The NCAA Cabinet voted overwhelmingly to approve Commercial Logos on Uniforms Option 6 as proposed, which would allow two institutional commercial logos on uniforms during the season and the conference office to put a logo on a uniform during conference championships.  Kudos to the Cabinet for working through the numerous options and choosing the best options of those presented.  The proposal was overwhelmingly approved. There was a motion to deregulate entirely, but that was defeated overwhelmingly. 

There likely will be restrictions of commercial logos on NCAA Championship uniforms, such as sports wagering & fantasy sports, alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, vaping, NCAA banned substances and impermissible supplements, adult entertainment, firearms, media competitors to NCAA partners. The NCAA staff needs to go back and work with the NCAA corporate champions and partners to determine if there can be a carve out for competitors to an NCAA corporate partner on an institutional uniform. 

• Each logo may be up to four square inches (e.g., 2 x 2) in size. The proposal is effective August 1, 2026. 

The cabinet noted restrictions on the placement of the logos will be addressed by the respective playing rules subcommittees, oversight committees and sport committees (for national collegiate championship sports), with the continued expectation that logos must be placed outside of designated sections of uniforms as necessary for officiating purposes. 

   NCAA DIVISION I BOARD OF DIRECTORS   

The DI Board of Directors adopted a proposal amending the required voting threshold for rules changes involving membership requirements for Division I schools. Effective immediately, any alterations to rules governing DI membership “must be adopted by a majority that is greater than the number of votes that could be cast by representatives from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference and Southeastern Conference, including student-athlete representatives. … The new voting requirements are a direct response to feedback and concerns from member schools since August.” They guarantee that at the conclusion of a five-year period specifying no changes be made to DI membership requirements, “membership requirements still cannot be changed without the support of at least one nonautonomy conference or voting representative.” (link) 

   COLLEGE SPORTS LEGISLATION AT A CROSSROADS: KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM CAPITOL HILL CONVERSATIONS   

It seems Congress has greater matters to attend than voting on current legislation focused on college athletics, such as the SCORE Act.  The college athletics policy landscape is moving quickly—and unevenly—across the House and Senate. There are several conversations being conducted, but nothing new to report.   

   MEDIA REPORTS ON BIG WEST, NCAA AND LEGAL MATTERS   

• “Adapt or die.” Per On3’s Andy Staples and Shannon Terry, that’s the mandate college athletics faces with “real, systemic issues…that must be addressed over the next three to five years” through “fundamental restructuring across the entire ecosystem — conferences, rights holders, the NCAA.” With the product on the field and court continuing to surge in popularity through record ratings and social growth, the authors offer up their short-term advice for dealing with the problems currently roiling college sports. “First and foremost, fix the college football calendar. … Eliminate the early National Signing Day and go back to one signing day on the first Wednesday in February. Move the transfer portal window from January to March. … Instead of a ‘Commissioner’ that has less than no power, build a plan to negotiate and work with the NFL – an official partnership. … College football leaders such as the SEC’s Greg Sankey and the Big Ten’s Tony Petitti need to reach out to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and say ‘How can we work together?’ … Keep Congress out – at least for now. … The leaders of college sports need to try to solve their own problems. … Don’t dilute the regular season — 24 teams in [the] playoff could do serious damage to the regular season.  … And finally, stop complaining about athletes being paid or wishing things would ‘go back to the old days.’” More. (link) 
• Enrollment this past fall increased 1% year-over-year to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Public four-year institutions and community colleges saw increases of 1.2% and 3%, respectively, while private four-year nonprofit enrollment fell by 1.4%. For freshmen enrollment this fall, four-year public enrollment grew by 1.9% and four-year nonprofit private enrollment dropped by 2.2%. Geographically, the south led all regions with 3.1% growth. Georgia and Alabama led all states with a 4.9% increase, followed by North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota all over 4%. On the other hand, Washington saw the largest drop of 4.6%, followed by Indiana and South Dakota both seeing 3.4% decreases. Among the top 20 major fields, engineering saw the largest growth of 7.3%, followed by Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences (5.5%), Public Administration and Social Service Professions (5.2%), and Public Administration and Social Service Professions (3.7%). Computer and Information Sciences and English Language and Literature/Letters both saw drops of more than 8%. (link, link - full data) 
• Can a smaller school such as Richmond keep up in the Atlantic 10? That’s the query posed by Richmond.com’s John O’Connor, who notes the “Spiders' revenue streams would seem to be limited in comparison to much larger schools with much larger alumni bases.” The goal, according to Richmond Men’s Basketball HC Chris Mooney, is determining how the program can take advantage of the school’s many strengths. Mooney: “An advantage that we have is that we’re such a great school. That comes with a little bit more of a demanding admissions process. We’ve always embraced that. We thought that, hey, the guys that can get into Richmond, they’re going to want to be here. It’s an incredible place. It will be an incredible experience. Those things have shifted a little bit, even from the very best of kids, or the best of students, or the best of families. Because the money is so great. … You have to have an understanding of what’s going on out there. More. (link) 
• Organized crime podcaster Jeff Nadu reacts to the college hoops gambling indictments, particularly regarding the question: How were gamblers able to get “so much money down in these schemes? Because of the man in control of this. It’s really simple to understand. The sportsbooks were likely in cahoots with the feds, and they likely allowed this to happen because they were building a conspiracy. Most of the money accepted was likely fed money given to [high-profile bettor] Shane Hennen. I have talked very openly and in depth about who Shane Hennen is. Shane Hennen cooperated in the late 2000s with the government, and I have it on pretty good authority that he’s the reason all these indictments came down. This was likely pushed through to create a pattern of a conspiracy, which is the reason Mr. Hennen has been involved in all four of these indictments. It’s really simple to understand. That’s why it was allowed to happen – because the government oversight asked them to let it happen because they were building something. That’s how the government works. The money that was provided to do this was all just a conspiracy, and all the other people involved simply didn’t know and are now going to go down for it.” Front Office Sports’ Ryan Glasspiegel comments: “This is way more logical than the idea that someone could get [$400K] down on the first-half line of an obscure CBB game, even if they were doing it across 100 different accounts.” (link) 
• Washington State President Betsy Cantwell Q&As with JohnCanzano.com’s namesake on the Pac-12’s media deal, Pac-12 Enterprises and the time she spends on athletics. Cantwell notes she spends “50% of my mental time on athletics.” Cantwell also questions why the western part of the country has suffered disproportionately as college athletics has shifted. “Why has this entire narrative and this entire story over the last three years said, ‘Ignore the West Coast’? What is going on there? If I were a governor of any West Coast state — red or blue — I would be up in arms. That means whole economies that are being created on the East Coast are not being created on the West Coast.” Regarding the decision to prioritize exposure in the Pac-12 media rights deal: “We need to really make sure that we are positioned for what’s next, which means a lot of exposure. It doesn’t mean exposure at the expense of some revenue, but we’re under no illusion that we should be back in the old days of the Pac-12. ... I think of us, honestly, I think of us as a Netflix documentary. And what’s compelling about Netflix documentaries? It’s partly the exposure to the thinking process and the exposure to the things that make people tick in the real world." (link) 
• ESPN’s Myron Metcalf profiles Baylor Men’s Basketball mid-season signee and 2023 NBA Draft pick James Nnaji, noting he might be the “most polarizing player in college basketball” following a rousing chorus of criticism to his signing. By the time he landed on the Bears’ radar, Nnaji was living in Spain playing for FC Barcelona, had resided in four countries while chasing his basketball dreams and hadn’t returned home to Nigeria since he was 12. He also wasn’t healthy enough to play 5-on-5 yet following a back injury.” Nnaji: “I was just coming back from my rehabilitation in the afternoon and I got a call from my agent and he told me, 'Would you like to go to college? I'm like, 'Yeah, I just want to play basketball and grow because I've been in hell for the past two years. I want something new, something like a fresh start for myself -- just to get back on track.” As for the negativity surrounding his situation, Nnaji comments: "What did I do, man? … Let's be human first before the sport. Let's be human. But at the end of the day, the controversy doesn't bother me because I'm here to do my job, to help the team as much as I can, and to get better.” More. (link)   
• Navigate Founder AJ Maestas and VP of Consulting Charles Rolston discuss key issues impacting college athletics & higher ed. Maestas weighs in on the looming enrollment cliff: “Quick math, just based on population and the propensity of men in particular to go to college, 10, 15% reduction in enrollment. So not every school faces this. Some schools have unlimited demand. Some schools don't want to raise their tuition, but when you count raising tuition enrollment [on] out-of-state students, it's a $100M+ annual impact. So your whole athletic department budget right there could be considered an advertising department for enrollment. And again, it doesn't apply to everybody, but look at some of these Southern schools that have been on great tears, Georgia, Alabama, and what's happened to their student body. The quality of the students is up. The number of students is up.” For those without “unlimited demand,” Maestas cautions: “Don’t overlook the effect of this.” (link) 
• Former Alabama men’s basketball student-athlete Charles Bediako is suing the NCAA in Tuscaloosa Circuit Court to regain eligibility for the remainder of the season, arguing that the NCAA’s recent clearance of Baylor's James Nnaji exposes "arbitrary and inconsistent enforcement." Bediako, who went undrafted in 2023 but signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs and played in the G League, has already re-enrolled at Alabama. The lawsuit challenges the NCAA's stance that signing a professional contract permanently forfeits collegiate eligibility. (link) 
• Bediako is being represented by Heitner Legal Founder Darren Heitner, who says: “He should be treated similarly to other athletes who have been deemed eligible and the NCAA should be held to a standard where it cannot apply its rules arbitrarily.” (link) 
• The NCAA in a statement indicates it is “aware of media reports about a lawsuit filed against the NCAA by Charles Bediako. Mr. Bediako signed three NBA contracts after competing in college for two seasons. The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract. Eligibility rules ensure high school students get a shot at earning scholarships, and we will continue to consistently apply and defend these rules." (link)  
• Former Alabama Men’s Basketball student-athlete Charles Bediako has been granted a temporary restraining order by Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge James H. Roberts, providing him “immediate eligibility to participate in all Alabama men’s basketball activities and games,” per AL.com’s Nick Kelly, who notes the order “will remain in effect by law for 10 days or until a hearing can take place.” A hearing on the preliminary injunction is currently set for Jan. 27. Kelly: “It is possible the request for an injunction is denied at the hearing, making it so Bediako can only play one game — vs. Tennessee on Saturday. Or the court could grant the preliminary injunction, and then there would be no set time frame for the case to be resolved.” In response, the NCAA issued a statement which reads: “These attempts to sidestep NCAA rules and recruit individuals who have finished their time in college or signed NBA contracts are taking away opportunities from high school students. A judge ordering the NCAA let a former NBA player take the court Saturday against actual college student-athletes is exactly why Congress must step in and empower college sports to enforce our eligibility rules.” Full TRO text. (link, link, link) 
• UConn AD David Benedict reacts to today’s Charles Bediako/TRO ruling news by telling ESPN’s Pete Thamel: “If legally we can’t control or impose NCAA rules in terms of who can play and who can’t, based on a legal decision, the NCAA still has the right to determine what games count toward the NCAA tournament. And what games don’t count. The NCAA has deemed (Charles Bediako) ineligible. Fine, he can play (on a judge’s ruling). It doesn’t mean the games need to count toward the NCAA tournament. Otherwise, throw away the rule book and set it on fire. There are no rules.” (link) 
• The Federal Trade Commission is turning to the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA) of 2004 to investigate sports agents who sign student-athletes to agency contracts, per Sportico’s Michael McCann, who notes the “move signals the FTC’s heightened interest in an industry undergoing rapid change, where college athletes have expanded opportunities to earn compensation and where, unlike in pro sports, agents aren’t licensed by a players’ union.” Former FTC Commissioner/Lodestar Law and Economics Founder Joshua Wright observes the move is consistent with Trump administration priorities, remarking: “The Trump administration has demonstrated serious interest in the quickly evolving college athletics landscape. It is no surprise to see that interest manifested in an FTC inquiry aimed at ensuring student athletes are not taken advantage of by agents or their representatives. [This] is a role that fits well within the FTC’s traditional consumer protection mission, and I would not be surprised to see the FTC’s presence in this space expand as needed over time.” More. (link) 

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

 "You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside." — Wayne Dyer 

Have a great week, and remember, good sportsmanship! 

Dan