• The Protect College Sports Act has two more co-sponsors in West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R) & Vermont Senator Peter Welch (D). (link); Capito: “This legislation serves as an updated playbook to repair a fractured system by preventing the exploitation of student athletes, holding agents and coaches accountable, providing certainty through needed guardrails, and putting education first. It also includes an amendment I authored to preserve both women’s and Olympic sports’ visibility and media rights, helping these sports continue to grow and inspire the next generation of athletes. With the landscape of college athletics rapidly evolving, I believe we all agree that something needs to be done, and this bill puts those needed steps into action.” Welch: “This bipartisan bill will level the playing field for college athletics, support schools in Vermont, and allow fans to enjoy college sports for generations to come. Everyone agrees that the current system is broken.” (link) 
• More PCSA coverage as Politico’s Kelsey Brugger and Jacob Wendler report on efforts by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to secure a July floor vote. Brugger & Wendler cite one anonymous source who says Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has expressed interest in moving the bill to the floor once it can get 60 votes; however, members in both parties have concerns, including Democrats concerned about student-athlete labor protections as well as some Republicans attuned to concerns from the SEC and Big Ten. Cantwell indicated there’s a “possibility for sure” the bill could land on the Senate floor by the end of the month but added: “I think right now we have a bill that’s like really in the middle and then there’s people on both sides trying to make change. And I think we’ll have to see what we can do that still preserves that agreement but grows the votes.” Brugger and Wendler also report that “two lobbyists actively engaged in talks around the bill, who were granted anonymity to comment on private conversations, said the legislation is far from ready for a floor vote, adding that the Commerce Committee has not made substantial progress on winning over key players in college sports.” (link) 
• A group of 11 student-athletes from four different sports – men's and women's basketball, baseball and track and field – have filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, alleging the association’s updated five-year eligibility rule unlawfully denies thousands of student-athletes a fifth season of competition while depriving them of an additional year to compete, pursue undergraduate and graduate education and earn newly won rights to NIL compensation. The complaint alleges claims under the Sherman Act and for breach of contract, while seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, damages and class-wide remedies. (link) 
• Johnson v. NCAA plaintiffs’ co-counsel Paul McDonald argues in a Sportico op-ed that Democratic lawmakers and civil rights organizations must weaponize the Protect College Sports Act to force the NCAA to actively combat Republican-led redistricting efforts. Here’s what you need to know… 
  • The Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP previously tanked the SCORE Act over states utilizing the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision to eliminate majority-minority voting districts, a political standoff that now threatens the bipartisan passage of the PCSA ahead of the November midterms. McDonald urges progressive lawmakers to withhold support for the federal sports bill until the NCAA bans championship events in states that dilute Black political representation, pointing to the association's successful 2016 boycott of North Carolina over its transgender "bathroom bill" that reportedly cost the state over $250M in economic impact. 
  • McDonald also called on the NCAA to atone for utilizing the 13th Amendment's "slavery exception" to legally defend amateurism by instituting mandatory financial subsidies for HBCU athletic departments. McDonald: "The lesson is clear for Democrats and civil rights advocates: to best fight redistricting after the Callais decision, be bold and demand that the NCAA atone for its offensive comparison of college athletes to prison labor under the 13th Amendment ‘slavery exception’ by banning NCAA tournaments in Republican-controlled states that eliminate majority-minority, Black districts. This is a proven playbook to hit these Republican-controlled states where it hurts—financially, costing them hundreds of millions, and culturally, depriving them of championship traditions." (link) 
• NCAA SVP of Basketball Dan Gavitt joined The Sideline with Andy Katz. Key comments from Gavitt… 
  • On the logistical advantages of Wichita as the new initial round March Madness host: "We have to move teams from their campus site to Dayton basically Monday morning to be able to play Tuesday and Wednesday evening. Now, we have more teams that are doing that. ... The staff did a very good job analyzing if we had had the larger field, 76 teams over the last 10 years, who would those teams have been, where would they have come from, and where would they need to go to their first-round site." 
  • On adjusting the Wins Above Bubble baseline: "In order to kind of use that metric effectively, you have to define what a bubble team would be. In the past, that bubble definition was a team that was ranked 45th in the NET rankings. With more teams in the field, the bubble will move, right? It'll be larger and deeper. And so the change was made that now the average bubble team will be considered the 55th ranked team in the NET rankings." (link) 
• The NCAA Rules Subcommittee has approved the usage of the ABS challenge system in college baseball, per On3’s Thomas Goldkamp, who notes it can be utilized in any game where the technology is available, including Trackman. The Baseball Oversight Committee must still grant approval for the change to go into effect, but it “is expected to be implemented in 2027.” The SEC initially championed the system at this year’s league tournament in Hoover, Ala., with the implementation reportedly going “remarkably well.” It remains to be seen what stipulation the NCAA would put on the ABS system for membership-wide implementation, but expect a similar structure to the SEC’s. More. (link) 
• CBS’ Matt Norlander takes a look at how sports agents are actively contacting college basketball programs to gauge interest in returning 21- and 22-year-old NBA Summer League participants to collegiate rosters for the 2026-27 season. These back-channel inquiries coincide with a broader legal push to circumvent the NCAA's new five-in-five eligibility model, as Norlander notes that players facing assignments to the G League or Exhibit 10 on sub-$200K contracts are exploring state-level lawsuits in Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee and California. While coaches acknowledge the chaos threatens to disrupt incoming freshman classes and portal acquisitions, an anonymous Big 12 coach explained the competitive reality forcing programs to entertain the inquiries: "Ask any coach here, not one of them will tell you it's how they want it to be. We want this option taken away from us. But if the opportunity is there, am I supposed to not listen? If I can make my team better, don't I have to try and do it?" More. (link) 
• Beginning in 2026-27, the top 16 teams in the newly expanded 76-team NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship will be seeded according to their true ranking, regardless of conference affiliation, per USA Today’s Mitchell Northam. While the change will likely only impact the Power 4 leagues, coaches from other conferences are in favor of the move with at least one HC wanting to see a few more tweaks to the event. Seton Hall HC Tony Bozzella: “This is a good move by the NCAA Selection Committee, but it should be the first of a few moves that will impact tournament selection and seeding in a positive way. Other changes should include widening the NET Quad system and getting transparent criteria and rankings for officiating.” (link) 

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

“Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” Credited to Albert Einstein 

Whether it is society in general, or college athletics directly, each day brings significant challenges to stay positive and keep moving forward. Your work ethic and attitude are up to you. I often reflect on Walt Disney’s quote “We keep moving forward – opening new doors and doing new things.” I believe that is every day in the new paradigm of college athletics as we try to improve opportunities and benefits for all of our student-athletes. 

As our fall student-athletes begin arriving on campus, another academic year is already taking shape. New teams, new stories, new opportunities and undoubtedly new challenges await. Yet what remains constant is our collective commitment to providing an outstanding student-athlete experience while continuing to strengthen The Big West. I hope each of you finds time to recharge before the pace accelerates once again. Thank you for everything you do on behalf of our student-athletes and institutions. 

Enjoy your week! 

Dan