CFB 'Super League' Proposal Revealed; CSFL Plan Features 2 Conferences, 20 Divisions

On Tuesday, a group of prominent business leaders, athletic directors and school presidents announced a proposal for a new college football "super league," dubbed the College Student Football League, according to Justin Williams of The Athletic.

The proposal would reorganize the 136 FBS schools into two conferences. The Power 12 Conference would be comprised of 72 schools drawn from the current Power Five conferences, while the Group of 8 Conference would feature 64 schools from the current Group of Five conferences.

Group of 8 schools would have the chance to earn promotion into the Power 12 Conference after a given season, but Power 12 schools would not face relegation.

The Power 12 Conference would be split into 12 divisions and feature a "geographical- and results-based scheduling model to foster more competitive matchups, while still preserving certain long-standing rivalries, even between teams in different divisions."

In the current proposal, for instance, rivals such as Michigan and Ohio State would end up in different divisions. In fact, 12 prominent institutions—Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas, USC and Oregon—were split apart, with one in each division.

The season would conclude with a 24-team playoff.

The goal of this new "super league," as Williams reported, would be to "remedy that disruption and disorder within college sports and address the numerous legal battles the NCAA is currently facing, including the proposed House settlement. It would also aim to reduce the financial and competitive imbalance that so often defines college football in particular."

Additionally, the CSFL "would collectively bargain via a single, comprehensive players association, which the CST's proposal suggests could lobby in tandem with the league for a special classification from Congress enabling athletes to seek collective representation without being deemed employees."

That would almost certainly receive pushback from college athletes and their advocates, though the players association would potentially be given the power to negotiate compensation and offer feedback on rules and governance.

A salary cap for football programs could also be on the board, as could rules limiting players to up to two transfers in five years, per Williams.

The new college football league would be a football-only setup and wouldn't disrupt traditional conference ties in other sports.

As a number of power conferences continue to consolidate the power programs in the sport—most notably the SEC and Big Ten—a change to a more centralized system might be favored by a number of Power Five schools on the outside looking in.

Tuesday's proposal would significantly alter the sport, though, and is likely to be met with resistance from both the current power-brokers in college football and potentially the players as well.