Conference consortiums are nothing new in college sports. There are legitimate ones—like the Power 5 leagues, which were granted the autonomy to set some of their own rules back in 2014 by the NCAA. Then, there are the ill-fated ones, such as the Alliance, which involved the Pac-12, Big Ten and ACC and evolved out of the need to combat the SEC’s addition of Oklahoma and Texas. It ended when the Big Ten swiped USC and UCLA right out from under the Pac-12.
Now, the four HBCU conferences (MEAC, SWAC, SIAC, CIAA) are aiming for a strategic alignment in what they’re calling the Power Four, launched late in 2022.
“I think we’re for power,” CIAA commissioner Jacqie McWilliams Parker says. “That’s what we stand for. To empower our students, our HBCU institutions, to advocate, to live our best lives in the communities that we serve and give these student athletes an opportunity to play at HBCUs. And it’s not for everyone. We get that as well. But for us, it’s what I do every single day. It’s passion work.”
