College football stayed very much in the news throughout the offseason, with details emerging almost weekly about changes in the way the sport works, both on and off the field.

With the kickoff of the 2025 campaign less than a week away, here’s a quick cheat sheet on all that’s changed (and also what hasn’t):

How come players are getting paid now?

This has been developing for decades. It’s rooted in a handful of lawsuits in which players sued to be able to profit from their name, image and likenesses — say, for instance, on the covers of a video game or the back of a team jerseys.

Starting this season, the schools themselves will be able to pay the players directly for using their NIL, which further blurs the line between amateur and professionalism.

What still isn’t allowed is “pay for play” — where a school simply signs a player to play for them — though many people argue these NIL deals are simply pay for play in disguise under the term “revenue sharing.”

There have been, however, persistent calls for players to be treated more like employees — for instance, through collective bargaining — and that figures to be the next big debate to play out.

How much money do the players make? And who pays?

Contracts range from several million dollars for top quarterbacks such as Arch Manning of Texas to four-digit deals for players far down on the depth chart.

Schools are allowed to share 22% of a portion of their revenue this school year, which amounts to $20.5 million that has to be split among all sports, but mostly goes to football and men’s basketball.

Who pays? Well, often it’s us, the fans, one way or another. Some schools are increasing the cost of tickets and ticket licenses; others are upping concession prices and a few more have added athletic surcharges to tuition bills.

Most every big school has been hitting up boosters to fill in the gaps that the $20.5 million and added scholarship costs will create. Some sports departments are getting extra funding from government.

Did Deion Sanders stay at Colorado?

He did. Though there was speculation wide and far that Sanders might follow his sons Shedeur and Shilo out the door after two years, the coach insisted he was with the Buffs for the long-haul. Just as preseason camp was warming up, Sanders disclosed he’d been diagnosed with bladder cancer, which he said had been treated.

“I’m healthy, I’m vibrant,” Sanders said.

His team? Who knows? Replacing a star quarterback and a Heisman Trophy winner in Travis Hunter is never a sure thing. The over/under on the CU win total this year is 6.5 according to the MGM Sportsbook.

Why is Bill Belichick coaching in college?

The 73-year-old, six-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots said he was looking for a new challenge and a place to build a program the way he wanted, instead of the way NFL teams he interviewed with were telling him.

He also cited the close connection he had to his new school, North Carolina, where his father served as an assistant coach in the 1950s.

What about Alabama?

The Crimson Tide’s four losses in coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season were the most since Nick Saban’s debut in 2007. The Tide’s hopes for a turnaround rest on quarterback Ty Simpson, who won the starting job this month after sitting on the sideline for his first three seasons in Tuscaloosa.

Simpson is a rarity — a five-star recruit who didn’t bail on his school in search of more playing time and potentially more money.

Alabama’s opener is Aug. 30 at Florida State.

When do the games start?

Things kick off Saturday, with Big 12 rivals Kansas State and Iowa State meeting in Ireland. Big games next weekend include No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State, No. 9 LSU at No. 4 Clemson and No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami.

Anything new about the College Football Playoff?

This is the second year of the 12-team playoff. There will be four rounds of games, starting Dec. 19 and ending exactly a month later at Hard Rock Stadium near Miami.

The five best conference champions will earn automatic bids into the tournament, but in a tweak from last year, the four best among them will not be guaranteed a top-four seed and a first-round bye. Instead, they’ll be slotted in by how the 13-person selection committee ranks them.

So, for instance, if Texas and Alabama are CFP No. 1 and 2 heading into the SEC title game and Texas wins a close one, but Alabama only falls to No. 4, the Tide would still get the 4 seed and a first-round bye.

How to keep track of who’s good and not good

After Labor Day, the AP releases its weekly Top 25 poll every Sunday. The CFP selection committee starts releasing its weekly rankings the first week of November. Its last poll, on Dec. 8, will slot the teams into the playoff bracket.

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Even when she’s not contributing on the floor, Sophie Cunningham is celebrating her team’s success. After Cunningham left the Fever’s game against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday with an apparent knee injury, things looked dire for Indiana.

The team was down 28-13 at the time of Cunningham’s injury and trailed heavily a substantial portion of the game. Alas, the Fever didn’t give up, rallying back to force overtime and eventually pulling out a 99-93 victory. After the game, Cunningham posted a three-word tweet to celebrate her teammate’s comeback win: “KELSEY FREAKIN MITCHELL.”

In the win, Kelsey Mitchell exploded for 38 points and six assists while shooting 11-22 from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc. Mitchell has been spectacular this season, leading the team with a career-best 19.9 points per game.

With the performance on Sunday, Mitchell passed Tamika Catchings for the most career games with 30+ points in franchise history with 11. It wasn’t the only piece of history made Sunday. The comeback win was also the largest in Fever history.

As exciting as the Fever’s jaw-dropping win was, it’s difficult for Indiana to fully enjoy the moment. Cunningham wasn’t able to return to the game on Sunday and could miss extended time with the injury. It’d be a serious hit to the Fever’s playoff hopes.

After all, Cunningham has been spectacular this season. The Missouri product is averaging 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 47.7% from the field and 44.3% from beyond the arc.

Cunningham’s injury occurred when Sun guard Bria Hartley crashed into her on a drive to the basket. Hartley seemingly fell onto the lower part of Cunningham’s leg, causing the Fever forward to hobble away on one leg while clutching her injured knee.

Cunningham isn’t the only player battling an injury on the Fever. Superstar guard Caitlin Clark has been out with a groin injury since July 15, and has missed 22 total games this season due to injury.

On Sunday, Fever head coach Stephanie White said the team hopes for Clark to return before the end of the regular season. However, if she’s unable to, and Cunningham is sidelined, the Fever could be in dire straits.

Sophie Cunningham is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, per Scott Agness. The Fever will take the court next on Friday against the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ION.

Mark Pope is a huge advocate for extending the college basketball season to 40 games, but that’s not the only major change in the sport he’s suggesting. The Kentucky head coach also has thoughts on the current state of the transfer portal.

“If I could change (the transfer portal), I would probably move it to the day after the national championship game and make it a really tight window, make it a five-day window,” Pope said this week on the Eye on College Basketball with Matt Norlander. “That way, everyone has had time to evaluate, everyone has had time to see it, and just make it a shorter window so that we can just get through the process. The process is already crazy fast.

“But I say that also acknowledging that that answer raises a lot of issues too. There’s no perfect answer.”

During the 2024-25 season, the transfer portal opened up after the first weekend of the 2025 NCAA Tournament wrapped up — a one-week bump back from the previous season. It officially opened for business on March 24 and stayed open for 30 days before closing on April 22. This is just the entry window, though, not a deadline for making commitments. But it forced coaches and would-be transfers to make decisions while the season was still being played. It’s challenging to balance coaching and recruiting during the most important stretch of the season.

“The worst thing was playing in the NCAA Tournament while the portal was open. I probably mismanaged that last year, in all honesty,” Pope admitted.

We likely won’t ever know exactly what Pope “mismanaged” about the portal this offseason, but Kentucky was still able to land Tulane transfer Kam Williams on the morning of the Wildcats’ Sweet 16 showdown against Tennessee, a game UK lost in blowout fashion. Pope added that coaching in today’s game demands going as fast as possible down multiple roads, but that he didn’t do well enough of making it happen in the spring.

“That’s something that we’ve talked in great detail about how we’re going to remedy next year,” he said.

But much like how his returning players are expected to take a leap in 2025-26 after gaining a year of experience at Kentucky, the same will be true for Pope as a head coach. Last offseason, he was starting from scratch. But this offseason, there were a dozen Quad 1 wins, a pair of NBA Draft picks, and the first second NCAA Tournament weekend since 2019 under his belt to work with.

“One benefit for us was we had been here and won,” Pope said of navigating the portal this offseason. “So that’s the big thing we didn’t have coming in the first year. Guys were kinda saying like ‘What is Kentucky going to look like?’ I mean you just had one of the great all-time coaches in the history of the game vacate this seat and you brought in me, right? So there was that question. I don’t think we had to deal with that question at all this year. Everybody had seen us play and see what our guys did.”

All of that banked-up clout allowed Pope to rebuild Kentucky’s roster through the portal and turn the ‘Cats into a potential title contender in 2025-26 — and that was with some self-reported missteps along the way.

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South Carolina football star LaNorris Sellers is gearing up for his sophomore season in Columbia. The quarterback is hoping to build upon a phenomenal debut as the Gamecocks’ starter under center.

That production as a redshirt freshman has him in Heisman trophy conversations ahead of the 2025 college football season. It’s also resulted in a notable boost in NIL income.

Last year, Sellers guided the Gamecocks to a 9-3 output with wins over the likes of Clemson, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He threw for 2,500 yards and 18 scores while adding another 674 yards on the ground.

He hopes to build on his success this fall. Excitement surrounding his expected growth has those in the area eager to watch.

The LaNorris Sellers hype is real.

The signal caller burst onto the scene as a relative unknown in 2024. He’s now being mentioned as a potential top 10 NFL Draft pick in the 2026 selection process.

“When you see him at his best, he’s unstoppable. He’s a great runner when he takes off. Strong arm. Built well. Can handle the physical beating he’s going to take at quarterback and shake off sacks. Moves around really well.”

-Steve Muench via The McShay Show

Sellers can sling it. He can run, too. At 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, he’s impossible to bring down. His dual threat abilities gave opposing defenses nightmares last year.

Sellers is considered a top Heisman trophy contender this preseason and a future pro prospect. He’s now cashing in on his newfound fame.

The football star will have a new car on the South Carolina campus this fall.

Sellers will renew an NIL partnership with Dick Dyer & Associates. He posted a comical ad on social media to announce the agreement.

In that commercial, he flaunted the perks of his deal by showing off his new ride. He’ll drive a 2025 Mercedes-Benz G63 this season, valued at $186,100.

LaNorris Sellers spoke on NIL poachers this offseason. He and his father said they turned down millions to stick around in Columbia.

The passer stayed loyal to the Gamecocks. He believes he can have everything he needs at South Carolina.

This new deal certainly supports that outlook, as does his $3.7 million NIL valuation. Sellers will be riding in style on campus this year.

After a decade with Nike, Tennessee is preparing to return to its former apparel partner. The school agreed to a lucrative 10-year deal with adidas this week, starting in 2026, which will make the Vols the company’s flagship university.

Josh Heupel shared his reaction to that news this week and acknowledged the impact the agreement will have on UT. Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported the deal includes a multi-million dollar NIL component. Adidas is even working quickly to secure deals with Vols athletes this school year. The new contract doesn’t officially start until next school year.

Heupel said Tennessee is “fortunate” to have such a lucrative opportunity. He also agreed with the excitement around the deal and the long-term effects both on and off the field.

“We’re fortunate,” Heupel said. “Had a partner that wanted to make us their flagship school. That’s going to happen in a lot of different ways and going to be a benefit to our football program, but this athletic department as a whole, too. They had an opportunity to come talk to some of our guys.

“I think everybody’s really excited that, again, we’re going to be the flagship school for them. It’s going to provide a lot of unique opportunities for our players on and off the field.”

How Tennessee’s adidas deal impacts NIL

The NIL component of Tennessee’s deal with adidas – which could be worth at least $10 million, according to Dellenger – is especially important in the post-House v. NCAA settlement landscape. Under the agreement, schools can share up to $20.5 million directly with athletes through revenue-sharing. However, there isn’t a cap on third-party NIL deals, meaning adidas can effectively help with “over-the-cap” opportunities.

“The arms race was originally about facilities,” said Chris McGuire, adidas Vice President of Sports Marketing for North America, while speaking with Yahoo! Sports. “Now it’s gone to rev-share and NIL. We want to make sure we provide opportunities to our partners that are competitive in the marketplace so they’ll have competitive teams on the field.”

If Tennessee athletes sign an NIL deal with adidas, they would be able to wear the company’s products in games once the new agreement gets in place. This year, though, those athletes would have to wear Nike apparel until that deal expires.

Tennessee left adidas in 2014 to sign with Nike, and the amended deal runs through 2026. Through the partnership, the university is due to receive $1.2 million in base compensation in 2025-26 and $4.5 million in annual product allotment.

Caitlin Clark has been out with a groin injury since July 15. On Sunday, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White provided an update on Clark’s recovery when asked if the two-time WNBA All-Star will return before the end of the regular season.

“That’s the hope. The hope is that she’s back,” White said, per ESPN.

In total, Clark has missed 21 games for the Fever this season. The team has posted an 8-5 record with Clark and a 10-11 record without her this season.

It’s been a roller coaster season without Caitlin Clark leading the way. The Fever have looked competent without their leader at times, only to appear clueless the very next game.

From late July to early August, the Fever won five consecutive games and seemed to finally be finding their rhythm. However, that sentiment quickly fell apart when Indiana lost four of its next five contests.

If the season ended today, the Fever would be the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Alas, it certainly wouldn’t hurt for Clark to ramp up to the playoffs with a few regular-season showings. After all, rust has been an obvious issue for the former Iowa standout this season when she’s attempted to return from injury.

Clark is averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. However, she’s shooting just 36.7% from the field and 27.9% from beyond the arc. While Clark initially felt like she needed to return to the hardwood as quickly as possible, advice from her mom has led to her taking a more careful approach.

“Early on with the first couple injuries, I was like, ‘I need to get back,’” Clark said during an appearance on the Bird’s Eye View with Sue Bird podcast. “But I think my mom texted after this last injury, and they know how hard it’s been on me, but my mom was like, ‘You’ve taken so much time for everybody else, you have to take time for yourself now.’ So I’m just trying to do that the best I can, too.

“… ”But you do want to play, you want to give people something to cheer about or scream about. People spend so much time, and money, and resources to come and watch you play. And it’s been cool to see people continue to show up for my teammates, whether they’re fans of the Fever just fans of myself, they’re continuing to show up and support.”

The Fever have 10 games left in their regular season. The last game of the regular season is on Sept. 9.