FULL Justin Sell interview — Future of SDSU in CFB (FCS or FBS) & "Opt in" decision to pay athletes directly cover art

FULL Justin Sell interview — Future of SDSU in CFB (FCS or FBS) & "Opt in" decision to pay athletes directly

FULL Justin Sell interview — Future of SDSU in CFB (FCS or FBS) & "Opt in" decision to pay athletes directly

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 Do you want to know exactly where South Dakota State athletic director Justin Sell sits on the heaviest and most important issues facing college athletic departments all over the country, particularly in the Jackrabbits' sandbox of FCS football and mid-major basketball? There's so much to cover — particularly the prospect of SDSU moving "up" to FBS and the opportunity for the athletic department to "opt in" to an NCAA-House Settlement and pay athletes directly for the first time in NCAA history. SDSU's rivals in Vermillion are opting in, but Sell had been giving a hard "no" repeatedly... until today. The Jacks are reconsidering. Why? Sell was willing to spend 90 minutes with Happy Hour host John Gaskins, sinking his teeth into the meat of those issues. It was such a thorough, insightful discussion, we divided it into two parts. Part 1 - The future of college football and where the Jacks fit (FCS vs move up to FBS?) The only constant in college athletics — particularly college football — is change. Blink and a new conference is formed, or a team has left one conference for another, or yet another team has left the FCS level for the FBS, hoping to get in on that "College Football Playoff" and bowl game action (money!). In recent years, several FCS programs have made the leap and found home in "Group of Five" conferences like the Sun Belt and Conference USA. South Dakota State's 2025 season opening opponent, Sacramento State, is currently awaiting its fate as an FBS hopeful that currently doesn't have a conference to join but yearns so lustily for the FBS, it is begging to be an FBS independent. In fact, Sac State's president recently called the FCS level "JV" in hopes of joining the "varsity" of FBS. FCS powerhouse SDSU has been a superior program to every team that has moved from FCS to FBS, so why haven't the Jackrabbits made the move, or even tried? What are the possibilities — and true advantages — of things opening up in the near future to make the move? Is being in the FBS that much more lucrative? Will life forever and ever be better simply playing in the geographically sensical Missouri Valley Football Conference — as the Jacks battle long-time traditional regional rivals like South Dakota, North Dakota State and North Dakota and annually, contending for FCS national titles — or is the financial gain of joining FBS too great to not want to make a leap if the Jacks are invited? Or maybe, the "Power Four" conferences will create their own division and leave the other FBS schools and FCS to potentially band together, meaning SDSU can just wait to be in the same pool as the Group of Five programs without making any moves? Sell explains the navigation SDSU has made so far with this issue, and gives some hints of what is to come in the next few years. Part 2 - Paying athletes & to "opt in" or to "not opt in" to House Settlement (and more on how athletes get compensated) Opt in or opt out? To some, this is the hottest and most fascinating college athletics topic around. To others, a brain-frying maze of gobblygook to ignore for the sheer depth and legal confusion of it all. But undeniably, it is a major decision for each Division I program not in the Power Four Conferences (they have to "opt in"): Will you take the option to allow your athletes to be paid directly by the school via sharing the revenue your athletic department makes — up to $20.5 million of revenue this year, and more in coming years — should you say "yes?" South Dakota is opting in. Three other Missouri Valley Football Conference Schools have officially announced they are in — Youngstown State, Illinois State, Murray State. FCS powerhouse Montana State, in. North Dakota State? Nothing yet announced. South Dakota State? Last week, Sell told Gaskins, via text, the same thing he told Gaskins In a March 5 Happy Hour interview — the Jackrabbits will likely not opt in, citing mainly the roster cuts spanning multiple sports that would have to be made. But that was before the House Settlement was officially approved on June 6 by a federal judge, with the announcement that all athletes on rosters this season would be saved if a school "opted in" — the "grandfather clause." So where does SDSU and Sell now stand? The deadline is June 30. Sell spends over 50 minutes describing all of the factors SDSU is considering before it makes up its mind. As valuable of a discussion — what are all the ways SDSU and other schools currently compensate their athletes? Where does the money come from and how is it distributed? And most importantly, where do major donors and major corporate sponsors — a vital source of revenue for the athletic program — stand on if revenue sharing is a better way to compensate athletes versus NIL (Name, Image, Likeness). After all, donors will get a tax break on their donation to the school. They won't on their donations to the third-party "NIL collectives" that are currently the ...
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