Twistity Sports Exclusive: POWER TO THE POWER CONFERENCES

 
Rather than risk a breakup, the NCAA agreed to a post-nup. And so a tenuous marriage continues.

The NCAA Board of Directors voted 16-2 on Thursday to give the so-called Power Five conferences – the Big 12, the SEC, ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten – the autonomy they sought and the right to spend more money on their scholarship football players. The Power Five can make their own rules (presumably within reason) and add up to $2,000 to what they deem the real cost of their student-athletes’ academic expenses.

Now the dominant forces don’t have to break away and form their own super-league. They can stay under the umbrella while everyone else gets wet. They will also get a greater voting say in NCAA affairs.

Good? Bad? It hardly matters, because it is. The Power Five have money and power. Maybe they should have been called the Money Five.

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder spoke forcefully earlier in the week about the ways in which college athletics has lost its direction in chasing money and bowing endlessly to television. Others weighed in with equally dismal views.

“There is no hope for NCAA reform,” Donna Lopiano, who was Texas’ women’s athletic director from 1975-92, told the Austin American-Statesman. “I don’t see any of those members standing up and telling the Big 5 no. They’re afraid of them leaving. Guess what? They’re not going to leave. I really do think the time has come for Congress to intervene.”

Congress to intervene? Please. If you want to see a member of Congress, watch TV. That’s where these theoretical legislators spend their time. They certainly don’t legislate and, sadly, Congress has more important things to do. Or should, anyway.

The rich get richer. The big get bigger. The divide grows larger. Big-guy rules can be made for the big guys and the rest can scramble for the table scraps. College sports is big business, especially for the few that can run their enterprises at a profit. The others may as well consult their dogs for lessons on how best to beg.

Today’s question: Should the Power 5 have more rights than other universities in determining rules and expenses that they and they alone are likely to be able to afford? Answers in the comment box, please.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .