{"slug": "with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of", "title": "With the SEC and Big Ten in opposition, the Protect College Sports Act creates unexpected alignment among the Group of … Eight", "summary": "The Protect College Sports Act has divided the Power Four conferences, with the SEC and Big Ten opposing the legislation while the ACC and Big 12 support it. The bill creates an unexpected alliance among the remaining Group of Eight conferences, which have aligned in favor of the proposed federal oversight of college athletics. The split highlights the growing divide between college sports' wealthiest conferences and the rest of the NCAA.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...The legislation has created strange bedfellows, splitting the Power Four in half as SEC and Big Ten balk at limiting provisions.\n\nAlready have an account\n\n[Log In](https://www.mercurynews.com/login?&returnUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mercurynews.com%2F2026%2F06%2F04%2Fprotect-college-sports-act-us-senate-pac-12-sec-big-ten%2F)\nThis article is only available to subscribers\n\nOffer valid for non-subscribers only", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/06/04/protect-college-sports-act-us-senate-pac-12-sec-big-ten/", "published_at": "2026-06-04 20:30:17+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-04 21:01:43.580431+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["SEC", "Big Ten", "Protect College Sports Act", "Group of Eight", "Power Four", "US Senate", "Pac-12", "Mercury News"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/with-the-sec-and-big-ten-in-opposition-the-protect-college-sports-act-creates-of.jsonld"}}