The future of college football continues to be in flux, as schools and conferences wrestle with how to make more money.
Conference realignment exploded because schools like USC and UCLA were falling well behind, financially, relative to peers in the Big Ten or SEC. College Football Playoff expansion continues to be a topic of discussion, led in part by those two conferences, as administrators believe there's more money to be made by adding more games and teams to the mix.
But another point of discussion in college football is even larger and more structural: the point of the NCAA and current configuration.
Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti speaks during the 2025 Big Ten Football Media Days at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 22, 2025. (Louis Grasse/Getty Images)
Some have speculated that the Power Four conferences should leave the NCAA entirely, form their own breakaway league that's organized differently than the existing format. Notable personalities like Kirk Herbstreit spoke about that earlier in 2026, saying that name, image and likeness (NIL) and other issues could be fixed if there's a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between conferences and players in a new entity.
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"I think the Power Four needs to break away," he said in an interview with Front Office Sports. "Create their own world, create their own governing body. Allow the Group of Four to create their own world. Allow them to have their own playoff. Much like FCS and Division II and III. Just create a new level, which would be the Power Four. Let’s create a new governing body, let’s put a commissioner. If we need to unionize the players, to allow them to create a CBA to avoid the antitrust laws, make the rules, come to an agreement like the NFL does on both sides."
Then there are proposals that the Big Ten and SEC, as the two most successful conferences, should set up their own arrangement. And one athletic director at a major Big 12 program, surprisingly, seems to think they should.
Jamie Pollard of the Iowa State Cyclones stands on the sidelines before a game against the Baylor Bears at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa, on Oct. 5, 2024. The Cyclones won 43-21. (Luke Lu/Diamond Images)
"Let them break away. We should break away from them," said Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard to reporters this week, per Brett McMurphy. "Let them go, but they have to go in all their sports and see how fun it is to play baseball, softball and track when it’s just the 20 of you. That’s what I think we should do, but I’m one person & that’s probably a little more draconian.
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"That’s how I feel about it. Like, let’s quit talking about it. Quit threatening. Go do it. But if you’re going to do it, you don’t get to just do it in football and then keep all your other sports with us. No, take them all. See how fun it is."
Sounds like relations between the two dominant superconferences and the rest of the P4 are in a great spot.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaks with the media during SEC Media Days at the Grand Bohemian Hotel. (Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images)
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Pollard is right, directionally, in that the Big Ten and SEC "need" the other conferences. But it's also short sighted to act as though the Big 12 doesn't need them too. There's logic to all sides of the argument; the Big Ten and SEC provide the most value to college athletics, but there is value from Big 12 and ACC programs too. And with everyone grasping for a large slice of the pie, there's bound to be disagreement over how best to distribute money or make more of it.
It would be stunning if the Big Ten and SEC broke away entirely. But it seems increasingly likely that Power Four does break away from the NCAA. It's only a matter of time.
Ian Miller is a writer at OutKick.
