Former Alabama coach Nick Saban built it into the most dominant program in college football history. Seven national championships. Retired after the 2023 season. Now he is taking on a different kind of challenge.

On June 3, Saban sat in front of the Senate Commerce Committee in Washington and backed the Protect College Sports Act. The bill was put together by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell after months of negotiation.

"Congress does not need to micromanage college athletics," Saban told the committee. "Congress does need to fix the mess in the courts and create a national framework so the people inside college sports can enforce fair rules."

NIL money at Alabama went from $2.7 million in year one of having a collective to $24 million. Some schools are now close to $40 million rosters.

"If you continue to have all of your resources pooled into football with escalating roster fees, and not knowing where that ends, I believe the inevitable outcome is there's going to be a small handful of schools that will differentiate themselves from others and play football at a super league level," Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua said.

The bill would let the NCAA enforce transfer limits, cap eligibility at five years, ban former pros from playing in college, and stop schools from poaching coaches mid-season.

Cruz called that last one the "Lane Kiffin rule" after LSU hired Kiffin from Ole Miss in November. He told ESPN he is "quite confident" the bill can pass.

It needs 60 votes in the Senate, meaning at least seven Democrats have to cross the aisle.

Why the SEC and Big Ten Are Fighting the Bill

The night before the hearing, the SEC and Big Ten put out a joint statement. They do not support the bill as written.

Both conferences argued that it leaves too many issues unresolved, including failing to properly override state NIL laws with a single federal standard. That has long been seen as the minimum requirement for any bill to actually work.

"I was asked a week and a half ago to sign on to support a bill I haven't seen. I think that's an enormously bad way to take a position." SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said, per CBS Sports. "It would be important to learn what might be identified."

Now his conference is actively opposing it. Do you think this Bill can actually fix college sports? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at the Michigan Football Community

Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Shubhi Rathore