Michigan regent calls NCAA 'mall cops' amid conference realignment, congressional NIL reform

On Sunday, Michigan regent Jordan Acker gave his thoughts on the current state of the NCAA and, specifically, conference realignment. With over 15 tweets in his fantastic rant, Acker didn’t pull any punches.

“So I’ve been holding my tongue for a couple days on the conference realignment, Round 2023,” Acker wrote on Twitter. “But now it’s nap time on the shores of beautiful Lake Walloon in Northern Michigan so here goes.

“Let’s get the good stuff and the disclaimers out of the way: I have a tremendous respect for [Michigan president Santa Ono] and Warde Manuel when it comes to protecting the interests of the University of Michigan. Full stop. They are my guys, and I’m proud of the work they do.”

The truth behind the change

“I also want to welcome [Washington] and [Oregon] to the Big Ten Conference,” Acker continued. “They are tremendous institutions with fantastic fan bases, and I know they’ll love coming to places like Ann Arbor, Madison, and Iowa City.

“But let’s face some facts here: this expansion, like the several before it, has zero to do with the caliber of the school, the impact it would have on student athletes, tradition or rivalry. It has everything to do with TV dollars. But everyone knows that.”

Acker’s Twitter diatribe comes just days after the college athletics world was rocked by another wild day of conference realignment moves that severely diminished the Pac-12. That turnover began midday Friday when rumors began to spread that Oregon and Washington were following USC and UCLA‘s lead and leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. Hours later, those moves became official, followed quickly behind decisions from Arizona, Arizona State and Utah to follow Colorado to the Big 12.

In a matter of hours, the Pac-12 looked like a ghost town. The shifting storm left the conference just Oregon State, Washington State, California and Stanford.

Jordan Acker details distance concerns

“It’s utterly indefensible on any other grounds. FACT: It will take less time for our student athletes in non-chartered travel to go from Ann Arbor to London than it will to Eugene. Should we consider adding University College London to add another TV window? (Don’t give any ideas),” Acker continued.

“This is where I find the NCAA and its behavior so wildly offensive. If this alleged oversight body, which claims it is high and mighty every time it runs to Congress demanding action, really cared about student athletes, they’d get this nonsense under control.

“Instead, they run around finding minor violations while ignoring the VERY real impact that a weeknight competition in Seattle would have on student athletes with classes in College Park,” Acker added.

Distance is certainly a concern in the new era of the Big Ten. According to CBS Sports, the Wolverines will travel nearly 8,000 miles just going back and forth from Ann Arbor to Oregon and Washington.

In hopes of combatting the grueling travel schedule, the Big Ten announced the “Flex Protect Plus” model. The model consists of a nine-game conference schedule and contains both guaranteed annual matchups and rotating ones.

Michigan regent attacks the NCAA directly

Media rights deals undoubtedly contributed to the Pac-12’s recent troubles. After failing to secure a TV deal earlier this offseason, Pac-12 president George Kliavkoff proposed a media deal with Apple.

That deal, which would fluctuate financially based on streamers, would start at around $20 million annually per school. The Big Ten, reportedly, offered Oregon and Washington $35-40 million annually, per school.

“They’re mall cops that are way in over their heads. The TV execs do their jobs, the Presidents protect their institutions. If the [NCAA] were a real oversight body, it would be the grown up in the room,” Acker wrote of the NCAA. “Instead, it sits around policing minor violations while 115-year-old conferences are simply blown up.

“Now, let’s get to the heart of it: these college leaders, from the Big Ten, to the SEC, to the ACC and beyond. Again talking about how the biggest threats to college sports are the transfer portal and NIL, and then go transfer portal a conference in a week in August.”

“If the Arguments for Congressional action had no merit before, now they look positively silly,” Acker continued. “In what world should student athletes be given a bigger grind (with almost no say into this massive change) with ZERO of the TV dollars going in their pockets?”

Acker’s argument isn’t a new one. The College Football Players Association has argued that student-athletes deserve a cut of media deals for years. Yet, no change has come. The argument is more prevalent than ever, with conference realignment being decided in the wake of TV deals.

Regent slams NCAA for its ‘enormous hypocrisy’

“Instead, the concern was that every school would continue to get what they had. The students, who are not allowed to be employees or collect revenue sharing, while the schools are hyper focused on their own percentages. In what world does that make sense?” Acker wrote.

“It’s not the lack of caring about regionalism and rivalry that get me (as a fan, of course they do). It’s the enormous hypocrisy of claiming the NCAA or its member institutions remotely care about student athlete welfare when they’re in front of congress.”

In March, current and former college athletes, university administrators and league commissioners testified in front of Congress on the risks — and rewards — of the current name, image and likeness system.

In June, multiple prominent figures once against took to D.C., lobbying for stricter NIL guidelines and national uniformity. The NCAA is yet to boast glaring success. Acker claims the act is out of self-interest and not for the student-athletes.

Jordan Acker sends a message to Congress

“While showing just absolute utter disregard for it when it comes to conference expansion. Congress should judge these leaders by their actions, and not by the words: It acts like a business, and should be treated like a business on all aspects, including compensation,” Acker wrote.

“The entire empire has no clothes. If the NCAA and its member institutions were actually even somewhat concerned about fairness, today would be a good day to start moving toward a revenue share. The second best day would be tomorrow.”

Acker is one of eight members on Michigan University’s Board of Regents. The group consists of eight members elected at large in biennial statewide elections. Members of the Michigan board serve for overlapping terms of eight years.