Picture the Dallas Cowboys threatening legal action against the NFC East, with other teams in the division refusing to compete unless a certain player is dropped from the roster. No stable professional league would entertain such moves.

College athletics? Lawsuits, threats and chaos now appear as routine as standard plays on the field.

The days before the 2026 campaign began saw LSU facing off with the Southeastern Conference in a wave of court cases about eligibility, plus the unusual prospect of athletes who briefly joined professional squads returning to campus competition. Two months earlier, the Big 12 had taken its own member Texas Tech to court.

Along the way came warnings of conferences splitting off, discussions of league-driven oversight and legislation slowly advancing in Congress aimed at resolving the mess.

"We can appreciate that athletes now gain financially from their college careers," Duke football coach Manny Diaz said, pinpointing the root cause. "Yet we must accept that we are not a professional franchise. We remain a collegiate and scholastic activity that needs better boundaries."

Or, as Barbara Osborne, a North Carolina law professor specializing in NCAA matters, noted: "The gap between a professional sports league and collegiate athletics is truly night and day."

Most colleges operate as public entities where athletic programs form only a minor segment of campus life. Unlike pro leagues driven purely by finances, college decisions often come from academic leaders, trustees and research offices. Even when groups like the SEC or Division I reach agreement, outcomes can still prove rocky.

Following the NCAA's updated five-year eligibility standard that kept last year's seniors from an extra season, the Big Ten and SEC adopted measures blocking returns after pro attempts. The Big 12 and ACC soon followed suit.

Yet LSU showed no immediate shift in plans to welcome back certain pros. Louisiana's governor, involved with the state's flagship program, remarked: "Don't hate the player, hate the game."

The Big 12 case against Texas Tech arose in June after quarterback Brendan Sorsby disclosed a gambling issue. Sorsby later stepped away from college and ended his challenge, though the suit continues due to a state court ruling that briefly permitted play despite the NCAA's longstanding prohibition on gamblers.

Courts now weigh in heavily on eligibility questions in their many forms. Skilled attorneys seek favorable judges, with over 30 cases active involving nearly 400 athletes. Most argue the NCAA rule unfairly blocks the high school Class of 2022, though many returning players also count on revenue-sharing and NIL income unavailable years earlier.

"This represents another case of schools using local judges to bypass agreed rules," said NCAA senior vice president Tim Buckley after a Louisiana ruling that fueled the LSU matter and repeatedly sided against the NCAA and SEC. "College sports should launch careers, not serve as a backup for pros who already competed in college."

Senators, governors, commissioners, judges, attorneys, regents and even the U.S. president have tried addressing the issues facing college sports. None have halted the flood of litigation.

A key concern remains the lack of a federal antitrust exemption common in pro sports but absent in college. This gap has exposed the NCAA and schools to challenges for years. Landmark suits dating to 2009 established athletes' rights to endorsement income, forcing schools to expand spending and seek fresh revenue while managing costs.

Eligibility matters continue to invite lawsuits against the NCAA.

"Certain ideas in college athletics enjoy public backing," said Tyrone Thomas, an attorney at Fox Rothchild advising schools and pro programs on compliance. "We need enforceable standards within our current framework. Yet that system has existed for under six years, so perspective on recent changes versus the past remains useful."

The Senate proposal would grant the NCAA limited protection from suits on eligibility rulemaking. Without it, periods of turmoil like the recent weeks persist.

Core tenets hold that college sports exclude professionals and those who wager on their own games. These notions have blurred as "amateur" athletes receive pay and some schools now partner with gambling firms as sponsors.

Thomas saw some relief in the limited pool of plaintiffs tied to the five-year rule, mainly those graduating high school in 2022 whose eligibility ended last spring.

"These appear as contained matters rather than the central crisis," he said. "Other urgent problems exist, but this does not represent the defining emergency shaping future direction."

AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Raleigh, N.C. and Eric Olson in Omaha, Neb. contributed.