Buckeyes divided over Trump's college sports shake-up | Opinion

{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/buckeyes-divided-over-trumps-college-082507617.html","headline":"Buckeyes divided over Trump's college sports shake-up | Opinion","datePublished":"2026-04-28T08:25:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-28T08:25:07.000Z","keywords":["Ohio State University","college athletics","President Donald Trump","College sports","college athletes","executive order","sports celebrities","college students","White House","intercollegiate athletics"],"description":"While sports can bring people together, government involvement in sports seems to divide.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo Sports","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/cv/apiv2/default/icons/favicon_y112_112.png","width":112,"height":112},"url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/"},"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"David J. Jackson, Guest Columnist","url":"","jobTitle":""},"creator":{"@type":"Person","name":"David J. Jackson, Guest Columnist","url":"","jobTitle":""},"provider":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Columbus Dispatch","url":"https://www.dispatch.com"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/NUwZan0NGy0lK2aoaivGNg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xNjAwO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-columbus-dispatch/7e181c329d6de3262e58623fd01141c4","height":800,"width":1200},"thumbnailUrl":"https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/NUwZan0NGy0lK2aoaivGNg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTI0MDA7aD0xNjAwO2NmPXdlYnA-/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-columbus-dispatch/7e181c329d6de3262e58623fd01141c4"}Story byThe Columbus DispatchBuckeyes divided over Trump's college sports shake-up | OpinionDavid J. Jackson, Guest ColumnistTue, April 28, 2026 at 8:25 AM UTC·4 min readDavid J. Jackson is a professor in the Bowling Green State University Department of Political Science and president of the BGSU Faculty Association.Big-time college athletics play a major role in American culture, especially here in Ohio, where Ohio State University Buckeye football can sometimes feel like something of a religion in terms of fan devotion.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_c3iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_c3iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }College sports are a bigger business than ever, and the “student-athletes” who play on Saturdays have gained a lot of power recently, through Name/Image/Likeness money, the right to receive direct payments from universities and the unlimited right to transfer from one program to another.While Buckeye Nation remembers fondly the days of Woody Hayes and three yards and a cloud of dust, those days are long gone.The 2024 national championship roster enjoyed $20 million in NIL funds, and after not being as involved with attracting transfers as other schools, OSU signed 17 in the 2026 transfer cycle.Not everyone is happy with the new landscape in big-time college athletics.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#_R_c8iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: none; } @media screen and (max-width: 767.95px) { #_R_c8iudcaanpfiv65bH1_ { display: flex; } iframe { max-width: 100vw; } }In March, President Donald Trump hosted a “Saving College Sports” roundtable at the White House, which included “politicians, sports celebrities, media executives, conference commissioners, and university presidents, chancellors and athletic directors.”The attendees all…

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