Big Ten says talks with Cruz and Cantwell on Protect College Sports Act will continue after productive meeting

The Big Ten moved from discussion to public messaging Tuesday after a meeting with U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell on federal legislation framed as a path to stability for college sports. In a statement released afterward, Maryland President Darryll Pines, chair of the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, said the conference and its member schools plan to keep working with the senators as negotiations continue.

Cruz, a Republican from Texas, and Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, are the sponsors of the Protect College Sports Act, a proposal introduced last month. According to reporting, the Big Ten and the SEC previously said they did not support the bill in its current form, while other conferences have expressed support. Tuesday’s meetings with league leadership were presented as an effort to narrow gaps and identify provisions that could align federal policy with the needs of major conferences.

In its statement, the Big Ten said its presidents and chancellors were pleased to meet with the senators and that the dialogue was “constructive.” The league also pointed to a shared objective, describing itself as a group of 18 institutions committed to “academic and athletic excellence” that wants to collaborate with senators and other members of Congress to achieve stability for college athletics.

The statement did not suggest the Big Ten had changed its overall position on the bill, but it did identify areas where the leagues believe progress is possible. Reporting ahead of and during the policy discussions indicated that both the Big Ten and SEC are particularly focused on how the legislation would handle athlete representation and agents, alongside broader questions about rulemaking authority and safeguards. The Big Ten’s messaging leaned toward process and continued engagement rather than a declaration of endorsement.

The policy timing also matters for football, where off-field rules and athlete movement policies intersect with the calendar. The legislation is being discussed against the backdrop of the current transfer and eligibility ecosystem, and reporting around the meetings has referenced a legislative timetable that could affect when any potential changes are finalized relative to the transfer portal window. For Big Ten programs, federal action could influence how athletes plan representation and how schools administer compliance across multiple states.

The SEC also released a statement after its own meeting with Cruz and Cantwell, describing the discussion as productive and saying it would work cooperatively as conversations continue. While both leagues used similar language about stability and shared goals, the ultimate question for college football remains whether Congress can produce a unified federal framework that major conferences can administer consistently without creating new sources of uncertainty.

As the Protect College Sports Act advances through the legislative process, the next items to watch are whether the sponsors incorporate the changes major conferences are indicating they want, and whether additional conference and legal stakeholders converge on a workable national approach. Big Ten officials have indicated the effort is not over, and the league’s next public step is likely to come as discussions move from general agreement on goals to line-by-line edits on policy details.