Cast against their brown and beige office backdrops, the four horsemen of the settlement spoke as one.

Tony Petitti, Jim Phillips, Greg Sankey and Brett Yormark — commissioners of the conferences that control major college sports — conducted a remote news conference Monday morning to share their views on the momentous House v. NCAA settlement and what’s next for the industry.

They were joined on the Zoom call by Teresa Gould, commissioner of the Pac-12, which was a named defendant in the lawsuit (along with the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and NCAA) and therefore a participant in constructing the post-settlement world order.

Together, the quintet reiterated the need for congressional help to codify rules and provide antitrust protection in order to end the barrage of legal challenges to the NCAA.

They explained that the distribution of $20.5 million to athletes starting July 1 won’t be determined at the conference level. How much to allocate to football, men’s basketball and the Olympic sports will be a campus decision.

And they acknowledged the post-settlement world is evolving. They don’t have all the systems and personnel in place to immediately clean up what Phillips (ACC) called “an unregulated environment with no rules and no enforcement.” They believe answers, and solutions, will come with time.

But is there any reason to believe cheating will disappear? That pay-for-play, which has taken so many forms over the decades, will be expunged from the system? That “bad actors,” as Sankey (SEC) described them, will be banished forever?

If effort and determination count, the clean-up effort could succeed.

“It’s progress over perfection,” Yormark explained. “There will be challenges. But we’re very confident. Our schools want rules. We’re providing rules, and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.”

As part of the settlement, the power conferences created the College Sports Commission, with a chief executive, Bryan Seeley, a former lead investigator for Major League Baseball, and a singular mission: Ensure NIL deals are legitimate.

For the past four years, they have been anything but.

Remember the old-fashioned cheating, when bags o’ cash were given to recruits and their handlers in exchange for signatures on letters of intent? The moment NIL became the law of the land in the summer of 2021, a new, legal form of pay-for-play emerged, courtesy of booster collectives.

High school recruits and transfers alike were lured to schools by collectives offering six- and seven-figure deals. Those deals did not require players to participate in the promotional and endorsement opportunities at the heart of what the NCAA described as legitimate NIL.

The fake NIL was under-the-table cheating out in the open — unregulated but entirely legal.

Which brings us to the College Sports Commission (CSC) and the industry’s latest attempt to clean up the player procurement process.

In addition to the $20.5 million they will receive directly from the schools as part of the House settlement, athletes retain the ability to strike NIL deals with third-party entities. The difference: Now, they must report any contract of at least $600 to NIL Go, a technology platform designed by Deloitte that will determine if deals fall within a reasonable range of compensation. (That’s code for fair market value.)

If NIL Go rejects the deal, athletes have the option to adjust the terms and resubmit.

Or they could seek arbitration.

In theory, they could ignore NIL Go, agree to the contract and take the field (or court). But there’s a risk to competing with an invalid NIL deal, because the schools are arming the CSC with enforcement authority.

How will Seeley, a former assistant U.S. attorney, gather evidence? He won’t have subpoena power.

Also, who will design the penalty matrix?

“We’re in the process of developing some of those rules and structure and overall implementation,” Phillips said.

The industry is watching, and skeptics are everywhere.

Even if NIL Go successfully filters out the illegitimate business deals — the financial arrangements that are outside a reasonable range of compensation — the specter of pay-for-play remains.

And it could very well take a familiar form. That’s right, folks: Get ready for the return of bags o’ cash.

The CSC is designed to eliminate the donor collectives that paid players (legally) without demanding anything in return except a signature and their best effort on gameday.

But if deep-pocketed fans of School X want to help the team secure vital commitments from coveted transfers or blue-chip prospects, is the CSC really going to stop them?

Pay-for-play could simply return to its former location — under the table — and proceed with limited hesitation.

How can the CSC police the actions of thousands of donors representing hundreds of schools across 10 major college conferences?

How could it investigate and punish private citizens?

Will the schools report suspicious activity, invite Seeley to town and hand over whatever evidence helps expose transgressions committed by a million-dollar donor who is also helping to fund the new engineering building?

The commissioners know far more about the CSC than we do.

They have discussed the clean-up project extensively with campus officials desperate for law and order.

They made a shrewd move hiring a former assistant U.S. attorney and not a college sports lifer.

But it’s difficult to ignore the leap-of-faith component built into their new world order. College sports has too many athletes with financial needs, too many sources of cash and too many fans who care about winning above all else.

The result is a revamped system that’s rooted in best intentions but dependent on a leap of faith.

“Ultimately,” Sankey said, “it’s incumbent upon everyone, presidents and chancellors, athletic directors, head coaches, assistant coaches and staff and, yes, commissioners, to make the terms of this settlement work.”

Bob Motzko livid with officials in Gophers playoff loss

Gophers hockey coach Bob Motzko spoke with reporters after Thursday night’s 5-4 overtime loss to UMass in the NCAA Tournament, and was livid with the referees after an apparent trip on Ryan Chesley was not called, leading to a game-winning goal for UMass.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The University of Minnesota men’s hockey team announced its non-conference schedule on Monday, and it includes at least a pair of old rivals.

The Gophers will have 11 non-conference games before the Big Ten season, with eight of them at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Who’s coming to Mariucci?

What we know:

The Gophers will open the 2025-26 season against former WCHA foe Michigan Tech Oct. 3-4 at 3M Arena at Mariucci. The following weekend, Boston College comes to Minneapolis for a weekend series. The Eagles are a perennial power in college hockey.

Minnesota is also hosting Minnesota-Duluth to renew the old rivalry between the Gophers and Bulldogs, Oct. 24-25 at 3M Arena at Mariucci.

Traveling to North Dakota

Why you should care:

Arguably Minnesota’s most highly-anticipated series of the non-conference season will happen away from campus. The Gophers will head to North Dakota and face the Fighting Hawks Oct. 176-18 at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

It’s the first of a four-year series with North Dakota. The Gophers will also travel to Bemidji State on Jan. 2, 2026, while 3M Arena at Mariucci is one of the host sites for the World Junior Championships.

Bob Motzko enters Year 8

Timeline:

The Gophers are entering their eighth season under Bob Motzko as head coach. He’s 161-82-21 in seven seasons a Minnesota, and the program will be looking to get back to the national championship game for the first time since 2023.

By: Justin Lafleur

HANOVER, N.H. – Jenna Martin and Áine Ley of the Dartmouth women’s rowing team were recognized for their sensational seasons by being named CRCA honorable mention All-Americans. Martin and Ley were key members of the varsity eight that made history this season, with Ley garnering first team All-Ivy, with Martin receiving second-team recognition.
 
A fifth-year senior, Martin was in the two seat of the varsity eight at the Ivy League Championship. At Ivies, the Big Green varsity finished fourth, their best finish since 2014, and just 1.3 seconds out of a medal. In the heat, the Big Green beat Brown in an impressive performance, a crew that went on to make the grand final of the NCAA Championship. Martin and the varsity eight went on to finish fourth in the C final at NCAAs, marking Dartmouth’s first NCAA Championship appearance since 2011. The Big Green were fourth in their initial heat, but less than two seconds behind California in third and a spot into the A/B semifinals.
 
While also a member of the varsity eight, Ley was named to the United States Under 23 National Team last summer after impressing during camp that was held at the Friends of Dartmouth Boathouse. She was in the Big Green varsity’s stroke seat for much of the 2025 season and in the four seat during Ivies and NCAAs. The varsity eight also finished second overall amongst a strong field of teams at the Sarasota 2K to kick off the spring while the following weekend, beat eventual CAA Champion Northeastern, eventual Patriot League champion Boston University and MIT. The Big Green were perfect in racing at the Lake Morey Regatta while coming in fourth overall in a stacked field of teams at Women’s Eastern Sprints.
 
The Big Green enjoyed a historic 2025 season in finishing fourth in both the varsity eight, and in total team points at the Ivy League Championship, earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Championship. Dartmouth went on to place 16th at NCAAs.
 

In their first extensive comments since Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement last week, the commissioners of the five listed defendants — the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — expressed hope that the new revenue-sharing world it created will bring stability to what has been a tremendous period of upheaval within college athletics.

“There’s no question for any of us, the five of us, we’re in a much better place than we were 48 hours ago and certainly over the last several years,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said. 

Even within the hope and belief they all shared in what the House settlement means for college athletes came an acknowledgement there is still plenty of work left to be done. There are still plenty of big questions looming over college sports, including the legality of revenue sharing and NIL from Title IX and enforcement perspectives. 

Five hot takes from landmark House v. NCAA settlement: Parity boom ahead as big dogs may start to go hungry

Brad Crawford

Below are key takeaways from what the commissioners had to say on the past, present and future of college athletics as it prepares to take a monumental step forward beginning July 1 when universities can begin directly paying their athletes. 

Affiliation agreements not done yet

One of the more interesting aspects coming out of the House settlement is the Power Four conferences demanding their members sign affiliation agreements which will, in part, prevent them from suing the College Sports Commission (CSC) over NIL-related enforcement. 

The penalties of refusing are steep, ranging from fines and suspension to even expulsion, as CBS Sports previously reported. 

At the recent conference-level spring meetings, it has been a popular topic as the Power Four commissioners make sure that all of their constituents are on board. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said Monday the affiliation agreements were still “a work in progress,” but he didn’t expect there to be any issues adopting them once they are. 

“No pushback,” Yormark said of his membership. “Effectively, it codifies the rules of settlement which they’ve signed up for. I look to get that executed here in short order, and I know across the board is going to be very necessary for all the conferences to execute as well.”

No sport-specific salary caps

All of the listed defendants in the House settlement — ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — are leaving it up to the individual schools to determine how to spend that $20.5 million number. 

Many of the schools will follow a familiar formula: approximately 75% to football, 15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and 5% to the other sports. There is no requisite to spend in that fashion, however, and different schools may prioritize some sports over others.

That doesn’t mean sport-specific caps haven’t been discussed. At the SEC spring meetings in late May, there was a robust discussion around creating caps for the revenue sports for competitive balance reasons that ultimately wasn’t formalized. It was just yet another example that for as similar as many of the SEC schools are, the conference doesn’t operate as a monolith. 

“We took a deep look as a league in February and put that on hold,” Sankey said, “so (we) do not have a conference-level directive on percent allocations by sport.”

There is frustration amongst some SEC and Big Ten leaders about the Big East and other conferences able to wildly outspend in basketball, but to this point, it is up to each individual school to decide on what makes the most sense. Don’t be surprised to see it continue to come up as a discussion at the conference and national levels, though, even if multiple ADs CBS Sports has talked to expressed some doubt there could be sport-specific caps enforced. 

Why a MLB executive will run enforcement arm

Shortly after the Friday night news that Judge Wilken had approved the settlement, the College Sports Commission announced its new CEO — Bryan Seeley, a Major League Baseball executive who specialized in investigations. Seeley, the MLB’s executive vice president of legal and operations, investigated the sign-stealing scandal involving the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, among other accomplishments during a decade-plus with MLB. 

Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who overlapped with Seeley but didn’t work closely with him while serving as MLB’s chief operating officer, raved about the person who has the arduous task of enforcing what has been an unregulated NIL industry the last four years.

“He clearly was a well-regarded, thoughtful executive,” Petitti said. “The times we did interact you saw that in the patience to make good decisions, to gather information. His experience is really unique. To have league experience was a big part of this, at least from the perspective of the Big Ten, to have somebody who worked in a league. The reason why I feel strongly about that is part of what we do is manage a lot of constituents, and in Brian’s role, you’re dealing with 30 clubs in very competitive areas that he’s involved in making decisions. That’s very similar to what he’ll have to do in this role.”

Said the Big 12’s Yormark: “It was unanimous amongst the commissioners that he was the right person at the right time for this role.”

Sankey meets with Trump

Sankey confirmed the Yahoo Sports report that he golfed Sunday with President Donald Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey. Notre Dame athletics director Pete Bevacqua was also in attendance. 

The SEC commissioner was mum on specifics about his conversation with Trump but did say, “It was helpful for me and Pete to hear his thoughts and his perspective and share some of ours.” He said he “always appreciated” the president’s interest in college sports which has included attendance at a number of events including Alabama-Georgia and Army-Navy last year. 

What’s interesting is the timing of the golf outing, especially after the pausing of a proposed presidential commission on college sports last month that was expected to include former Alabama coach Nick Saban and Cody Campbell, the chairman of Texas Tech’s board of regents. As CBS Sports previously reported, the SEC and Big Ten both had considerable concerns around what Campbell’s goals for the commission might be and distanced themselves from it.

The SEC may not have been on board with a presidential commission, but Sankey and other college sports leaders believe Trump can be a powerful ally in achieving federal solutions. 

Leaders still want Congressional help

Related to Sankey’s time with Trump, the Power Four commissioners reiterated their need for Congressional help to codify the House settlement and alleviate issues that college sports can’t fix on its own. Chief among them is the current patchwork approach that allows for each state to pass laws that may give it an advantage over others. In many ways, it has been a race to the bottom, ranging from allowing athletes to not have to pay state income taxes on NIL earnings to laws that circumvent NCAA and conference rules. 

“We’re not going to have Final Fours and College Football Playoff and College World Series with 50 different standards,” Sankey said. “That’s the starting point.”

From the jump, there has been skepticism that Congress would ever coalesce around passing federal legislation that gives college athletics the antitrust protections it desperately desires. And despite millions of dollars spent on lobbying Capitol Hill, that skepticism has proven prescient so far. 

But Petitti said he thinks the House settlement is proof college athletics is willing — and able — to change, and that has resonated with Congressional leaders. He may have a point as The Washington Post reported Monday there is draft legislation that would seem to give them what they want, including a preemption of state laws and a prohibition of athletes being classified as employees. 

Fisher arrives in St. Charles, Mo. after spending 13 seasons on the staff at Penn State, including the last seven as the associate head coach of the Nittany Lions. Overall, Fisher has over 25 years of coaching experience between collegiate and junior hockey.

During his time at Penn State, Fisher guided the Nittany Lions to four NCAA Tournament berths (2017, 2018, 2023 and 2025) and a pair of Big Ten Championships (2017 & 2020). This past season, Fisher helped lead Penn State to its first ever Frozen Four riding the momentum of a second-half surge that saw the Nittany Lions go 13-4-4 down the stretch to earn the final at-large bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Fisher was named the 2020 Terry Flannagan Award winner, honoring the nation’s top assistant and their career body of work. In total, Fisher has coached three Big Ten Player of the Year winners with two coming on the defensive side, 12 All-Conference performers, a pair of All-Americans, and three NHL players while at Penn State.

Fisher spent 2005-11 on the staff at Princeton. With the Tigers, he helped lead the team to a pair of NCAA tournament berths (2008, 2009) and the 2008 ECAC and Ivy League Championships. The 2009 Princeton Tigers also set the school record for wins in a season with 22, a record which still stands to this day.

The Minnesota native headed up the Princeton recruiting efforts which saw three All-Americans, two Hobey Baker Award finalists, two ECAC Player of the Year recipients (the only two in the history of the program), one ECAC Rookie of the Year, one ECAC Defenseman of the Year and one ECAC Goaltender of the year.

Fisher’s teams also combined for 48 Academic All-ECAC players, five NHL players, four first-team All-ECAC players and three first-team All-Ivy players.

Fisher spent five years with the USHL’s Omaha Lancers’ coaching staff, helping the team to the Clark Cup championship in 2001. His team also was crowned the Anderson Cup regular-season champions in both 2002 and 2005.

In Omaha, he served as the team’s recruiting coordinator and academic advisor, in addition to other responsibilities of on-ice coaching, video breakdown and game analysis.

NHL first-round draft picks Keith Ballard and Nick Petrecki, 11 NHL players, including Matt Carle and Paul Stastny, and USHL Goaltender of the Year and USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year Jeff Lerg came through Omaha during Fisher’s time there. He also helped develop 54 NCAA Division I scholarship players and 12 NHL draft picks and served as associate coach for Team USHL at the USHL Prospects/All-Star game during his final season.

Fisher began his career at St. Cloud State University, serving as an undergraduate assistant coach for two seasons. During his two seasons with the Huskies, Fisher helped develop five players for the NHL. The 2000 season saw St. Cloud State advance to just their second NCAA Tournament in program history.

A graduate of St. Cloud State University, Fisher has a bachelor’s degree in communications. Prior to coaching, Fisher played two seasons at Hibbing Community College and participated in the NJCAA National Tournament.