By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
Big 12 Board Chairwoman and Baylor President Linda Livingstone has sent a letter to Power 4 conference leaders inviting them to a summit in early December to discuss the future of college athletics and more specifically, new football models.
Livingstone is hoping the presidents and chancellors of the ACC, Big Ten and SEC will join the Big 12 at the “Presidents and Chancellors Summit on the Future of College Athletics” on Dec. 2-3 in Dallas, according to The Athletic.
Livingstone references two “so-called college football super league models” that have been circulating in recent weeks, and wants “an opportunity to hear from the architects of these models or to discuss their implications together as university leaders.”
“The Big 12 Conference Board of Directors agrees there is an urgent need for the presidents and chancellors from the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC to gather in person to discuss these and other topics impacting college athletics and each of our universities,” Livingstone wrote.
ESPN‘s Pete Thamel reports that there is no expectation that any SEC or Big Ten Presidents will attend. Last month, we reported that the SEC and Big Ten were discussing a potential partnership to align their college football schedules to give them an upper hand on the ACC and Big 12.
The idea to hear directly from the creators of the two super league models arose during a Big 12 Board meeting in October and evolved into Livingstone hoping to have all the Power conferences leaders come together.
The letter was born from a discussion at a Big 12 board meeting in October, where Livingstone expressed a desire for the Big 12 board to learn more about the options that have surfaced in the market. Some board members were surprised, per sources, this turned into a potential…
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) November 6, 2024
Livingstone is also currently serving as the chair of the NCAA’s Board of Governors.
The super league models are being pitched as a way of preserving certain aspects of college football (and college sports in general) while bringing in a more professionalized system after the landmark settlement in the House v. NCAA case earlier this year.
The two super league models that have been circulating in recent weeks are the “College Student Football League” and “Project Rudy.”
The College Student Football League is a reorganization of the 136-team and 10-conference Football Bowl Subdivision into a single league, while Project Rudy was created by a group of former Disney Executives and would inject billions of dollars into the Power 4 schools to create a business that would largely maintain the existing structure of college football.
The Big Ten and SEC reportedly have shown no interest in either, while ACC Athletic Directors saw a presentation on Project Rudy on Nov. 6.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Big 12 Board Chair Invites Power 4 Leaders To “Future of College Athletics” Summit