FORT WORTH
Having been born and raised in a football house with a head football coach, Sonny Dykes has seen too much to believe what is going on in Washington, D.C., to “Protect College Sports” will actually save college sports.
Given the amount of money floating in major college athletics these days, disregard the alarmists who declare that college football is dying, or unsustainable.
The TCU head football coach is not trying to focus on the negotiating between U.S. senators and college sports officials, but what he sees and hears does not align with what he knows.
“I can assure you, there’s a lot of those people out there that are saying, ‘We want this [Protect College Sports Act] to pass,’ but behind the scenes are going, ‘This is not going to be good for us if this passes through,’” Dykes said. “That’s happening. I mean, c’mon guys …”
He’s inferring some officials who are publicly big proponents of the potential significant federal legislation that would alter major NCAA sports are actively behind the scenes lobbying to see it fail.
As college football prepares to begin its 2026 season, the threat of “assistance” from U.S. senators such as Ted Cruz, Tommy Tuberville and the rest hang over the sport like the blade of a guillotine. Should the executioner drop the rope, where the blade falls in the “Protect College Sports Act” will have a profound effect on major college athletic departments, specifically TCU and so many other Power Four schools like it.
The hope is that with a set of federally legislated rules, it will create a rigid cost structure that would allow schools that are not the biggest for something more than just a playoff spot, or NCAA Tournament appearance. That it would allow an opportunity for TCU to return to the national title game, something it achieved in the 2022 season, a feat that in this current paradigm feels increasingly impossible.
Where NCAA football is with the PCSA
College athletic officials begged, for years, for assistance from the federal government, and now that they’re receiving it, they’re acting more like the line from the late President Ronald Reagan, who once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
As of today, the Protect College Sports Act is on a shelf, but does not have a layer of dust. Publicly, the Big Ten and the SEC support the passage of a bill that would impose federal laws on transfers, college conference realignment, and what amounts to a rigid salary cap of $48.5 million that an athletic department could pay its student-athletes.
Behind the scenes, there is growing concern that the conferences publicly supported the bill to avoid incurring the wrath of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts; that neither the Big Ten nor the SEC want to see this bill pass because it could threaten the advantages both leagues have ruthlessly carved, with the full cooperation of both ESPN and Fox Sports, in their favor.
The bill was on its way to a vote before the Senate broke for its recess on Aug. 10, but it didn’t make it. It’s tentatively supposed to be voted on in September. Supposedly.
PCSA impact on TCU, Baylor, the Big 12, ACC and the rest
Whatever new rules are created, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan, USC, Florida, Georgia, and pretty much any school in the Big Ten and SEC as well as Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Clemson and Notre Dame will be fine. Because they’re always fine.
The “others” aren’t so sure.
The “others,” which includes the majority of the increasingly powerless Big 12 and ACC schools, hope that if a bill passes, it will be a federal offense to violate what those officials hope are strict guidelines. Guidelines that include a hard “cap” of $48.5 million that an athletic department could pay all of its student-athletes in a calendar year.
If you are one of the schools that can afford that number, then you should have a chance to compete for a national title.
If this bill does not pass, and schools are allowed to continue to make a mockery of the rules that are in place, then increasingly those that have the most money will be the final eight teams of the playoff, most major NCAA championships, and will monopolize the visibility and exposure that comes from these games.
The media rights contracts for the Big Ten and the SEC nearly double that of the ACC and Big 12, and that gap justifies the fear that the highest level of college sports will become TheBIGSEC10 Invitational.
Sonny Dykes’ valid concerns of new rules
One year ago, Dykes and so many others, celebrated the new guidelines of college sports, which included a $20.5 million allowance for schools to distribute to all of their student-athletes; the House settlement with the NCAA permits individual NIL deals for players, which means that $20.5 million is a soft cap, because the new College Sports Commission that was created to enforce rules around NIL is powerless.
With the help of eager boosters, teams now brazenly go over that figure because they can, which led to college athletic officials running to the Senate for assistance. It’s why the talk of a “hard cap” doesn’t excite Dykes.
“Revenue sharing was going to ‘fix everything.’ We had a great system, and some people chose not to play by the rules,” Dykes said. “We had it all figured it out. We had NIL, and players that had a true following and presence could get a little bit more, just like the NFL players do. It was the perfect model; some people chose not to play by the rules.
“If this does pass, we’ll ‘have a great system,’ and some people will choose not to play by the rules.”
Which, in the end, means it will continue to look like it does currently.
Game schedule dates, times, locations Aug. 10 Rangers 4, L.A. Angels 1 (10 innings) Aug. 11 L.A. Angels 3, Rangers 2 Aug. 12 L.A. Angels 5, Rangers 2 Aug. 13 L.A. Angels 7, Rangers 0 Aug. 14 Athletics 8, Rangers 3 Aug. 15 Rangers 5, Athletics 3 Aug. 16 Athletics 5, Rangers 2 Aug. 18 vs. Washington, 7:05 p.m., RSN Aug. 19 vs. Washington, 7:05 p.m., RSN Aug. 20 vs. Washington, 7:05 p.m., RSN Aug. 21 vs. L.A. Angels, 7:15 p.m., Apple TV Aug. 22 vs. L.A. Angels, 6:05 p.m., RSN Aug. 23 vs. L.A. Angels, 1:35 p.m., RSN Aug. 5 Washington 96, Wings 92 Aug. 7 Golden State 94, Wings 76 Aug. 9 Minnesota 103, Wings 90 Aug. 12 Wings 94, Toronto 88 Aug. 14 Indiana 98, Wings 87 Aug. 17 at Golden State, 9 p.m., KFAA, NBCSN, Peacock Aug. 20 vs. Indiana (at American Airlines Center), 7 p.m., ABC, KFAA, Amazon Prime Aug. 23 vs. Seattle, 3 p.m., KFAA, NBATV Aug. 25 vs. Portland, 7 p.m., KFAA, NBATV Aug. 30 vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m., KFAA Preseason Aug. 15 Cowboys 17, Seattle 7 Aug. 22 at Arizona, 9 p.m., CBS, NFL Network Aug. 28 vs. New Orleans, 7 p.m., CBS Regular season Sept. 13 at N.Y. Giants, 7:20 p.m., NBC Sept. 20 vs. Washington, 3:25 p.m., Fox Sept. 27 vs. Baltimore (at Rio de Janeiro), 3:25 p.m., CBS Oct. 4 at Houston, 12 p.m., Fox Oct. 8 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:15 p.m., Amazon Prime Video Oct. 18 at Green Bay, 7:20 p.m., NBC Oct. 26 at Philadelphia, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC Nov. 1 vs. Arizona, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 8 at Indianapolis, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 15 vs. San Francisco, 3:25 p.m., Fox Nov. 22 vs. Tennessee, 12 p.m., Fox Nov. 26 vs. Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m., Fox Dec. 7 at Seattle, 7:15 p.m., ESPN, ABC Dec. 20 at L.A. Rams, 3:25 p.m., CBS Dec. 27 vs. Jacksonville, 7:20 p.m., NBC Jan. 3 vs. N.Y. Giants, 12 p.m., Fox Jan. 9 or 10 at Washington, TBA Aug. 29 vs. North Carolina (at Dublin), 11 a.m., ESPN Sept. 12 vs. Grambling State, 7 p.m., ESPN+ Sept. 19 vs. Arkansas State, 7 p.m., ESPNU Sept. 26 at Central Florida, TBA Oct. 3 vs. BYU, TBA Oct. 17 at Baylor, TBA Oct. 24 vs. West Virginia, TBA Oct. 31 vs. Kansas, TBA Nov. 6 at Arizona, 9:15 p.m., ESPN Nov. 14 vs. Kansas State, TBA Nov. 21 vs. Utah, TBA Nov. 26 at Texas Tech, 7 p.m., ESPN Sept. 5 at Indiana, 11 a.m., Fox Sept. 12 vs. UNLV, 2:45 p.m., ESPNU Sept. 19 at Texas State, 11 a.m., USA Sept. 26 vs. Houston Christian, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ Oct. 1 at Tulsa, 8 p.m., ESPN Oct. 10 vs. Charlotte, TBA Oct. 24 at Navy, 2:30 p.m. CBSSN Oct. 29 vs. Florida Atlantic, 6:30 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2 Nov. 7 vs. Rice, TBA Nov. 14 at UTSA, TBA Nov. 21 at Tulane, TBA Nov. 28 vs. UAB, TBA All home games at Crowley ISD Multi-Purpose Stadium Aug. 27 vs. Central Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at McNeese State, 6 p.m. Sept. 12 vs. Texas College, 6 p.m. Sept. 26 vs. Nelson, 6 p.m. Oct. 3 at Arkansas Baptist, 2 p.m. Oct. 10 at Louisiana Christian, 2 p.m. Oct. 17 vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor, 1 p.m. Oct. 24 at Langston, 2 p.m. Oct. 31 vs. Oklahoma Panhandle State, 2 p.m. Nov. 7 at Ottawa (Arizona), 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at Wayland Baptist, 2 p.m. July 22 FC Dallas 2, Portland 2 July 25 San Diego 1, FC Dallas 0 Aug. 1 FC Dallas 0, LA Galaxy 0 Aug. 5 FC Dallas 2, Queretaro 0 (Leagues Cup) Aug. 8 FC Dallas 1, Chivas de Guadalajara 0 (Leagues Cup) Aug. 12 at Toluca (Mexico), 9 p.m., Apple TV (Leagues Cup) Aug. 16 at Austin, 7:30 p.m., Apple TV Aug. 19 at Salt Lake, 8:30 p.m., Apple TV Aug. 22 at Vancouver, 8:30 p.m., Apple TV Aug. 30 at St. Louis, 6 p.m., Apple TV Aug. 29 Team Texas: David Starr’s Racing School Sept. 5 NASCAR Racing Experience Sept. 19 Drift n Drag Sept. 19 Black Light Run Sept. 25-26 Dumpster Expo Oct. 1-3 Dirt Track Championship Oct. 2-3 Goodguys Lone Star Nationals Oct. 14 Tony Stewart Bowling Tournament Oct. 16-17 High Limit Racing Championship Oct. 29-31 POWRi Racing
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Mac Engel is an award-winning columnist who has covered sports since the dawn of man; Cowboys, TCU, Stars, Rangers, Mavericks, etc. Olympics. Movies. Concerts. Books. He combines dry wit with 1st-person reporting to complement an annoying personality.
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