Is the Balance of Power in the NCAA About to Shift to California?

How about this for a scenario in the very near future?

The best college teams in the NCAA, in every sport, are in California. They’re dominant, getting the top talent in every sport from football to tennis.

But yet the are prohibited from winning a national championship.

And that scenario could take place very shortly if certain legislature goes through and the NCAA carries out on its threats.

The Fair Pay to Play Act permits all college athletes in California to be compensated for their likeness. It’s already passed the State Senate, 31–5.

In retaliation, the NCAA has threatened to bar all California institutions from winning championships if the bill passes.

And although the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins believes the NCAA is bluffing, that there is no way they will ban Southern California from the FBS playoffs, UCLA from the NCAA Basketball Tournaments, and Cal State Fullerton from the College World Series, don’t be so sure.

The NCAA has used its influence in politics to “think our way or else.” The Georgia State flag, for instance, was changed when the NCAA threatened to remove the Final Four from Atlanta if the Confederate Battle Flag emblem wasn’t taken off of it.

And when Ed O’Bannon, sued because EA Sports used his likeness without compensation (akin to a model being unpaid for an advertising spread) for a video…