The story of the day in college sports is the sweeping bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Senate aimed at bring order to an industry where regulations are mostly treated as suggestions to be ignored.
Senior College Football Reporter Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports had the details.
Among other things, the Protect College Sports Act would make it virtually impossible to form a “super league” that would render any program outside that exclusive club irrelevant. It would limit agents to a 5 percent fee and allow the pooling of media right. Except in extraordinary circumstances, athletes would have five years to complete four seasons.
It also would bar coaches from jumping to a new program before the season ends.
I assume the proposal would consider that if a team accepted a bid to, say, the Cure Bowl, the head coach of that team would have to remain in place until that game was played instead of immediately taking most of the coaching staff to his new gig and leaving those left behind to fend for themselves.
Sens. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, worked together for several months on this bill. If adopted, it would put some teeth back in the NCAA's ability to regulate how college sports operates.
As Yahoo reported, the bill "would grant the NCAA its long-sought antitrust exemption related to athlete transfers, eligibility and the compensation cap."
That's huge, and it would seem to level the playing field a bit for programs like USF. While there is a $21.3 million cap that allows schools to directly pay athletes, the bigger and more traditional programs get around that by having deep-pocketed boosters redirect cash to players under the guise of NIL - name, likeness, and image -- payments.
The money doesn't currently count against the cap. That's how LSU, according to former Tigers coach Brian Kelly, can assemble a football roster estimated to cost more than $40 million.
Of course, this bill has a long way to go before becoming law. Also, let's not forget that we got here because the NCAA for decades maintained a stranglehold on athletes, even to the point of keeping control of an athlete's name and likeness after they had graduated.
Here's the bill, which is a long way from ever becoming law. The step of introduction is notable -- and the industry clearly needs help -- but the chances are still low something actually happens. https://t.co/1AY0SLosyG https://t.co/B2z1DaeAvX
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) May 27, 2026
It all fell apart when former UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon learned his likeness was used without his permission (or compensation) for the EA Sports NCAA Basketball 09 video game. He sued on antitrust grounds, won his case, and nothing has been the same since then,
But let's take a deep breath.
College sports needs regulation. The path it is on now is not sustainable for many schools. Men's and women's tennis programs were eliminated this year at several schools, including Arkansas of the SEC. Wichita State of the American Conference dropped men's and women's golf.
The moves, done for financial reasons, are the canary in the coal mine.
USF, of course, is going full speed in the oppositie direction. There are 21 varsity sports for the Bulls, including women's lacrosse and beach volleyball added in the last two years. And, of course, a new $348.5 million football stadium is scheduled to open in 2027.
USF says it's all an investment that will benefit the entire university. I happen to agree with that, Also, at first blush, I can see how the proposed regulation could benefit the Bulls. If the NCAA can regain some regulatory control and put a stop to $40 million football rosters, that could spread the wealth and put programs like USF on more even footing with those with deeper pockets.
If that happens, then USF's investment in athletics gets an even bigger return.
Stay tuned.
Add us as a preferred source on Google