WHAT IF… PCSA becomes law?

Oct. 9, 2026 - The U.S Congress is considering passage of the “Protect College Sports ACT" this fall. The House has already passed the bill and it now moves to the Senate for a vote. Congress has until December 18th to pass the bill or the next Congress has to begin the process all over again next year.

At the Big Ten basketball media day on Thursday, commissioner Tom Petitti said that while his conference aggressively supports the bill, it has had "absolutely no discussions taking place around expansion, and there haven't been for quite some time…This conference has got 18 strong members," Petitti said. "We're focused on that. There's lots of things that we think we can do inside the conference to continue to grow the position that we have with the 18 members."

So, WHAT IF the bill becomes law?

If PCSA becomes law, it will end all conference expansion for years to come and relegate all other conferences to second tier status. While it may provide some clarity around the transfer portal and NIL, it will lead to a larger competitive gap in the NCAA.

For schools not in the SEC or Big Ten, it will force those schools to seek other creative ways to close that financial revenue gap between the “Super Two” and the rest of college athletics. The SEC and Big Ten will continue to move closer to a semi-professional model.

Conferences such as the Big-12 and the ACC would need to make a bold move that could cause even more chaos in college athletics.

Like what?

Merge & Reorganize as one super conference. The ACC, Big-12, American, Mountain West and PAC conferences would be the foundation of this new super conference. Such a conference may reorganize into eight regional divisions, each with ten schools competing with the SEC and Big Ten for spots in the projected 24- school CFP model. Strength in numbers. Attractive inventory for the media rights negotiations in 2030-31.

Breakaway from the NCAA and form a new college athletic association. As many as 80 schools would leave the NCAA in this scenario. Such a new association would make their own rules, with their own media rights agreement(s) and operate independent of the NCAA, including championship tournaments.

BOTTOM LINE:

Radical change is coming. The current “HAVE & HAVE NOT” model can’t continue. The NCAA has to level up the playing field or face a palace revolt.

GO CANES!