One of the things we here at Hail Florida Hail have commented on over the past couple of years is that Florida, despite its results on the field, is in a long-term position of strength due to its affiliation with the SEC. The conference has been able to maintain its identity and structure through all the realignment changes, and even compared to the Big Ten, it has been able to maintain a sense of regional identity versus grabbing a mishmash of teams.
But as college athletics continue to shift and evolve, Florida fans should take note of some nearby schools who are desperately trying to lifeboat into the SEC. And a new proposal to the Save College Sports Act could speed up the timeline for when these schools try to jump ship.
Ashley Moody proposes a 180-day escape window for Power Four schools
If you haven’t been following along, the Save College Sports Act is a proposed bill set to reform NIL and transfer rules and put limits on when a coach can start work at a new school if he changes jobs before the season ends.
But one of the other major components of the bill is a provision that would make a team switching conferences sit out and be an independent school for five years.
This is where a proposed amendment to the bill from Florida US Senator Ashley Moody came into the picture today. A report from Yahoo Sports claims that Moody has filed an amendment that would exempt a school from the five-year probation if they withdraw from their current league within 180 days of the bill being enacted.
In other words, the ACC is going to have a mass exodus overnight if this bill passes.
“But the ACC can’t sink!”
She’s made of iron, sir! I assure you, she can… and she will. It is a mathematical certainty.
Florida has little incentive to help its rivals escape
Even though the SEC has handled conference expansion better than others, it has still created headaches for Florida. This year is going to be just the second time since 2012 that Florida has played Auburn, but the Gators were forced into an annual matchup with Missouri that nobody cared about. The Gators don’t get to play Tennessee this year, but instead are going to host Ole Miss and Oklahoma.
Now imagine how much more of a mess and how strained the schedule becomes if schools like UNC get added.
As it stands right now, FSU and Miami have to fly out west for conference games against Stanford and Cal. Do Florida fans really want to make their life any easier?
There are two truths about college football right now:
- This bill still has a ton of hurdles to clear, and who knows what the final version of it will be, if there ever is a final version.
- College football is a ship without a captain because the NCAA has opted to hide out in its wheelhouse until the water crashes through its surroundings.
All we know is that Florida has the high ground that some of its rivals do not. And do we really want to provide a lifeboat to all the schools looking for help?
No! You'll swamp us!
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