The Power 5 is now history. July 1 welcomed the most drastic conference realignment in over a decade.
There are now two super conferences (Big Ten and SEC) largely based on size and media deals. The Big 12 added four new members, there are three new members in the ACC, and the Pac-12 is now only two schools.
The conference dominoes actually began to fall in the summer of 2021. Then it escalated that following summer after former Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren invited USC and UCLA from the Pac-12 to join the conference.
Later, two other Pac-12 members, Oregon and Washington, came aboard to in essence create college sports’ first super conference along with the biggest media deal in NCAA history, a $7 million plus deal with Fox, CBS and NBC.
Front Office Sports called this “another indicator that college sports have become more commercialized than ever.”
Let’s not forget the ever-present, ever-changing NIL. So how is coaching today in the new era of NIL?
The two Minnesota head basketball coaches recently reflected on the fact that no longer can they look past one year at a time in planning because of this new college sport landscape. NIL is college sports’ free agency as players now shop around to find the school that can make them extra money besides scholarship, room and board and books.
“I do like the fact that guys can financially have some freedom, and I’m never gonna hold somebody back for financial decisions,” admitted MBB HC Ben Johnson. But he warned, “I don’t want it always to be a money grab.”
Minnesota Women’s Basketball Coach Dawn Plitzuweit pointed out, “It’s something that is so new…how now we can be actively engaged in what…wasn’t permissible even six months ago.”
Johnson continued, “In the world of pro sports, the agents play a role in terms of negotiating, of being that middleman. College has turned this page, and you’re dealing financially with the dollars, you’re dealing with kind of a pro model.
“Now agents are involved,” said the fourth-year Gopher coach. “It’s understanding that right now that’s part of the situation, just being able to adapt to that. There’s people you enjoy dealing with, and maybe there’s people with an agenda. But there’s going to be people that have an agenda.”
“The reason you get into coaching is to be a transformational coach and to help young ladies grow into confident young women, not just on the basketball court but in so many different facets of their life,” explained Coach P, now in her second season.
Surmised Johnson on the annual rash of transfers, “As a coach, you don’t have too many surprises. So, you kind of get a feeling as the year goes on what could potentially happen [at season’s end]. So, you’re prepared for it.
“Don’t get bent out of shape about it,” he concluded. “Some of these guys had some significant financial opportunities. I can’t necessarily fault them for pursuing something that they were able to potentially get. “We’ll continue to build it, to develop the guys that we have.”
Finally…
NAIA’s only all-Black conference officially changed its name on July 1 from Gulf Coast Athletic Conference to the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC) and added three new schools, bringing it to 13 members and having two automatic bids in volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball to the NAIA national championships.
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