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Mike Slive, one of the most influential powerbrokers in the history of college athletics, died Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala. He was 77.
Slive, who was best known as the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference from 2002-2015 – a time when the league ascended to the top of college sports’ hierarchy, on the football field and in finances, too – was one of the chief catalysts in creating the College Football Playoff and achieving increased autonomy for the schools in the NCAA’s “Power Five” conferences.