Have you been watching the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s losing arguments in court?

I’ll admit I’ve lost faith in the NCAA’s leadership.

The NCAA has lost lower court rulings in defense of their limits on compensation for college athletes.

It’s now gone to the US Supreme Court.

Last week, after more than 90 minutes of oral arguments, the justices grilled the NCAA with a battery of skeptical questions.

Is this legal?

Both conservative and liberal justices asked how, under US antitrust law, the NCAA could prohibit universities from competing for athletes with better benefits.

If it works in pro sports why not in college?

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said antitrust laws shouldn’t be used to help the NCAA exploit students, according to national news reporting.

NCAA rules mean schools are effectively conspiring with 1 another to pay no salaries to the workers who are making the schools billions of dollars, he said.

Do they actually believe the fans want schools to pay their workers nothing? That’s disturbing, he said.

Justice Samuel Alito said college football and basketball athletes work so hard they have no energy left for classes, are discouraged from taking harder courses and often don’t graduate.

Justice Clarence Thomas, a passionate Nebraska football fan, noted the discrepancy between the NCAA’s insistence that athletes must be amateurs to preserve the integrity of college sports while coaches are allowed to earn millions in pay, endorsements and other deals.

He wondered if compensation for athletes would put smaller schools with more-moderate budgets at a recruiting disadvantage.

That’s nothing new.

Smaller schools are already at a disadvantage against schools like Clemson or Notre Dame. 5-star high school athletes want to play for winning coaches to get a shot at the millions pro athletes command.

Justice Elena Kagan said the NCAA can depend on its 115-year-old history for only so long. Today’s college sports marketplace has changed from the past.

These competitors get together with total market power to fix prices, she said.

Lower courts ruled that the NCAA must allow colleges to recruit athletes by offering additional compensation and benefits that are related to education.

If the Supreme Court upholds those decisions, it will allow schools to offer benefits beyond tuition such as graduate or technical school scholarships and internships. Athletes could also qualify for up to $6,000 for academic achievement as an incentive to go to class, study and graduate.

How limited should their sports compensation be? Email the Sports Grouch at ChronicleSports@yahoo.com .