MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — The hottest topic among coaches on Day 1 of the SEC’s annual spring meetings was the possibility of eliminating scholarship limits and replacing them with roster caps.
The potential move stems from the $2.8 billion settlement that all power conferences and the NCAA have agreed to in the House v. NCAA case. Part of the settlement, which must still be formalized by a judge before its terms become official, called for the end of scholarship limits. Currently, football teams get 85 scholarships, men’s basketball gets 13 and women’s basketball gets 15.
For programs such as baseball, which gets just 11.7 scholarships, eliminating scholarship limits would be a huge benefit. But for football teams, which can carry as many as 120 players between scholarship athletes and walk-ons, eliminating scholarships and placing a lower cap on total roster spots would change roster-building. No specific numbers have been officially proposed yet, but if football’s roster cap was as low as 85, walk-ons could become a thing of the past.
For Arkansas coach Sam Pittman and many of his peers, that’s part of the problem.
“I want to be able to keep it collegiate in that we are helping some guys’ dreams with the walk-on program,” Pittman said. “I hope we’re able to continue to do that.”
Pittman said he’d like to see at least 100 players allowed on a roster. That would allow four players per position. Too many players could come with financial constraints, but too few could create depth issues and would change the way teams practice. Pittman gave the example of “two-spotting,” in which the first and second teams are going 11-on-11 simultaneously on separate parts of the field. It allows more players to get reps in a shorter period.
“If we don’t have the numbers, I think [players] will say, ‘Well heck, I’m not even getting a chance,’” Pittman said. “That’s where two-spotting helps. It helps them grow, but it also helps them keep in their mind that they have value to the team when they’re younger.”
The changes to roster construction aren’t certainties yet, as the House v. NCAA settlement isn’t yet final. It’s also unclear whether caps would be implemented by the NCAA or individual conferences.
“We had a conversation with the football coaches. [It was] pretty thoughtful, I thought,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday. “My recommendation to them is they think about the why. Let’s think about the why first, and that usually guides you to the what.”
Asked if he felt roster limits were coming, Sankey invoked Bob Dylan saying, “The times, they are a-changing.”
Football scheduling takes backseat
The future of SEC scheduling remains unclear as the league considers expanding from eight to nine conference games. Pittman said he would prefer to keep it to eight. The scheduling model is set for 2024 and 2025, but 2026 and beyond aren’t certain.
That was expected to be a key talking point at this year’s meetings before the House v. NCAA settlement. Sankey said Monday that in light of the settlement, there likely wouldn’t be much discussion about future scheduling at this year’s meetings. Still, scheduling will have to be addressed at some point and could come up as coaches talk.
Pittman said he would prefer to keep the schedule at eight SEC games.
“It’s working for our league at eight,” he said. “I think I’d be able to answer better depending on how many teams make the [expanded] playoffs. I think the original thought of keeping it at eight was it wasn’t broke. Our league was winning natties a lot.”
If the SEC expanded the league schedule, teams might be less likely to schedule other major programs for their non-conference schedule, instead opting for lower-level competition to compensate for the rigors of more SEC play.
“I don’t know that not-conference games would be as exciting as what they are now,” Pittman said.
As far as this season is concerned, Sankey said the league would announce kickoff times for the first three weeks on Thursday. Plus, games throughout the season that kick off between 11 a.m. and noon Central will be announced sometime in mid-June.
Availability reports
Another non-settlement topic up for discussion is the possibility of football programs implementing weekly player availability reports, similar to what the NFL has, as college sports betting grows.
“That’s obviously different than the culture that’s existed around much of college athletics over time,” Sankey said Monday. “We don’t want to just rush into something. It’s not injury reporting, it’s a very different circumstance given some of the privacy issues we have. Yet when you start to see the numbers of dollars being bet with legalized sports betting on college sports … All of those catch your attention, and we have to be thoughtful about how information is managed.”
On Tuesday, Sankey added: “This is intended to be the beginning of a discussion, not a decision.”
Texas, Oklahoma join
Sankey joked during his opening press conference Monday that he would have to retire his belt embroidered with the logos of all 14 SEC schools as the league prepares to expand to 16 teams. A full complement of representatives from new members Texas and Oklahoma are in attendance at the league’s meetings for the first time this year.
Oklahoma isn’t on Arkansas’ 2024 football schedule, but a renewed rivalry against Texas is.
“There was so much talk about realignment,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “For us, we gained two rivals back. We’re playing Arkansas and Texas A&M again. We’re looking forward to it, and I’m sure they are too.”
