Realignment Megathread (All The Moves)

[MountainManHawk]

I still see no way it’s anything but bluster. They can’t do it without collusion with BIG, as BIG will become a P1 if SEC goes it alone

Based on my very flawed analysis of social media, Georgia fans in particular have been in meltdown mode the last year over “how ruined college sports has become”

It’s not surprising to now see so many of their leaders being out front on leaving- I’m guessing they’ve been flaming their base for months. Taking the ball and going home in response to the BIG becoming the top conference

Granted it is common across all the SEC

I’m assuming it will be like Covid where the conferences make an announcement about their intentions, and then if other conferences don’t eventually follow suit they might have to adjust accordingly.

A vote to secede could also mean a lot of different things. For instance I see Georgia talk about never playing any teams other than SEC and forming a new playoff with only SEC teams, etc.

It seems more likely to me that they stop short of that and just announce that they are going to a self governance model while trying to keep everything else the same.

Pollard is obviously already on record saying that if they try that he is going to attempt to force them out in all sports. I have no idea if he could get the votes to actually bar them from all NCAA competitions if they really try to call his bluff.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

I’m assuming it will be like Covid where the conferences make an announcement about their intentions, and then if other conferences don’t eventually follow suit they might have to adjust accordingly.

A vote to secede could also mean a lot of different things. For instance I see Georgia talk about never playing any teams other than SEC and forming a new playoff with only SEC teams, etc.

It seems more likely to me that they stop short of that and just announce that they are going to a self governance model while trying to keep everything else the same.

Pollard is obviously already on record saying that if they try that he is going to attempt to force them out in all sports. I have no idea if he could get the votes to actually bar them from all NCAA competitions if they really try to call his bluff.

That would be the death knell for college football, regionalizing the sport even further. The southeast is not a wealthy enough area of the country to sustain a regional league at these investment levels.

NASCAR would have more reach than SEC-only football and it is majorly struggling

 

[MountainManHawk]

I think Cody is probably correct here that if the SEC secedes, they will still face the same legal challenges the NCAA is facing.

The first time the SEC tries to make a kid ineligible, there will likely be a lawsuit.

The SEC would have a better chance of winning the lawsuit though as they could say the kid is welcome to go try and play for a different conference if they don’t like it.

The article also includes some stuff on state labor laws that I’m not sure I understand fully but I agree with the gist of the article, which is that getting a CBA in place would be very difficult for the SEC.

According to this, the state labor laws can be avoided by just having them be employees of the conference instead of the school.

I still think it will be difficult to convince the players to sign a CBA (the current system seems to be working really well for the players, why would they sign something that would do away with that?), but maybe the issues that Cody raises about state labor laws are overblown.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

According to this, the state labor laws can be avoided by just having them be employees of the conference instead of the school.

I still think it will be difficult to convince the players to sign a CBA (the current system seems to be working really well for the players, why would they sign something that would do away with that?), but maybe the issues that Cody raises about state labor laws are overblown.

Why would schools agree to this? They’d yield a lot of player control to the league.

I don’t think any professional league operates this way. Players are employees of the team, not the league. If they’re employees of the league, does the SEC determine salary, benefits, etc.?

 

[FinalFourCy]

I’m assuming it will be like Covid where the conferences make an announcement about their intentions, and then if other conferences don’t eventually follow suit they might have to adjust accordingly.



It seems more likely to me that they stop short of that and just announce that they are going to a self governance model while trying to keep everything else the same.

According to this, the state labor laws can be avoided by just having them be employees of the conference instead of the school.

I still think it will be difficult to convince the players to sign a CBA (the current system seems to be working really well for the players, why would they sign something that would do away with that?), but maybe the issues that Cody raises about state labor laws are overblown.

That’s long been one of the hopes.

But that’s basically 3rd party ownership, the slippery slope to things like investor owned teams or leagues. I’m all for it

Imo saying “we’ll just leave the NCAA and self govern, but everything else stays the same” is wishful thinking. Then again, these leaders naive wishful thinking that big business could be contained by amateurism is how we got here

It’s clear that in the resistance to employment and eventually CBA, they’re going to make things worse while trying everything else

SEC vs BIG as IPOs. The former shows better revenue (ratings) but I’d buy the latter. It’s the behemoth that can use M&A

 

[SolterraCyclone]

According to this, the state labor laws can be avoided by just having them be employees of the conference instead of the school.

I still think it will be difficult to convince the players to sign a CBA (the current system seems to be working really well for the players, why would they sign something that would do away with that?), but maybe the issues that Cody raises about state labor laws are overblown.

I’d also be curious if this is actually true. Since Covid I’ve worked for companies headquartered in California and Iowa, but live in Colorado. I’m pretty sure my companies have still had to abide by Colorado state laws. Both companies only had certain states they’d hire from for this reason (or so I thought. Maybe it was more due to tax implications).

 

[1UNI2ISU]

What's funny about this is that Cody's blatantly obvious plan was to make enough noise to get that SEC invite and he just napalmed that bridge because his ego just couldn't help itself.

 

[CyCrazy]

What's funny about this is that Cody's blatantly obvious plan was to make enough noise to get that SEC invite and he just napalmed that bridge because his ego just couldn't help itself.

He couldn't be this dense to not realize the backlash that would ensue could he?