It's time for the breakoff.

It's coming sooner or later, this tectonic shift in college athletics that will formally sever the Power Four — the SEC, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 — into its own NCAA football division. That is, if the NCAA is even involved. It's certainly not needed. The Power Four can just as easily buy an office building, set up a few departments, fill it with administrators, and govern itself. Long-term, that could be where all this is headed, too.

But for the moment, let's just consider college football's competitive landscape in the wake of this week's massive settlement in the House vs NCAA antitrust lawsuit, which isn't quite finalized but was approved Wednesday by the NCAA's Board of Governors. Former NCAA athletes are set to receive a whopping $2.8 billion in damages over a 10-year payment structure. Going forward, a large chunk of athletic department revenues at Power Four schools — perhaps $20 million a year or more — will go to current athletes. Albeit with some serious belt-tightening, they'll survive both those hits. Small-school athletics can't be so sure.

The revenue sharing model would be an opt-in for schools, but big ones wouldn't be able to compete in recruiting without participating, and small ones, by and large, won't have a dime do to so. Which is why a breakoff in football makes more sense than ever.

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In decrying the ramifications of revenue sharing with athletes, Power Four athletic directors have warned they might have to cut some of the sports that lose money. Meanwhile, the AD's at schools such as Creighton and Seton Hall in the Big East don't want to hear the whining. Those schools don't even have a football program, but they're getting saddled with House vs. NCAA settlement damages, too. If, in your favorite team's football facility, there's a bowling alley (Clemson), a waterfall (Alabama), or a recording studio (South Carolina), rest assured the ADs at James Madison or Appalachian State aren't sympathizing with the Power Four revenue plight.

Where big schools see no fat to trim, small ones only see opulence.

And after claiming they were left holding too much of the settlement bag without enough of a say in the negotiations, they're now more vocal than ever about their have-not status. They've been have-nots for decades, of course. But the House settlement widens the gulf like never before. NCAA Division I basketball isn't headed for a breakup, because the Power Four needs the smaller schools to pay their end of the settlement, and NCAA Tournament revenue is the only way they can do it.

But when it comes to football, let's dispense once and for all with the farce of powerhouse schools writing checks for easy wins to small ones that, from a competitive standpoint, should only be playing against one another. They've relied on those checks for a long time to help keep red ink off their athletic budgets. But they've been the last dog at the bowl long enough, they're tired of it, and at this point, they're better off finding their own bowl.

Their own schedule. Their own playoff. Their own TV contract.

The Power Four? Counting Notre Dame, it's 68 schools whose time as its own division has come. It's a concept that Nick Saban once advocated for, but the retired Alabama coach probably couldn't have imagined it could become a reality this soon.

Big changes are coming, and fast.

And a 68-team Division I in football should be one of them.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: House vs NCAA settlement signals time for Power Four breakaway