Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne is clearly fed up with the current state of college athletics. But amid unrequited calls on Congress to save the NCAA, SEC administrators like Byrne are entertaining other ways for the Power Four conference to police themselves when it comes to player compensation rules.

And, at least according to Byrne, that could include the SEC and other Power leagues potentially barring schools that are found to blatantly flout player compensation rules established by last summer’s House v. NCAA settlement from future competition in said league.

“We’re going to see, I think, a potential crossroads, on whether schools should be allowed to participate in conferences if they are choosing to not follow the rules,” Byrne told AL.com on Thursday.

The House settlement paved the way for Division I schools to directly compensate athletes through revenue-sharing, and provided a cap of $20.5 million for the first two years of its installation. But several prominent programs have vastly exceeded that cap, and quite boldly, by utilizing other revenue streams through their school’s NIL collectives, and there have been several legal challenges to the College Sports Commission’s NIL Go clearinghouse process that is meant to regulate those NIL deals.

Alabama AD Greg Byrne: ‘There should be consequences’ for schools that break rules

But, if individual schools or athletic programs are found to be purposely defying CSC regulations or House rules in order to gain a competitive advantage due to a significantly larger payment pool, Byrne believes “there should be consequences for those actions.”

“Schools who are just choosing to not report, or if they end up choosing to not follow the guidelines of the House settlement, that is going to be very interesting to watch and see where we go with that,” Byrne told AL.com. “Because if those aren’t followed, then the unregulated, challenging market that everybody has been dealing with will continue, and the agents will do their very best to push it further.”

While Congress remains at a standstill on potential legislation, the NCAA has made an effort to hold teams accountable for breaking transfer rules. The NCAA DI Cabinet passed emergency legislation Wednesday that levies strict penalties against coaches and schools that acquire “blind-transfers,” or athletes that leave from one school to another outside of their sport’s designated transfer portal window. Among the potential penalties include a six-game suspension for the guilty school’s head coach and a 20% fine of a team’s sports budget that year.

Alabama AD Greg Byrne calls for an end to SEC Championship Game: ‘The ship has sailed’

Byrne wasn’t done making sweeping declarations Thursday. The Alabama AD also called for the end of the SEC Championship game ahead of the league’s move to a nine-game conference schedule beginning this upcoming season.

“I think the ship has sailed,” Byrne told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview published Thursday. “It’s run its course.”

With the advent of the ever-expanding College Football Playoff, which is entering its third year with 12 teams but could expand further in the near future, the reality of playing conference championship games has become much trickier. Teams are trying to prepare for the postseason and there’s often little tangible benefit to playing an extra title game for teams that have already reasonably secured a playoff berth.

“It’s a great event,” Byrne said of the SEC championship game. “I don’t like the idea of it going away, but I think it’s reality, with an expanded playoff.”

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.

Arguably no female college athletes have better maximized their NIL (name, image and likeness) opportunities while in college like the Cavinder Twins.

As college basketball players at Fresno State and Miami, Haley and Hanna Cavinder revolutionized how female athletes can utilize NIL by monetizing their personal social platforms. Those efforts helped the 25-year-old twins set the stage for their post-college careers as social media influencers and budding entrepreneurs, and maybe future WWE superstars.

Haley and Hanna Cavinder opened up about their own experience with NIL and how it helped shape their future outside of athletics during a recent sit-down with former WWE executive Stephanie McMahon, daughter of WWE co-founder Vince McMahon.

“I think nowadays, name, image and likeness for female athletes in college has been so huge,” Haley Cavinder told McMahon on her What’s Your Story? with Steph McMahon podcast. “Because even in women’s basketball, there’s such a limited percentage of you going pro. … So being able to learn about the networking and the name of the game in college for females has been good to see. The younger generation can (learn how) you can maximize your name, image and likeness in college and kind of profit off that, and then learn your entrepreneurial skills and business skills for the future when you graduate.

“So I think it’s been so beneficial for females, and it’s so good to see. Because you never would have thought (about) name, image and likeness for female athletes. It’s always about the quarterback at the big Power Five schools.”

McMahon harkened back to a previous conversation with Livvy Dunne about how the former LSU gymnast-turned-content creator started an educational program for female collegiate athletes to learn the ins and outs of making the most of their NIL opportunities while in school. It was then that Hanna Cavinder highlighted the importance of building a strong foundation while in school, including signing with a reputable agency, to better be able to hit the ground running upon graduation.

“And you can set yourself up right afterwards too. … How you continue it, because everybody’s always like, ‘What’s next?’ And I think it’s really important to have a team (around you),” Hanna Cavinder added. “We have a great agency that we’ve been with for five years and they’re very big on getting us equity within deals, having us start our own brands, and being very creative within those brands. So I think that’s really important too, and it’s amazing that Livvy is doing that too.”

The Cavinder twins first signed with WWE in 2021, as part of their Next In Line (NIL) program to develop college athletes into professional wrestlers. One of the signings from that class, Isaac Odugbesan (Oba Femi), is making his WrestleMania debut against Brock Lesnar in the coming weeks.

The Cavinders, meanwhile, have continued to bolster their public image by signing endorsement deals with Champs Sports, SoFi, Eastbay, and GoPuff. They were even tabbed as brand ambassadors for Under Armour in July 2024 and are part of MGM’s Final Four advertising this weekend in Las Vegas.

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.

Although general managers are on the rise in college basketball, Tom Izzo still oversees all aspects of his Michigan State program. He noted key differences between the collegiate and professional games when it comes to dealing with money.

With that, though, Izzo wants to see an important change in college sports. He called for more transparency as the NIL era continues to evolve with revenue-sharing now in place.

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Although there’s a revenue-sharing cap in college sports, which is due to increase this summer, Izzo said it’s different from the salary caps in the NBA and NFL. Because player salaries are known at the professional level, there’s a different dynamic when dealing with money. That’s why Izzo wants to see similar transparency in the college game.

“I hear all these guys got GMs and all that, I think it’s great,” Izzo told Dan Patrick. “But at the end of the day, the head coach is making the decisions. In the NBA and NFL, it’s different because there’s salary caps, everybody knows there’s transparency.

“If I looked at everything we’re doing – the NIL, the tampering … the transfer portal – if I had one thing I’d like to change, it would be just transparency so we all know what everybody’s making and doing, and then, we’re not getting lied to by everybody. Transparency would really help the profession right now.”

Through the early part of the rev-share era, the College Sports Commission has taken steps toward more transparency. The CSC releases regular NIL deal reports from the NIL Go clearinghouse detailing the amount of third-party deals cleared and denied, as well as how much they’re worth, and the number of deals in arbitration. The most recent NIL deal flow report came out March 10.

However, when it specifically comes to rev-share dollars directly from schools, universities are keeping those close to the vest. In fact, a trio of journalists in Louisiana is planning to sue LSU over such records.

Tom Izzo: ‘Adapt’ doesn’t mean ‘there’s no rules’

During the interview, Tom Izzo also responded to a quote from Ohio State head coach Ryan Day earlier this week. He cited the need to “adapt or die” in college athletics, drawing comparisons to the documentary The Dinosaurs on Netflix.

Dan Patrick also pointed out the number of coaches who retired, including Jay Wright and Tony Bennett, amid the NIL era. Izzo called himself “too stubborn” to step away, but acknowledged he has to grapple with concerns about the coaching profession by staying on the sidelines. That said, he agreed with Day’s statement.

“I feel good, to be honest with you,” Izzo said. “I still have the energy, I still love my players. I don’t love my profession. But that’s three out of four are on my side, so I’ve got to deal with the profession. Like Ryan said, adapt somewhat.

“But adapt doesn’t mean, all of a sudden, there’s no rules. There’s no accountability. What we’re going through now, anytime there’s a problem, just get a lawyer and fix it. I guess lawyers must be that good or judges.”

Heading into the Final Four of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, TV ratings continue to rise, CBS Sports and TNT Sports said. The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 also delivered for the networks.

Through the first two weekends of March Madness, viewership is up 9% and on track to be the most-watched tournament since 1993. Of course, part of that increase can be attributed to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement, which debuted last fall. But CBS and TNT Sports are still getting big TV ratings wins as part of a strong year for college basketball.

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Now, the stage is set for the Final Four this weekend in Indianapolis. Here are the most-watched Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, per college basketball TV ratings data obtained by On3. TruTV figures are via Programming Insider and Awful Announcing’s Manny Soloway.

Elite 8: UConn vs. Duke

Date/Time: March 29, 5:05 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 13.427 million

An average of 13.4 million viewers tuned to CBS as UConn rallied from 19 points down to defeat Duke and punch its ticket to the Final Four. That includes a peak of 18.9 million viewers, CBS and TNT previously announced, as Alex Karaban found Braylon Mullins for the game-winning shot with 0.4 second left. It then became the most-watched game of the 2026 NCAA Tournament so far.

Elite 8: Purdue vs. Arizona

Date/Time: March 28, 8:49 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS + truTV
Viewers: 10.143 million

Through the first half of Saturday’s primetime Sweet 16 game, Purdue had an upset on its mind as the Boilermakers took a halftime lead against Arizona. But the Wildcats flipped the script out of the break, outscoring Purdue 48-26 in the second half. As a result, Arizona is off to its first Final Four in 25 years.

Sweet 16: St. John’s vs. Duke

Date/Time: March 27, 7:10 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 9.371 million

Caleb Foster’s return came at the perfect time for Duke in the Sweet 16 matchup against St. John’s. Foster and Patrick Ngongba made key plays down the stretch to help the Blue Devils take down the Red Storm and advance to the Elite 8.

Sweet 16: Texas vs. Purdue

Date/Time: March 26, 7:10 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 8.352 million

One of a number of close games in the Sweet 16, Texas tied Purdue with 11.7 seconds left as the Longhorns looked to continue a run that began in the First Four. But Trey Kaufman-Renn got the game-winning putback as time expired to propel the Boilermakers into the Elite 8 with the 79-77 win.

Elite 8: Iowa vs. Illinois

Date/Time: March 28, 6:09 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS + truTV
Viewers: 8.237 million

For the first time in 20 years, Illinois is heading to the Final Four. The Fighting Illini bounced back from a 12-2 hole to start Saturday’s game against Iowa and took total control en route to the victory. Across both TBS and truTV, an average of more than 8.2 million people tuned in for the matchup.

Elite 8: Tennessee vs. Michigan

Date/Time: March 29, 2:15 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 7.493 million

Early in Sunday’s opener, it looked like Tennessee was going to make things interesting against Michigan. But a 21-0 Wolverines run put UM in total control en route to a blowout victory over the Volunteers in Chicago to secure a spot in the Final Four.

Sweet 16: Michigan State vs. UConn

Date/Time: March 27, 9:45 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 7.337 million

A battle between two storied programs got interesting down the stretch as Michigan State rallied to keep things close against UConn. But Tarris Reed and Alex Karaban came through and helped the Huskies keep their season alive with the victory.

Sweet 16: Arkansas vs. Arizona

Date/Time: March 26, 9:45 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 5.525 million

In the Sweet 16, Arizona took complete control early against Arkansas and did not look back en route to the resounding 109-88 victory. Brayden Burries and Koa Peat led the charge for the Wildcats as part of a complete performance.

Sweet 16: Alabama vs. Michigan

Date/Time: March 27, 7:35 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS + truTV
Viewers: 4.833 million

After Alabama took a lead into halftime against Michigan, the Wolverines got on track with a dominant showing after the break. A Crimson Tide scoring drought opened the door for UM to capitalize and punch its ticket to the Elite 8.

Sweet 16: Iowa vs. Nebraska

Date/Time: March 26, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS + truTV
Viewers: 3.536 million

A storied rivalry took a big stage as Iowa and Nebraska squared off in the Sweet 16. Nebraska led for more than 32 minutes in the matchup, but the Hawkeyes used a late surge to get the victory and continue an impressive run under first-year coach Ben McCollum.

Sweet 16: Illinois vs. Houston

Date/Time: March 26, 10:05 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS
Viewers: 2.518 million

As Houston played in front of a de facto home crowd in the Sweet 16, the Cougars struggled mightily against Illinois in the early going. UH made a late charge, but it wasn’t enough. The Fighting Illini defeated 2-seeded Houston to advance to the Elite 8.

Sweet 16: Tennessee vs. Iowa State

Date/Time: March 27, 10:10 p.m. ET
Channel: TBS
Viewers: 2.757 million

Billed as a physical matchup, Tennessee and Iowa State lived up to the billing in the Sweet 16. The Vols then got into the driver’s seat with a 20-8 run to start the second half and cashed in on 10 missed free throws from the Cyclones to get the 76-62 win.

With the Final Four on the horizon, college basketball will look to finish with more strong TV ratings. Games get underway Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.