Photo: Sam Hodde/Getty Images
College football is officially back, with several “week zero” games kicking off over the weekend and the first full slate of games set for the weekend ahead.
But even as the touchdowns and interceptions start piling up, the sport – and all of college athletics – are mired in chaos thanks to rule changes and a lack of strong central governing structure. Congress has a responsibility to address this crisis for the sake of the schools, athletes, and fans alike.
Even a question as basic as “who is allowed to play?” is somehow up for debate.
In June, the NCAA changed its eligibility rules to generally allow athletes five years of competition instead of four, but its transition rules excluded some players who had already gone pro. Lawsuits inevitably followed, with athletes arguing that they would not have gone pro had they known the rule change was coming.
On July 31, a federal court ruling opened the door for thousands of pro athletes to return to college. Then, on August 21, a federal appeals court in Colorado stayed that ruling. Hours later, however, a Kentucky judge granted 13 athletes individual relief — including protection for some who had signed professional contracts before seeking to return to college.
In effect, this meant that an athlete could be eligible according to one court but ineligible according to another.
The Power Four conferences then stepped in. The SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC adopted rules barring players with professional ties from returning to college, arguing that former NFL players should not be able to re-enter college football even if courts find them NCAA-eligible. The conflicting rulings and conference rules have left eligibility questions unsettled with the season underway.
College sports cannot be governed by conflicting court rulings. The NCAA has proven itself totally inept, and the conferences are too busy bickering with one another to work together for the good of the athletes and fans. It’s time for Congress to step in.
While several legislative proposals are on the table, the one with the most promise is the Protect College Sports Act, which has the backing of President Donald Trump. This bill sets out to establish one rulebook for everyone before the litigation nightmare gets even worse.
The need for this legislation is obvious. Courtroom shopping is quickly turning one of America’s greatest sporting traditions into an unregulated minor league. LSU coach Lane Kiffin is moving to add players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris after both were cut by NFL teams. A Louisiana court granted them and 14 other athletes another season of college eligibility.
History: the Browns are waiving tight end Dae’Quan Wright and, if he clears waivers, he has an agreement in place for the 2026 season to play for LSU, per agents Drew Rosenhaus and Kyle Lincoln. Wright is believed to be the first player who could play for an NFL team, and then Show more
In a separate case, a judge cleared former St. John’s basketball star RJ Luis Jr. to play for LSU even though he had signed contracts with two NBA organizations. Luis never appeared in a regular-season NBA or G League game, but the line separating college from professional sports is becoming impossible to identify. Many athletic conferences have since pledged not to accept former pro-athletes, but the threat of litigation is leaves the situation unresolved.
The lawsuits are only half the problem. Athletic departments are also running out of money.
Earlier this month, the University of Houston approved a second $10 million loan within the last year from its university system’s endowment to cover athletic department losses. Two months ago, West Virginia University added a mandatory $125 fee per semester to student bills to help cover a new revenue-sharing system that allows universities to distribute up to $20.5 million directly to its student athletes.
The state of Florida went even further earlier this summer, allowing each public university to divert as much as $22.5 million annually from accounts funded by student housing, dining, parking, and bookstores to pay athletes and stay competitive with rival programs.
Saint Louis University’s recent actions show who can lose in this arms race. In April, only weeks after celebrating a 29-win men’s basketball season and another March Madness appearance, the university eliminated both its tennis teams. In the last two years, at least 41 collegiate Olympic sport programs, along with the scholarships and dreams they sustained, have been eliminated as universities scramble to stay competitive in the revenue-generating programs of football and men’s basketball.
This is the disorder President Donald Trump wants Congress to stop through the Protect College Sports Act, which is sponsored by Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Washington Democrat Maria Cantwell.
Once an athlete turns pro, they shouldn't be allowed to return to college play. Period. This is exactly why our bipartisan bill is needed now more than ever. Without it, authentic and FAIR college sports will be a thing of the past.
After a Monday evening videoconference of the Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference, the Conference is issuing the following statement:
This legislation establishes national standards for recruiting, transfers, and eligibility while protecting injured athletes’ scholarships, access to medical care, and student athletes’ right to profit from legitimate name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals.
Student-athletes would receive five years of eligibility and one guaranteed transfer without needing to sit out a season. Athletes who enter professional sports could not return and take roster spots from college players. It would also prevent women’s and Olympic sports from being sacrificed to finance football and basketball payrolls.
President Trump put the stakes plainly: “Without this bill, millions of young Athletes will be hurt, programs will be canceled, Women’s and Olympic Sports will go away, the fans will be robbed, and universities will go broke.” The bill is the best chance this Congress has to restore order before the richest programs and most aggressive lawyers remake college sports into something entirely unrecognizable.
Despite support from more than 360 colleges and universities, every major athletic conference, the NCAA, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and a broad coalition of sports organizations, the bill never reached the Senate floor before the August recess due to a late wave of objections.
Some of these objections are serious. The Senate should be able to fix them without using them as an excuse to do nothing. With a cloture vote (60 votes needed) expected for late September, there is time to get this bill across the finish line.
Some free-market critics argue that Congress should not determine what student athletes may earn, what sports agents may charge, or how schools and conferences conduct business.
Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville labeled the legislation a “federal takeover of college sports.” Tuberville’s distrust of federal intervention is understandable. But the reality is that right now, a tangled mess of state laws and courts are already tainting the product on the field. Government is already involved. Only Congress can establish one unified rulebook that restricts further government encroachment and ends the chaos.
Setting national guardrails is not the same as running college sports from Washington. The correct approach – which this bill adopts – is to narrow any unnecessary federal mandates and restore legal order so schools and conferences can govern athletics under the same rules from coast to coast.
Other Republican senators have slow-walked their support over worries that the bill’s preemptive language could unintentionally weaken individual state protections for women’s sports. This dispute can be settled with a few clear sentences added to the bill.
Some Democrats also have concerns that the bill does not do enough to protect the financial interests of the athletes.
Connecticut Democrat Senator Chris Murphy objected that the bill limits athlete compensation while granting the NCAA legal protections unavailable to ordinary businesses. But Congress does not need to settle every labor dispute before protecting scholarships and eligibility rules. The legislation wisely leaves the employment question unresolved rather than imposing one labor model on more than half a million athletes and hundreds of very different institutions.
Ultimately, no legislation this ambitious will satisfy everyone.
Congress can either pass a national framework with enforceable student-athlete protections or keep the status quo of a chaotic free-for-all governed by booster money, conflicting state laws, and emergency court injunctions.
When the Senate returns in September, Trump and Republican leadership should address the most pressing concerns about the bill and get it on the floor for a vote.
As student-athletes return to classrooms, they deserve rules established before they take the field, scholarships that cannot vanish without warning, and a system that values their education after the cheering stops. Just as importantly, fans deserve games decided between the sidelines, not in courtrooms.
The Protect College Sports Act is the surest path to achieving those goals. Congress must keep the “college” in college sports.
About the author
W. J. Lee
Contributing Writer
Expertise
- • American politics and government
Credentials
- • Served in the White House, at NASA, on multiple campaigns, and in nearly all levels of government
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