Could dissatisfaction with Mark Emmert lead Power 5 to break away from NCAA? Yahoo report shines light on growing divide
By Adam Spencer
Published:
When the NCAA is in the news, it usually isn’t for anything positive. Recently, president Mark Emmert has come under fire for the disparity between the weight rooms, gift packages and food offerings at the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
Emmert has been a frequent target for criticism, yet he continues to remain in his position as the NCAA president.
But, according to a report from Yahoo’s Pete Thamel, there’s a growing disconnect between the NCAA and many of its member institutions. Recently, when Georgetown president Jack DeGioia, the chair of the NCAA Board of Governors, gave Emmert a vote of confidence, it angered many around college athletics:
“It was dispiriting, deflating and depressing,” said a conference commissioner. “This to me shows not only a disconnect, it shows the Board of Governors doesn’t even understand the magnitude of the current issues.”
Could this prompt the Power 5 conferences to break away from the NCAA altogether?
How mad are the leaders around college athletics? There have been open conversations — nothing formal, just general — about the NCAA’s failure of leadership and president-run governance structure being a wedge that could contribute to major conferences eventually breaking away from the NCAA. “How does it not?” said a Power Five athletic director. “This is failed leadership.”
No one is saying DeGioia’s comments will lead directly to major conferences breaking away from the NCAA. But if the major football school/leagues do break away, the inability of the NCAA to find effective leadership and a nimble governance structure, which this moment epitomizes, would be remembered as a pivot point.
“The level of trust and confidence is deteriorating. There has not been a more critical time for leadership in the association,” said one high-ranking college official.
There have been rumors about the Power 5 potentially splitting from the NCAA for a while now. Will anything come of it this time?
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
