'We should break away from them': Why Iowa State AD has 'draconian' idea for Big Ten, SEC
· Yahoo Sports
On the same day that the Big Ten Conference held its spring meetings outside of Los Angeles, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard suggested a "draconian" idea for the current model of college athletics during a CyclonesTailgate Tour Stop in Des Moines.
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His idea? For the Big Ten and SEC to "break away" from the Big 12, the ACC, and other NCAA-member conferences in every sport, and "see how fun" it is for those conferences to compete only against themselves in an NIL era without the College Sports Commission.
Pollard’s point — and frustration — stem from the same place: the Big Ten and SEC not wanting to "adhere" to the College Sports Commission, the NIL oversight system that Power Four commissioners invested heavily in creating last June.
"The four commissioners spent a lot of money creating the CSC. Then to have two of the conferences not want to adhere to it is perplexing to me, because then, why did we spend the money? If you didn't want rules, then why did you create this entity? That's what's frustrating to me, the same people that say they want rules only want rules if they don't apply to them," Pollard said on Monday.
"I said it three years ago, let (them) break away. I would turn it around and say we should break away from them. Let them go, but they have to go in all their sports and see how fun it is to play baseball and softball and track when it's just the 20 of you.
"That's what I think we should do, but I'm one person, and you know that's probably a little more draconian, but that's how I feel about it. Let's quit talking about it, quit threatening, go do it. But if you're going to do it, you don't get to just do it in football and then keep all your other sports with us. No, take them all, see how fun it is."
Jamie Pollard expresses his frustration with the Big Ten and SEC for not adhering to the rules of the College Sports Commission. He adds he would be okay with the two conferences splitting from the NCAA.
— Cyclone Fanatic (@cyclonefanatic) May 19, 2026
"The four commissioners spent a lot of money creating the CSC. Then to have… pic.twitter.com/99sxDi89oQ
Pollard's stance appears to stem from a monetary standpoint, with the Big Ten and SEC leading the way with NIL resources by a considerable margin. The Big Ten has won three straight College Football Playoff championships, and swept both the men’s and women’s basketball. UCLA, in the second year of its Big Ten membership, is the No. 1 team in college baseball.
The College Sports Commission was created following the NCAA vs. House Settlement last summer, with CEO Bryan Seeley reporting directly to the Power Four Conference commissioners and a group of additional athletic directors.
The CSC oversees the system that "allows schools to share revenue from the House settlement directly with student-athletes and ensures that NIL deals made with student-athletes are fair and comply with the rules." It also facilitates "more opportunities for student-athletes to benefit from their participation in intercollegiate athletics and will bring much-needed stability and structure to college sports."
It also notes on its website that it "oversees compliance with the new rules around roster limits, revenue sharing and student-athlete third-party NIL deals."
As previously reported by USA TODAY Sports' John Brice, the CSC noted in its Thursday, May 7 report a two-month approval — March 1, 2026, through April 30, 2026 — of more than 5,500 deals worth $75.85 million.
The CSC most recently came out with a win in its NIL arbitration case against 18 University of Nebraska athletes. A third-party arbitrator ruled the CSC properly applied the rules and parameters of the House settlement in deal proposals involving Cornhuskers athletes and the school’s multimedia rights partner, Playfly.
"We are pleased with the arbitrator’s decision to affirm the CSC’s fact-based application of the rules," Seeley said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports. "This process shows the system is working as intended: A decision we made was challenged and a neutral arbitrator assessed the facts to inform a final decision.
"We hope and expect that the student-athletes will submit new deals that comply with the rules, so we can promptly review them."
USA TODAY Sports' John Brice contributed to this article. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iowa State AD says SEC, Big Ten should break away from rest of college sports