The Protect College Sports Act took another step forward on Wednesday during a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. 

Appropriately, after the SEC and Big Ten released a joint statement opposing the bill the day before, the hearing outlined the grave concerns many have about an SEC/Big Ten breakaway. Senator Ted Cruz, one of the co-authors of the bill, was leading that charge. 

"The bill is explicit that they can't form a super league," Cruz said as he maneuvered within the Capitol corridors. "I love the SEC. I'm a Texan. I go every year to UT and A&M games and love them. But a super league would be devastating for the rest of the country and smaller programs in Texas. That would be a disaster." – Yahoo Sports

The language preventing the Big Ten and SEC from merging or expanding is the most intensely debated part of the bill and likely the biggest hang-up for the Power Two conferences, even though Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti insists a Super League isn’t on the table.

"Any statement that suggests the Big Ten is pursuing or wants a super league is a fabrication," Petitti said. "At no point in time have we discussed such a concept with the SEC or anyone else. Any suggestion otherwise comes from people outside our respective conferences." – Yahoo Sports 

The Big Ten and SEC also hate the idea of pooling media rights with other conferences, which is possible but not mandatory under the bill. There was plenty of discussion about that, and it inevitably led back to the Super League conversation.

The good news is that plenty of national voices have started to chime in with the obvious pushback to the concept of a Super League.

If you take the top 30ish brands in the sport and break away, you would make more money in the short term. I cannot dispute that. The first TV contract would be massive.

But in a league like that, big brands have to lose a bunch of games every year. Fan bases accustomed to winning big will suddenly face the reality that some of them have to go 2-10 every year.

Would donations dry up? Would attendance drop?

In the NFL, the equivalent of a 2-10 season gets you a top draft pick to help you become more competitive. You can’t do that in college sports when the name of the game is recruiting. Some proud programs would get buried very quickly.

But the biggest risk is the long-term value of the TV contract. By cutting out that much of the college football world, you would lose a huge swath of eyeballs from Big 12, ACC, and Pac-12 country. 

The idea would be to make up for it with more casual fans excited to watch Alabama-Ohio State. But what happens when Alabama and Ohio State have a combined eight losses? Interest would wane over time, and the product would become less valuable to TV networks.

Semi-professional football leagues have never succeeded in this country. If you strip away the regionality and unique fabric that make college football different, while alienating fans who have dedicated their lives to following the sport, you are left with another semi-pro football league destined to fail.

There would come a day when the Super League schools wake up and realize the TV money spigot has been shut off. When that happens, there is no going back.

I once again need to tap the sign: The Protect College Sports Act is really the Save the SEC and Big Ten From Themselves Act. They need the Big 12 and the ACC to survive in the long term, whether they want to admit it or not. 

The good news is, I continue to be encouraged by where all of this is heading. The bill isn’t likely to make it through in its current form, especially with Cruz scheduled to meet today with Petitti and Sankey. But it already has far more momentum than the SEC-Big Ten-backed SCORE Act ever did.

Reportedly, NCAA President Charlie Baker told Big 12 officials last week that there is a 50/50 chance the bill will pass. Josh Pate expects it to pass comfortably. 

Heck, even Nick Saban was at Wednesday’s hearing making points that lined up with the Big 12’s best interest, instead of the SEC and Big Ten’s. 

It’s going to be a bumpy ride, but I truly expect some combination of government intervention and common sense to win out in the end. College sports will find a sustainable path forward and thrive in the long term.

What You Need to Know

• Texas Tech is adding a blue blood to its 2027 and 2028 football schedules. Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire took another shot at Texas while announcing it. 

• McGuire also says he expects a judge’s ruling on QB Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility very soon. 

• If you have a subscription to The Athletic, Chris Vannini has a great breakdown of everything that happened at Big 12 spring meetings last week. 

• Former Iowa State men’s basketball star Milan Momcilovic announced his commitment to Kentucky. 

• You have to watch this video of a high school offensive lineman announcing his commitment to West Virginia. Nobody will ever top it. 

• Speaking of the Mountaineers, here’s another must-watch video from WVU baseball’s regional win over Kentucky. This is why we fell in love with college sports.

• Want your Big 12 news and analysis in podcast form? Listen to Open For Business at the gym, in your car, or first thing in the morning on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

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