The landscape of college athletics is rapidly evolving and athletic programs like UT’s could stand to benefit.
The NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted 16-2 August 8 to allow schools in the Power Five conferences — the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference — to enact many of their own rules.
The autonomy given to the Power Five will allow each league to decide on guidelines such as cost-of-attendance stipends, insurance benefits for players, staff sizes, recruiting rules and mandatory hours spent on individual sports. Power Five conferences will also carry more voting power on NCAA matters in general.
“(The) vote by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors to support the autonomy proposals of the five equity conferences represents a cornerstone in the evolution of NCAA governance,” said Dave Hart, vice chancellor and director of athletics.
“We are an athletics program that is centered around our student-athletes,” Hart said. “In order to further prioritize the focus on authorized benefits for student athletes, such as the full cost of attendance, this step was essential.”
Representatives from each of the five leagues will comprise a new 80 member voting panel to include 15 current players, three from each conference. This panel will determine autonomous policies for the five leagues.
Athletics directors will enjoy greater representation than before, as university presidents previously controlled the system.
The first change likely to be implemented among the Power Five conferences is a cost-of-attendance stipend. Students who receive athletic scholarships still pay an average of $2,000- $5,000 per year that accounts for various expenses. A cost-of-attendance stipend would cover those extra expenses for some or all student athletes.
Second-year UT football head coach, Butch Jones, said he supports any measure beneficial to student athletes.
“Anything that we can (do to) take care of our student athletes and provide for them the things that they need to be successful, not only on the field but off the field, I’m in favor of it,” Jones said August 11. “It’s all about the welfare and total development and benefit of the student athlete, so anything that is within reason I am all for.”
Other guidelines the Power Five could enact include relaxed restrictions between player and agent contact, allowing players to pursue privileges like paid career opportunities and paid expenses for their families to attend postseason games.
Postseason tournaments, transfer policies, scholarship limits, signing day and rules governing on-field play will remain under NCAA jurisdiction.
Although leagues outside the Power Five can choose to adopt the same rules, many smaller Division I schools won’t be able to afford measures like cost-of-attendance stipends.
Granting autonomy to already powerful leagues is a concern because it could create a larger competitive imbalance between the Power Five and smaller leagues, such as the Sun Belt, MAC or even conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision.
