Interesting concept from the Knight Commission…
The Knight Commission, which seems to hold some sway with the NCAA, has long been studying the issues associated with college football, and recommended in 2021 that FBS Football be split off into a new governance organization called the National College Football Association (“NCFA”). This organization would be independent of the NCAA, and aligns with the current College Football Playoff organization in terms of serving only FBS football. A link to their proposal:
https://www.knightcommission.org/wp...ndations-for-change-1220-022221-update-01.pdf
The CFP is the only NCAA championship that the NCAA does not directly control. Currently, the CFP distributes about $600M to FBS schools, weighted slightly more to members and conferences that have teams in the playoff. With the expansion of the playoff and new media contracts, revenue from the CFB is expected to grow to over $2B by 2027. This amount is significantly more than any of the individual conferences receive via their latest contracts.
I can envision one possible scenario for where this is all heading - the NCFA becomes a reality and combines championship governance with the CFP. This affiliation would combine two critical components – 1) uniform governance of the sport for all member schools regardless of conference membership, and 2) control of a large portion of football revenue. Without the latter, any attempt to tackle the major issues facing the sport is likely to fail. The CFP already has some leverage over the conferences as well as the bowls, and with the expanded playoffs, I can see a combined governance and CFP organization having even greater power. This association could dictate relative revenue parity for all member schools. If a conference didn’t want to go along with the revenue distribution arrangements or other new rules, they would not be eligible to participate in the Championship Bowl games and their resulting revenue windfall.
Would this arrangement “fix” all the issues facing college football? No, but it would have the power to make certain changes to improve parity and treat student-athletes fairly, that are next to impossible in the current environment.