As college teams battle for a championship title on the basketball court, athletes are also hoping to score a win at the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices heard arguments Wednesday regarding compensation for college athletes and whether the NCAA’s limits on benefits for athletes violate antitrust laws.

The case before the court was brought by a former West Virginia University football player and other student athletes. They argued the NCAA’s compensation restrictions are unfair.

In 2020, an appeals court ruled that the NCAA cannot limit education benefits for college athletes, opening the door to payment for things like post-grad scholarships and internships.

At Wednesday’s hearing, a lawyer for the NCAA argued that the amateurism aspect of college sports is what keeps audiences watching.

In their comments, conservative and liberal justices alike appeared sympathetic to the students.

"Schools are conspiring with competitors - agreeing with competitors, I'll say that - to pay no salaries to the workers who are making the schools billions of dollars on the theory that consumers want the schools to pay their workers nothing,” said Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh. “That just seems entirely circular and even somewhat disturbing.”

"Schools that are naturally competitors ... have all gotten together in an organization that has undisputed market power and they use that power to fix athletic salaries at extremely low levels - far lower than what the market would set if it were allowed to operate,” said Associate Justice Elena Kagan.

The court case is separate from an ongoing debate over whether athletes can be compensated for use of their name, image, or likeness through, for example, endorsement deals. Some states have passed laws opening the door to that - and legislation has been introduced on Capitol Hill to grant student athletes those rights.

The Supreme Court is expected to announce a decision in Wednesday’s case later this year.