Lindsey Graham Doesn't Appear to Know How College Football Recruiting Really Works

The United States Senate is holding a hearing on NIL (name, image and likeness) today. Sports Illustrated college football reporter Ross Dellenger has been all over it. Dellenger first reported earlier that NCAA president Mark Emmert planned to testify and ask Congress for anti-trust exemption, and is now passing along unintentionally humorous quotes from South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham:

Through a combination of the best coaches, the best facilities, and yes underground bribes, there is already a hegemony in college football recruiting. With regards to the best coaches and facilities, money already plays a major factor in the ability to afford those, and then the underground bribes are the part Dellenger is being sarcastic about after quoting Senator Graham. Anybody who follows college athletics with even the slightest strain of critical thinking is already aware of these factors.

NIL regulations may illuminate the payment of players and bring more transparency to the process, but it's highly unlikely at this point that they will do much to make the powerful more-so. How could they? The highest ranked recruits already overwhelmingly choose Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Georgia, or Oklahoma. Dan Wetzel made a compelling case last December that NIL could actually help the less powerful flatten the playing field.

As NIL becomes standard across America, which will happen sooner than you may realize, it'll be interesting to observe how it actually affects the competitive balance in college athletics.