1. SEEKING AUTONOMY
What happened: The SEC escalated its campaign to convince the NCAA to allow five major conferences — SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 — to set their own rules on some matters, including athlete benefits. The SEC threatened to bolt from NCAA Division I and form a new division if the desired autonomy is voted down.
What was said: "I am somewhat optimistic (the autonomy proposal) will pass, but if it doesn't, our league would certainly want to move to a 'Division 4,'" SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. "I'd be surprised if (the other power conferences) didn't feel the same way."
What's next: The NCAA Division I board of directors is scheduled to vote in August on the autonomy proposal. If it passes, the 65 schools in the five power conferences would begin to govern themselves separately from the other 286 Division I schools on issues such as stipends, agents and size of coaching staffs. If the proposal is rejected, "there will be some real difficult times ahead for the NCAA and for the five conferences," Florida president Bernie Machen said.
2. FOOTBALL RECRUITING
What happened: SEC coaches reiterated their opposition to an early national signing day in football, but then offered a plan for how one should work if other leagues force the issue. (This isn't an issue that would be covered by autonomy.) The SEC plan suggests the first Monday after Thanksgiving for an early signing day that would be limited to players who have taken no official visits to any campuses.
What was said: "We like the recruiting calendar the way it is. We think it works fine. We don't think there's a problem," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "But if, in fact, there is going to be an early signing date, if it's inevitable that there will be one, we were unanimous on this (plan)."
What's next: The decision will be made on a national level by all football-playing Division I leagues represented in the Collegiate Commissioners Association. Slive, who firmly opposes an early signing day, said it's a "close call" what that group will decide.
3. FOOTBALL PLAYOFF
What happened: Coaches and athletic directors extensively discussed the new College Football Playoff. Some coaches expressed concern about how the selection committee will choose the four-team field. They were told the criteria will include head-to-head results, strength of schedule and results against common opponents. Some coaches wondered if their programs should eliminate games against FCS opponents to protect strength of schedule.
What was said: "This is new, and of course people are nervous about it," College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock said. "I get the same kind of questions from coaches' groups all over the country: 'Tell us how this is going to work.'"
What's next: Hancock has told his staff that he wants everything — other than the selection of teams, of course — ready by Labor Day for the playoffs, which begin with the national semifinals in the Rose and Sugar bowls on New Year's Day.
4. STATE OF BASKETBALL
What happened: The SEC, which placed only three teams in the NCAA tournament last season, then saw two of them reach the Final Four, examined how to get more teams into the tournament. Former NCAA tournament executive Greg Shaheen made a presentation on scheduling analytics, demonstrating how one team's early-season games ultimately affect other teams' postseason chances.
What was said: "This is as focused as I've seen this league and these coaches and the programs and the ADs on how to move this ball forward," said Kentucky coach John Calipari, adding that the SEC's goal is to put seven teams in the NCAA tournament.
What's next: The SEC hopes to aggressively use its new national TV network to raise the profile of basketball in a football-dominated league. SEC Network launches in mid-August.
5. CONTROVERSY!
What happened: SEC spring meetings are conducive to controversies, and one emerged on an improbable subject this time: Penn State football coach James Franklin's plan to serve as a guest coach at a Georgia State-hosted camp for high school players this summer. SEC coaches expressed irritation that, as they see it, Franklin is trying to make recruiting headway in Georgia by skirting an NCAA rule that bans schools from hosting out-of-state camps more than 50 miles from their campuses. (The rule, however, doesn't say a coach can't be a guest at someone else's camp. And Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly and his staff plan to be at Georgia State's camp next year.)
What was said: "The spirit of that rule was not to have satellite camps all over the place," Richt said. "Well, to me, what I'm seeing is a loophole if another school sponsors the camp — 'Georgia State camp, featuring Penn State coaches' or 'Some Division II school in Texas camp, featuring Oklahoma's or Oklahoma State's coaches.' Just kind of barnstorming all around the place, it's basically people finding a way around that rule."
What's next: SEC coaches asked the conference staff to attempt to have the "loophole" closed in the NCAA rule. Alternatively, the SEC could rescind its own rule that forbids its coaches from guest appearances at such camps. But most likely, the issue will simply fade away when a better controversy comes along.
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