FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas athletic department’s evolving investment in the name, image and likeness realm is expanding on the cusp of the new year.

The Razorbacks announced Tuesday a new partnership with TheLinkU, which the department hopes will facilitate and streamline operations in the NIL space beyond the school’s revenue-sharing commitment with its roster of athletes.

The announcement came about 2 1/2 months after Arkansas ended its relationship with Blueprint Sports. That move was an outgrowth from the House v. NCAA settlement that allowed participating schools to dole out about $21.5 million per year to athletes through revenue sharing. Arkansas assumed all NIL agreements July 1 following the settlement.

According to a UA release on the partnership with TheLinkU, the agreement “will power the NIL efforts of the Arkansas Front Office to generate legitimate above-the-cap revenue for Arkansas athletes.”

The UA also announced in a release that TheLinkU platform will provide “immediate opportunities for local businesses, brands and donors to engage Arkansas Athletics to partner with athletes” in multiple ways.

“Our partnership with TheLinkU makes us better in a number of ways very quickly,” UA Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek said in a statement. “This helps our student-athletes with legitimate NIL opportunities — both locally and nationally — while also giving our fans and donors the opportunity to easily support our teams or specific athletes.”

TheLinkU was started in 2022 by a group including former University of Houston quarterback Austin Elrod, who is the company’s chief executive officer.

According to the UA release, TheLinkU provides a portfolio of more than 30 national brands and businesses in the realm of technology, finance, apparel and consumer goods.

The outfit also is expected to “simplify the process of working with athletes to promote their businesses,” according to the release.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with Arkansas Athletics to build upon the momentum surrounding Razorback student-athletes,” Elrod said in a statement. “Arkansas possesses all the necessary elements to be elite in the NIL era: a passionate fan base, a powerful statewide brand and a connection to some of the world’s most successful businesses.

“Our NIL Ecosystem, led by our national partnership network, brings significant revenue opportunities that benefit student-athletes while providing alumni, fans and business leaders with meaningful ways to participate in the success of the program. Throughout this partnership, we will bring a relentless work ethic that focuses on adding real value to the Razorback network and community.”

Texas Longhorns head football coach Steve Sarkisian still has one more game to play in his 2025 season, but like every other program in the country, he has to recruit for 2026 and beyond at the same time. 

That process has obviously changed now across all college athletics after the introduction of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, which has turned recruiting into a financial game. 

But one of the many holes in the system, at least in the eyes of Sarkisian, is the lack of regulation surrounding the agents these athletes hire to negotiate those NIL deals before heading off to school. 

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Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns holds Horns Up as he walks into the stadium before the SEC football game between Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies on Nov. 28, 2025, at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX. (David Buono/Icon Sportswire)

Before the Longhorns take on the Michigan Wolverines in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Sarkisian discussed that aspect of recruitment, suggesting some of the agents are not even qualified to be negotiating deals that could be millions. 

“Which agent are you dealing with? There’s some agents who are rational and then there’s some where it’s their first time ever being an agent,” Sarkisian told reporters, per OnTexasFootball. “I don’t even know if they’re licensed to be agents, and all of a sudden, they get to be agents because we have no certification process in college football, where the NFL you have to be certified. In college football, it might be their college roommate their freshman year who’s their agent right now.”

Sarkisian was asked about what Texas is looking to do this offseason to replace some key players, including running back Quintrevion Wisner, who entered the transfer portal. Wisner made the announcement of the move this past Friday, joining CJ Baxter and Rickey Stewart Jr. as Texas running back transfers.

While Sarkisian explained how the team needs other be strategic, identifying what they need versus what they want, as well as looking at the “luxuries” they have on the roster, he also made sure to mention the high school recruiting class for 2026 that needs to be looked at.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns speaks during SEC Football Media Days at Omni Dallas Hotel on July 17, 2024 in Dallas, Texas.  (Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Either way, Texas continues to peruse the transfer portal, and Sarkisian knows he’s going to have to continue having phone conversations with “agents” moving forward.

“Again, I think there’s nothing wrong with that,” Sarkisian said after reflecting on how financials have come into play when it comes to building a college roster. “We’ve just got to tighten it up. Hopefully, we can get there sooner rather than later, because again, I’m probably going to be on the phone with an agent today who’s going to throw a number at me that I’m going to be like, ‘Good luck, I hope you get it. If you don’t, call us back. But I can’t do that number.’”

Head coach Steve Sarkisian of the Texas Longhorns on the field prior to a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on Nov. 22, 2025 in Austin, Texas. (Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

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Unlike other lower-level programs, the University of Texas has some tremendous NIL funds to work with. In fact, the highest-paid NIL athlete in college football is their quarterback, Arch Manning, who will remain with the squad heading into 2026. He’s hoping to finish strong in his first bowl game start on New Year’s Eve.

Texas led the way with a massive NIL budget for the 2025 season, ranking higher than any team in college football at $22.2 million, according to 247 Sports.

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Colorado finished a disappointing 2025 campaign after the program’s 2024 surge, falling to 3–9 (1–8 Big 12) one year after a 9–4 season and No. 23 final AP ranking under third-year head coach Deion Sanders.

Adding insult to injury, the Buffaloes are now set to lose numerous players, with 24 players expected to enter the transfer portal when the window opens on Friday.

The most surprising name on the list, however, is true freshman cornerback Noah King, who entered the transfer portal earlier this month.

King was a four-star prospect from Hamilton, Ohio, with 247Sports ranking him as the No. 26 cornerback in the 2025 class.

He arrived at Colorado in April 2025 after a brief enrollment at Kansas State, transferring just months after signing with the Wildcats on December 4, 2024.

Prior to his commitment to Kansas State, King held more than a dozen Power Four offers, including Kentucky, Nebraska, West Virginia, Marshall, and Oregon State.

With King set to test the market, multiple outlets have mentioned Indiana as a program monitoring his situation or viewed as a logical fit.

Head coach Curt Cignetti has rapidly transformed Indiana since his hire on November 30, 2023.

In 2024, he engineered one of the program’s quickest turnarounds, delivering a then-program-record 11-win season, Indiana’s first College Football Playoff berth, and national coach-of-the-year recognition.

Building on that momentum, the Hoosiers completed an undefeated 13–0 regular season in 2025, captured the Big Ten title, and entered the College Football Playoff as the No. 1 seed — a rise fueled by targeted transfer additions, improved recruiting, and a physical, high-tempo identity Cignetti installed.

One of those transfer additions was Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who completed 71.5% of his passes for 2,980 yards, 33 touchdowns, and six interceptions.

Under Cignetti and Mendoza, Indiana now has a legitimate chance to compete for a national title, with a CFP quarterfinal matchup set for Thursday against No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl (4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN).

If the Hoosiers advance, they would face the winner of the No. 4 Texas Tech–No. 5 Oregon matchup in the CFP semifinals, with a potential national championship game on January 19 looming.

As an Ohio native, Bloomington represents a logical fit for King due to the Midwest pull, and after redshirting his first year at Colorado, he would have a clearer path to playing time.

Indiana’s recent success, defensive back development, and growing NFL attention make it an attractive landing spot for a young, highly recruited cornerback seeking to develop and compete for championships.

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Senator Ted Cruz is taking a break from the usual political discourse to sound the alarm on college football.

On Tuesday, he quote-tweeted a college football account, highlighting the massive roster challenges Iowa State is facing. According to the post, the team has only 17 players remaining for next season with just one returning starter after a coaching change.

“An absolute crisis. Congress NEEDS to act,” Cruz wrote on X/Twitter. “For months, I’ve been working night (and) day to try to bring Republicans and Democrats together to save college sports. If we fail to do so, it will be an utter tragedy. And it’s happening right before our eyes.”

Iowa State is trying to steady itself after Matt Campbell, the winningest coach in school history, left for Penn State. This has set off a chain reaction that has unraveled the roster.

Campbell’s departure has resulted in at least 36 players leaving, according to College Sports Network, including quarterback Rocco Becht and leading tackler Marcus Neal. The losses have left Iowa State focused less on postseason ambitions and more on simply staying afloat.

Now the job of rebuilding falls to Jimmy Rogers, hired away from Washington State on Dec. 5. Rogers is in the process of re-recruiting players and assembling a new staff.

Iowa State’s situation is becoming more common in today’s college football. The rise of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) and constant coaching changes have made the sport unstable, with rosters changing almost overnight.

NIL refers to the ability of college athletes to earn money from endorsements, sponsorships, appearances, and other commercial uses of their personal brand.

Adopted nationwide in 2021, NIL allows athletes to profit without being paid directly by their schools for performance. While supporters see it as a long-overdue correction to amateurism, critics argue it has created an uneven, lightly regulated marketplace that has upended recruiting and competitive balance in college sports.

Constructing a college football roster is wildly different now than it was even three years ago, as the transfer portal, NIL and revenue sharing completely reshaped the way coaches and programs must operate. 

There are plenty of teams that use the ability to (legally) pay players and the portal to their advantage, but the newness of everything related paying players and the lack of regulations in college football, due to the ever-weakening NCAA, created a number of challenges. 

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian detailed one major problem he hopes to see addressed after a reporter asked about how he approaches building through the portal. Texas doesn’t have much issue with investment or resources, but Sarkisian explained that the lack of a certification process for agents can lead to some absurd situations. 

“I think it’s all so strategic, right? It’s one about need. It’s two about money and the cost and where’s the market and which agent you’re dealing with,” Sarkisian said. “There are some agents that are rational, and there are some agents that this is the first time ever being an agent — I don’t know if they are even licensed to be agents, but all of a sudden they get to be agents because we have no certification process in college football. In the NFL, you have to be certified. In college football, it may be their college roommate their freshman year who’s their agent right now, and this guy is throwing numbers at you and it’s like, we can’t even deal with this. Like, you just move on. It’s unfortunate. And we’ll get there in college football, but right now it’s a tough situation.”

Coaches complaining about NIL and the portal often amount to sour grapes, but Sarkisian’s point about the challenge of dealing with agents which have no previous experience or understanding of the market is a legitimate one. 

That said, you have to wonder if this is fresh in Sarkisian’s mind due to any of Texas’ opt-outs, as they have 13 players who announced intentions to enter the transfer portal and won’t play in the Citrus Bowl. Among them are the Longhorns top three running backs, headlined by Tre Wisner, and their second-leading receiver, DeAndre Moore Jr. 

Eventually one would think some governing body will emerge that can provide some form of regulations on that sort of thing and require certification to help everyone out — as players would be better served being represented by more professional agents. However, it’s not clear when that will happen as the fear of anti-trust litigation led the NCAA to await congressional action, which has yet to materialize in any meaningful way. 

In the meantime, coaches and GMs will have to deal with the occasional green agent who asks the world, which even a program with seemingly endless resources like Texas has to laugh off. 

The college football transfer portal window opens soon with a flurry of high-profile movement expected across the country.

One of the most significant announcements comes from a veteran quarterback, with a reported $1.4 million valuation by On3, who declared his intention to seek a new home for his final senior campaign. This signal-caller brings a wealth of experience and production to the open market as teams look to solidify their rosters for 2026.

This prospect stands out as the most experienced returning starter in the Power 4 conferences with 39 career starts under his belt. He has accumulated 26 victories over the last three years and boasts 83 total touchdowns during his collegiate career. His decision to move on follows a challenging 2025 season where he battled through a partially torn labrum and an AC sprain while leading his team.

Speculation immediately centers on a reunion with his former head coach who recently departed for a prominent job in the Big Ten Conference. The two share a close relationship that could facilitate a quick transition to the new program in State College.

Analysts believe this connection makes the Nittany Lions a logical landing spot for the seasoned passer as he explores his options in a lucrative marketplace.

Quarterback Rocco Becht leaves Iowa State Cyclones to pursue new opportunities

Rocco Becht officially announced his decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal on Dec. 20 through a social media post. The Iowa State Cyclones standout thanked the fanbase and the program before stating his desire to find a new destination for his final year of eligibility. Becht leaves Ames as one of the most productive players in school history and as the coach who guided the team to its first 11-win season in 2024.

His entry into the portal comes shortly after Iowa State Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell accepted the head coaching position with the Penn State Nittany Lions. Campbell and Becht developed a strong bond during their time together in the Big 12 Conference.

Reports from ESPN’s Max Olson suggest Becht is a strong candidate to follow Campbell to Pennsylvania. However, the redshirt junior is expected to consider offers from other schools before finalizing his decision.

The market for experienced quarterbacks has grown expensive with top passers commanding deals in the $3 million to $4 million range. Becht offers a proven track record despite a statistically down year in 2025 caused by multiple injuries. He underwent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder recently to address a labrum issue that plagued him throughout the fall.

The 6-foot-1 quarterback threw for 2,584 yards and 24 touchdowns this past season while managing the physical setbacks. He ends his time at Iowa State with 9,274 passing yards and 64 passing touchdowns.

The NCAA transfer portal window will open for all players on Jan. 2.

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