Florida’s two Republican senators are standing in the way of a college sports bill that otherwise appears headed for Senate approval, and the fight comes down to one thing: conference movement.
The Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan measure introduced in May by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), cleared a procedural hurdle last week with support from 77 senators.
A final vote could come as soon as this week. The Big Ten, the SEC and the NCAA all back the bill, and President Donald Trump said after the vote that he believes Florida Sens.
Ashley Moody and Rick Scott “will come along.”
So far, they have not.
Scott made his position plain on X last week: “We don’t need federal law that forces schools to lose revenue if they want to change their conference or dictates when schools can change their coaches and where their salaries can come from.”
At the center of their objection is a provision that would require schools in the Power Four conferences - the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC - to sit through a three-year probation as an independent program before moving to another power conference. The bill also limits each conference to 19 schools. Moody has proposed an amendment that would let a power-league school avoid that probation if it moved within 180 days of the bill becoming law, but that change has not been adopted.
For Florida’s universities, this is not some abstract Capitol Hill fight. South Florida, Florida State and Miami all quickly praised Moody and Scott after last week’s vote.
Miami and Florida State, both in the ACC, have long been viewed as schools with eyes on the Big Ten or SEC, the two conferences that have only grown more powerful since Texas and Oklahoma joined the SEC and UCLA and USC moved to the Big Ten. USF, meanwhile, sits in the American Conference and is positioned to make a jump to a Power Four league - most likely the ACC or Big 12 - when the door opens. UCF already made that move in 2023, leaving the American for the Big 12.
USF athletics CEO Rob Higgins thanked the senators on X and wrote, “Most of the Protect College Sports Act helps restore college athletics towards a much needed national reform,” adding, “If the few provisions in the bill regarding conference membership are adjusted to become satisfactory, universities in our state will continue to thrive in the future.”
A University of Miami executive, Rudy Fernandez, also applauded the senators, saying, “(Moody and Scott) have stood up to heavy political pressure to do right by Florida universities.”
Conference membership remains one of the clearest markers of athletic standing, especially in football. The SEC and Big Ten are loaded with the country’s top programs, with a combined 17 teams in The Associated Press top 25.
Miami’s recent surge has only sharpened the appeal of a possible move. The Hurricanes reached their first national championship game since 2003, beating Texas A&M, Ohio State and Ole Miss in last year’s College Football Playoff before losing to Indiana in the title game.
But the bill’s probation language would make a quick move nearly impossible for Miami, and the university said last week that Moody and Scott’s resistance is “critically important to ensuring that Florida institutions retain the flexibility and opportunity compete at the highest level in a rapidly evolving collegiate athletics landscape.”
Florida State has its own reasons for wanting that flexibility. Even with a football program that needs a turnaround, the Seminoles still see themselves as a traditional power. Before settling in 2025, FSU and Clemson sued the ACC over exit fees they believed were too steep and revenue distribution they thought shortchanged the league’s biggest brands.
USF would also benefit from any loosening of the rules that helps Miami or Florida State climb into the SEC or Big Ten, since that could open a spot elsewhere. The Bulls have a $350 million, 35,000-seat on-campus stadium scheduled to open in 2027 and a full revenue-sharing commitment of $21.3 million, but a crowded ACC and Big 12 could block upward movement if conference caps stay in place. USF could move into a Power Four conference without probation if a spot opens, but that path gets narrower if the leagues are full.
Florida may still have another chance to shape the debate. If the bill passes the Senate, it goes to the House, where state representation matters more.
Florida has 28 representatives, third-most in the country even with one seat vacant. California has 52, New York has 26, and North and South Carolina - home to schools with their own realignment ambitions - combine for 21.
The Congressional Black Caucus, with 55 House members, is also strongly opposed. A bill needs 218 votes to pass the House.
The probation rule has already changed once, dropping from five years to three. The bill’s authors also added a termination clause that would end the probation period six years after enactment. More changes are still possible.
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