-conference schedules that will help our teams have a better schedule heading into the tournament."

Not optimistic about DirecTV signing on with the SEC Network.

[jbcarol]

Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  Jun 9
From today's P-D, @realbburwell writes: Revolt is brewing in NCAA http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/burwell-revolt-is-brewing-in-ncaa/article_458dd735-61fd-5cfe-be3a-1eff9cb6fb64.html ...

College athletics' most powerful man moves about the world with the appearance of a smiling, white-haired gentleman. But don't be deceived by looks. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive might appear to be your kindly grandpa, but he behaves far more like a cunning field general whose best weapons are the clever deployment of his biting words and the unnerving potential of his strategic threats.

In his continuing battle with the NCAA Board of Directors — and, for that matter, the smaller conferences and lesser divisions in the NCAA — who continue to behave as if college athletics has not grown into a massive money-making machine, and refuse to protect their flank from mounting lawsuits and common-sense solutions to the crisis, Slive is the leader of the Power 5-conference revolt that threatens to throw college sports into a major upheaval.

Last week at the SEC's spring business meetings, Slive fired a loud and clear warning shot across the bow of the NCAA establishment when he said in no uncertain terms that if new legislation isn't passed to free the Power 5 conferences to have autonomy on how they do business, the SEC, Big 10, Big 12, ACC and Pac 12 conferences will secede from the NCAA and create their own "Division IV."

"It's not something we want to do," he said. "We want the ability to have autonomy in areas that has a nexus to the well-being of student athletes."

Those issues that have been repeatedly raised by the 65 power schools —and consistently stonewalled by the rest of the pack — are legislation such as full cost of attendance, improved medical care and issues related to agents. "I am somewhat optimistic it will pass, but if it doesn't, our league would certainly want to move to a Division IV," Slive told reporters. "My colleagues, I can't speak for anybody else, but I'd be surprised if they didn't feel the same way."

Those words were the strongest and potentially most devastating threat the NCAA has ever felt. On Sunday, as he showed up to a Mizzou alumni event at De Smet, the commissioner toned down the rhetoric, but it did not lessen the impact of what he'd already said and the frightening possibilities of what could lie ahead.

"I've said about all I'm going to say about that," Slive told a handful of reporters who met him in the Spartans' gymnasium for an impromptu news conference. "It's now time for everyone to come together and meet. ... I'm very optimistic that we'll make the adjustments that the steering committee has recommended to the board. ...We don't have to worry about the 'what ifs.'"

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  11h
Which mid-major programs are most deserving of joining Power 5? Take our poll | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/xOR1X



[attachment deleted by admin]

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  12m

SEC commissioner Mike Slive renews call for autonomy, threat of breakaway division | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/z90mc

HOOVER, Alabama - Invoking quotes from Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive renewed his call for changes in how college athletics are operated, starting with a vote on governance restructuring on August 7, and renewed the threat of a breakaway division if those reforms fail...

[jbcarol]

Travis Haney @TravHaneyESPN  ·  1h

The older and more tenured Slive gets, the more his troll game enhances. He must get tips from Spurrier.

[RyeHogFan]

As a gamer, I wonder how autonomy would affect the future of college video games. With the games now no longer being produced, could this potentially bring about a rebirth of the genre? I doubt EA would want to get involved in any more of that mess with their recent lawsuit. So, with one of the main points of autonomy being basically about the paying of players, is there some way that a video game company could pay each player portrayed on the game a minuscule amount for each unit sold? It could be an amount that wouldn't bankrupt the company but would also give the players a fair compensation for their image. Or maybe this Big 5 group could produce their own video game and they could figure out some way to dole out the profits among the players. Just throwing a few ideas out there as I'm still playing NCAA Football 14 these days.

[Seminole Indian]

Lol at everyone, but I'm gonna be nice and actually try to answer.

Currently you have to have a certain percentage of ALL division I schools and player reps agree to a rule change or policy change with regards to scholarships, sport rules, scholarship limits, etc. I want to say it's 65-70 percent. Regardless, the Power Five conferences (SEC, Big X, Big XII, ACC and Pac-12) don't have the numbers by themselves to pass anything that they want. They have to have the smaller schools help them out. With Basketball and baseball, they can actually all five conferences vote no, and still see the policy passed as there's enough schools to pass it without them. So basically, without the support of the smaller Div 1 schools, nothing is getting changed.

So, with the talk of player unions, and students who can't eat and pay for their entire year's tuition and room in board in some schools and cities due to varied cost of living, the Bigger schools in the power 5 conferences want to increase what they can give the athlete, guarantee medical insurance and a stipend to deal with the cost of living in more expensive areas. Obviously the smaller cash strapped schools don't want it, so anything that gets mentioned gets voted down immediately. Division IV is basically the counter attack from the big schools.

Division IV basically says that they would split themselves away from Division 1 and create their own division which means the large schools would have COMPLETE control over adjusting policies to fit the needs of the athletes. Implications? C0USA, Sunbelt, MAC, MWC, etc. get left out from any revenue sharing since sharing is done within the division. Small schools won't like that. Bigger schools then may not be allowed to participate in Division I tournaments, like March Madness or CWS if the small schools want to entrench. Div. IV would undoubtedly make their own tournament. Bye-bye Cinderella. Smaller conferences don't want it, because now they are at a recruiting disadvantage. "Well, Arkansas is offering this, this and this. What are you offering ASU?"

Slive is basically pointing out the end result of basically continuing to have the hard stance against the power 5 to be able to adjust a few things that they feel are necessary for their conferences to the smaller conferences. Just a little brinksmanship.

Glad to see someone gets it.

Also don't think the smaller FBS programs are real problem (the SBC has already approved paying the players).

G5 schools don't win many recruiting battles with P5's as is, so nothing they do will be a big issue as far as the available talent. Increasing the number of scholarships would, but  it would negatively impact many of the  P5's, who don't get many of thee 4 and 5 star players as is. 

If they broke away the G5s could stop playing them, and I can assure you the P5 coaches will not let that happen. Many don't want to play only FBS, much less only P5's.

[Kicking Wing]

This isn't about the 5 top conferences forming their own league.  They want to set up voting so that their votes count more than the next 5 conferences and those 5 will count more than the rest of the NCAA.  They want the ability to provide more benefits to athletes so they can prevent lawsuits. 

This isn't about not wanting to share revenue (the brand new 12 year playoff deal distributes more money and grants more of a slim chance at the national title than the old system).  They tried to pass this a year ago and it was the FCS and lower leagues that stopped it.  The so-called G5 (CUSA, SBC, MAC, AAC and MWC) voted in favor of the new "autonomy" rules for voting and also supported allowing their programs to offer stipends.

What they are looking for is to retain the NCAA tournament and all that revenue while not allowing basketball and FCS and lower programs to prevent them from sharing more resources with players to stay out of court and protect their tax exemptions.

Essentially, not much will change in the pecking order of FBS.  The P5 will offer money and benefits to athletes and so will the G5.  The P5 will offer better benefits than the G5 and the G5 will offer far more than FCS.  This is already the case in terms of facilities, training tables, medical, tutoring and the amount of staff available.  Some kids will still opt for a winning G5 program over a program like Kentucky or Indiana while the amount of resources spent competing for elite recruits among the top 30 programs will skyrocket.

I am fine with it as an ASU fans because we will have access to more revenue and will widen the gap between the lower half of FBS and the top of FCS.  We will have almost no shot at a national title but will have access to more bowls against our peers than in the past.

The big 5 are changing the rules and they are bringing us along for the ride and the scheduling.  You won't see the big 5 playing FCS teams much longer though.

[Inhogswetrust]

Glad to see someone gets it.

Also don't think the smaller FBS programs are real problem (the SBC has already approved paying the players).

G5 schools don't win many recruiting battles with P5's as is, so nothing they do will be a big issue as far as the available talent. Increasing the number of scholarships would, but  it would negatively impact many of the  P5's, who don't get many of thee 4 and 5 star players as is. 

If they broke away the G5s could stop playing them, and I can assure you the P5 coaches will not let that happen. Many don't want to play only FBS, much less only P5's.

Those coaches may not be able to do anything about it. Admins control things not the coaches.

[Seminole Indian]

This isn't about the 5 top conferences forming their own league.  They want to set up voting so that their votes count more than the next 5 conferences and those 5 will count more than the rest of the NCAA.  They want the ability to provide more benefits to athletes so they can prevent lawsuits. 

This isn't about not wanting to share revenue (the brand new 12 year playoff deal distributes more money and grants more of a slim chance at the national title than the old system).  They tried to pass this a year ago and it was the FCS and lower leagues that stopped it.  The so-called G5 (CUSA, SBC, MAC, AAC and MWC) voted in favor of the new "autonomy" rules for voting and also supported allowing their programs to offer stipends.

What they are looking for is to retain the NCAA tournament and all that revenue while not allowing basketball and FCS and lower programs to prevent them from sharing more resources with players to stay out of court and protect their tax exemptions.

Essentially, not much will change in the pecking order of FBS.  The P5 will offer money and benefits to athletes and so will the G5.  The P5 will offer better benefits than the G5 and the G5 will offer far more than FCS.  This is already the case in terms of facilities, training tables, medical, tutoring and the amount of staff available.  Some kids will still opt for a winning G5 program over a program like Kentucky or Indiana while the amount of resources spent competing for elite recruits among the top 30 programs will skyrocket.

I am fine with it as an ASU fans because we will have access to more revenue and will widen the gap between the lower half of FBS and the top of FCS.  We will have almost no shot at a national title but will have access to more bowls against our peers than in the past.

The big 5 are changing the rules and they are bringing us along for the ride and the scheduling.  You won't see the big 5 playing FCS teams much longer though.

Based on what is being reported today there is nothing proposed that should be a problem for the G5's.

Looks like all parties are working together to make this happen, and concessions are being made by everyone.

[Kicking Wing]

No problem for the G5 in the proposal.  They get more money and are still FBS.  The FCS and non-football schools lobbied to limit autonomy to the P5 schools and to limit the G5 voting power but they failed.

The FCS and non-football schools are the ones that are losing out in the new proposal.  They have the option to provide extra benefits to student athletes but they do not get the revenue from the CFB playoff that would pay for it like the G5 receive.

You will see more kids wanting to save their redshirt and fewer kids transferring to FCS when this all goes into effect.  It could really create a problem in basketball for the D1 schools outside of FBS except for the elite basketball leagues.

Transfers are not within the sphere of autonomy so no changes to transfer rules for now unless the entirity of D1 passes it.

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  50m

New NCAA governance proposal includes lower voting thresholds for Power 5 | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/zkbgq

[Seminole Indian]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  50m

New NCAA governance proposal includes lower voting thresholds for Power 5 | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/zkbgq

Maybe that is what had him all fired up.

 

[jbcarol]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24631056/big-12s-bowlsby-rips-ncaa-says-cheating-pays-predicts-financial-stress

"They're [enforcement] in the battle with a BB gun in their hand," he said. "They're fighting howitzers. We have to find a way to make progress on it. It undermines the confidence of the system."

Bowlsby went as far to suggest the federal government may have to take over enforcement. That, he said, would allow investigators to issue subpoenas. The lack of such is a key criticism of the NCAA process.

"I am really not very far of being of the mind that some form of federal statute is not a good idea," he said. "You could say it's against the law to influence where a student athlete would go to school, influence the outcome of a contest, to provide a benefit that is outside of the rules."

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  4h

How Nick Saban turned a question about Power 5 autonomy into an answer about 'The Love Boat' http://ow.ly/A195g

[jbcarol]

http://espn.go.com/blog/sec/post/_/id/86318/ncaa-board-votes-to-allow-autonomy

The NCAA Division I board of directors on Thursday voted to allow the 65 schools in the top five conferences to write many of their own rules. The autonomy measures -- which the power conferences had all but demanded -- will permit those leagues to decide on things such as cost-of-attendance stipends and insurance benefits for players, staff sizes, recruiting rules and mandatory hours spent on individual sports...

[jbcarol]

Herb Vincent @SECherbvin  ·  2h

@SEC Mike Slive on today's action by NCAA Board of Directors: "This is an opportunity for historic change in college athletics. Now we can go to work to begin to better address the needs of our student-athletes."

[jbcarol]

Mike Slive (AP)

[jbcarol]

Now the fun really starts.

As expected, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors greenlighted the autonomy package empowering the five major conferences and Notre Dame to create their own legislation, on Thursday.

This means South Carolina will never again have to turn itself in to the NCAA for the secondary rules violation of providing impermissible decorative icing on football prospects' cookie cakes.

Once autonomy kicks in, probably next June, nobody is going to sweat extra icing.

Bit by bit, many presidents, athletic directors and coaches of the Big 5 conference schools agreed they should have the power to create rules that fit their budgets, needs and wants.

At the top of their agenda is figuring a way to pay athletes, which will be the most debated point on the Big 5's autonomy to-do-list.

Of all the things the Big 5 wants to do for its athletes - for starters allowing schools to pay for athletes' families to attend games, providing medical coverage for athletes and loosening contact rules between athletes and agents - getting money into the hands of athletes is top priority.

This will be done with a cost of attendance stipend, which is the amount difference between the cost of an athletic scholarship and the actual cost of attending college as determined by a school's financial aid office.

This issue is a multi-level sticky wicket where the questions far outweigh the answers.

The No. 1 question is determining a formula in which all Big 5 schools pay relatively the same cost of attendance stipend amount, even though the value of athletic scholarships vary from school-to-school...

[jbcarol]

SEC Sports @SEC  ·  Aug 11

Statement from #SEC Commissioner Mike Slive on the O'Bannon case decision: http://secsports.go.com/article/11337881/commissioner-statement-ncaa-ruling ...

"We are pleased that the judge recognized the educational component of college athletics, and the importance of integrating academics and athletics in this decision. There are a number of legal questions of some significance that must be answered to fully understand the ultimate consequence of this decision, and how to comply with it.

"Together with the change in NCAA governance that was approved just a day earlier, this decision reemphasizes the fact that we are going through a historic evolution of the landscape of college sports and it is incumbent upon all of us to be thoughtful and deliberate in building a better future for our institutions and our student-athletes."

[jbcarol]

AL.com sports @aldotcomSports  ·  13h

NCAA study finds all but 20 FBS schools lose money on athletics | http://AL.com  http://ow.ly/Ay7Qx

The report found that expenses exceeded revenue at all but 20 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The average loss among the Power 5 conferences was $2.3 million. At all other FBS schools, it was $17.6 million.

The report did not specify which 20 FBS athletic departments had higher revenues than expenses.

Nor will they.

The SEC announced Wednesday that all 14 of its schools had "taken steps to enhance the fan experience" for game days, including major stadium renovations at LSU, Texas A&M and Mississippi State.

Wireless is apparently the impact item to keep students and those attached to their devices coming.

[East Clintwood]

It will not be a good thing.   It will get the politicians involved.

[jbcarol]

Kristi Dosh @SportsBizMiss  ·  22h

How much are sports outside of football and men's basketball losing? http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/latest-ncaa-report-shows-gap-between-haves-and-have-nots-082014 ...

[jbcarol]

SEC Sports @SEC  ·  2h
SEC commissioner Mike Slive underwent successful surgery Tuesday to relieve pain he had experienced in his back for several weeks.

Commissioner Slive is receiving great care from his doctors and will be watching @SEC games from home this weekend.

[jbcarol]

Ivan Maisel @Ivan_Maisel  ·  13h
After @GeorgeSchroeder's piece, rest of us can stop writing profiles of Mike Slive. http://shar.es/113LVO   @USATODAYsports