When Joe Castiglione was hired at Oklahoma at athletic director in 1998, there was no way for him to predict how much the NCAA landscape would change during what will end up being a three-decade tenure in Norman. Particularly, in the last decade of his tenure with the implementation of NIL and the NCAA transfer portal.

Castiglione has overseen 26 of Oklahoma’s 45 total national championships, and is OU’s longest-serving AD. He positioned the Sooners for long-term success since the beginning his tenure, and it’s followed into the new era of college athletics. Under his guidance, Oklahoma seen at least one team compete for a national championship in each of the last 12 years.

“One of the most challenging parts of the period that we’re in is, there’s never been a moment like it. Not only in college athletics, I think you could look across various industries, they all go through some moment of disruption and change,” Catsiglione said. “And the ones that see the future, that adapt, pivot, be flexible, those are the ones that navigated, not only survived, but become stronger when they get on the other side.”

The Sooners have done just that, positioning themselves to be at the forefront of college athletics for years to come after aligning with the Southeastern Conference alongside Texas ahead of the 2024-25 academic calendar year. The move came just weeks after it was ruled that athletes could begin compensating from their name, image and likeness.

“We have to be uncomfortable with the uncomfortable period that we’re in, and that’s where we are,” he continued. “So if you’re not willing to lean into it, get scarred up, nicked up and try to find the solutions that are necessary in this moment in time where we’re still not structured the way we should be, … realize sometimes that you don’t have full control of everything, but you better exert as much as you can. Lean into the future and don’t be afraid to be a change agent.”

Those at the forefront of college athletics are the ones who are able to adapt to the current state of college athletics. With just under three years to find Castiglione’s successor, adaptability is likely a quality the Sooners will be looking for in their next athletic director.

“However you want to define the the skills of the next AD, you better be a leader that can lean in, accept and effectuate change of the future,” Castiglione said. “Because if the people in the business don’t do the leading, then who is?”

Rock Hill, S.C. – D1 Softball announced its 2025 Mid-Major D100 Player Rankings and Winthrop standout Megan Powell was ranked 97^th.
 
Powell adds more recognition to a season that saw her voted as the 2025 Big South Conference Player of the Year. Powell was also an All-Big South First Team selection, NFCA All-Region Selection and was named to the Big South All-Tournament Team. She also earned academic recognition as she was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
 
This year she led the team with a .333 average to go along with 27 runs, seven doubles, 10 home runs, 35 RBI, 22 walks and an on-base percentage of .425. In the circle she was 16-12 with a 2.15 ERA, 16 complete games, five shutouts and 122 strikeouts in 163 innings. She also held an opposing batting average of .206.
 
Powell was 1-of-2 Big South Conference players recognized, joining Radford’s Dakota Redmon on the list.  
 
The Top 100 rankings list can be found here.
 
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MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez hasn’t spoken in front of the media in three months, and the rapid space of college athletics has seen massive changes in the time away from the podium. 

At the start of June, revenue sharing was announced, and more guardrails were applied, with a new College Sports Commissioner picked, in charge of regulating NIL. 

With over a decade of experience, Rodriguez witnessed the change of college athletics over the years and was vocal about how there needed to be a change. Now, there have been changes made, and Rodriguez gave his opinion at Big 12 Media Days.

“A lot better guardrails than a month ago,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, it was a cluster for the last three or four years. All coaches are complaining about it, but it was just a mess, and nobody knew how to really solve it right away. And I still think we got it a lot better now with the cap and the rev share. But there’s still a lot of work to do.”

The new ruling isn’t perfect, like Rodriguez said. Paying players directly is a step forward. The College Sports Commission could be too, but there’s no telling how much jurisdiction it’ll have over passing and denying NIL deals without lawsuits. Rodriguez still doesn’t have his one transfer portal window, either, arguably his biggest issue.

There’s still work to do. Rodriguez wants athletic directors and Congress to lead the charge on shaping the future of collegiate athletics.

“Hopefully, smarter minds than myself will get that together,” Rodriguez said. “I said this earlier today, I think they need to get the college athletic directors more input and more say in how college athletics is going to be run because these are the guys and the ladies that know what’s best for the schools and what’s best for the country in college athletics.”

West Virginia’s representative is athletic director Wren Baker. Baker and WVU athletics moved quickly on the new ruling, creating a revenue-sharing company, Gold & Blue Enterprise, to generate money. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yomark said WVU was the first school to integrate Venmo and PayPal to distribute revenue-sharing money. Baker is fully committed and determined that WVU athletics has everything necessary to compete at the highest level.

Rodriguez appreciates the work Baker’s done, and is glad he’s WVU’s athletic director.

“I’ve worked for a lot of really good ADs,” Rodriguez said. “One or two, I wasn’t sure about, but most of the ones I’ve worked with have been great. Wren has as good a grasp as anyone. I’m very fortunate. We’re in good shape with Wren Baker.” 

The new court ruling isn’t the only news that’s emerged since Rodriguez’s last press conference after the Gold-Blue Game. There’ve been talks about moving to a 5-plus-11 and 16-team College Football Playoff model in the future, meaning the Power Four conference champions get a bid, the highest rated conference champion, and then 11 at-large bids. Some SEC coaches wanted a 4-4-2-2 system, where the SEC and Big Ten would get four bids each, and the Big 12 and ACC would get two each. The consensus, though, is the 5-plus-11.

Rodriguez cares a lot less about the College Football Playoff than NIL, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal.

“I don’t give a sh*t,” Rodriguez said. “I mean, my give a sh*t meter is a lot less than a lot of stuff. If you win the league, you’re going to be in. Just win the league, like 5-11, all that stuff, whatever. I’m worried about just winning. Let’s win the league. I ain’t worried about, well, this team’s going to vote here, what’s this team going to vote there? If you’re good enough, people will know you’re in the top 12, whatever, it’s good. We win all of our games. I guarantee we’re in the playoffs.”

Rodriguez still has his issues with college athletics, but he’s not alone. There are a lot of coaches in just the Big 12 that have problems. Rodriguez made it clear where he stands and what he wants: more guardrails and one transfer portal. Those changes are looking like they’re coming in the future.

Despite his issues, Rodriguez still loves his main job, coaching WVU to win football games.

“I think we’re in a better place now than we were a month ago,” Rodriguez. “There’s still some work to be done. We could complain as coaches, but hell, it’s still a pretty good gig. You know what I mean? These are good jobs. There are a lot tougher jobs than being a college football coach. So like I said, I’m fortunate and blessed to have what I have.” 

The revenue-sharing era of college sports is upon us, and with it come new realities. Last week, the University of Kentucky announced new student ticket prices for football and men’s basketball for the 2025-26 season. They are substantially higher than last season.

Student football season passes now cost $145, a 61% increase from a year ago. Men’s basketball season passes are $345, a 72.5% increase from last season. Football and men’s basketball single-game tickets will now cost $15-$40, up from $11-$20 last year. A decade ago, student tickets for men’s basketball games cost only $5. The times, they are a-changin’.

UK Student Football and Men’s Basketball Season Ticket Prices

• Football Season Pass
  • 2025: $145
  • 2024: $90
  • 61% increase
• Men’s Basketball Season Pass
  • 2025-26: $345
  • 2024-25: $200
  • 72.5% increase
• Football and Men’s Basketball single-game student tickets
  • 2025-26: $15-$40
  • 2024-25: $11-$20 
  • 36% – 100% increase

This move comes a week after Kentucky announced it will phase out employee and faculty ticket discounts, and require full-price tickets for children, regardless of age; previously, Kentucky charged a $10 fee for children to sit in the laps of their parents for football and men’s basketball games. UK said the changes are a result of the financial realities of the House Settlement, inflation, and other rising costs, which are expected to add $20–$30 million annually to UK Athletics’ budget. One positive change: no more hidden fees. Ticket prices will include all fees up front.

“UK Athletics remains committed to providing a variety of ticket options and maintaining a great home advantage, while adjusting to market forces and the revenue growth required for our programs to strive toward championships.

“Student ticket pricing for the 2025 season has been updated to better align with national peers; however, no student fees will be directed toward UK Athletics. Student athletics fees were phased out in 2018, making the UK one of a small number of institutions in the country with no student fees directed toward intercollegiate athletics.”

No one likes it when prices go up, but this is just an unfortunate reality of this new era of college sports.