Instead of calming the chaos around college sports, the Protect College Sports Act is quickly running into resistance from the very programs it would impact the most. What started as conference-level pushback has now turned into direct opposition from major programs like Alabama, Texas, Auburn, and Texas A&M. LSU has now joined that list, putting it on the same side as programs it usually competes against.

That kind of alignment is rare in the SEC, where programs are usually at odds. LSU is now aligned with Alabama, Auburn, Texas, and Texas A&M, delivering one message to Congress: the bill, in its present form, would add more instability than it removes. While the bill touches everything from NIL to transfers and eligibility, several provisions don’t reflect how the sport currently operates. In a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, LSU president Dr. Wade Rousse and board chair Lee Mallett laid out their objections to the bill as it stands now.

“For nearly a century, LSU has been at the forefront of college athletics, and we recognize that the important issues facing us today necessitate substantive reform. While we appreciate all the efforts surrounding the Protect College Sports Act, we believe key issues remain with the legislation, and we do not support the bill in its current form,” read the letter, obtained by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger.

“We look forward to working with the House, the Senate, and our fellow institutions in the Southeastern Conference to make the needed improvements to this legislation. We are hopeful that together, we can support a bill that will truly help ensure college athletics is preserved for our students and all higher education institutions.”

For LSU, the stakes are not abstract. New federal reporting rules would force the Tigers to open their books, which is something that Louisiana lawmakers have tried to keep private. On top of that, limits on transfers and midseason coaching moves hit how the program builds and keeps rosters.

The major reason to oppose PCSA is its media rights pooling factor, which will allow smaller programs and conferences to generate revenue by combining their media rights, like the NFL. That not only disrupts top-tier conference SEC and Big Ten revenue models related to massive TV deals but also creates a threat of power shifting.

But for LSU, there are more issues related to the current form of PCSA. For transparency, it will mandate reporting of sport-by-sport financial records. That’s where a clash will occur with Louisiana’s state legislation HB 608, which allows keeping that information confidential. Moreover, PCSA’s roster restriction rule and then the “Lane Kiffin Rule” all point to LSU’s system. Given all this, the Tigers are entering this policy fight with their bitter SEC rivals.

However, Rousse and Mallett’s names were previously shown in support of this bill, though denial came first. In fact, both made their stance clear, saying they never supported PCSA. Like LSU, the rivals, which give a tough fight on the field, sent a similar letter to PCSA lawmakers.

Other SEC rivals’ takes

Not staying quiet to support the conference [SEC] fights, Alabama, Auburn, and more opposed PCSA’s policy, making a different battleground. A week earlier, Alabama and Auburn sent a joint letter to the same committee, spelling out their shared concerns.

“The University of Alabama and Auburn University oppose the Protect College Sports Act and urge the Senate not to advance it in its current form,” read the letter, as reported by ON3. “The bill is presented as a way to ‘stabilize’ college athletics, but it would do the opposite by perpetuating the very instability it claims to cure through provisions …”

The programs have support for PCSA’s aim to give the NCAA its lost power to enforce rules, but the growing instability creates concerns. The common thread is simple: they want national rules, but not a system that invites new lawsuits, freezes rosters, and lets Washington micromanage day-to-day decisions.

At its core, this debate is about control over the future of college sports. LSU and its SEC rivals agree on one thing: if Washington is going to rewrite the rules, those rules cannot ignore how college football actually works. For now, that shared belief has turned Saturday’s enemies into allies in one of the biggest battles the sport has seen in years.