Power Five plan OK with Benson

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson talks during the Sun Belt media day in New Orleans, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. (AP Photo)
Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson talks during the Sun Belt media day in New Orleans, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. (AP Photo)

NEW ORLEANS -- The Sun Belt Conference doesn't appear to be fretting over the proposed governing structure unveiled by the NCAA last Friday that would give the biggest conferences more influence over college rules.

Instead, the Sun Belt is embracing proposed changes that would likely lead to it and four similar leagues relinquishing power in decision making to the big boys of college athletics.

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson expressed support Tuesday during the conference's media day for the plan that would give the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific-12 and Southeastern conferences -- known as the Power Five -- more influence in legislative decisions. The proposal also would give athletic directors and student-athletes bigger roles in the process.

The NCAA board of directors are scheduled to vote on the complete model Aug. 7.

While officials among the Group of Five -- which is made up of the Sun Belt, American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American and Mountain West conferences -- want more details and some of that group's coaches fear the ramifications of such a proposal, Benson said he and other administrators accept the new reality of college athletics.

"The Sun Belt Conference is prepared to support these changes," Benson said. "Yes, there will be challenges, but Sun Belt universities have invested too much not to be invested in major college football in the future."

The issues the big conferences want control over include the ability to pay the full cost of attendance -- estimated between $1,000 and $6,000 more than a scholarship, depending on the school -- along with longer insurance benefits for players and less stringent transfer rules.

ASU Athletic Director Terry Mohajir said he believes higher-resource conferences deserve to make some decisions based on their needs. He doesn't mind if Power Five schools pay the full cost of attendance, saying even some schools in the Group of Five could do so.

Mohajir said he believes Power Five autonomy is inevitable, but he doesn't believe it'll change much for his school considering ASU doesn't view the those schools as direct competition anyway.

"Our peer institutions are Memphis, Cincinnati, SMU, Houston, Louisiana Tech," Mohajir said. "That's how we're measured. That's how we're judged. That's how we can generate more financial dollars is being ranked higher than them."

Louisiana-Lafayette Athletic Director Scott Farmer said he wants more questions answered before he gets on board fully with the autonomy proposal.

"It's not 100 percent defined," he said.

Farmer said his school would "do everything we can" to pay the full cost of attendance for student-athletes if the amount were $1,000 or so above a scholarship, but he said it's hard to say for certain until that amount is defined.

"We're talking theory here, and I think that's good," he said. "That's good dialogue, but until we get down to the actual [proposal], then we can analyze how it affects us and how we can achieve what we want to do."

Some Sun Belt coaches were less accepting of the idea.

Texas State's Dennis Franchione, who coached previously at Alabama and Texas A&M, wants to know if the Power Five vote on issues for their leagues, then will the Group of Five vote on issues that affect their leagues.

"Does this street run both ways? Or do we have to just sit there and listen to them?" Franchione said. "We all want the betterment of college football and the student-athlete. We need them to lead the way, there's certainly no doubt about that. We need them to share in leading the way, too."

Louisiana-Lafayette Coach Mark Hudspeth said he is against paying above the full cost of attendance, citing his college experience as a quarterback at Division II Delta State in the 1980s.

"I played Division II ball on a book scholarship," he said. "I don't know if a lot of those things are necessary. But the thing I don't want to happen is a group of very wealthy schools make the rules for everybody else."

SMU Coach June Jones suggested in a radio interview last week that the Group of Five leagues should play football in the spring instead of going head-to-head with the Power Five leagues in the fall. When asked Tuesday if that was realistic, Benson didn't answer directly but the two groups "can coexist and we will coexist."

Friday's proposal likely means an alternative to autonomy will be avoided. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive had threatened that in lieu of decision-making powers, the Power Five could separate from the others and create a "Division IV." That likely won't happen if the proposal is adopted.

Although it could mean extra costs for the Sun Belt and other members of the Group of Five, Benson said he prefers the new reality.

"What we wanted to make sure is that the big tent continues, that the 10 FBS conferences will continue to operate under the same tent," Benson said. "In general the outcome, even though there is still some unanswered questions, we're glad that we're able to stay under the same tent."

Sports on 07/24/2014

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