“Division IV” coming to NCAA?
DESTIN, FL (The Spread) – Could the Power Five be drawing closer to forming their own division in college football?
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SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said Friday that if the Power Five conferences, which including the SEC, ACC, the Big 12, the Big Ten and Pac-12, don’t get the flexibility needed to create their own bylaws, then the next step would be to move to “Division IV.”
“It’s not something we want to do,” Slive said on the final day of the SEC meetings. “We want the ability to have autonomy in areas that has a nexus to the well-being of student athletes. I am somewhat optimistic it will pass, but if it doesn’t, our league would certainly want to move to a Division IV. My colleagues, I can’t speak for anybody else, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t feel the same way.”
What the SEC and other power conferences want to do is better take care of student-athletes. For example, the SEC would like to pay full cost of college attendance, provide long-term medical coverage and offer incentives to kids who return to school and complete degrees according to ESPN.com. Seeing as how smaller Division I schools are unlikely to afford the changes the Power Five are seeking, Slive wants the NCAA to make changes.
“I’ve been so optimistic that we’re going to stay in Division I that we haven’t sat down and tried to map it out,” Slive said. “But we know that failure to create what we’re trying to create would result in doing something different. How we would construct a Division IV? We haven’t looked in that.
“We hope everyone realizes we are moving into a new era and this is the way to retain your collegiate model. It would be a disappointment, and in my view a mistake, not to adapt the model. This is a historic moment. If we don’t seize the moment, we’ll make a mistake.”
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, Florida State remains favored to win the 2014-15 College Football FBS Championship at 9/2 odds. Alabama has the next-best odds at 6/1, while Oregon is 8/1 and Auburn is 9/1. Ohio State, meanwhile, is 10/1 to win next year’s title, while Oklahoma is 12/1.
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