Utah coach Kyle Whittingham has long held the position that college football will eventually break up into superconferences, and last year insisted there was more to come even after the latest round of realignment.
“Every year we take another step towards that, and I think it's inevitable,” Whittingham said of the superconference. “I don't know if the timeline is going to be three, five or seven years, but I believe that's the direction.”
Back in August 2023, Whittingham laid out his thoughts on where college football would ultimately go, including its departure from the NCAA, on ESPN 7000's Coaches Show.
“Everything is going to be set up based on where the most money will go. So at least we'll see some new changes and ultimately a streamlining to one or two superconferences.” he said.
Both the SEC and Big Ten have made moves to expand their power in recent years, with the SEC starting a realignment frenzy by taking control of Texas and Oklahoma. With the collapse of the Pac-12 Conference, the Big 12 responded by expanding to BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston, and later Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and Arizona State. Meanwhile, the Big Ten shook up USC and UCLA and eventually gobbled up Washington and Oregon.
At the end of this frenzy, there were effectively four conferences left, with the SEC and Big Ten clearly the big players in the new college football hierarchy, with the Big 12 and ACC a close second. Ta.
Example 1: The College Football Playoff model that goes into effect in 2026 would include a 14-team playoff field, but an unequal revenue distribution favoring the two conferences.
According to a reporter for The Athletic, the Big Ten and SEC will receive 29% of the annual playoff revenue, with the ACC receiving 17% and the Big 12 receiving 15%. Group of Five leagues overall revenue is only 9%.
But the new “Super League” proposal includes some of the things Whittingham says will eventually happen, such as leaving the NCAA and merging into a single league.
College presidents and NFL executives are among the 20 “powerful” people shaping the future of college football and trying to assemble a “super league,” according to a new report by The Athletic's Andrew Marchand and Stewart Mandel. He is one of the group.
According to The Athletic, the group, College Sports Tomorrow, is led by Len Perna, CEO of search firm Turnkey ZRG, who said he has “allocated nearly all of the conference's top commissioners. “I'm there.”
They are trying to rid the sport of some of its current ills, such as play-offs decided by committee, a virtually unchecked NIL and transfer environment.
Real Salt Lake co-owner and Philadelphia 76ers owner David Blitzer, Syracuse Chancellor Kent Syverrad, West Virginia President Gordon Gee, and NFL executives Brian Rolup (Mr. Marchand and Mr. Mundell). (The NFL itself is not involved) is also part of this group.
Under CST's proposal, college football would be separate from the NCAA and become its own organization with its own playoffs. Seventy schools will be permanent members of the Super League, including all schools in the current SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and former Pac-12, as well as the University of Notre Dame.
According to Mandel and Marchand, there will be seven divisions of 10 teams, with an additional 10 spots forming an eighth division. That eighth division will be made up of the best teams from each year that are not part of Super League's permanent group of 70.
The winners of the eight divisions (eight wild cards based on records) will advance to the playoffs, and no selection committee will be required.
A players' union would be established and collectively bargained with the new Super League to pay players directly, and a television contract would be negotiated league-wide, similar to the current NFL television contract. .
There are some heavyweights in the CST group, but important players like ESPN, FOX, the Big Ten, and the SEC have little interest in the new league structure. Why is this so? These two networks, along with the SEC and Big Ten, currently hold the power in the current state of college football, and they don't want to relinquish that power.
The ACC heard CST's presentation in February, but subsequent meetings with the Big 12, Big Ten and SEC were canceled, according to The Athletic.
“Leagues have hesitated and canceled meetings to avoid upsetting their current broadcast partners, including ESPN and FOX, according to an executive briefed on the commissioner's thinking,” Marchand and Mandel write. .
The TV deals for the Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and ACC are all locked in until at least 2030, so a “Super League” is unlikely in the near future.
There's one thing everyone can agree on. That means the future of college football is likely to be very different. It's unclear at this point what that will look like, including a “Super League,” Big Ten and SEC football leaving the NCAA, or players receiving compensation directly from their universities.
