The Senate presenting legislation to regulate college football is a sign that the sport has become too chaotic. With ballooning Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) costs, rampant transfers, and the widening gap between the Big Ten and SEC versus the rest of the country, college football has developed a laundry list of issues that all seem pressing.
The issue at the top of most peoples’ minds is NIL. As the financial gap widens between the marquee schools and smaller conferences, most people agree that there should be a level of regulation.
“How do we compensate athletes in a way that’s not going to impact the other sports,” Bill Bender of The Sporting News asked. “You’ve got payrolls that are $42 million and they’re not going down.”
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban referred to the growth in those numbers when he spoke on the Senate floor last week. He said he had $2.7 million in his first year with NIL and that number has grown to $24 million for current head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Trey Wallace of OutKick Sports noted that smaller schools cannot keep up in this landscape that hinders the ability to be consistently competitive by retaining talent.
“Lower tier schools and conferences are trying to stay afloat,” Wallace said. “You’re spending four million dollars a year and maybe you’re only bringing in a million.”
There was an initial attempt to avoid this explosion in spending. Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports described the evolution of NIL. He referred to that attempt to regulate spending, but, as schools found loopholes in, the NCAA has been behind in creating order.
“We’re in the middle of another change where this enforcement entity they created to have rules around athlete compensation is now kind of crippled because the schools are getting around the rules,” Dellenger said. “It’s just a constant state of evolution.”
These never-ending changes with no substantial solutions have created another looming threat: the possibility that the Big Ten and SEC could separate from the NCAA. The legitimacy of that claim is still a debate, but there is enough practicality to make it a talking point.
Sen. Ted Cruz said, “they want to form a super league,” when discussing the Protect College Sports Act. Big Ten commissioner referred to those claims as “fabrication.” Still, the revenue and talent pool being centralized in those two conferences makes a super league seem possible. The 2026 NFL Draft saw 17 of the 32 first round selections come from those two conferences and seven of the top ten highest NIL valued rosters going into 2026 from there as well.
“The reason the super league talk has started is you have 30 or 40 schools that are able to pay this much money,” Bender said. “You have this middle tier of schools that can’t compete with that.”
While a separation from the NCAA seems logical from a competitive standpoint, Trey Wallace mentioned the complications with media rights. Right now, ESPN has a contract with the SEC and FOX with the Big Ten.
“I think it would be foolish to break off right now,” Wallace said. “Sure, the SEC and Big Ten could bring in three billion dollars on a TV contract, but do we think FOX and ESPN are going to work together?”
Wallace would go on to explain that while he does not believe we are at the point of separation being a real threat, it would be disingenuous to pretend like those conversations have not happened. Kyle Wood of Athlon Sports echoed that sentiment when he said, “if it does happen, it’s still many years away.”
Ross Dellenger gave more insight to the thought process behind separation as well. He noted that the NCAA has never had any part in regulating postseason football. Prior to the College Football Playoff (CFP), the BCS was the sole governing body of postseason football.
“There’s a thought that they’re not in the football postseason or championship business, so they shouldn’t be in the business at all,” Dellenger said. “I think we’re slowly seeing that sort of happen.”
The CFP has been a talking-point this offseason alongside separation and is closely related to the same arguments. Right now, there is discussion on expanding the playoffs yet again. There have been rumors about the format expanding from 12 to 16, and as many as 24 teams.
Trey Wallace discussed that expansion from the network perspective and noted that the current bylaws require ESPN to open the games up for bidding once the bracket eclipses 14 teams: a reference to his argument that the networks reservations in working together. The idea behind expansion, however, is to create more compelling matchups that would generate more revenue for the league.
“If we went to a 16-team format, or even 24, I think you would have more of these matchups,” Bill Bender said. “The NFL is not going to back down from scheduling big games, so I want to see those games [early in the year].”
With college football at its breaking point, there is still hope that solutions can be found. While an unprecedented amount of chaos, this new landscape is only five-years-old.
“I’m not sure that bill will pass because it’s almost like an itemized list,” Bender said. “I think the NCAA and conference commissioners will continue to work together, but it doesn’t hurt to have a push from Congress.”
Ascher Marks 