uNILateral Decisions

Is paying college athletes really causing a financial crisis, or are schools blaming players for problems that existed long before revenue sharing? This week on uNILateral Decisions , Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, and Sam Ehrlich welcome Dr. Greg Chick, founder of NILnomics, to take a closer look at the numbers driving the business of college athletics. The group breaks down the House settlement's sala...

The NCAA’s eligibility fight isn’t slowing down — and neither are the lawsuits. This week on uNILateral Decisions, Joe, Mike and Sam break down the NCAA’s transition rule and the growing wave of litigation surrounding the move to the new five-for-five eligibility model. Why does it matter that the NCAA’s transition rule wasn’t actually included in its bylaws? We look at several major cases across...

The PCSA is closer than ever to becoming law. After passing all five procedural votes in the Senate with at least 70 votes each, the bill could be headed for a final Senate vote as early as next week. This week on uNILateral Decisions, the crew breaks down what changed to generate that level of support and what happens next if the bill makes it through the Senate. They dig into the reported amendm...

This week on uNILateral Decisions, Joe Nickell, Mike Walsh, and Sam Ehrlich dig into the other side of the eligibility chaos — the cases where athletes didn’t receive an extra year. While headlines make it seem like every lawsuit leads to a fifth season, the reality is far more complicated, and the hosts break down why certain courts are pushing back. The conversation centers on the three major ca...

Some of the most interesting cases in college sports messed around… but stopped just short of finding out. This week on uNILateral Decisions, we’re looking back at the cases that could have given us real answers to some of the biggest unresolved questions in college athletics, if they had actually made it to a decision. From the SEC and LSU showdown to Demond Williams, Darian Mensah and Brendan So...

College football has All-America teams, All-Conference teams… and now, apparently, it needs an All-Litigation Team . This week on uNILateral Decisions, Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, Dominic Shelden and Sam Ehrlich draft the best and most intriguing players taking the field in 2026 because somewhere along the way, a judge said they could. From eligibility clocks and JUCO seasons to medical-hardship waiv...

This week on uNILateral Decisions , Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, and Sam Ehrlich sit down with Olivia Nuss , Assistant Attorney General in Louisiana, to break down the state’s sweeping new approach to regulating NIL agents — a framework that could reshape athlete protection across college sports. The conversation digs into why Louisiana moved first, what problems the law is designed to solve, and how...

Dominic Shelden, Mike Walsh, Sam Ehrlich and Joe Nickell are back to break down another chaotic week in college sports. The NCAA’s new five-years-to-play-five rule has created immediate fallout, with members of the 2022 class fighting for another season of eligibility — and winning in courtrooms across the country. Some players who had already moved on to NFL camps are now being allowed to return...

Jayden Daniels has sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU, demanding the school stop using his name, image and likeness — and the dispute raises questions that go far beyond one former Heisman Trophy winner. This week on uNILateral Decisions , the crew breaks down where the line exists between celebrating a former athlete’s legacy and commercially using their NIL. What rights should schools have to...

This week on uNILateral Decisions, Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, and Sam Ehrlich break down the nationwide legal turmoil surrounding the NCAA’s new five‑for‑five eligibility rule—and why the class of 2022 has suddenly become the center of the biggest eligibility fight in college sports. The conversation digs into how we got here, why courts across the country keep siding with athletes, and how the Colo...

This week on uNILateral Decisions , Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, and Sam Ehrlich unpack Stanford football’s announcement that its players intend to unionize and collectively bargain with the ACC. The conversation dives into what this moment really means, why it’s more complicated than it looks, and how it fits into the broader push toward employment status in college sports. The hosts explore the lega...

The latest version of the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA) is already changing—and the biggest conferences are leading the charge. This week on uNILateral Decisions , Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, and Sam Ehrlich break down the proposed amendments, including a 19-school conference cap, new restrictions on conference movement, and the idea of a $20 million player retention pool on top of the House sett...

Regional conferences may be disappearing, but should they? In this episode of uNILateral Decisions , Dominic Shelden, Sam Ehrlich, Joe Nickell, and Mike Walsh tackle one of the biggest structural questions facing college athletics: should football break away from the traditional conference model while Olympic sports return to regional competition? The crew examines why football's television-driven...

College sports is a topic of conversation with Congress again — but this time, the discussion wasn’t about transfer rules or eligibility; it was about stadium subsidies, tax‑exempt bonds, athlete taxation and the billionaire class reshaping the fan experience. On this episode of uNILateral Decisions , Joe Nickell, Mike Walsh and Sam Ehrlich are joined by Jesse Dougherty, sports enterprise reporter...

The conversation around federal legislation in college sports is heating up, and this week we're joined by one of the industry's most respected voices to break it all down. This week we're joined by Alex Kirshner, co-host of the Split Zone Duo podcast and one of the leading journalists covering the business of college athletics. His work has appeared in Slate , The Atlantic , The Ringer , FiveThir...

On this episode of uNILateral Decisions, Joe Nickell, Mike Walsh and Sam Ehrlich break down a whirlwind week in college athletics. While headlines focused on the ongoing Sorsby saga and the rollout of the new five‑for‑five eligibility model, a major change quietly dropped in the middle of it all: the College Sports Commission (CSC) raised the NIL Go review threshold from $600 to $15,000, a dramati...

The Brendan Sorsby saga is finally over—but the fallout may be just beginning. On this episode of uNILateral Decisions, Joe Nickell is joined by Mike Walsh, and Sam Ehrlich to break down the conclusion of one of the most controversial eligibility disputes in recent college athletics history. After months of legal battles, public pressure, and conference intervention, Sorsby and Texas Tech have agr...

This week on uNILateral Decisions, the crew breaks down one of the most controversial rulings of the college sports offseason: the injunction that will allow Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby to play despite violating NCAA gambling rules. With no written opinion from the judge, the panel explores why Sorsby may have prevailed in court, whether the case was really about gambling or mental healt...

Congress is back in the college sports conversation. In Episode 16 of uNILateral Decisions , Mike Walsh, Joe Nickell, Sam Ehrlich, and Dominic Shelden break down the proposed Protect College Sports Act and what it could mean for the future of college athletics. From federal oversight and antitrust protections to NIL regulation, revenue sharing, transfer rules, and the growing power struggle betwee...

Could the SEC survive — and thrive — without the NCAA? This episode of uNILateral Decisions explores the growing conversation around conference autonomy and whether major conferences like the SEC could eventually establish their own governance structures. The panel discusses antitrust implications, collective bargaining, revenue sharing enforcement, salary caps, Olympic sports, and the long-term s...

On this episode of uNILateral Decisions , Joe, Mike, and Sam break down the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 and why it may become one of the most important legal conversations in the future of college athletics. The crew explores how the SBA gave professional sports leagues a limited antitrust exemption to collectively negotiate television rights, why college athletics was left out after the Board...

College athletics is entering a new era of contracts, buyouts, and revenue sharing — but what should a “fair” deal between schools and athletes actually look like? On this episode of uNILateral Decisions, Dominic, Joe, Mike, and Sam break down the evolving legal and business structure behind NIL agreements and revenue-sharing contracts. The crew dives into transfer buyouts, athlete protections, in...

On this episode of uNILateral Decisions, Joe, Mike, and Sam break down the NCAA’s new eligibility rule, the athletes and classes being left behind by the changes, and the growing legal questions surrounding fairness and consistency. The crew also dives into the recent tennis case and discusses whether it could create ripple effects across other sports and eligibility decisions moving forward.

In this episode of uNILateral Decisions , Joe, Mike, and Sam tackle one of the biggest questions facing college athletics: could collective bargaining actually work? The conversation dives into the structural challenges of organizing athletes across schools, conferences, and even state lines, while unpacking what it would take to establish a unified voice. They explore the legal, logistical, and f...

In this episode of uNILateral Decisions , the conversation dives into the shifting power dynamics of multimedia rights companies in college athletics—and how the House v. NCAA settlement could redefine their role. Traditionally, companies like Learfield, JMI Sports, and Playfly Sports have operated as intermediaries, guaranteeing revenue to schools while monetizing assets like sponsorships, signag...