College football analyst says college sports don’t need NCAA anymore

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The college football season has arrived, with Week 0 getting underway Thursday night. While another exciting football season is on the horizon, a dark cloud continues to hang over the sport. The offseason chaos has been relentless and its most powerful governing institution has been rendered nearly powerless.

The NCAA has suffered loss after loss in the court system. Things have reached the point where the Protect College Sports Act is under review simply to help preserve the organization’s authority. The NCAA has struggled to govern the sport and enforce its own bylaws. Is its time coming to a close? One prominent college football analyst believes it should.

Paul Finebaum believes college football, and athletics in general, no longer need the NCAA. With constant NIL, transfer portal, and eligibility battles ending in court defeats, the NCAA has faced increasing criticism for its inability to maintain control over the sport.

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“It doesn’t really pay to keep blaming them. They are an inept organization that’s only chance of survival is getting the Senate to pass this bill. That turns a lot of people off. I for one don’t want the NCAA to survive … we don’t need them anymore.” Finebaum declared.

End of the NCAA?

Perhaps we are already beginning to see the end of the NCAA as college football’s primary governing body. The Power Four conferences have begun taking measures that the NCAA seemingly could not enforce. The SEC and Big Ten, for example, have moved to establish bylaws prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college sports.

Those rules are already being challenged by individual athletes, but their existence demonstrates how much power the conferences now wield. Rather than waiting for the NCAA to establish or hope to enforce rules, the biggest conferences increasingly appear willing to govern themselves.

Still, eliminating the NCAA entirely may not be the best solution for college athletics. The organization could instead need to reform and redefine its role. With NIL, eligibility, transfers, and athlete compensation creating unprecedented challenges, college sports arguably need some form of centralized oversight.

The problem is that the NCAA’s authority has eroded significantly. If it wants to remain relevant, it will need to find a way to regain the trust of athletes, schools, and conferences. Otherwise, Finebaum’s prediction could become reality.

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