On Wednesday, Boise State president Bob Kustra released a four-page letter to media outlets that criticized the push for NCAA reform as an attempt "to create a plutocracy" and accused the Big Five commissioners, rather than university presidents, of "calling the shots" while pulling away from the NCAA's long-held ideal of attempting to create a level playing field.
Bowlsby said he hadn't read the entire letter, but said: "There seemed to be plenty of bluster in there."
Bowlsby is perhaps uniquely positioned, at least among the commissioners, to respond to Kustra. His career path included seven years as the athletic director at Northern Iowa, 15 at Iowa and six at Stanford. He served on the NCAA's Basketball Committee, and called the concept of a level playing field "largely a mirage."
"We've tried to legislate competitive equity and it really has never existed," he said. "We win more than 90 percent of the national championships in those 65 schools, and it's been that way for a very long time. That's not to say they're not doing great things at a lot of those other universities. We just have to, on this occasion, vote an enlightened self-interest."
Bowlsby reiterated, as have his peers at various times over the last year, that the Big Five conferences have attempted to make changes while remaining within the existing Division I umbrella rather than "much more draconian approaches" like creating a separate subdivision or a complete breakaway from the NCAA. As for Kustra's assertion that the changes are being driven by the Big Five commissioners rather than school presidents?
"The steering committee has been driven by presidents," Bowlsby said. "The discussion in my conference and the other conferences is being driven by presidents. I just think our presidents disagree with his position."
The underlying message: The Big Five conferences have moved beyond whether increased autonomy should or will happen – Kustra's topic – to what they'll do once they have it.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...-conference-commissioner-bob-bowlsby/9439581/