The latest stumble for the Protect College Sports Act has pushed Notre Dame into an uncomfortable spot, because what looks like bad news for the bill could still lead to something worse for the Irish.
Ted Cruz and his allies were unable to gather enough support in their own party to bring the legislation to the Senate floor for a full vote, leaving the PCSA stalled again after repeated assurances that it would move. On the surface, that might not sound disastrous for Notre Dame.
The school would welcome some parts of the bill, including a higher revenue-share cap. But the package also includes plenty the Irish and their fans would not be eager to see become law.
The real danger comes if the bill stays dead and college sports moves toward what Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger described as a “Plan C.”
"If a compromise isn't reached among the leagues and NCAA, a self-governance model (Plan C) is necessary," Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger wrote on Saturday. "Some of the major conferences, most notably the SEC, are exploring a governance breakaway from the NCAA, where leagues independently create their own rules and enforce them."
Dellenger added that one reason this kind of setup appeals in theory is that smaller governing groups may be less exposed to the legal problems the NCAA has faced while trying to manage more than 350 Division I schools.
But there’s a catch that matters a lot for Notre Dame: if the SEC and Big Ten each start operating under different rule sets, it becomes hard for them to compete against one another. That’s where the Irish could get squeezed.
At first, Notre Dame might look like a school that could benefit from the chaos. If the SEC and Big Ten can’t easily square off, South Bend could become a more attractive destination. But that only raises the bigger question: what does a self-governed system mean for a program that isn’t in a conference?
If every league starts writing its own rules, Notre Dame would have to figure out which set it matches up with, and how that works without conference membership. Those are the kinds of questions that won’t have clean answers until Plan C is actually in motion - and by then, it could be too late.
The most obvious outcome would be a forced move into a conference just to keep the football program operating. That could mean aligning with the ACC, even if it is not the biggest or best of the major leagues.
There’s also the NBC angle. With fewer opponents available, a new TV deal would almost certainly be worth less than the current one. Ideally, Notre Dame would already have language in place to force a renegotiation if college sports ever reached a complete collapse of the NCAA.
For now, Notre Dame has gotten as much as it can out of the PCSA talks. If the bill dies and the system fractures, the Irish could end up facing a future that looks far less favorable than the one they have now.
In Other News...
Brian Kelly Just Reopened An Awkward Notre Dame Debate
Brian Kelly is back in the college football conversation this fall, only this time it is from a CBS broadcast booth rather than a sideline. The former Notre Dame coach has taken on a role calling Mountain West games, and he wasted little time turning attention back to the program he once led by predicting the Irish will run the table in the regular season and put themselves in position for a top College Football Playoff seed.
For Notre Dame fans, the comment lands in an old, complicated place. Kelly has said he holds no ill will toward the program and wants to repair the relationship, but any public forecast tied to the Irish tends to revive the debate over how his era ended and what might have been. His new platform gives him a fresh voice around the sport, and it also ensures every Notre Dame reference will carry a little extra weight. [Read more 🡒]
Adon Shuler Practice Scare Puts Notre Dame Secondary On Edge
A brief scare at Saturday practice had Notre Dame watching closely when safety and two-time captain Adon Shuler appeared to injure his right leg. Trainers checked him on the field and applied a compression sleeve, a sight that naturally grabbed attention for a defense that leans on his steadiness and leadership.
Shuler eventually returned to the field and took part in mental reps, which at least offered some reassurance in the moment. Still, there was no official update from the coaching staff, leaving the status of one of the Irish secondarys most important voices hanging a bit as practice moved on. [Read more 🡒]