SEC and Big Ten Don’t Want to Expand, Says Trump’s College Sports Czar Randy Levine

Over the recent month, several collegiate athletic programs, notably Miami, Florida State, and South Florida, have vocally opposed the Protect College Sports Act due to a clause that limits conference realignment opportunities. This provision initially stipulated that power conferences could not exceed 19 members, and any Power 4 institution seeking to join a different league would have to serve a five-year hiatus as an independent entity.

Despite legislative modifications, the schools remain dissatisfied unless all realignment restrictions are entirely eradicated. However, Randy Levine, the vice-chair of President Donald Trump's College Sports roundtable, informed Front Office Sports that these institutions are pursuing an untenable course. Even if the provision is removed, Levine posited, the two most affluent conferences, the ACC and notably Florida State and Miami, lack feasible alternatives.

Sources familiar with the situation disclosed to Front Office Sports that these institutions, alongside others, have begun lobbying key House representatives, posing potential hurdles in passing the bill within the House, considering its narrow majority and considerable Democrat opposition.