For NCAA, year of upheaval leads to need for transformation

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP College Football Writer

In 2021, it was as if a century’s worth of issues fell on college sports all at once. Lawmakers took aim at the NCAA, undercutting its ability to govern. The Supreme Court issued a scathing rebuke of the so-called collegiate model. A new era of athlete empowerment was ushered in with all sorts of unintended consequences. If 2021 was about upheaval in college sports, 2022 will be largely defined by reform. College sports leaders will attempt to redefine the NCAA. The goal is to shift power away from the national governing body to conferences and schools, while still maintaining the association.