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Five Colorado Buffaloes Freshmen Most Likely To Make Early Impact For Deion Sanders

First impressions are everything. In modern college football, they might as well be part of the job description. While the Colorado Buffaloes have relied mainly on experience under coach Deion Sanders, numerous true freshmen have made names for themselves over the years. Offensive tackle Jordan Seaton and wide receiver Drelon Miller exceeded expectations out of […]

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First impressions are everything. In modern college football, they might as well be part of the job description.

While the Colorado Buffaloes have relied mainly on experience under coach Deion Sanders, numerous true freshmen have made names for themselves over the years. Offensive tackle Jordan Seaton and wide receiver Drelon Miller exceeded expectations out of high school in 2024.

As the page turns to 2025, Colorado is steadily becoming a team with plenty to prove. Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders are among a flock of experienced names headed to the NFL and beyond, opening the door for unproven talent to break through.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and place kicker Buck Buchanan (43) during the spring game at Folsom Field.

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders and place kicker Buck Buchanan (43) during the spring game at Folsom Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

The Buffs have plenty of raw newbies littering the roster, including speedy Texas-born wide receiver Quentin Gibson, hulking four-star linebacker Mantrez Walker and versatile offensive lineman Carde Smith.

So, who’s next?

Colorado Buffaloes Ralphie runs on the field before the game against the Baylor Bears at Folsom Field.

Sep 21, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes Ralphie runs on the field before the game against the Baylor Bears at Folsom Field. / Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

Branch has all the tools necessary to be another one of Coach Prime’s prized Florida boys. The native of Miami, Florida, was a four-star Penn State Nittany Lions commit before flipping to the Buffs last September. He finished his pre-college career at Northwestern High School under coach and NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.

Branch was a massive bright spot during April’s spring game, diving to snare an interception off the grass and making several excellent tackles in space. Listed at 6-3, 170, Branch presents a slender, fluid build and proven ball skills to a safety room that lost its veteran presence in Shilo Sanders and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig.

Lipscomb Academy offensive lineman Chauncey Gooden greets well-wishers before the start of the school's high school football

Lipscomb Academy offensive lineman Chauncey Gooden greets well-wishers before the start of the school’s high school football signing ceremony during the early signing period Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024 at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, Tennessee. / George Robinson / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No position in Boulder has been scrutinized more than the offensive line. While walk-on center Cash Cleveland managed to break into the starting unit and become an On3 Freshman All-American in 2024, Gooden has a chance to up the ante.

Gooden was a four-star prospect ranked in 247Sports’ top 200, tabbed the No. 12 interior offensive lineman and No. 3 recruit from Tennessee. While he’ll have to catch some Z’s for a starting spot (Zarian McGill, Zy Crisler), Gooden is a 6-3, 380-pound goliath with pristine potential and a recruiting history with new offensive line coach Gunnar White.

MORE: Shedeur Sanders’ Wants To Build Colorado Buffaloes Into ‘Super Team’ With NIL

MORE: LaJohntay Wester Signs Baltimore Ravens Rookie Contract, Uniform Number Revealed

MORE: NFL Insider Reveals Shedeur Sanders’ Standing In Cleveland Browns Quarterback Battle

IMG Academy football helmet photographed during practice on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 on IMG Academy Football Media Day in Bradent

IMG Academy football helmet photographed during practice on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024 on IMG Academy Football Media Day in Bradenton, Florida. / Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buffs’ defensive line led the Big 12 in sacks last season and only added more to the party. Of the pass-rushing newcomers, Merritt stands out with his blend of power and finesse. It warranted a four-star rating out of IMG Academy and an initial commitment to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Colorado flipped Merritt last December and will add him to a fold that recently lost a talented underclassman in defensive end Taje McCoy. He’ll have experience to overcome, but there’s a great chance Merritt ends up in the edge rotation and opposing backfields by year’s end.

Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Quanell Farrakhan Jr. (14) and cornerback Ben Bouzi (39) during the spring game at Folsom Fi

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Quanell Farrakhan Jr. (14) and cornerback Ben Bouzi (39) during the spring game at Folsom Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Colorado lost nearly all its historic receiving corps from 2024, leaving Farrakhan and other newcomers with massive shoes to fill. However, the four-star has every trick in the bag to fit right in.

Farrakhan dominated as a receiver and returner at North Shore High School (Houston, TX) and garnered offers from the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas A&M Aggies before instilling belief in Sanders and the Buffaloes. He boasts advanced route running and change of direction for his age, bringing a well-roundedness that many of Colorado’s current receivers lack.

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) before the spring game at Folsom Field.

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) before the spring game at Folsom Field. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

After the commitment flip heard ’round the world from the USC Trojans to Colorado, Lewis is in the limelight as he enters year one of his college career. The product of Carrollton, Georgia, trusted his talent enough to bypass his senior year of high school.

While his time on the field isn’t a given, Lewis has traits similar to what helped Sanders captain Colorado’s offense to prominence over the last two seasons. He’s undersized yet poised and deadly accurate, giving him a shot in a quarterback battle against senior Liberty Flames transfer Kaidon Salter.



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Softball America Top 25 Rankings: Final 2025

The 2025 college softball season has concluded after the Texas Longhorns claimed their first national title. Texas, which was the No. 1 in our poll eight of 14 times this season, returns to that top spot after the 2025 Women’s College World Series. All eight Women’s College World Series teams, along with Clemson and Florida […]

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The 2025 college softball season has concluded after the Texas Longhorns claimed their first national title. Texas, which was the No. 1 in our poll eight of 14 times this season, returns to that top spot after the 2025 Women’s College World Series. All eight Women’s College World Series teams, along with Clemson and Florida State, round out the Top 10.

Teagan Kavan’s historic WCWS performance leads Texas to first national championship

Three teams that were unranked ahead of conference tournament week. Liberty and Georgia return to the rankings after their Super Regional appearances. North Florida makes its first-ever appearance in the Softball America poll after reaching the Columbia Regional Final.

Read more: Top 100 College Softball Players of the 2025 season

Ranking Team Record Last Week Ranking
1 Texas 56-12 6
2 Texas Tech 54-14 9
3 Oklahoma 52-9 4
4 Tennessee 47-17 5
5 UCLA 55-13 11
6 Oregon 54-10 8
7 Ole Miss 42-21 21
8 Florida 48-17 7
9 Clemson 48-14 10
10 Florida State 49-12 3
11 Arkansas 44-14 1
12 Alabama 40-23 15
13 Nebraska 43-15 19
14 South Carolina 44-17 12
15 Liberty 50-15 NR
16 Georgia 35-23 NR
17 Texas A&M 48-11 2
18 Arizona 48-13 14
19 Stanford 42-13 16
20 Virginia Tech 43-13 17
21 LSU 42-16 13
22 Mississippi State 39-19 17
23 Ohio State 45-14-1 18
24 Duke 41-18 22
25 North Florida 47-15 NR

Also received votes: Southeastern Louisiana

For transfer portal news, stay up to date with the Softball America transfer wire and the Dugout, our discussion board for members.



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What is the end date for the crazy NIL deals?

Gyandle said… (original post) You don’t think legislation is going to stop teams from finding a way to use rich boosters to slide players money? They did it before NIL. They did… show more That is kind of a ridiculous line of thinking. Sure, there will be some payments outside the system, but for perspective, […]

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What is the end date for the crazy NIL deals?

Gyandle said… (original post) You don’t think legislation is going to stop teams from finding a way to use rich boosters to slide players money? They did it before NIL. They did…

That is kind of a ridiculous line of thinking. Sure, there will be some payments outside the system, but for perspective, during the bagman era, major deals were less than 10% of what they became when it was legalized. Tiny in comparison. It’ll go back that way. The ultra rich just can’t launder that amount of money under the table, nor do most of the ultra rich have the stomach for that type of thing. So it will be peanuts compared to what it was…we know, because we saw what it was when it was under the table before. Tiny in comparison. Less than revenue share that is coming by a long shot.

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Notre Dame Baseball

We’re all at home watching the NCAA Baseball Tournament — including the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball prgram. They would like to get back to making a regional appearance next season for the first time in 4 years, and it will likely be the transfer portal that will help decided that fate. This past weekend, […]

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Notre Dame Baseball

We’re all at home watching the NCAA Baseball Tournament — including the Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball prgram. They would like to get back to making a regional appearance next season for the first time in 4 years, and it will likely be the transfer portal that will help decided that fate.

This past weekend, Notre Dame added two new pitchers from the transfer portal.

Garrett Stratton, a right-handed pitcher from the Rice Owls, is coming to South Bend next year.

The next day it was Ty Uber from the Stanford Cardinal, another right handed pitcher, that also announced his decision to transfer to Notre Dame.

The Irish will still need more help for the 2026 season, but adding quality pitching to the staff is a great start.

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How the House settlement affects the Ohio State football team's recruiting

The new House settlement will change how football programs recruit moving forward. Now that there is an NIL budget for entire athletic departments, the Ohio State football program will have to figure out how to properly allocate their own slice of the NIL budget. What we don’t know is how much of that NIL budget […]

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How the House settlement affects the Ohio State football team's recruiting

The new House settlement will change how football programs recruit moving forward. Now that there is an NIL budget for entire athletic departments, the Ohio State football program will have to figure out how to properly allocate their own slice of the NIL budget.

What we don’t know is how much of that NIL budget will belong to the Buckeyes. While the football program brings in the most money, other sports are going to be fighting for some of that NIL budget. For this season, it will be around $20.5 million for the entire athletic department.

How much the Ohio State Buckeyes use on individual recruits is going to be tougher now that there is a set limit they can spend. Ryan Day has already made it clear that NIL is not going to be the most important thing they use to recruit prospects, but it is certainly a move they make.

How the House settlement will affect the Ohio State football program recruiting from now on

For the 2026 recruiting class, the Buckeyes have already been operating under the assumption that some kind of budget was coming. They shouldn’t be affected for this upcoming class, at least not yet. It’s unclear if they know how much of that NIL budget they’ll have.

Ross Bjork is in charge of figuring that out. Considering the fact that the athletic department was operating at a $38 million deficit, we’ll see how much they want to spend on football moving forward. They also only have 13 commitments for the class so far, so they can adjust on the fly.

The Ohio State football program is going to have to make tough decisions with some high-profile recruits. It will be an interesting dance that the Buckeyes have to do moving forward, as the NIL budget will continue to increase every year.

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Kansas State infielder Seth Dardar commits to LSU out of transfer portal

LSU is adding a big bat out of the NCAA transfer portal. Kansas State infielder Seth Dardar has committed to the Tigers, he announced on his Twitter account on Sunday evening. Dardar spent just one season with the Wildcats. He hit .326 with 18 doubles, 13 home runs and 45 RBI. He accounted for 39 […]

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LSU is adding a big bat out of the NCAA transfer portal. Kansas State infielder Seth Dardar has committed to the Tigers, he announced on his Twitter account on Sunday evening.

Dardar spent just one season with the Wildcats. He hit .326 with 18 doubles, 13 home runs and 45 RBI. He accounted for 39 runs during the season.

“I have decided to come home and live out my dream to play at Louisiana State University!” Dardar wrote. “Thank you to everyone who was a part of my journey that has led me to this position, and thank you Coach Johnson, Coach Jordan, and the rest of the LSU staff for giving me the opportunity to live out this dream. Geaux Tigers!!!”

Before arriving at Kansas State in 2025, Seth Dardar spent three seasons at Columbia. He did not play during the 2024 season due to injury.

During that time, he produced a career slash line of .289/.383/.537. In his sophomore season, he slashed .299/.392/.575 with 11 doubles, one triple and eight home runs while driving in 32 runs. He also scored 32 runs with four stolen bases.

Though he spent only one year at Kansas State, Dardar had nothing but good things to say about the Wildcats on his way out. He penned part of his departure note about Kansas State.

“First and foremost I want to thank Kansas State University and the entire coaching staff for affording me the opportunity to make memories and friendships this year that will last a lifetime,” Seth Dardar wrote. “To the Manhattan community and K-State fan base, thank you for taking me in and making me feel at home. The overwhelming support and love I felt from everyone at Kansas State is something I will cherish forever.”

As things stand, Seth Dardar is set to join one of college baseball’s elite programs. LSU is currently looking to advance to the College World Series again in 2025, needing just one more win over West Virginia in the next two games in the Baton Rouge Super Regional.

LSU won the national title in 2023. That’s certainly something Dardar will be helping the Tigers pursue in 2026.



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Evan Stewart releases statement following summer knee injury

Earlier this week, it was reported that rising-senior Oregon football receiver Evan Stewart would miss most of the 2025 football season, if not all of it due to a summer injury. On Saturday evening, Evan Stewart went to social media to confirm the injury and thank fans for their support. He shared this message on […]

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Earlier this week, it was reported that rising-senior Oregon football receiver Evan Stewart would miss most of the 2025 football season, if not all of it due to a summer injury. On Saturday evening, Evan Stewart went to social media to confirm the injury and thank fans for their support. He shared this message on Instagram.

“Thank you for all the well wishes. I’m on the road to recovery. Don’t put a timeline on me. Following God’s Plan! Thank you for the Prayers! – 7,” posted Stewart.

There hasn’t been a confirmation from Oregon that states how long Stewart will be out of action, and there isn’t expected to be one from head coach Dan Lanning till likely August when fall camp opens up.

(Photo: 247Sports)

Following the injury, DuckTerritory.com’s Erik Skopil broke down how the Ducks could get by this upcoming season if they have to play without their expected star receiver.

Little details are currently known of the injury, aside from that it was to his knee. The initial report from College Football Headlines suggested it could cost him the entire season.

With Tez Johnson and Traeshon Holden gone, Stewart acted as the team’s leading returning receiver after catching 48 passes for 613 yards and five touchdowns in 2024. Formerly a 5-star recruit who began his career at Texas A&M, he was entering his senior season with the Ducks and had been expected to be among the team’s top targets this fall.

A lower back injury forced him to miss the final game of the 2024 season, a loss to Ohio State in the College Football Playoffs. He did not participate in April’s spring game either.

With Stewart gone, the Ducks will be forced to rely on a less experienced group of wide receivers. Upperclassmen Gary Bryant Jr. and Justiuis Lowe each have recent starting experience, but the pass game’s success will likely come down to the readiness of wide receivers like true freshman Dakorien Moore, redshirt freshmen Jeremiah McClellan and Dillon Gresham and unproven older players like Kyler Kasper, Jurrion Dickey and Florida State transfer Malik Benson.



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