SEC Media Days are over. The Big Ten will host its preseason media event next Tuesday-Thursday and the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) is unlikely to go the Senate floor for a vote before the month-long August recess begins.

What does all of this mean? President Donald Trump’s executive order will take effect on Aug. 1 without a bill.

The college sports world is in chaos, as we sit six weeks before the majority of the college football season cranks up on Sept. 5.

Why is the PCSA in jeopardy of not passing?

If it cannot get through the Senate Floor before it recesses on Aug. 7 or Aug. 10, then it is unlikely to pass through the Senate and the House before midterm elections. The House adjourned on July 23, and returns on Aug. 31, for a short amount of time. The House has a brief scheduled session from Aug. 31-Sept. 3 before breaking again for Labor Day.

When the Senate breaks, the senators will not return until Sept. 14, meaning there is a very small window for both the Senate, and the House, to approve the bill. When Congress is back in September, the likelihood of a bill passing before the midterm elections depends heavily on its nature. With lawmakers heading into recess and focusing on campaigning, the legislative calendar before the midterm elections can be tight.

This all came into focus on Thursday when National Government reporter Brendan Pedersen reported Senate Majority Leader John Thune now does not expect the PCSA to reach the Senate floor for vote before the August recess begins.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to get them done. I would like to at least get Clarity started. We’ll see where the votes are,” Thune said when asked about the Clarity Act and PCSA.

The good news is, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, is that “Republican Senators, Ted Cruz and Eric Schmitt remain in talks with Democrat Senator Maria Cantwell over revisions to the PCSA to gain the support of SEC/Big Ten — a critical endorsement if the bill is to pass.”

Dellenger reported on X.com, “the bill is not dead and Thune’s commitment to bringing the legislation to the floor remains. However, support must increase for the Leader to have confidence in its passage through both chambers – something believed to be impossible without Big Ten and SEC support.”

The PCSA has been a big part of the discussions in the last few weeks at Big 12, ACC and SEC Media Days, and it will likely be a topic at the Big Ten’s media event next week in Chicago.

“While Cruz and Schmitt have agreed on many of the revisions from conference leadership, Cantwell has been reviewing proposed changes and adjusting language to assure that enough Democrat support remains for the legislation to pass the 60-vote Senate threshold and the House,” Dellenger writes.

Dellenger reports “that many of the SEC/Big Ten’s proposed changes in Title II — expansion and pooling rights – are in a “good place.” However, broadening the state preemption provision in Title I to prevent future legal challenges around recruiting and tampering is not solidified. It’s a key issue.”

Another debate, says Dellenger, centers around the rev-share cap which The Clemson Insider reported on earlier in the week, “as lawmakers work to close the MMR cap circumvention loophole and add to the bill a $25 million retention pool for schools to use on retaining athletes in addition to the current $21.3M rev-share cap.”

In this part of the discussions, there is concern over one limitation in the $25 million pool. Schools “would be limited to spending only $5M of that pool on basketball. The concept is meant to provide equity across the landscape, where schools without FB might spend $46M on basketball.”

Negotiations are expected to continue, and those in the know believe that “a path exists,” as long as there is still SEC and Big Ten support, to move the bill to the Senate floor the first week of August before the Senate breaks. However, everything seems to point to a post-recess-vote, and that is the concern.