CLEMSON — NCAA President Charlie Baker implored college sports leaders and Senators to support the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) following reports on Thursday the bill did not make it to the Senate floor before it adjourned for the week.

Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune did not file cloture for the act, which slims the bill’s chances of a vote next week. The Senate has until next Friday to vote on the bill before taking its monthlong recess.

If the bill does not go to a vote before the recess, it is unlikely it will come to vote when Congress reconvenes in September, due to midterm elections across the country.

“This is the legislation we need now,” Baker said in a statement released by the NCAA on Thursday. “It will grant student-athletes unprecedented academic, health, and wellness benefits, rein in out-of-control agents, and stabilize transfer, eligibility, and revenue-sharing rules.”

Dellenger reported on X, “While the bill’s chances of a vote next week are in peril, Majority Leader John Thune could still file cloture for the Protect College Sports Act on Monday evening once the Senate’s session begins, potentially scheduling it for a late-week vote. It remains a narrow path.”

The path was narrowed when the Big Ten’s and SEC’s presidents and athletic directors reviewed the revised PCSA, but did not cast a vote, according to Yahoo Sports.

ACC presidents did not take a formal vote, either, “but there is wide support in the league for the bill. The issue in the ACC is that several members are opposed because of the expansion provision,” says Dellenger. He also reported that “Notre Dame informed the ACC that it was supportive of the bill as both a member of the ACC and as an independent in football.”

Only the Big 12 reaffirmed their support, but the league is “suggesting clarifying language related to the associated entity provision in the legislation,” reports Dellenger.

According to Dellenger, “Big Ten and SEC officials who spoke to Yahoo Sports, still hold concerns over language in the associated entity provision. They believe it does not close the cap circumvention loophole of schools using MMRs/sponsors. It remains unclear if that will prevent their support.”

A Senate staff member told Dellenger, “that if the SEC and Big Ten choose today not to support the bill and ‘punt to September,’ that the leagues ‘will have to find new senators.’ It is an indication that Sens. Ted Cruz, Maria Cantwell and Eric Schmitt are on their last gasp.”

Sen. Cruz posted on X Thursday afternoon that there’s confusion about how the cap and Associated Entity language work in the PCSA.

“Let me clear it up,” he wrote. “The cap is a hard cap. Full stop. That loophole is closed. Once a school hits the cap, a player can still do NIL deals on the open market — if the deal is genuinely commercial and the school isn’t directing it. That’s the line.”

Sen. Cruz says that some conference commissioners want to bar third party companies associated with schools from striking any, and all, NIL deals with athletes, even “kosher” endorsement contracts, writes Dellenger

“Some commissioners want more: bar any company doing business with a school from signing that school’s players. So, a QB couldn’t sign with Nike because Nike has a separate contract with his university. That’s not protecting a cap,” Sen. Cruz wrote. “That’s blocking a kid from selling his own name. Every pro league works this way. If the team doesn’t direct it, the player earns it.

“What exactly is the objection? And we went further than anyone asked: players disclose all of their deals, and the university president AND the sponsor sign a letter certifying they stayed under the cap. Cheat, and you signed your name to it. Hard cap. Loophole closed. Players keep the right to earn what the school didn’t arrange. Those aren’t in tension — that’s the whole point.”

And that is what led Baker to release a statement wanting to assure the bill can be passed by the end of next week on the Senate floor.

“While no bill is perfect, I implore college sports leaders and Senators to support this bill now,” Baker said. “It is our best chance to deliver the benefits and level playing field student-athletes deserve while providing the protections institutions need to sustain college athletics long-term.”