College football starts this week.

That is huge news in Athens, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Austin, Baton Rouge, Ann Arbor and Norman. But in San Rafael, Tiburon, Novato, and Sausalito, opening day of the college football season finishes a distant second in anticipation to the Fairfax Photo Club Exhibit and the ever popular Read to a Dog day at the Petaluma Library. (Now I’ve done it. My dog Dottie just heard me mention “read to a dog” and now I’ve got to go to her book club with her).

In these parts, Cal and Stanford over the years would occasionally garner a modicum of interest from students and alumni if they seemed to be on the verge of something slightly above mediocrity. Stanford had some Rose Bowl years and Cal did, too. In fact, the Bears have made eight Rose Bowl appearances. Okay, so the last one was in 1959. There are still at least 17 living people who witnessed it.

The Pac-8….then -10….and then -12 had its rivalries that could stir a few people out of their Lazyboy’s. Everybody hated USC, and the Big Game was at least mentioned on occasion at the office water cooler.

But since the demise of the Pac-12 and the start of an influx of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) money, interest in college football in the Bay Area has waned to the point that the Stanford Tree and Oskie, the Cal Bear’s affable mascot, both opted to enter the transfer portal.

It is the transfer portal that has — depending on where you live — either grown college football to massive proportions, or killed it. We all live where it’s on life support.

It wasn’t that many years ago that we laughed at an athlete who was getting thousand dollar handshakes from over-zealous alumni. We kidded that they “had to take a pay cut to turn pro.” The joke is now on us. It happens all the time.

Football budgets for the 10 biggest spenders hovers right around the $40 million mark. The difference between those 10 schools and everybody else? They’re nationally ranked. The rich just keep on getting richer.

The trickle-down effect is what galls me more than anything else. If a team like Cal or Stanford does manage to get a player who could lift the program or, at the very least, provide a recruiting edge down the road, he’s gone the next year to one of the big dogs for way more money than the paltry sums that Cal or Stanford can afford.

Here’s an example: Cal will be starting a freshman quarterback named Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who first committed to Cal, was lured away by Oregon, and returned to Berkeley when he realized he would likely not be starting in Eugene. The bottom line is, he’s a big talent and Cal is fortunate to have him. I don’t know how much NIL money the quarterback is getting at Cal, but I’m guessing it’s in the $1 million area.

For the Bears, it’s sizable. For the big spenders, it’s chump change. Arch Manning at Texas this year will have $6.6 million in NIL money. If Sagapolutele is as advertised, what are the odds he’s not in Berkeley in year two?

To their credit, both Bay Area schools have hired what has become the latest addition to a college football staff, the general manager. Yes! Just like the NFL. Both schools picked a highly qualified and motivated person to fill that job: Ron Rivera at Cal, and Andrew Luck at Stanford.

Each starred in football at their school, each went on to star in the NFL, each is respected beyond doubt. Their job: Raise money and deal with agents representing an 18-year-old kid who thinks he’s the next coming of … well, Ron Rivera or Andrew Luck. And then try and keep him on campus. They are both great guys who really care.

And they will try to keep two age-old programs afloat, while swimming in a sea of sharks.

The University of Oregon is the fourth-highest paying university when it comes to NIL money for its athletes. How much has this gotten out of control? The NIL monies at Oregon come to an average of $241,000 per player.

How prevalent you ask, are players headed to the transfer portal? Cal lost 23 players off a team that got to a bowl game, including five running backs and six wide receivers. Stanford likewise lost 25 players to the portal. Cal brought in 25 transfers and Stanford 17.

Here’s how times have changed.

I once did a Stanford-Oklahoma football game in Norman, Oklahoma. It was what we call an Athletic Director’s game. That is, a game agreed to by the visiting AD because of the money the school gets, in exchange for the home team getting an easy win.

I’m not sure how, but Stanford somehow won the game.

My crew and I were sitting in the bar at the airport after the game waiting for our flight home and there were several Oklahoma fans there who, to the number, looked as though they just had put their dog down. We reasoned with them that this was a just a game — the sun’s coming up tomorrow. One Sooner fan who had been somewhat over-served said, “You don’t understand. Your kids are all going back to school and they’re all going to graduate and probably make lots of money. For our kids — this is it.”

Times have changed. A lot of Oklahoma players are making more money now than Stanford kids may ever make. The Sooners are ranked No. 15 in the country. Stanford is picked to finish 17th in the 17-team ACC.

Oklahoma plays its first game next week against Illinois State. They are an overwhelming favorite.

Stanford opens Saturday in Hawaii. They are a two-and-a-half-point underdog.

Welcome to a new season of college football in the Bay Area.

Barry Tompkins is a 40-year network television sportscaster and a San Francisco native.  Email him at barrytompkins1@gmail.com.

 

Originally Published: August 21, 2025 at 5:37 PM PDT

The South Carolina athletic department is expected to announce a new apparel deal with Nike on Friday, according to a report by the Post and Courier. The move to Nike will come as the Gamecocks’ 10-year deal with Under Armour comes to an end next summer.

South Carolina fans can expect to see Nike’s famous “Swoosh” logo on Gamecocks athletic gear beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, per the Post and Courier. The South Carolina Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for 9 am ET on Friday with a single agenda item: “Athletics Department: Apparel Agreement,” according to the Post and Courier.

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The Gamecocks have been with Under Armour since 2007, originally agreeing to a six-year football-only contract with the apparel company worth $10.8 million, per the Post and Courier. Under Armour expanded to include all South Carolina athletic sports as the other programs “began phasing out Russell Athletic, Adidas and Nike in their own individual contracts.” That Under Armour deal was later amended in 2010 with a new six-year contract totaling $19 million.

Details on South Carolina’s apparel contract with Under Armour

Under its current agreement with Under Armour, South Carolina has been provided apparel since June 30, 2016, and it will run through June 30, 2026. There was some pretty significant cash involved in that deal, too. The Gamecocks got a $2 million signing bonus, which went along with $24.5 million in rights fees. South Carolina baseball had an additional $500,000 in rights fees. Then, there was $44.5 million in product allowance.

Notably, the current deal that South Carolina has with Under Armour does have an interesting note. It prohibits the school from meeting with or negotiating another apparel deal with a competitor more than 180 days out from the end of the agreement. That’s January 1, 2026.

On top of that, Under Armour has the right of first refusal. That means that if South Carolina were to receive a competing offer, Under Armour has the ability to match that agreement within 15 days. If they do match the agreement, then the school is obligated to re-sign with Under Armour.

Recently, in the SEC, Tennessee made the decision to leave Nike for adidas. In that agreement, the school will be paid $1.2 million in base compensation in 2025-26 and $4.5 million in annual product allotment. On top of that, the agreement calls for a multi-million dollar NIL component. That means NIL opportunities for athletes at Tennessee through Adidas.

Now, it will be interesting to see if South Carolina looks for a new apparel deal that is structured similarly to the one Tennessee signed with Adidas.

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.

After an up-and-down 2024 season, Brian Kelly went to work overhauling the LSU roster. The Tigers went to work on both the high school and transfer portal recruiting trails, and Kelly shared just how much the roster costs this year.

Kelly said LSU is “going to be just about $18 million” during his first radio show of the year – lining up with the number On3’s Pete Nakos reported this spring. The Tigers brought in 18 transfers this cycle as part of the No. 2-ranked portal class, according to the On3 Team Transfer Portal Index, and also had a Top-10 high school recruiting class.

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In a survey conducted by On3 earlier this summer, LSU received five votes as one of the top spenders in the program. Sources told Nakos at the time that the Tigers’ spending also marked an “impressive” turnaround as Kelly looks to get the program to the College Football Playoff for the first time in his tenure.

Kelly pointed out the stark differences between the salary cap in place in the NFL – where the “big money” is – and in college. That’s when he shared how LSU’s roster cost compares.

“Look, the NFL is $280 million a year in salary cap. We’re going to be just about $18 million,” Kelly said. “There’s a big difference between $280 million and $18 million. So if you can’t see the difference between the two, then you’re not really understanding that what you want to develop your son to be is the best version of himself so he can get the big money in three years.

“It’s starting to resonate back to that. Be competitive with other offers that they may get, but at the end of the day, it’s still about showing them that if you come to LSU, we’re going to develop you in all facets. So when you leave here, not only are you a better player, you’re a better man, you’re a better person and you can go into an NFL locker room. … The NFL knows that. They know that if they go through our program here, not only are they really good players, but they’re prepared for that next step. And that next step is really important because they’re going to pay them a lot more money than we were paying them.”

Brian Kelly details LSU’s approach to front-loading deals

Earlier this offseason, Brian Kelly acknowledged LSU needed to improve its NIL support and dove in headfirst. He helped lead a major NIL initiative as he and his wife committed to match up to $1 million in donations with a gift to the school’s foundation, which resulted in $3.2 million raised for Bayou Traditions.

Kelly also said LSU’s approach, prior to House v. NCAA settlement approval, was to front-load deals. Upon final approval, the NIL Go clearinghouse went into effect to vet NIL deals worth more than $600. From there, the Tigers used revenue-sharing to enhance the amount of dollars the players received.

“I’ll go back to that, we had a plan that I think was advanced for everybody else and that was, we were going to front-load a lot of our players prior to revenue-sharing,” Kelly said. “We wouldn’t be in a position where we were, when we got to revenue-sharing, we couldn’t compete. A lot of this was front-loaded contractually where our players were able to – and for us, we were able to get to them before revenue-sharing, and then use revenue-sharing to kind of put them over the top.

“So pulling from both of those resources really allowed us, from a contractual standpoint, to get a little bit of a jump on the crowd, if you will, because everybody now sees that plan and will be using it. But it gave us a real boomerang effect in terms of recruiting and it helped us with our freshman recruiting, as well.”

The 2025-26 NCAA football season is officially upon us, and the best way to catch the action all season long is with ESPN Unlimited.

How to Watch College Football with ESPN Unlimited

• Date: Saturday, August 23, 2025 – Monday, January 19, 2026
• TV Channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPN+, ESPNEWS, ABC, SEC Network, ACC Network, SEC Network+, ACC Network+
• Stream: ESPN Unlimited (Watch Now)
• Stream: ESPN Unlimited, Hulu, Disney+ Bundle (Watch Now)

ESPN Unlimited is a new streaming service that offers a wide array of channels and sports to choose from. It is the ultimate package for sports enthusiasts, with coverage of the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, WNBA, UFC, UFL, SEC, ACC, Big 12, and more. It can also be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu at a discounted price right now.

ESPN Select is also available at a cheaper price, allowing access to events previously streamable through ESPN+.

It is time for college football fans to gear up for the NCAA season, and there are plenty of storylines to follow heading into the year.

Ohio State will look to defend its title after rolling through the College Football Playoff en route to its ninth National Championship. They lost some key playmakers on offense, but Jeremiah Smith will be back once again to torment defenses.

The performance of Arch Manning will be something everyone will have their eyes on this season in his first year as the full-time starter for Texas. Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli, is one of the most hyped up college athletes in recent memory.

Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame, and the rest of the powerhouse programs will all be in full effect as they look to secure their rightful spots in the field of eight College Football Playoff teams.

This should be a fantastic NCAA college football season that you will not want to miss; make sure to tune in and catch all the action.

Live stream College Football with ESPN Unlimited: Start your subscription now!

Bundle ESPN Unlimited with Disney+ & Hulu: Start your subscription now!

See below for the entire ESPN Unlimited Week 0 & Week 1 schedule.

College Football Week 0 & 1 ESPN Unlimited Schedule

Sat. Aug 23

22Iowa State @ 17Kansas State 9:00 AM ESPN

Thu. Aug 28

25Boise State @ South Florida 2:30 PM ESPN

Lafayette @ Bowling Green 3:00 PM ESPN+

East Carolina @ NC State 4:00 PM ACCN

Jacksonville State @ UCF 4:00 PM ESPN+

Delaware State @ Delaware 4:00 PM ESPN+

Saint Francis @ UL Monroe 4:00 PM ESPN+

Wyoming @ Akron 4:00 PM ESPN+

Central Arkansas @ Missouri 4:30 PM SEC+ ESPN+

Elon @ Duke 4:30 PM ESPN+/ACC

UT Martin @ Oklahoma State 4:30 PM ESPN+

Stephen F. Austin @ Houston 5:00 PM ESPN+

Alabama State @ UAB 5:30 PM ESPN+

Nebraska @ Cincinnati 6:00 PM ESPN

Fri. Aug 29

Kennesaw State @ Wake Forest 4:00 PM ACCN

App State @ Charlotte 4:00 PM ESPN U

Bethune-Cookman @ Florida International 4:00 PM ESPN+

Wagner @ Kansas 4:30 PM ESPN+

Georgia Tech @ Colorado 5:00 PM ESPN

Sat. Aug 30

Syracuse @ Tennessee 9:00 AM ABC

Mississippi State @ Southern Miss 9:00 AM ESPN

Northwestern @ Tulane 9:00 AM ESPNU

Duquesne @ Pittsburgh 9:00 AM ACC Network

Merrimack @ Kent State 9:00 AM ESPN+

Toledo @ Kentucky 9:45 AM SEC Network

Fordham @ Boston College 11:00 AM ESPN+, ACC Extra

Robert Morris @ West Virginia 11:00 AM ESPN+

Eastern Kentucky @ Louisville 12:00 PM ACC Network

Marshall @ Georgia 12:30 PM ESPN

Alabama @ Florida State 12:30 PM ABC

Temple @ Massachusetts 12:30 PM ESPN+

Holy Cross @ Northern Illinois 12:30 PM ESPN+

Maine @ Liberty 1:00 PM ESPN+

Alabama A&M @ Arkansas 1:15 PM SEC Network

Chattanooga @ Memphis 1:30 PM ESPN+

Illinois State @ Oklahoma 3:00 PM ESPN+, SECN+

Coastal Carolina @ Virginia 3:00 PM ACC Network

Weber State @ James Madison 3:00 PM ESPN+

Long Island University @ Florida 4:00 PM ESPN+, SECN+

North Dakota @ Kansas State 4:00 PM ESPN+

UTSA @ Texas A&M 4:00 PM ESPN

Charleston @ Southern Vanderbilt 4:00 PM ESPN+, SECN+

Austin Peay @ Middle Tennessee 4:00 PM ESPN+

North Alabama @ Western Kentucky 4:00 PM ESPN+

Southeast Missouri State @ Arkansas State 4:00 PM ESPN+

Morgan State @ South Alabama 4:00 PM ESPN+

Nicholls @ Troy 4:00 PM ESPN+

LSU @ Clemson 4:30 PM ABC

Arkansas-Pine Bluff @ Texas Tech 4:30 PM ESPN+

SE Louisiana @ Louisiana Tech 4:30 PM ESPN+

Georgia State @ Ole Miss 4:45 PM SEC Network

Portland State @ BYU 5:00 PM ESPN+

Rice @ Louisiana 5:00 PM ESPN+

Eastern Michigan @ Texas State 5:00 PM ESPN+

Lamar @ North Texas 5:00 PM ESPN+

Abilene @ Christian Tulsa 5:00 PM ESPN+

East Texas A&M @ SMU 6:00 PM ACC Network

Bryant @ New Mexico State 6:00 PM ESPN+

Northern Arizona @ Arizona State 7:00 PM ESPN+

California @ Oregon State 7:30 PM ESPN

Sun. Aug 31

Virginia Tech @ South Carolina 12:00 PM ESPN

Notre Dame @ Miami 4:30 PM ABC

Mon. Sep 1

TCU @ North Carolina 5:00 PM ESPN

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Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo is 70-years-old and the longest-tenured active men’s college basketball coach among high major programs. He has seen some things since taking over the Michigan State program in 1995.

But nothing he’s seen is as comparably cataclysmic, he said this week in an interview with Jon Rothstein, than the transfer portal and the chaos it has wrought within the sport.

“The transfer portal is way worse than NIL,” Izzo said. “What the transfer portal does is gives a lot of middlemen a chance to come in. What I think is bothering me and my sport the most is the way people are tampering with people throughout the year.”

Izzo added that the structure of the portal and the enforcement of transfers — or lack thereof — is what he sees as one of the biggest issues facing the sport right now. Tampering remains a huge sore spot among coaches, and as Izzo noted, there was once a time when you could recruit a class and be set for several years. Now, he says, you can recruit a class and barely be set for a full season.

“Even in the NFL, NBA, you don’t tamper with a guy who has a four-year contract,” he said. “The portal never closes because you have too many dirtbags who are tampering with people and players. The worst thing I see is the tampering.”

There are potential fixes to solve the tampering issue — some, including Izzo, have proposed a one-time transfer rule — but there does not appear to be an urgency among decision-makers to address it. 

That has led to a number of coaches in the meantime to work around it by getting creative while advocating for change. And while it hasn’t stopped coaches from complaining, both publicly and privately, it has produced a fruitful dialogue led by some of the most experienced around the game.

Izzo for his part recognizes the importance of his role as an old head with a new game in town.

“I don’t like the current system,” Izzo said. “But there’s not a football or basketball coach that likes it. Some are just at the stage of their career where they can’t say it; I can say it.”

Most impressive perhaps is Izzo’s ability to rise above circumstances. He doesn’t like the transfer portal system and has expressed concerns about NIL, which has led to a rise in transfers. But Izzo remains Izzo: steady, consistent and the rock of a team that finished with 30 wins last year.

“There’s just more added to the job 1755836997,” he said. “I think we’ve made some mistakes in letting [the portal] get there. Now I think we’re too gutless to correct our own mistakes.”

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The University of North Carolina men’s soccer program defeated UCF 3-1 to open the season at Dorrance Field. The Tar Heels were powered by goals from newcomers Dylan Kropp, Nacho Abeal, and Ryan Dugan.
 
The Tar Heels improved to (1-0, 0-0 ACC), while the Knights moved to 0-1 (0-0 Sun Belt).

How It Happened

• Luca Nikolai put the pressure on the Knights in the fifth minute, forcing a save with a shot bending toward the top right corner.
• Bertil Rygaard Hansen barely missed the net just minutes later with a screamer that sailed wide.
• UCF opened the scoring on a Lilian Ricol goal in the 21st minute.
• Three minutes later, Carolina ramped up the pressure with Nacho Abeal putting two hard shots on net that forced great saves from the UCF keeper.
• The Tar Heels found the net to equalize in the 25th minute off the head of Dylan Kropp. Andrew Czech assisted just the second goal of Kropp’s career and his first in open play.
• The teams were knotted at 1 at halftime, but momentum was in Carolina’s favor.
• In the 56thminute, Abeal was finally able to convert off of a long assist from the right foot of Lucas Ross. This goal turned into the fifth game-winner of Abeal’s career and the 12^th total goal of his career. Ross notched his first career assist on the sequence.
• The Tar Heels put the nail in the coffin on Ryan Dugan’s first career goal. Nikolai again found himself in the action by racing down the right side and crossing the ball to the right foot of Dugan who was planted in the middle of the box.

 
Inside the Box Score

• UNC outshot UCF 17-8, including 12-1 in the first half.
• Six different players notched a point for Carolina.
• Nacho Abeal led all Tar Heels wiht six shots and three on goal.
• Andrew Cordes recorded two saves.
• Ryan Dugan opened up his college account with the game-sealing goal.

 
Tar Heel Tidbits

• This was the eighth match-up between UNC and UCF with Carolina holding a 5-3 advantage in the series.
• Head Coach Carlos Somoano has produced a stellar record in season openers as a head coach, having gone 13-0-2 over that span.
• The total attendance was 3,430. Of that, 2,623 were students setting a new men’s soccer student attendance record.

 
Up Next
North Carolina will host Seattle at Dorrance Field on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Both UNC and Seattle, who have never played before, are receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches initial poll.

Stay up to date with UNC men’s soccer by following the Tar Heels on Twitter, Instagram  and Facebook.