The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Do You Think the Protect College Sports Act Will Make a Difference?

Episode Date: September 16, 2026

Do You Think the Protect College Sports Act Will Make a Difference?

So we have been talking a little bit of college football, and it looks like the Protect College Sports Act is moving towards a final Senate vote. It is proposing, of course, to fix what they feel like are some of the biggest problems in college sports. It is co-sponsored by Ted Cruz. It's a bipartisan solution to design to bring order to the chaos. Oh, we didn't talk about him getting booed unmercifully on day. I mean, that's not shocking. Ted Cruz, booed in Austin. They were, by the way, good,

kudos to him though. He tweeted out something like, what curse? Because he was at the Texas game. Yeah, I don't believe in curses. So everybody wants to talk about the curse. And, I mean, he is there for a lot of games. He's at about 70% of losses. Exactly.

I don't even know if that's accurate. I don't care. I don't believe in curses. I'm sorry if you want to sit down in your couch and you want to rearrange your spot and you think that's going to affect the game. That's cool if you want to believe that. But just know it doesn't really have any impact on the game.

He's been in a couple of Game 7 Astero and Rockets losses. I'll just point that out. People are very a little stitious and up to superstitious and I get that but I mean at the end of the day I don't care. It's not something I get involved in. See, they were able to win. See, everybody called it, probably when it was

23 to 3 people were calling it to Ted Cruz Curse and while the Texas Longhorns were able to win there. Of course it also is, he's a politician so he's going to be showing up in his Aggie gear with Maroon and then he's going to be showing up in his Texas gear in orange. He's going to try to play both sides. There is an interesting wrinkle though to this protect

College Sports Act that basically it outlaws, like it puts a cap on your eligibility and all that stuff, which is what the D1 Council passed, but it's going to put a hard line. And basically there's a world where if they pass this mid-season, there's a possibility Trinidad Chambliss that got granted the six year from the Oxford judge is ruled ineligible. Is that going to be retroactive? They're saying there was one guy saying, no, I think it would be grandfathered in and it would be moving forward. And then somebody else said, no, according to the letter of the law here, it would be effective immediately. And anybody under those TROs would be immediately ineligible.

Temporary restraining orders. Then you're going to get an injunction, and then it's going to go, and then like they're going to be, yeah, can you get it? Can he practice when he's ineligible? It's according to a judge. They're saying this would overrule all those local judge decisions. No local judges could be involved in any of this because it would be codified into law or something like that? Right. Exactly. Hmm. I don't know. Well, then you'd probably. we try to get something up to the Supreme Court rather quickly

because everything I've read is that this this act would be there'd be a there's a number of spots and clauses and whatever where it can be challenged by lawyers who I'm sure are more than more than ready champ in at the bit to get after the NCAA one of the other things they put in here was like you only get one free transfer so that this is going to cap the wall wall west on all these transfers and all this well then it came out and they said yesterday they're like yeah you just get the one-time transfer but there are exceptions to the rule. Like if your coach leaves or gets fired,

so you've opened the door again. Like it's yeah, it's like, okay, except this, this, this, this, and this, you can transfer still. I mean, I feel like if I can transfer from U of H as an as a student, right, I can go from U of H to Rice to UCLA to wherever and it's, I don't

have to sit out of your classes. So why should I have to sit out a year of sports? Well, people look at it as, what was your major? I don't know. Computers. Oh, my actual major with psychology. So like it'd be like you didn't give a commitment to the psychology school that I'm coming here for four years.

No, I didn't either. I mean, also as a football player is giving his commitment to the program I'm coming to play there. So what? He can change his mind. What if he wants to move closer to home? Well, this allows you to change your mind once. No, why can't... I don't get why you can't change your mind as many times as you want. You think

you have life figured out at 18, 19? No. And especially if you're going to go be able and you're getting a chance for... Oh, this school is going to charge, give me $100,000, but this other school is going to give me $200,000. Why would I deprive a young athlete of give that opportunity? That's why you get it one-time transfer. No, it's give them why. Well, if they're going for $200,000 and then they play well and they get an offer for $400,000. Why shouldn't they be able to pursue that opportunity? You go back to your school and go pay me this. What if they

won't? Because they have you locked up, so they're not going to pay you. So you're costing yourself $200,000 are like crazy odds are, your coach is either going to leave or get fired and you're going to go on somewhere else? But what if they don't? What if you do have a good coach? And what if you're at a smaller school and you're saying you're saying no you can't make $200,000 more in a you can't make money life-changing money especially if you're sending that money back to who knows you've got brothers and sisters and parents you want to take care of and and so they can pay rent and do all those types of things you're telling them they can't do that because you're 13 year old athlete to fund everything well that's that's another conversation but if I'm the athlete see I need to look at you also

need to I think you fail to look at the from the athlete perspective as well as somebody who is trying to do what's best for them and their family especially financially. Well, but there's a reason why when a recruit makes a decision, we call it a commitment. Well, I think that's ridiculous. I think we should do away with that because people flip their commitments every five seconds. I tell people all the time.

You should, we need to get back to committing to the school as opposed to the coach. Like, you want to go to all, you grow up die hard Auburn fan. You want to go to Auburn? I'm going to Auburn. It doesn't matter who the coach is. Yeah. Well, that's not how it works. Or like, hey, I love this school because they have a meteorology department.

And that's what I would have. What if you're like a running back and then you commit to a coach who likes to run the triple option, like a Georgia Tech or Army or something like that. And the new coach wants to go spread and he's only going to use one running back. And then you get to league. Again, the. Well, that's what I'm saying? But you're saying commit to the school.

But what if the philosophy comes completely changes and that affects who you are? What if you're a 4-3DN and then they get a new defensive coordinator and they want to go to a 3-4 and you're not an outside lineback? It's a stat one out of every hundred student athletes will not make it to the. the next level. We're worried about your degree. But we're talking about high-level college football, though. I mean, and we know it hasn't been about a degree. Basically since, I don't even know, 60s, since Bear Bryant started handing out 9,000

scholarships to everyone and then Georgia Tech left the SEC because they were upset about it. Well, maybe that's where the discussion needs to be. It's football. It's NFL minor leagues is what it is. And we call it college football, the high level, the highest level of college football. Of course, who knows, I don't know. If you're playing for the Toledo Rockets and whatnot, it's a little bit of a different story. And that's just another thing.

It's obviously a complicated issue and there's no right answers for this. But I don't think you should keep somebody from making more money and doing what's best for them. Just because you want to make up rules and you're tired of, I don't know, reading. What is the harm when somebody transfers two or three times? The people are tired of the, they call it the Wawa West. It's just you're having rosters overturned completely. When I'm sitting on my couch and there's a player that's transferred three. times. What's the harm? I'm eating my

Daisy French onion dip and I'm watching the game. I don't care if he's transferred two or three times to help better his own life.