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Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the NCAA is drowning in problems. And time and again, it has managed to end up on the bad side of almost everyone: the name, the image and likeness, the transfer portal, the eligibility rules, men participating in women’s sports. The list grows longer by the day and leadership continues to be lacking.
Earlier this week, University of Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari spent nearly seven minutes in a news conference laying out what so many people in college sports already know: The system is broken. He didn’t mince his words. He gave the NCAA some advice on how to stop operating like a corrupt sports corporation (“fugazi” as he put it), so that college sports can actually serve the athletes who make it possible.
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Head coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks talks with an official in the second half against the Queens Royals at Bud Walton Arena on December 16, 2025 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
After the clips went viral, Calipari doubled down on X, writing, “I will continue to use whatever influence I have to ensure the health and longevity of our game.”
I spent four years at the University of Kentucky while Calipari was coach there, and I can tell you I never saw him excited at a press conference (and he was known for being fiery). And he is far from alone. His indignation is not only understandable, but justified.
Higher education itself faces a reckoning. Registrations are declining. Tuition fees are exploding. Parents are wondering whether four years and six figures are worth it, especially as campuses become increasingly overrun with chaos, radical activism and administrators more concerned with appeasing ideological crowds than educating students.
While private companies offer direct career paths and career paths that promise real financial benefits, university presidents struggle to justify their relevance. Too often, they kneel before paid liberal protesters who seek to tear down American Judeo-Christian institutions, traditions, and values rather than preserve them.
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Bo Jackson #25 of the Ohio State Buckeyes runs the ball against the Indiana Hoosiers during the 2025 Big Ten Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 6, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
And yet, even today, universities still have an asset that has long unified campuses and inspired national pride: college football.
College football is the gateway to higher education. It’s the marketing arm of our most recognizable universities. When someone says they attended a Power Conference school, no one asks them about their economics department. They ask about the football team, rivalry games, the playoff picture or if the starting quarterback will dress on Saturday. A winning football program boosts enrollment, energizes alumni and fuels funding across the university.
But today, college athletics (especially college football) finds itself on dangerously shaky ground.
As Coach Calipari pointed out, without serious reform, we risk a total collapse of the college sports model. Why do I care?
Because if college athletics fails, women’s sports will pay the highest price. Title IX protections, Olympic development pipelines and nonprofit women’s programs will be the first to be tested.
At a time when women’s athletics is already under attack, the last thing America should do is let the financial foundations of college sports crumble. Women’s sports deserve protection, investment and respect, not further erosion due to a broken system that no longer works.
College football once represented the best of America: grit, competition, community and the relentless drive to win. Today, its government structure is fractured, weak and unsustainable. Like higher education itself, it desperately needs awareness coupled with strong leadership to make it happen.
President Trump’s return to the White House showed one thing unequivocally: When America demands force, it delivers. His America First agenda restored national pride, brought clarity to Washington, and proved that this country does not shy away from big challenges. This same bold leadership is exactly what college athletics needs today.
The House rules finally recognized what everyone already knows: college athletes deserve a fair share of the massive value they help create. But it also revealed an uncomfortable truth: the current system cannot survive as is. Division I football is the economic engine that funds almost every other sport, from track and field to women’s swimming to gymnastics to football. If football collapses, the entire ecosystem collapses.
President Donald Trump (center) greets players after the toss and before the start of the 126th Army-Navy game between the Army Black Knights and Navy Midshipmen at M&T Bank Stadium December 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Yet conferences stubbornly cling to a failing model of media rights. Each negotiates alone, leaving billions of dollars on the table. This money could support student-athletes, women’s programs and Olympic projects for generations to come.
Professional sports solved this problem decades ago. The NFL and NBA collectively negotiate media rights under antitrust protections provided by Congress through the Sports Broadcasting Act. The result? Competitive balance, massive growth and long-term stability.
College football deserves the same unity and strength. President Trump and Congress have the power to make this happen.
With expanded antitrust protections, college sports could collectively negotiate media rights, schedule marquee games that captivate the nation and generate billions in new revenue to stabilize programs across the country. That means more scholarships, stronger women’s sports and more opportunities for every athlete – male and female – pursuing the American dream.
It’s about much more than football. It is about preserving an American institution that instills discipline, teamwork, faith in God, hard work and love of country. It’s about ensuring that universities respect these values instead of abandoning them.
President Trump has never been afraid to confront weak leadership or a failing status quo. When the system is rigged or broken, he fights to fix it and he puts America first.
With his leadership and support from Congress, we can restore equity, defend Title IX, protect women’s sports, and ensure that college football – and college athletics as a whole – emerge stronger, prouder and more united than ever before.
