The NCAA is at a point of identity and organizational crisis. Its new president is out there talking about creating a new subdivision where schools can pay players directly, but its enforcement arm is also out trying to apply anti-pay-for-play NIL rules. The staff is a mix of reformers and amateurism dead-enders, and the contradictions are spilling out into public as external pressure mounts.
If there are two facts that shape where the NCAA is at and why it’s gotten to its breaking point, it’s these:
- America can’t get enough of football, but the NFL’s age limit is going nowhere.