Tennessee men's basketball coach Rick Barnes will be in attendance when Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) hosts a press conference on Sept. 14 to discuss the Protect College Sports Act, a bill seeking to regulate college athletics.

According to a Sept. 11 release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Barnes will be there alongside a handful of other notable college basketball coaches, including John Calipari, Mark Few and Kelvin Sampson. A total of over 30 college coaches and athletes will appear alongside Cruz and four other U.S. Senators. The press conference will begin at 4 p.m. ET outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Cruz has been active in his advocacy for the Protect College Sports Act, which he co-sponsors with Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.). Before the Ohio State vs. Texas football game on Sept. 12, Cruz appeared on ESPN's "College Gameday" as the bill nears a vote in the Senate.

Barnes will be the latest of a long line of prominent figures in college athletics to support the bill. Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Colorado football coach Deion Sanders have appeared in TV ads advocating for it.

President Trump has also indicated he would sign the Protect College Sports Act into law if it passes.

What is the Protect College Sports Act?

The Protect College Sports Act is seeking to provide a legal framework to some of the issues that have caused chaos in college athletics in recent years, like conference realignment, the transfer portal and name, image and likeness payments to athletes.

The bill attempts to address conference realignment by a limiting conferences that report more than $700 million in revenue — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC — to 19 members, and any team in one of those leagues would have to be independent for five years before changing conferences.

With regard to transfers, undergraduate players would be allowed one free transfer without having to sit out a year with the exception that players could transfer freely in the event of a head coaching change.

The bill also tries to curtail free spending on rosters by establishing a $22.5 million limit to be used on retaining current players and another $5 million exclusively for women’s sports and non-revenue sports.

Among the other aspects of the bill: coaches wouldn't be allowed to participate in head-coaching duties at a new school before the season ends — known as the “Lane Kiffin Rule” — conferences would have the ability to pool their TV rights into one package, the football postseason would have to conclude no later than Jan. 8 every year and NIL agent fees would be capped at 5% of the contract's value.

The bill, which received support from the SEC and Big Ten, could be slated for a vote as early as next week as Congress returns from a recess. It would need 60 votes from the 100-member Senate to move to the House of Representatives, where it could face additional hurdles.

Emmett Siegel covers Tennessee baseball for Knox News. Email: emmett.siegel@knoxnews.com; X: @EmmettSiegel_

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Rick Barnes to appear alongside Ted Cruz in support of Protect College Sports Act