Protect College Sports Act

NorthDakota · Jun 19, 2026

Free Manera said:
The less regulation the better for ND. Because ND will follow any and all rules. And others won't. That's literally all there is to it. You can't convince me that any guardrails will ever benefit ND.

The guardrail/reg that would benefit ND a lot is 1 free transfer. Frankly it would benefit everyone.

I'm not sure how common it is, but it *feels* like there are a lot of guys out there transferring every year. Not sure if ND has had any guys on their third school?

MeanGreenBeans · Jun 19, 2026

NorthDakota said:
The guardrail/reg that would benefit ND a lot is 1 free transfer. Frankly it would benefit everyone.

I'm not sure how common it is, but it *feels* like there are a lot of guys out there transferring every year. Not sure if ND has had any guys on their third school?

If the same rule applies to coaches (in a 4-5 year window) then I'm all for it.

bpob55 · Jun 24, 2026

New provisions explicitly prohibit Notre Dame from joining a power conference(if this cements independence, or forces us to join the ACC, I am unsure). I would be interested to know if this has created some urgency within our administration to join the SEC/B10. The article mentions a "shot clock" to join a P2 league, as it is now or never. The Miami AD is mentioned in the article as having a heightened focus on elevating to a P2 league before being locked in forever. The Irish getting stuck in the ACC, especially if Miami left, would be disastrous.

IrishLax · Monday at 10:44 AM

So the Big Ten is basically negotiating a clause that will allow them to add Notre Dame but still de facto freeze other alignment

TNUtoNotreDame · Monday at 10:56 AM

IrishLax said:
So the Big Ten is basically negotiating a clause that will allow them to add Notre Dame but still de facto freeze other alignment

I think this is not what the Big 10 or SEC wants. They want no expansion exclusions. This is our genius representatives that came up with this.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 11:21 AM

IrishLax said:
So the Big Ten is basically negotiating a clause that will allow them to add Notre Dame but still de facto freeze other alignment

And the SEC is still lurking.

I know the B1G makes a lot more sense from a historic rivals perspective and it's who I would probably prefer, but there's been enough reporting of Sankey remaining cozy with ND leadership and the SEC being much more encouraging of scheduling us that I wouldnt be shocked if ND decides to spite the B1G one more time before the true spin-off league happens.

Would also obviously be a huge coup for the SEC. The last blueblood TV draw smack dab in the middle of the B1G's geographic footprint.

zelezo vlk · Monday at 11:23 AM

greyhammer90 said:
And the SEC is still lurking.

I know the B1G makes a lot more sense from a historic rivals perspective and it's who I would probably prefer, but there's been enough reporting of Sankey remaining cozy with ND leadership and the SEC being much more encouraging of scheduling us that I wouldnt be shocked if ND decides to spite the B1G one more time before the true spin-off league happens.

Would also obviously be a huge coup for the SEC. The last blueblood TV draw smack dab in the middle of the B1G's geographic footprint.

The SEC should do everything they can to make the appeal to ND. The Big already makes more than the SEC, and ND would make it that much worse

jerseyborn1971 · Monday at 11:23 AM

I don't ever see ND joining the SEC.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 11:25 AM

jerseyborn1971 said:
I don't ever see ND joining the SEC.

I think it would be unlikely, but I dont think it's less than 10% percent odds. The SEC has been much more on "our side" about what the future of the sport should look like over the last 5 years than the B1G.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 11:26 AM

zelezo vlk said:
The SEC should do everything they can to make the appeal to ND. The Big already makes more than the SEC, and ND would make it that much worse

It would also put the SEC on NBC if something could be worked out there. They would be getting more broadcast play than the B1G by far.

pumpdog20 · Monday at 11:38 AM

IrishLax said:
So the Big Ten is basically negotiating a clause that will allow them to add Notre Dame but still de facto freeze other alignment

Do it!

jerseyborn1971 · Monday at 11:45 AM

Joining the SEC might be the line the administration steps back in and says, "Too far". The institution does not align with the SEC at all and we're putting our foot down.

IrishLax · Monday at 12:01 PM

greyhammer90 said:
And the SEC is still lurking.

I know the B1G makes a lot more sense from a historic rivals perspective and it's who I would probably prefer, but there's been enough reporting of Sankey remaining cozy with ND leadership and the SEC being much more encouraging of scheduling us that I wouldnt be shocked if ND decides to spite the B1G one more time before the true spin-off league happens.

Would also obviously be a huge coup for the SEC. The last blueblood TV draw smack dab in the middle of the B1G's geographic footprint.

What's strange is today at start of media days they are throwing a full on pity party:
1. Said they are upset that CFP Committee "doesn't respect their strength of schedule" (lol)
2. Threatened to break away from everyone and do their own thing
3. Coaches complaining about 9 game schedule

etc. etc.

Just such a weird look. In what universe are they the aggrieved party?

Irish#1 · Monday at 1:54 PM

jerseyborn1971 said:
I don't ever see ND joining the SEC.

And whoever saw USC and Oregon joining the B1G a few years ago?

jerseyborn1971 · Monday at 2:24 PM

Irish#1 said:
And whoever saw USC and Oregon joining the B1G a few years ago?

The only thing separating them was geography. Comparing that to Notre Dame selling their educational and moral soul to the devil is far different.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 3:44 PM

jerseyborn1971 said:
The only thing separating them was geography. Comparing that to Notre Dame selling their educational and moral soul to the devil is far different.

I really don't think there's much of a moral distinction between the SEC and B1G these days. The B1G has been the primary pusher of a 24 team playoff with multiple auto-bids for itself vs. the SEC 5+11 model that would be clearly better for ND and the sport. The SEC moved to a nine game conference model but specified that the tenth game must go to a P5 opponent, clearing the way for us to get on schedules. The B1G has stuck with 8 yet is clearly trying to squeeze us out anyway (see USC suddenly playing hardball after a century of partnership). The B1G also was the conference pushing for private equity until Michigan found its moral dignity for the first time this century. There's just very little to suggest to me that the B1G has been anything but the bad guys of the sport for the last 4-5 years.

Sankey is certainly a slimeball who puts the SEC interests above the good of the sport (admittedly, that's his job), but at least he's a college athletics lifer who isn't just looking to squeeze this baby dry before he moves on to the next industry like Petitti.

Like I said in the first place, it's unlikely and I would still prefer the B1G from a schedule perspective, but I think the whole "culture" thing is overblown given the idea that these conferences are all just media cabals.

zelezo vlk · Monday at 3:48 PM

greyhammer90 said:
I really don't think there's much of a moral distinction between the SEC and B1G these days. The B1G has been the primary pusher of a 24 team playoff with multiple auto-bids for itself vs. the SEC 5+11 model that would be clearly better for ND and the sport. The SEC moved to a nine game conference model but specified that the tenth game must go to a P5 opponent, clearing the way for us to get on schedules. The B1G has stuck with 8 yet is clearly trying to squeeze us out anyway (see USC suddenly playing hardball after a century of partnership). There's just very little to suggest to me that the B1G has been anything but the bad guys of the sport for the last 4-5 years.

Sankey is certainly a slimeball who puts the SEC interests above the good of the sport (admittedly, that's his job), but at least he's a college athletics lifer who isn't just looking to squeeze this baby dry before he moves on to the next industry like Petitti.

Plus we haven't heard of Sankey trying to railroad in private equity. However it sounded like some of the Big powers were blindsided by a nearly done deal until Michigan and USC vocally fought against it.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 3:49 PM

zelezo vlk said:
Plus we haven't heard of Sankey trying to railroad in private equity. However it sounded like some of the Big powers were blindsided by a nearly done deal until Michigan and USC vocally fought against it.

Ha! While you typed that I was editing my post to add that. Great minds.

IrishLax · Monday at 6:07 PM

Big adjustment more in line with actual market rates

Irish#1 · Monday at 8:36 PM

jerseyborn1971 said:
The only thing separating them was geography. Comparing that to Notre Dame selling their educational and moral soul to the devil is far different.

True but that wasn’t my point.

greyhammer90 · Monday at 9:31 PM

IrishLax said:
Big adjustment more in line with actual market rates

Does this "cap" stop third parties from providing NIL deals to athletes or is it just the cap on how much the schools can pay directly?

If it's not the first, it's not a real cap (complimentary). I hope the floodgates of money from third-parties stay wide open for these kids.

ACamp1900 · Monday at 11:35 PM

If they really wanted to clean this all up they’d get rid of the conferences as we currently know them, get everyone into equally distributed regional divisions, have an independent body do all the scheduling, just for starters

jerseyborn1971 · 2026-07-21T13:44:12-0400

In a dream world, they'd switch to a relegation system. The good teams go up and get money, the bad teams move down and lose the money.

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