Bill ConnellyJun 4, 2025, 08:00 AM ET Close Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019. Open Extended Reactions As it turns out, there were multiple ways to end the Oklahoma softball dynasty. Coach Mike White and Texas methodically laid a foundation, […]
Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
As it turns out, there were multiple ways to end the Oklahoma softball dynasty.
Coach Mike White and Texas methodically laid a foundation, brick by brick, first getting to super regionals, then reaching the Women’s College World Series championship series twice before falling to the Sooners both times. With a rugged, experienced team that snapped out of a late-season funk at the last possible moment, the Longhorns took down Oklahoma for the first time ever in the WCWS on Saturday, snagging a 4-2 win on their way to a third championship series in four years.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, just went out and signed the best player in the country last summer. That worked, too. NiJaree Canady led the Red Raiders to their first WCWS this season, allowing just one run in two wins, then outlasted Oklahoma’s Sam Landry in a thrilling 3-2 victory on Monday night.
A breathless and thrilling WCWS, one that has featured walk-off home runs, pitching duels, late-night extra-inning affairs and, now, a fallen champion, will get the fitting ending it deserves.
Texas and Texas Tech will meet for the national title in a best-of-three series starting Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. It will be the first title for whoever prevails.
The Longhorns finished third in their first SEC campaign, but after a spectacular 39-3 start, they entered the postseason having gone just 7-7 in their last 14 games. After spending a good chunk of the season ranked No. 1 in the country, they drew just the No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the eighth. In MLB, that scenario produces a run over 80% of the time, and that’s what ace Teagan Kavan was facing against a smoking-hot Clemson team in a must-win Game 2 in the Austin Super Regional. It had quickly begun to look like a “peaked too early” sort of season for both Texas and Kavan. But she generated a strikeout, a lineout and a groundout to escape the jam.
The Longhorns small-balled a couple of runs in the top of the 10th inning, and Kavan closed out a 5⅔-inning, no-run relief performance after getting out of one more potential jam at the bottom of the 10th.
Texas survived Game 3 against Clemson and, given life once more, shifted back into gear in Oklahoma City. Kavan has been the best pitcher in the WCWS (17 innings, 0.41 ERA, no extra-base hits allowed), and the Longhorns ruthlessly went 3-0 against a loaded top half of the bracket.
Texas Tech
Coach: Gerry Glasco (first year)
Record: 53-12 (3-2 vs. other WCWS teams)
After signing a record-setting NIL deal to play in Lubbock, Canady has been as good as advertised all season, leading the nation in wins (33), ERA (0.90) and both batting average allowed (0.153) and slugging percentage allowed (0.221). Through late March, Tech was still just 24-9 overall, having scored either zero or one run in five of its nine losses. Since the Red Raiders’ late March series loss to South Carolina, however, they are 29-3, and they have yet to lose in the NCAA tournament.
Postseason path (8-0):
Regionals: def. Brown (6-0), def. Mississippi State (10-1), def. Mississippi State (9-6) Super regionals: def. No. 5 Florida State (3-0), def. No. 5 Florida State (2-1) WCWS: def. Ole Miss (1-0), def. No. 9 UCLA (3-1), def. No. 2 Oklahoma (3-2)
The Tech offense has improved down the stretch, and while it’s still merely good and not great, it has backed Canady with multiple runs in seven of eight postseason games. And she doesn’t tend to need more than that. In four games against seeded opponents, Tech has scored 11 runs and allowed just four. Canady led Stanford to the national semifinals in each of the past two seasons, but in four WCWS losses for Canady, the Cardinal were shut out three times (including twice by Texas’ Kavan last year). She has gotten more support than that this time around, and it has made a world of difference.
Perhaps most encouragingly, after Canady allowed a game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the seventh against Oklahoma on Monday evening — the Sooners’ bats didn’t produce enough runs in OKC this year, but they still filled their “dramatic seventh-inning homers” quota — Tech immediately responded, grinding out a run in the bottom of the seventh to win anyway.
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Texas Tech shocks the softball world, upsets Oklahoma
Scott Van Pelt reacts to Texas Tech’s incredible upset over Oklahoma to reach their first ever Women’s College World Series Championship Series.
The Red Raiders came to the WCWS as underdogs, but at this point, they have the confidence of title favorites.
Looking back at this year’s meetings
Texas went 2-0 against Tech in the Bevo Classic in February. At least one of those wins might turn out to be pretty relevant.
Starters: Kavan (9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 18 K, 1 BB) vs. Canady (8 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 11 K, 1 BB)
Key hitting performances: Texas’ Mia Scott: 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI; Texas’ Ashton Maloney: 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored; Tech’s Mihyia Davis: 2-for-4
We got an early-season title-series preview, and Kavan put up a record-setting performance. Tech went ahead 1-0 in the fourth on an RBI single from Anya German, but a Scott double drove in Ashton Maloney in the fifth to send the game to extra innings. Canady was of course excellent, but Kavan struck out a career-best 18 batters, and the top three hitters in the Tech order — Davis, Alana Johnson and Lauren Allred — struck out nine times between them. In the bottom of the ninth, Joley Mitchell scored on a throwing error, and the Horns prevailed.
Editor’s Picks2 RelatedFeb. 16 (Austin): Texas 11, Texas Tech 0 (five innings)Starters: Kavan (4 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 5 K, 1 BB) vs. Samantha Lincoln (0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB)Key hitting performances: Texas’ Katie Stewart: 3-for-3 with a HR, a double, 5 RBIs and 2 runs; Texas’ Reese Atwood: 1-for-1 with a HR, an RBI, 2 BB and 3 runs; Texas’ Joley Mitchell: 1-for-2 with a triple, 2 RBIs and a run scored; Tech’s Davis: 2-for-3With Canady resting in this matchup, it is not quite as relevant — Texas batters are probably not going to see someone other than Canady in the coming days unless something goes haywire. That said, Tech batters did get a few more cracks at Kavan and did very little with them.Overall, Kavan pitched 13 innings against the Red Raiders this season and allowed just one earned run and 10 hits with nearly two strikeouts per inning. That was a nice rebound for her after a couple of iffy performances against Tech last season, but besides Demi Elder (2-for-5 with four RBIs against Kavan), none of the players who were decent against her in 2024 are still in the Red Raiders’ lineup.How did Teagan Kavan turn it back on?For a little while, it appeared as if the proverbial SEC grind was catching up to both Texas and Kavan. After a 39-3 start, the Longhorns went 7-7 from April 12 through the SEC tournament, and Kavan pretty clearly lost her edge.Date rangeRecordERAWHIPOBPPct. in zoneGB/FB*Through April 1218-21.420.88.24459.8%1.05April 13 through Supers6-34.911.65.36447.2%1.60WCWS2-00.410.82.23154.4%1.42(* GB/FB = ground ball-to-fly ball ratio)Kavan gave up three runs in four innings in a 4-1 loss to Tennessee, then allowed a combined eight runs (five earned) in higher-scoring wins over LSU (7-3 and 6-5) the next weekend. Oklahoma absolutely walloped her in a three-game sweep in Norman — she gave up six earned runs in 2⅓ innings in a 7-6 loss, then eight in 2 innings in a 9-8 loss — and in the following weeks, Ole Miss scored six, Michigan scored four and Clemson scored five against her. She was nibbling too much, missing the strike zone more, getting herself into more hitter’s counts and allowing far too many baserunners.At the WCWS, that has all changed. Back at Devon Park, where she had two brilliant outings against Canady and Stanford in 2024, she reverted to form. She’s getting ahead of hitters again, she’s keeping the ball in the strike zone but varying her locations better, and she’s simply not letting batters make any good contact whatsoever.Here are the hit locations for Florida and Oklahoma — the teams that finished the season ranked second and fourth in home runs — in Kavan’s first two WCWS games this season. (She came in in relief against Tennessee on Monday after No. 2 pitcher Mac Morgan pitched four scoreless innings.)Kavan vs. Florida and Oklahoma TruMediaOf 56 Sooners and Gator batters faced, only about six made genuinely threatening contact, and all six flew out to center or right field. Oklahoma and Florida have incredibly powerful lineups, and the Sooners had throttled Kavan pretty well, both in April and in last season’s WCWS. She forced both the Gators and Sooners to settle for singles.Now Kavan faces a Tech lineup she shut down twice in February. Tech has been able to generate runs — though rarely a ton of them (and almost none against Kavan) — in a variety of ways. This isn’t an incredibly deep batting order, but the Red Raiders have a little bit of speed, power and patience.Mihyia Davis, 4-for-7 against Kavan back in February, leads the team in total bases (123), stolen bases (26) and runs scored (64), and she’s second in extra-base hits (21, including 10 doubles and six triples). She’s a solid chaos agent at the top of the order. Behind her, No. 3 hitter Lauren Allred is a solid doubles hitter (she’s second on the team with a 1.071 OPS), and Canady herself, the cleanup hitter, leads the team with a 1.121 OPS and 11 home runs in just 101 at-bats. She has three postseason homers, though she’s just 1-for-8 with a double and a walk in the WCWS. The bottom half of the order, meanwhile, with players like Alana Johnson and catcher Victoria Valdez, basically just tries to soak up pitches before turning things back over to Davis at the top.Success against Kavan was hard to come by in February, and with Kavan raising her game in Oklahoma City, that might remain the case. But if there’s consolation here for the Red Raiders, it’s that their ace might keep Tech in games long enough for the batters to figure something out.How do you hit a NiJaree Canady pitch?It’s just jaw-dropping how much Canady continues to live up to the hype. She now has made 11 WCWS appearances in three seasons, and in 65⅔ innings pitched she has allowed just 37 hits with a 1.18 ERA and 77 strikeouts. When her team gives her any run support whatsoever, she wins, and it’s patently unfair that she has hit as many home runs this season (11) as she has allowed.In terms of both keeping opponents off the bases and giving up little power, she has been the best pitcher in the sport this season.Slugging percentage allowed vs. on-base percentage allowed TruMediaThe history of sports is littered with stories of players signing prolific contracts but failing to deliver on them. Canady, however, signed a jaw-dropping NIL deal — one that honestly shifted paradigms for women’s sports as a whole — and then simply went out and earned her money, start after start.
It’s hard to figure out the best way to quantify Canady’s dominance because it’s so thorough. So, let’s actually look at the stats in a different way: When someone has success against Canady, what does it look like? Heading into her Monday night outing against Oklahoma, here’s where batters have gotten their hits against Canady:
Hits vs. Canady (through May 30) TruMediaThe right-handed Canady allows nearly the same overall batting stats against right- and left-handed batters (she has allowed a .450 OPS against lefties and a .437 OPS against righties), but she gives up vastly different contact against them:Canady vs. lefties: .173 batting average allowed, 36.4% strikeout rate, 2.5% BB rate, 4.07 pitches per batter faced, 0.8% home run rate, 1.16 GB/FBCanady vs. righties: .141 batting average allowed, 34.7% strikeouts, 7.2% BB rate, 4.24 pitches per batter faced, 1.7% home run rate, 0.39 GB/FBAgainst lefties, she keeps the ball on the ground and gives up a higher batting average, but it’s almost all singles. Righties, however, get fewer hits but are far more likely to work deep into the count and potentially make good contact.No one in Texas’ righty-heavy lineup really did so back in February — almost no one even reached the outfield, and both of the Longhorns’ extra-base hits were doubles down the third-base line — but if Texas does have success against Canady in the coming days, it’s likely to come from star righties like Reese Atwood (1.354 OPS, 21 HRs, 86 RBIs), Joley Mitchell (1.276 OPS, 17 HRs, 63 RBIs) or Katie Stewart (1.166 OPS, 17 HRs, 78 RBIs) pulling a ball deep to left. They went a combined 1-for-11 against Canady in February, but they’ve been dynamite for most of 2025. Lefty Mia Scott (1.182 OPS, 8 HRs, 55 RBIs), meanwhile, did go 2-for-3 against her as well.PredictionWhoever wins in the coming days, it will feel like the culmination of a journey — either that of White’s Longhorns or of Canady herself. Kavan and Canady have combined for just a 0.74 ERA thus far in the WCWS, and it’s therefore almost impossible not to envision a scrappy, low-scoring series decided by random, great individual at-bats.Since Texas has the deeper offense, and since Kavan has been Canady’s equal in OKC, the Longhorns are the obvious favorites here; in fact, ESPN BET gives Texas (-225) equivalent odds of 64.7% over Tech (+165).
With the incredible drama this WCWS has produced, we deserve a Game 3, so I’ll say Texas in 3. The Horns have the overall edge, but Canady and her increasingly confident teammates will give themselves a chance at another couple of upset wins.
Paul Finebaum picks USC’s Lincoln Riley as college football coach under the most pressure in 2025
Career offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Lincoln Riley emerged as one of college football’s elite once he was promoted to Oklahoma’s head coach in 2017. With Riley at the helm, the Sooners compiled a 55-10 (37-7) record, made trips to three consecutive College Football Playoffs (2017-2019) and boasted two Heisman-winning quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray). Near […]
Career offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Lincoln Riley emerged as one of college football’s elite once he was promoted to Oklahoma’s head coach in 2017. With Riley at the helm, the Sooners compiled a 55-10 (37-7) record, made trips to three consecutive College Football Playoffs (2017-2019) and boasted two Heisman-winning quarterbacks (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray).
Near the end of his fifth season in Norman, however, it was announced prior to Oklahoma‘s 2021 Alamo Bowl matchup against Oregon that Riley would be heading west for the USC job. The program, which was once at the forefront of the college football landscape, had struggled immensely as of late. The Trojans posted a lowly 22-21 record in Clay Helton‘s final four seasons (2018-2021).
Great things were expected immediately from Riley at USC, but that just hasn’t been the case. Although quarterback Caleb Williams became the third arm to win the Heisman Trophy under Riley, the Trojans are just 26-14 (17-10) with one top-25 finish in his three seasons at the helm.
This is why ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum labeled Riley as the coach under the most pressure in 2025. He did so on Thursday morning’s edition of “Get Up.”
“Lincoln Riley,” Finebaum said in confidence. “And you asked the question, why? Because he has simply underperformed. He had a pretty decent first year, but since then, it has been very rocky. And quite frankly, I think he would already be gone if it wasn’t for about an $80 million buyout. Even for Southern Cal, that might be too much money.”
Promising season went south fast for USC in 2024
The 2025 season will mark the second for USC in the Big Ten conference following its jump from the sinking ship that was the Pac-12. Its 2024 campaign opened strong with a 27-20 win over No. 13 LSU in the Vegas Kickoff Classic, but it went just 4-5 in Big Ten play en route to an appearance in the Las Vegas Bowl.
This offseason, Riley promoted quarterbacks coach Luke Huard to offensive coordinator following the departure of Josh Henson to Purdue. USC also returns quarterback Jayden Maiava, who will replace Miller Moss (transferred to Louisville). Maiava passed for 1,201 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games last season.
Maiava shined in marquee games against Notre Dame and Texas A&M, passing for a combined 655 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. However good he ends up being will be instrumental for a successful season at USC.
The Trojans open the season against Missouri State on August 30. The game is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET kick.
The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives | National
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and […]
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.
Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.
The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.
Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1.
Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they’re shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals.
Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established by the new College Sports Commission.
In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, “ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.” More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system.
But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a “valid business purpose” standard for deals to be approved.
The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.
The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose” according to the NCAA rule.
A deal, however, could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples.
“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the letter said.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Ryan Clark takes aim at Robert Griffin III amid public spat with Angel Reese
Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III are getting after it on social media again. The two former NFL players turned analysts rekindled their beef after some drama pertaining to the former Heisman Trophy winner and Angel Reese. It all started when Griffin III claimed to have spoken with Reese’s inner circle about her rivalry with […]
Ryan Clark and Robert Griffin III are getting after it on social media again. The two former NFL players turned analysts rekindled their beef after some drama pertaining to the former Heisman Trophy winner and Angel Reese.
It all started when Griffin III claimed to have spoken with Reese’s inner circle about her rivalry with Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. On X/Twitter, the Griffin III told Reese that she should “tighten” her circle instead of “trying to check” him.
“I spoke up in support of Angel Reese against racism not to start drama,” Griffin III wrote. “But I won’t let anyone twist the truth just because it’s inconvenient to them. Instead of trying to check me, just tighten up your circle.
“They calling me and saying you hate Caitlin Clark, not the other way around. I have zero interest in being the villain in anyone’s story. I just want to have fun, tell the truth and celebrate sports. But I won’t pretend or lie just to protect feelings.”
The story centered around Griffin III going after the fans who were attacking Reese for being on the cover of NBA 2K26. In the social media post, Griffin III said people in Reese’s inner circle talked to him about her relationship with Caitlin Clark, which ticked off the Chicago Sky star.
“People in Angel’s inner circle called me and told me I was right and Angel Reese has grown to hate Caitlin Clark because of the media always asking her about Caitlin and being constantly compared to her,” Griffin wrote. Reese saw the post later in the morning, and decided to go after Griffin III.
“Lying on this app when everybody know the first and last name of everybody in my circle for clout is nastyyyy work,” Reese wrote. It’s clear Reese doesn’t believe that Griffin spoke to anyone close to her about her peer in the Indiana Fever star.
That prompted the aforementioned Ryan Clark to take aim at Griffin III. He claimed the former pro quarterback was a liar and that he should just admit his mistake and move on from the situation.
“Desperation will force you to make things up!” the former NFL defensive back wrote. “It’s ok to take the L & move on some times. Lying just makes it worse.”
Alas, this is par for the course, as Ryan Clark has been a staunch defender of Reese throughout her rise to fame. In defending her and getting a shot off at someone he’s had issues with in the past in Griffin III, he killed two birds with one stone.
More on Ryan Clark, Robert Griffin III
Additionally, the duo has found themselves embroiled in a social media war due to a situation regarding Reese before. In May, Ryan Clark had an issue with Griffin III, claiming that Reese hated Caitlin Clark, and his explanation on the matter.
“It could be the fact that Aliyah Boston had to save Angel Reese from ending her career,” Griffin said about an incident between Clark and Reese during a Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever game. “After the foul, Caitlin Clark put on Angel Reese, and Angel Reese tried to hit her. But if it wasn’t for Aliyah Boston putting her arms in the way, Angel Reese would not be playing basketball anymore, because she was going to sucker punch Caitlin Clark.
“Now, you tell me a time when you’ve seen somebody get fouled on a basketball court in a professional league, where they try to almost sucker punch somebody that they were friends with, because of a hard foul?”
All told, Angel Reese, who played at LSU, is having a strong start to her WNBA career. The 23-year-old is averaging 13.3 points and 12.8 rebounds this year. In 2024, Reese finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Clark) after averaging 13.6 points and 13.1 rebounds.
She’s hoping to keep the focus on her play on the court. Meanwhile, Robert Griffin III and Ryan Clark seem to love to use her to argue with each other. It seems like this rivalry is going to be an everlasting one.
College Football Has a New NIL Powerhouse and Coaches Are Calling it ‘Ridiculous’
College Football Has a New NIL Powerhouse and Coaches Are Calling it ‘Ridiculous’ originally appeared on Athlon Sports. As of July 1, schools are able to pay their athletes directly, thanks to the June 6 House v. NCAA settlement. Advertisement This monumental ruling allows schools to distribute $20.5 million however they’d like among their athletes. […]
College Football Has a New NIL Powerhouse and Coaches Are Calling it ‘Ridiculous’ originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
As of July 1, schools are able to pay their athletes directly, thanks to the June 6 House v. NCAA settlement.
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This monumental ruling allows schools to distribute $20.5 million however they’d like among their athletes. For some programs that didn’t have the strongest NIL backing, this helps level the playing field. For those who were already spending large amounts on their roster, it only makes them stronger.
The latter would apply to programs such as the Texas Longhorns, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan Wolverines, among other perennial powers. However, over the past year, the Texas Tech Red Raiders have also been known to throw around some cash.
They put together the No. 1 transfer portal class in the country, and according to a report by The Athletic, are spending so much that it is frustrating other coaches.
“Ridiculous. … They’re not just outbidding, they’re outbidding (other teams) by 3X,” one coach told The Athletic. “Wild, but it will be interesting. If the players are good kids, about the right things and about winning, I think it’ll go great. If they’re about themselves, the first time adversity hits will define them.”
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Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Joey McGuire, center, looks on.
One coach even went as far as to admit they were “jealous.”
The report confirmed that Texas Tech will spend $55 million in the 2025-26 season in NIL across all sports. While many may be wondering where this large influx of cash flow is coming from, the answer is quite simple. The surge in funds comes via oil tycoon Cody Campbell.
According to On3, the Texas Tech booster sold his oil and natural gas company in February for approximately $4.08 billion in cash and stock.
While this is exciting for Tech fans and threatening to those around the country, the pressure is only growing for a program that has never appeared in a Big 12 Championship Game. Only time will tell if the investment pays off, but clearly, Campbell is looking to change the trajectory of the program.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Deion Sanders says he wishes college football had a salary cap
University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders called for a salary cap for college football, saying the name, image, and likeness (NIL) space in the NCAA has “gone crazy” while speaking at Big 12 Media Days. “I wish there was a cap,” Sanders said, according to ESPN. “Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this, and if […]
University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders called for a salary cap for college football, saying the name, image, and likeness (NIL) space in the NCAA has “gone crazy” while speaking at Big 12 Media Days.
“I wish there was a cap,” Sanders said, according to ESPN. “Like, the top-of-the-line player makes this, and if you’re not that type of guy, you know you’re not going to make that. That’s what the NFL does … So the problem is, you got a guy that’s not that darn good, but he could go to another school and they give him a half million dollars. You can’t compete with that. And it don’t make sense.”
The June 6 settlement of the House v. NCAA class action lawsuit, which accused the NCAA of illegally limiting athlete compensation, allows schools to pay athletes directly. It instituted a revenue-sharing cap, set at $20.5 million for the 2025-26 school year. Sanders doesn’t believe that’s enough to level the playing field.
“I wish it was truly equality,” he said. “Now they go back to doing stuff under the table. They go back to the agents. Now you’ve got parents trying to be agents, you’ve got the homeboys trying to be agents, you’ve got the friends trying to be agents. You got a lot of bull junk going on. And quite frankly, we’re sick of it. I’ll say it for everybody: We’re sick of it.”
Sanders claimed that he sees college players get offers from other schools despite not being in the transfer portal.
“How is that possible when the guys isn’t in the portal? How is that?” Sanders said, according to The Athletic. “Now, if that was one of my players, y’all would be all over it. I’m trying to figure out how can somebody say, ‘You’ve got a $5 million offer.’ How? And the kid isn’t in the portal. We need to be upright and upstanding.”
After going 4-8 in Sanders’ first season at the helm, Colorado improved to 9-4 with an Alamo Bowl appearance last year. The Buffaloes are moving on from stars Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, and had a solid recruiting class with 13 enrollees from the class of 2025, led by four-star quarterback Julian Lewis. They also have 33 incoming transfers, according to 247Sports.
Data provided by Student Athlete Score (July 10th, 2025) – Avoli, a leading volleyball performance brand, continues to make waves in the college sports world with its impressive roster of NIL athlete partnerships. Known for its focus on empowering the next generation of volleyball players, Avoli has strategically aligned with some of the top collegiate […]
(July 10th, 2025) – Avoli, a leading volleyball performance brand, continues to make waves in the college sports world with its impressive roster of NIL athlete partnerships. Known for its focus on empowering the next generation of volleyball players, Avoli has strategically aligned with some of the top collegiate talent across the country. From Texas to Virginia and USC to Dayton, these partnerships reflect a growing trend of niche sports brands leveraging NIL to build deeper connections with athletes and fans alike.