The college football world is waiting with bated breath for the official date when courts enact the House v. NCAA settlement, which could occur as early as next Monday. The expected details could codify a process currently running wild in college football as well as men’s and women’s basketball. There is an expectation college football rosters will be held to 105 players total. In the case of Georgia, the Bulldogs would have to part ways with 16 of the 121 players currently listed on its spring roster. USC’s spring prospectus lists 73 returning players and 28 spring enrollees including both portal and freshman additions to the roster.
The more notable major component of the House Settlement is the salary cap expected to emerge as a product of the new revenue-sharing model. Up until this point, it’s been a free for all with players and agents allowed to request and secure (and exaggerate) any amount of money they saw fit. The “market” has not led to a ton of stabilization in its completely unchecked form.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley talked about the anticipation and the unknowns as the Trojans and the rest of the college football world wait for the House Settlement shoe to finally drop.
“Everybody’s kind of eager to see,” Riley said. “It’s honestly a little tough to speculate on it. It just depends on how well it’s constructed. We’re just in a day and age where that would be great if we could get to that (clarity).
“But I don’t know that I’m expecting that. I don’t know that really anybody is, so we’ll see what happens, right? Certainly, some clarity on some things with the roster certainly, and the scholarships and all that. We’ve got a working idea of what it’s going to be like, but to actually see and know for certain will be super helpful. Those are the big points that we’re going to be most excited to see that affect us obviously a great deal.”
BECOME A USCFOOTBALL.COM VIP MEMBER TODAY! Right now you can subscribe for 50% off the regular annual membership price! Don’t miss an opportunity to get the best USC Trojan athletics coverage on the planet for about the price of a cup of coffee per month! Click this link to go to our signup page and once you are in, that is 365 days of access to all of our VIP content, the Peristyle premium message board (the oldest and busiest Trojan football message board there is), our weekly insider War Room features and lots more!
The spring transfer portal window opens on April 16. A ruling next week could alter the plans and bottom lines for literally thousands of players. Don’t be surprised to see teams, agents and players make decisions based on the idea the Wild West Era of player movement is closing.
As with all things involving the most toothless and impotent governing body in sports, the ruling will be just a first step. There needs to be active enforcement across all of college football. Different states have had different interpretations of NIL and collective activity, and it’s created a significant imbalance across the game. Whatever gets codified needs to be enforced. Notice there’s rarely a story in the NFL about salary cap violations and never anything about inappropriate gifts from boosters. That’s how clean and professionalized it needs to look for a sport where players are free agents before they ever play a down of college ball.
“It’s tough because obviously there’s a whole legal side of that, and you’re going to need something that’s going to hold up legally, right?” Riley said. “I mean something that has enough teeth to accomplish what it needs to accomplish, and then something that’s not just going to get just run over with people getting sued and all of that. That’s the world that those people live in, and that’s why it’s been tough to find [consistency]. Obviously, if we can, that’ll be great, and I’m hopeful that they can make some good progress.”
The good news for USC fans is the Trojans under general manager Chad Bowden and athletic director Jennifer Cohen‘s leadership have been planning for a professionalized reality.
“There are a lot of things that we are looking at in regards to rev share, and we are not going to be slowed down in any way,” Bowden said. “And the dedication Jen has towards this football program is unbelievable. There are things that we are going to do that I’m not disclosing at this table, that people will be playing catch up.”
Riley and the current players are waiting for the House Settlement with a healthy does of uncertainty just like the rest of the sport. USC is doing its best to be ready for whatever shape the game’s next new reality takes.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
