Tramel: Can the Power 5 break away in football but keep the NCAA Tournament?

On March 14, 1538, the Duke of Norfolk wrote his pal, Thomas Cornwell, and said, “A man can not have his cake and eat his cake.”

The message has lost its true meaning over almost five centuries. But his wisdom was sound. If you eat your cake, you no longer have your cake.

Maybe the good duke was a prophet, 401 years before the advent of the spectacle we now call March Madness. And maybe the money-makers of college football would be wise to heed the duke.

The Knight Commission for Intercollegiate Athletics reported Tuesday that the majority of Power 5 Conference leaders are interested in creating a fourth division within the NCAA in all sports but basketball. And the survey found that the majority of Power 5 schools would be interested in taking their football, but not their basketball, out of the NCAA.

The 65 schools — Notre Dame, plus the Big 12, Southeastern, Big Ten, Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast conferences — make most of the college football money in America and thus spend most of the college football money in America.

They don’t want to be bothered by the likes of Rice and Middle Tennessee State. Except when they need the little guy.

And they need the little guy in basketball, where the NCAA Tournament is a brand that trumps all others in collegiate sports.

They want their cake and to eat it, too.

Don’t we all?

The football powers — which is a loose term, since we’re talking about not just Alabama, but Wake Forest; not just Ohio State, but Vanderbilt — long have sought autonomy and largely have received it, in terms of rules and policies. Mount Union once had a vote on how Nebraska conducted its football business, which seems quite odd and would naturally lead to revolution.

Now, the Power 5 largely governs itself, but it also shares a division — what I still call Division I-A from two decades ago but what the NCAA calls with a mouthful Football Bowl Subdivision — with five other conferences and a few independents.

And while some mid-majors like Brigham Young and Central Florida can keep up with Georgia and Southern Cal in football, most are of the New Mexico and Bowling Green variety.

The Power 5 needs the little guy on two fronts: football scheduling and March Madness.

The football powers have built their economic models around more home games than road games, courtesy of athletic programs willing to send their teams for indubious battle and a healthy paycheck.

Even in the pandemic-stricken season of 2020, some of those cupcake exhibitions endured. OU-Missouri State. Clemson-Citadel. Notre Dame-South Florida.

But the SEC scrapped all such games this season, instead establishing a 10-game conference-only schedule, and the results have been smashing. Competitive games, more drama, more parity.

The SEC has been playing just three weeks, and already the league has just two unbeatens (Georgia and Alabama, which collide Saturday) and one winless (Vanderbilt) remaining.

In the Big 12 alone, of 13 conference games played, eight went down to the final seconds, and only two were blowouts. Both involved Kansas. Football is a heck of a sport when either side could win.

Maybe the coronavirus will lead us to healthier college football scheduling.

And the NCAA Tournament is a golden goose for every school. A marketing success like no other in sport. From North Carolina to St. Bonaventure, from Kentucky to Maryland-Baltimore County, March Madness is the Emerald City. Providing not just cash and prestige, but hope. Hope is a powerful thing. Nowhere does the American dream live like it lives on March hardwoods.

The big boys could stage their own basketball tournament, and we would watch, but no way would such an event capture America’s imagination without the Loyola-Chicagos and Virginia Commonwealths.

Almost 80 percent of the Power 5 reps surveyed called it “essential” to stay connected with the NCAA Tournament. They know where their cake is iced.

Non-Power 5 schools in Division I number almost 300, so even beyond the Power 5, there are levels of class. The majority of football-playing little guys — the Texas-El Pasos and Appalachian States — don’t want the Power 5 to separate. You can understand why. They want to remain tethered to the money. But the majority of Division I schools without football, the Santa Claras and the Texas-Arlingtons, were fine with more separation.

As long as March Madness remains intact.

This much is true. The NCAA’s Division I is a mess. Texas and Texas A&M have annual athletic budgets in the $200 million range. Some Mid-American Conference schools would need half a century to generate that kind of money.

Division I is a United Nations. A fabulous idea that has no chance of working. Too much disparity, too many conflicting goals.

Can the Power 5 schools prove the Duke of Norfolk wrong? Can they have their cake, and eat it, too?

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. You can also view his personality page at oklahoman.com/berrytramel.