Ted Cruz called the bill "the last, best hope" for college athletics. The SEC and the Big 10, with the most power to kill it, skipped the hearing.

It’s unclear whether some of college sports’ other biggest stakeholders—namely, the Big Ten, SEC, and NCAA—will endorse it.

The former Alabama head coach testified before the U.S. Senate of Commerce and shared his stance on the newly introduced bill by Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Can