UNC System president, board has new power over conference moves. What it means.

By Brian Murphy, WRAL

The UNC System Board of Governors voted Thursday to give the system president and itself final authority over a school's ability to change athletic conferences.

The change to the intercollegiate athletics section of the UNC Policy Manual has been in the works for months. The policy now requires that the chancellor of the institution provide advance notice and a financial plan if a school wishes to leave or join an athletic conference.

The UNC System president must approve the plan. And, even if the president does approve it, the board has the power to vote the plan up or down. If the plan is voted down, the school cannot change leagues until a new financial plan is approved.

Why now?

The change comes at a time of upheaval in intercollegiate athletics with the NCAA repeatedly losing court cases about rules enforcement and its amateurism model under fire.

And conference realignment continues to reshape the landscape.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, home to the UNC System's two most important athletic departments in North Carolina and NC State, faces an uncertain future as the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference have expanded their footprints, consolidated power and flexed their financial might.

Florida State is challenging the league in court, hoping to find a less financially punitive way out of the ACC as soon as possible.

Does this tie UNC and NC State together?

The prospect of long-time rivals North Carolina and NC State playing in different athletic conferences seems unimaginable to many in the state.

Count North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper among them.

"I would hope that would not happen and that would not be good for our state," Cooper told WRAL in a recent interview.

The ACC, formed in Greensboro, is now headquartered in Charlotte. It holds the majority of its championships in the state and is, in many ways, synonymous with North Carolina. Duke and Wake Forest, private schools that are not part of the UNC System, are also members of the league.

Although many have interpreted the changes as a way to keep the schools together, the policy change doesn't mention any specific school. Nor does it outline what criteria would be considered when making a decision about the financial plan.

Is it just about the financial impact on the institution changing conferences or will the president and board consider the financial impact on other schools in the system?

Any ACC school that joins the Big Ten or SEC would be in line for a massive financial upgrade. The leagues are expected to distribute at least $30 million more annually to its member institutions than the ACC does in the coming years. And that number could grow, especially as those two leagues gain more access and bigger payouts from the expanded College Football Playoff.

An ACC school that is joining any other league would be doing so out of necessity — like the Pac-12 schools that left for the Big 12 or Stanford and Cal, which joined the ACC, when it became apparent the Pac-12's television rights package would not be up to par.

What criteria the president or the board would be using to evaluate the financial plan is not spelled out in the policy change. Financial plan is meant to be a broad term, the UNC System's general counsel told a committee in January.

"It would be as encompassing related to the funding of the change as the board might deem to exercise in its discretion," Andrew Tripp said.

California's state university governing board was caught playing catch-up when UCLA wanted to go to the Big Ten and leave Cal behind in the crumbling Pac-12. Eventually, the board allowed UCLA to leave but stipulated that it must make an annual payment to Cal, which will join the ACC this year.

"The purpose of this notice is to provide the president the opportunity to weigh in on the potential impacts of the agreement, including those that may impact the financial health of the intercollegiate athletic program, contract risk or legal risk associated with that agreement," Kellie Hunt Blue, chair of the university governance committee, told the full board after her committee approved the change in January.

"The amendments also provide the Board of Governors with an opportunity to review any agreements and financial plans with legal counsel so that they may inform a constituent institution of any potential legal risk."

Could UNC change leagues? Could NC State?

With the Pac-12 picked clean and the biggest Big 12 brands already gone, ACC teams are the most obvious candidates if the SEC and Big Ten decide to expand further.

UNC's combination of national brand, overall athletic success and academic standing make it attractive to both leagues. As, too, does its reach in a populous state where neither league has a foothold — yet.

If the Big Ten were to grab UNC, could the SEC move to add NC State and its passionate football fan base?

Or would a league be interested in adding both? Could Duke's national basketball brand, academic status and rivalry with UNC earn it a spot in the forthcoming Power 2?

Sometimes realignment makes perfect sense. Many times, it doesn't.

What is the UNC System?

The UNC System oversees 16 public universities in the state, plus the North Carolina School of Science and Math. All the universities, with the exception of the UNC School of the Arts, have intercollegiate athletics.

App State, East Carolina and Charlotte are members of the UNC System and all have changed conferences since 2014.

The system president is Peter Hans.

The system's board of governors has 24 members, appointed by the North Carolina House and Senate to staggered four-year terms. Both legislative chambers have been controlled by Republicans since 2011, meaning all members were appointed by Republicans.

The Republican leaders of each chamber told WRAL in August that UNC and NC State should remain in the same conference.