I like the concept of President Trump’s “roundtable discussions,” public events that focus on a social topic and invites experts in the space to weigh in with opinion and analysis. Feel free to debate the quality of the execution on another platform. A sports blogger cannot afford to have politics.

On Friday afternoon, the Trump Administration hosted a “Saving College Sports Roundtable” which featured many of the architects of college sport’s destruction, specifically SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Big 10 Commissioner Tony Pettti, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, and ACC Athletic Administrator Jim Phillips. Also seated at the table, chaos agents Nick Saban, Urban Meyers, and NCAA President Charlie Baker. For added measure, there were wealthy and influential people who didn’t seem to offer much, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Representative Lori Trahan, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Senator Ted Cruz, Tiger Woods, Condoleezza Rice, NBA Commissioner Silver and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Notably missing? Significant Group of Six representation. The only person in attendance with a G6 link was American Commissioner Tim Pernetti, who as far as I know is presenting himself as a Power Four leader. Otherwise, it was mostly an orgy of the wealthy and greedy, without a single college athlete in attendance (which isn’t a surprise, considering that the people at the table see athletes, and not themselves, as the big problem).

It was a long meeting bearing two hours of grousing, marked by President Trump’s surprise about the Supreme Court’s 2021 “NCAA v. Alston” ruling that helped open the door to NIL compensation. “So, the Supreme Court was responsible for this? Gee, that’s surprising.” (He went on to call the Court “a disgrace.”)

Mostly, the table focused on NIL and the “wild west” environment it has created – as if none of the people seated at the table were responsible. Ultimately, the panel declared that federal legislation or national rules may be needed to stabilize the system, with those in attendance pretending that the Power Five (now the Power Four) didn’t purposely castrate the only legislative body that could have brought order to the chaos: the NCAA.

“I think we need to come up with a system,” said Nick Saban, “that allows student-athletes to enhance their quality of life while going to college but still provide opportunity to advance themselves beyond their athletic career.” The system used to be an NCAA that wasn’t perfect but it at least had enough teeth to enforce some basic standards. President Trump, known for his nostalgia for the past, seemed to reinforce Saban’s observations. “I’d like to go exactly back to what we had and ram it through a court if we have to,” he said.

Of course, “going back to what we had” generally means star athletes suddenly pulling up to campus in a brand new Dodge Charger. But at least it was wealthy toadies footing the note, and not fans expected to scan a QR code to donate more NIL money at every event.

If you’re wondering what the commissioners of the Power 4 wanted from the meeting, the answer is that they want to pay less money to athletes, but be allowed to spend more on athletes than most college athletics programs can afford. There has to be a sweet spot that enables them to dominate the market with superior paid talent while choking the Group of Six to death – say something, Tim Pernetti! The AAC commissioner did chime in with a suggestion to amend the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, allowing “college football media rights to be pooled and sold together.” I guess that’s something. It would have been nice to see if the Sun Belt, Mountain West, PAC12 (yes you), MAC and CUSA in the room instead of, I dunno, Marco Rubio, who probably had more pressing issues to attend.

In the end, President Trump offered a familiar (if largely symbolic) solution: an executive order. “So I’m going to sit down, and I’m going to write an executive order based on many of the sentiments made,” said the President. “Many of the sentiments I’ve been hearing over the last year about what a disaster this is for colleges, the players, the families, ruining families, ruining everything.” All right, then.

PHOTOS courtesy of The White House