Will Potenial ‘Protect College Sports Act’ Impact Size of ACC With 20-School Limit?

The Senate voted to push the conference size cap from 19 schools to 20. This happened as part of the Protect College Sports Act, which passed 77-22 on Sept. 28. The shift creates space for the Big Ten to add two more members and the SEC to add four, though rules about which schools can switch still apply.

Florida Sen. Ashley Moody wrote the amendment. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined as a co-sponsor, according to ACCSports.com. The bill still needs House approval before it can reach the president.

The Big Ten has 18 teams. The SEC has 16. Under the new 20-team cap, both leagues could add schools without breaking the proposed limit.

Section 205 of the bill targets deals involving football conferences that reported more than $700 million in revenue based on their fiscal 2025 tax return or a later one. The 20-school cap would give conferences additional space to add schools outside that covered group. It would not allow the SEC or Big Ten to take a covered ACC school such as Florida State or Clemson without meeting other requirements.

A separate provision would block that acquisition unless the resulting conference included at least three-quarters of all FBS schools nationwide — far past the size of a normal conference. For the first six years after the law takes effect, a school counts as covered if it played football in a qualifying high-revenue conference at any point in the previous three years.

Three conferences cleared the $700 million revenue mark based on fiscal 2025 filings and current football membership. The Big Ten reported $1.468 billion. The SEC reported $1.109 billion. The ACC reported more than $826 million in its 2024-25 tax filing.

Those figures reflect total conference revenue, not the amount distributed to individual schools. The three leagues cover 51 schools combined: 17 ACC football members, 18 Big Ten teams, and 16 SEC programs.

The Big 12 reported $610.9 million in fiscal 2025, below the threshold. Commissioner Brett Yormark has projected $710 million for fiscal 2026, though a projection is not the same as a qualifying tax return.

Clemson and Florida State settled their legal disputes with the ACC in March 2025 and remained in the conference. As part of that agreement, the ACC added a system that rewards schools for attracting larger television audiences for football and men's basketball.