Did the U.S. Senate take a step toward restoring sanity to college athletics Monday? Arkansas’ two senators, Republicans Tom Cotton and John Boozman, believe it did. So does John Calipari, the University of Arkansas’ head men’s basketball coach.

Boozman, who played football for the Razorbacks, and Cotton both voted for the Protect College Sports Act. The vote was 77-22, with both Republicans and Democrats voting yes.

The bill would provide the NCAA with an antitrust exemption that would help it enforce limits on how much colleges and universities can pay players. It also would increase that limit to about $49 million, of which $5 million would go to Olympic and nonrevenue sports. Everything is currently being done under a court settlement, including a $21.5 million salary cap that some schools have circumvented – obviously, based on scoreboard results. Players could compete over five years beginning when they finish high school or reach age 19. They could transfer once without penalty during their careers. The bill also would limit each conference to 20 teams. 

Notably, an amendment to limit coaches’ salaries to $5 million failed.

It seems unlikely that this will become law this year. The House still must pass its version, but members are in their home districts campaigning until after the midterm elections. Then there would be only a couple of months to pass something during the busy lame-duck session before the new Congress is sworn in. Whatever is passed would have to be reconciled with the Senate version, and both the House and the Senate would have to approve it before it goes to President Trump’s desk. He supports it.

If all this doesn’t happen before the new Congress takes office in January, then the process would restart.

Calipari – a players’ coach – was a vocal supporter who lobbied hard for the bill’s passage. In a video he posted on the X social media platform Sept. 17, he said he had returned from spending two days lobbying for the bill in D.C. He said it would be good for everyone, provide stability, and “calm the waters.”

“The bill is not perfect, but I believe this solves 75 to 80% of our issues, and it’s really been special to see both parties come together and work toward a solution,” he said.

In an interview Sept. 1, Cotton told me sports fans would like to see more consistency and familiarity. He said it was important not to leave behind individual and Olympic sports. 

“If we don’t take action to provide some basic rules of the road, I think we could get to the point in the not-too-distant future where most colleges can afford nothing but football and basketball, maybe baseball, and maybe not even all colleges can do that,” he said.

I earlier had asked his two opponents, Democrat Hallie Shoffner and Libertarian Jeff Wadlin, what they thought of the bill. 

Shoffner told me Sept. 11 that she wasn’t sure about the bill but was “uncomfortable with a lot of parts of it.” While it does protect the athletes, it also protects the industry. 

“It does feel like that the well-being of the players and the players’ ability to make money is at odds with the industry’s desire to make a lot more money,” she said.

Wadlin said players’ salaries shouldn’t be capped in order to benefit coaches, administrators and broadcasters. He noted that there’s no one, such as a union, representing the players.

“My point is there’s just other solutions than the government getting involved, creating these carveouts, putting their finger on the scale, picking winners and losers, and designing the system in a certain way,” he said.

No system can work perfectly, including this one. College sports creates a special kind of conundrum. As Americans, we believe in the free market and paying people what they are worth. Unfortunately, the free market believes that scoring touchdowns is worth more than just about anything else a 19-year-old might do.

The question of what we value – or should value – goes above the U.S. Senate’s pay grade. That being the case, the immediate goal should be stability. 

In other words, this is better than nothing. Calipari is for it, so I guess I am too. He knows more than I do, and he clearly cares about his players. 

We’ll see what happens in the House.

© 2026 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Steve Brawner’s column is syndicated to 24 news outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.