HCS Roundtable: Is an 80-Team Super League the Future of College Football?
The college football landscape has seen more drastic changes over the last half-decade than the sport has seen in the two decades prior.
Between conference realignment, NIL, the transfer portal, and players opting out of bowl games, the sport has been flipped on its head, and coaches and administration are just doing what they can to play catch up.
This week, a group known as “College Sports Tomorrow” has made headlines after a story from The Athletic shed light on the details of their proposal to save the sport.
In short, the CST proposal would implement an 80-team “Super League,” which would be made up of eight 10-team divisions. Seven of the divisions would consist of the all the former “Power Five” teams, plus Notre Dame and SMU. The final 10-team division would include the top 10 Group of Five teams, which would be chosen on a promotion and relegation system, similar to that of the Eurpoean soccer league.
While their ideas are on the radical side, there are aspects of the proposal that make a ton of sense. The politics aren’t there to have all that much support right now, as the conferences jsut signed a multi-billion dollar extension with ESPN to give them exclusive rights to the College Football Playoff. But, in the near future, we could see more and more support for the CST proposal.
In today’s HCS Roundtable, the staff discusses the validity of this model and whether it’s a feasible option. Is the 80-team Super League the future of college football?
Pete Mundo
I’m at the point where, as conferences become geographic disasters, this might be the best way forward. Frankly, it could make the “old Big 12” a region, division, etc., as part of the Super Conference. I don’t see how it’s sustainable to continue with Rutgers and Oregon in the same league or in the Big 12, BYU, and UCF. It’s workable for now, but is it long-term sustainable? I have my doubts. Especially when we talk about non-revenue sports. It will be a money-sucker for every program. And if you think paying the players is going away, you’re kidding yourself. Something tells me the future will include revenue sharing from the athletic departments rather than the crazy NIL world we find ourselves in right now.
If this helps bring back Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri, and so many other regional attractions, it might just be the best way forward for the sport at large. Sign me up.
As for what teams “Heartland College Sports” would end up covering, I’ll leave that for another day!
Bryan Clinton
I’ll be honest: I love this proposal. While it’s tricky to break the teams up into eight 10-team divisions, it can be done with regionality being key. I took the time to break the teams up into hypothetical divisions, and it actually came out very nicely. Putting all relevant teams under the same umbrella is going to be key if college football is ever going to fix the NIL issues because the current plan that the NCAA has put into action isn’t holding anyone accountable. If that were the only thing that comes of this plan, it would be a success. But getting regionality back into the sport would be a dream scenario for college football fans. There’s just no way that Stanford and Miami should be in the same conference. USC and Penn State shouldn’t share a conference. If I can be candid, UCF and Utah shouldn’t be in the same league. Sure, it’s exciting and will be fun to see new matchups born, but at what point are we sacrificing the validity of the sport for monetary gain? And on top of that, who’s the money actually going to? Television executives. Just ask the person in charge of team travel expenses.
This proposal is a perfect chance for college football to get back to its roots, at least in the aspects that really determine the sport’s health. Will it happen? I’m skeptical but extremely hopeful.
Joe Tillery
It’s an interesting question, to be honest. Do I love the idea of eliminating conferences for a more localized approach in divisions? Yes. But I also have a hard time imagining what negotiations would actually take place when 80 teams are on the roster.
I don’t think I’d say no to a proposal that includes members of the Big 12 Conference, as it would at least ease the stability for teams included in the Super League. That being said, what the heck would we name it?
The CFB Mega-League? Ultimate Football Conference? (There might be some legal issues with using UFC). But in all honesty, as we approach the National College Football League, who am I to stand in the way?
Derek Duke
Whether we like it or not, I believe that the future of college football will look something like this. Why? The NCAA is about as good at doing its job as I am at rocket science. And for what it’s worth, I can barely do basic math.
It’s no secret that the NCAA has repeatedly dropped the ball. Every move they make seems like the wrong one, and with NIL in place, it feels like the Wild West out there because of the lack of rules and regulations. Once Pandora’s box was open, there was no closing it. If these schools decide to band together and do this, then nobody can stop them. This is not a matter of if but a matter of when.
