NCAA Autonomy Proposal Details Released; Vote Next Month

The NCAA today released a highly-anticipated and sweeping proposal to grant autonomy to the Power 5 football conferences. NCAA President Mark Emmert, say vague PR things full of buzzwords that make no sense.

The Division I membership overall and the steering committee in particular worked hard to create a structure that will allow the division to operate more simply and inclusively. It shows a clear commitment to support student-athletes and allow them not only a place at the table but a voice in the process.

Thank you, sir.

On a serious note, here's what the proposal basically looks like: The Power 5 will get 80 votes when it comes to autonomy, with 65 votes going to the schools and 15 votes going to students. Notre Dame gets a vote with the ACC, because the sky would fall if Notre Dame didn't have a voice in this.

A 60 percent supermajority of all voting members could pass Power 5-specific rules if there's majority support among three of the conferences, while a simple majority of all members could pass the rules if there's majority support among four of the conferences. (The NCAA has an infograph on this if you need it.)

One of the more interesting tweaks that the group putting together the proposal made was to make it easier for the power conferences to add an area to the list of items they can control. That looks like a compromise for one of the other significant changes that was made -- keeping control of transfer rules with the broader NCAA, at least temporarily.

The next big day is Aug. 7, when the NCAA's board will vote on the changes. Mike Slive and other power conference commissioners have been pretty clear about what happens if the vote goes against them -- and it's not a situation that anyone wants to be in.