OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — The five most powerful and wealthiest conferences in college sports are working to pass NCAA legislation that would increase the value of an athletic scholarship by several thousand dollars to cover cost of attendance.
Autonomy for the Big Five — the Big Ten, Big 12, Atlantic Coast Conference, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference — was voted in last year and Saturday at the NCAA convention will be their first chance to use.
The group of 65 schools is now allowed to pass legislation on their own, without the support of the schools in the other 27 conferences that make up Division I.
The move toward autonomy was spurred after a proposal to add a $2,000 stipend to the value of a scholarship to help cover the cost of attendance for athletes was shot down in 2011 by schools that were concerned they could not afford it and it would create a recruiting advantage for those that could.
Now those schools won’t have a say, though legislation passed by the autonomous group will allow any school can opt in.
The 65 schools are scheduled to hold a discussion forum Saturday and then voted on eight proposals, most related to how cost of attendance will be calculated and reported by each school. Because tuitions vary, so will the amount paid by each school. The cost-of-attendance proposals are expected to pass.
Also, the Big Five is considering a proposal to create protocol for dealing with concussions and another that would prohibit a school from pulling an athletes’ scholarship because of performance.
The concussion proposal is expected to draw the most debate. Big 12 leaders have indicated they will vote against it because they believe it allows too coaches too much influence in deciding whether a player is able to return to action after a possible concussion.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.