“Being able to branch out into a lot of great partnerships, avenues to a lot of networking aspects… I think it’s been a great thing for the landscape of college football.” Is it? This statement from QB Jalen Milroe, with his $2.6 million NIL valuation, creates 2 teams in this “NIL” debate. On one side, you probably have the players who are free agents at this point and would love to watch the NIL ship sail towards the horizon. On the other end, you have concerned individuals, like Nick Saban, who have often pointed out that this amount of NIL involvement in college football is slowly turning the game into a billionaire playground. Is a bidding war truly what these 20 y/o need, and even if they do, does handing a $10 million paycheck to a high school prospect getting into CFB make any sense?

“Most top schools are reportedly setting aside 85 percent of that money for their football programs or so they thought,” We The 66 pointed out on their YouTube channel. Last Thursday, President Joe Biden‘s administration shocked the nation with Title IX. This single step will reportedly change the NIL landscape that is so prevalent in CFB nowadays. “His education department issued new guidance that stated that nil, money needs to be split between men’s and women’s sports equally,” We The 66 added. This means that NIL-based funds will pretty much shift to “Athletic funds”. Now, as much as this is beneficial for women-men opportunities, this step completely squashes the “bidding wars” that have been happening between top colleges. Ultimately putting a stopper on the rat race to get the best players.

No more can Michigan drop $10.5 million for an HS top prospect. As much as some people might hate this initiative, it cannot be that bad, right? After the Bryce Underwood and Julian Lewis flip happened, Saban had an interesting take on the subject. “You certainly cannot blame the players for choosing the school for both reasons that you just said,” the former HC had pointed out…

…But here is the thing: Saban also pointed out that in terms of the development of the athletes and their future in the NIL, this is “not the best model”. One thing is for sure, this step is going to make NIL boosters rethink their decision and players rethink their commitment. If you are in it for the money, then this will become a massive reality check.

And with schools like Alabama also pushing for larger NIL funding amidst Michigan, Oregon, and Ohio State’s NIL-funded rosters, it makes you think about how they are going to change their plans after Title IX. But, is this initiative going to go through smoothly? Because Biden’s previous attempts at changing the college or high school landscape did not sit well with the Court.

Title IX rules struck down

Biden’s administration pushed for a new change through Title IX. The new rules expanded on the Education Amendments of 1972 to include gay and transgender people under protection from sex discrimination. Now this managed to create a weird scenario.

6 people sued the executive changes to stop the rule change. Chief Judge Danny C. Reeves pointed out that the rule changes “violate the Constitution and are the result of arbitrary and capricious agency action.” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares mentioned, “I’m proud to have successfully defended Title IX,” in his statement.

Biden administration’s entire 1500-page regulation was completely removed. Not many have taken to this “scrapping” lightly. Goss Graves, CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, pointed out, “Today’s decision displays extraordinary disregard for students who are most vulnerable to discrimination.”

We could potentially end up watching a similar uproar towards the NIL changes. How do the top colleges react to this change? And will this remove the “free agency” amongst players? What do you think?