Congress *Might* Actually Reform College Football

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Alex, Richard, and Matt Brown get back together for the Split Zone Duo/Extra Points Sports Business Hour with the most serious congressional attempt yet to reorganize college sports on the table. The Protect College Sports Act of 2026 would touch NIL enforcement, athlete movement, the House settlement’s cap structure, media-rights pooling, conference realignment, and even the timing of coach moves via a Lane Kiffin Rule that Alex thinks is a little silly. The group talks through why this bill deserves your attention than the usual Capitol Hill noise, why it still has obvious ways to fail, and how its politics run through everyone from the Big Ten and SEC to Cody Campbell and Texas Tech.

In this episode:

* 4:14: Why the Protect College Sports Act is more serious than past college-sports bills, and what it would do to NIL disclosures, transfer limits, athlete compensation, and the College Sports Commission.

* 25:08: How media-rights pooling became one of the bill’s biggest fights, why the Big Ten and SEC hate it, and how Cody Campbell’s fingerprints are all over the politics.

* 36:52: The so-called Lane Kiffin rule, and whether Congress can actually stop coaches from arranging new jobs during the season.

* 41:19: Utah’s private equity experiment, the layoff headline, the missing public details, and why fan revolt in American college sports tends to be so muted.

* 51:24: Why the planned NC State-Virginia game in Brazil fell apart, and what it says about trying to export college football internationally.

* 1:06:36: Why Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility fight feels so ridiculous.

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Producer: Anthony Vito

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