Big Ten, SEC are on the clock as new college athletics bill is circulated

The Senate Commerce Committee's bipartisan leaders, Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash), have revised the Protect College Sports Act to address concerns from the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences. The updated bill includes legal protections for schools, a $20 million athlete retention fund, and concessions on media rights pooling, but key demands like excluding postseason tournaments from media pooling and removing merger restrictions remain unresolved. The conferences have until 9 a.m. Wednesday to decide on supporting the bill.