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College basketball is benefiting a lot from new NIL landscape

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College basketball is benefiting a lot from new NIL landscape

Remember the 2025 NCAA Tournament? Not even two months have passed since it ended with Florida beating Houston in a thriller. During that basketball bonanza, a lot of people spent a lot of energy emphasizing how bad the product of college hoops was becoming. NIL was tilting the playing field instead of leveling it. The new reality of college sports economics was creating more imbalances, enabling the SEC to put 14 of its 16 teams into March Madness. This was supposedly awful for college hoops. Is it? Is this the way to view the new landscape?

One could be highly skeptical of the direction college basketball is taking in the new NIL era. One conference getting 14 teams into March Madness and having seven of them in the Sweet 16 does reflect an imbalance of power. Yet, we have to wonder if the SEC being great was less a product of NIL, and more a product of the SEC being really smart in its investments, coaching hires, and rebuilding a basketball brand which wasn’t in good shape several years ago.

It could be that the new NIL environment is actually a net positive for college basketball. We don’t have to be hyperbolic and say it’s the best thing ever for the sport — that would oversell the positives of this reality — but we can say something substantially beneficial is coming from the NIL architecture created in recent years. Let’s go through this discussion.

Alex Condon back at Florida

Florida retained one of its elite big men from its 2025 national championship roster. Florida will reload instead of rebuild this coming season and will field a very strong roster with Alex Condon in the middle.

Milos Uzan back to Houston

Kelvin Sampson and Houston are getting one more season from Milos Uzan, which means the Cougars should once again be a Final Four contender and a top-10 team.

Tahaad Pettiford comes back to Auburn

Pettiford eschewing the NBA draft to return to Bruce Pearl makes Auburn a serious national player for yet another season.

Labaron Philon returns to Alabama

Otega Oweh back to Kentucky

You can see the pattern

The point being made is obvious: With NIL funding in place, players who might have been late-first round or early-second round NBA draft picks have an incentive to come back to school, make very good money playing a 35-game season (instead of an 82-game pro season), and improve their draft stock for next year. Roster retention is a very good thing for college basketball. Having teams which bring back prime players obviously improves the quality of the product, instead of having players bolt for the NBA at the first opportunity.

Worrying about the big dogs versus the mid-majors

Power conference strength compared to weakening mid-majors is the best and most relevant argument from anyone who thinks the overall quality and charm of college basketball will suffer under the current NIL reality. It is true that mid-majors will struggle to compete to acquire elite talent in this environment. We won’t ignore this point, and it’s certainly something everyone in the industry needs to think about when considering reforms to the current system, such as it is.

Blue-blood programs aren’t the ones ruling the world

Though Power Four conferences are thriving in the NIL landscape of college basketball, it’s not as though this is a small and exclusive club of blue-blood schools.

This is not a world in which Kentucky and Kansas, North Carolina and Duke, UCLA and Michigan State, are the teams dominating everyone else.

Florida wasn’t elite a few years ago. Houston was in the AAC not that long ago, trying to make its way up the food chain. Auburn is an outsider, not an insider, in the larger workings of college basketball history. Iowa State, BYU, Texas Tech, Arkansas, St. John’s, and a bunch of other schools which aren’t regularly seen at the Final Four are making forward strides.

In other words, this is not college football a decade ago, in which we knew at the start of every season that Alabama and Clemson were going to meet in the championship game or a playoff semifinal. There is still balance and parity in college basketball, with the usual suspects not necessarily being the schools that benefit.

North Carolina has actually struggled. Kentucky has had its ups and downs. Bill Self and Kansas had their worst season in two decades. There’s a lot of competitive balance in the new NIL world. It’s not perfect, but it’s substantially robust.

There are problems with the current NIL setup, but let’s not pretend college basketball is going to hell in a handbasket. There’s a lot to like about the new reality.

Contact/Follow @College_Wire on X and like us our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of college sports news, notes, and opinions.

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Former Auburn WR Cam Coleman commits to Texas

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Former Auburn wide receiver Cam Coleman committed to Texas out of the NCAA transfer portal, he announced via Instagram on Sunday. The Longhorns were one of three visits by the wideout.

Coleman had a large role for the Tigers’ offense over the last two years. In 2025, Coleman had 56 catches for 708 yards, five touchdowns and 12.6 yards per catch. In two seasons, Coleman has 93 catches for 1,306 yards, 13 touchdowns and 14 yards per catch.

Coleman came to Auburn as one of the program’s highest-rated recruits in recent history. Largely, he lived up to that billing as across two seasons, he hauled in 84 passes for 1,215 yards and 12 touchdowns.

As a high school prospect, Coleman was a Five-Star Plus+ recruit in the 2024 class. According to the Rivals Industry Ranking, an equally weighted average that utilizes all three major recruiting services, he was the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect and No. 2 wide receiver.

He signed with the Tigers over offers from Clemson, Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU and dozens of other major programs. Coleman was committed to the Aggies for nearly five months before they fired head coach Jimbo Fisher, and as a result, Coleman’s future position coach Dameyune Craig. He flipped his pledge from A&M to Auburn on December 1, 2023 — marking a massive recruiting win for Hugh Freeze.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Texas is coming off a season where they just missed out on the College Football Playoff. The Longhorns finished 10-3 by beating Michigan 41-27 in the Citrus Bowl.

Led by QB Arch Manning’s second half of the season development, Texas got on a hot streak. That included a win over 11-0 Texas A&M to end the season. Coleman adds to a dynamic offensive approach under Steve Sarkisian next fall.





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Latest Georgia transfer rumors could lead to another Carson Beck level disaster

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Georgia football suffered arguably the biggest loss in the Transfer Portal last offseason. Former UGA quarterback Carson Beck made the shocking decision this time last year to transfer to Miami, and that was something that no one saw coming.

Georgia ended up being fine without him as they went on to win the SEC, but losing Beck at the time was not fun.

Fast forward to this offseason and rumors are beginning to swirl of another departure that would be just as shocking and impactful as Beck.

Nate Frazier rumors are the last thing Georgia needs

One of Georgia’s best players this season was running back Nate Frazier. There were countless games where he put the team on his back and helped carry them to victory, and his success this past season has led to everyone at Georgia being excited for what’s to come next season.

Frazier however has not publicly announced that he will be back at Georgia next year and rumors are circulating that he could enter the Transfer Portal.

It’s impossible to state how big of a loss this would be for Georgia. Frazier finished the season just shy of 1,000 yards as he racked up 947 yards and six touchdowns on 173 carries. He also had dominant showings in a few games as well, most notably when he ran for 181 yards against Mississippi State. He was set to have an even bigger season next year as a junior, but that may not be occurring at Georgia anymore.

Frazier hasn’t entered the Transfer Portal yet, but it sounds like there is a chance he does. And if he does it Ohio State could be the team he lands with.

Kirby Smart and his staff have to do everything they can to keep Frazier in Athens. Georgia does have Chauncey Bowens who will return to their backfield for another season, but he can’t do it alone. He needs Frazier with him so Georgia can have one of the best running back duos in the country.

But there is a chance that doesn’t happen next season, and losing Frazier would feel a lot like losing Beck last year.



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Ty Simpson Reportedly Getting NIL Contract Offers After NFL Draft Decision, New Rumors on Alabama QB

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Ty Simpson has declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, but that hasn’t curbed college football programs from trying to get the Alabama quarterback on their roster.

According to AL.com’s Nick Kelly, Simpson has been offered “a deal that could total $6.5 million” from one program, while three SEC teams have offered “at least $4 million and more.”

Simpson was the No. 26 overall player and No. 4 quarterback in the class of 2022, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. He’s a bit of a rare breed in today’s college football landscape in the fact that he waited three years at Alabama before becoming the starter, rather than transferring somewhere else.

Simpson played behind Bryce Young in 2022 and Jalen Milroe in 2023 and 2024 before eventually landing the starting job in 2025. While he had a few shaky outings, he was one of the best quarterbacks in the SEC this year, throwing for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions

His final game with the Crimson Tide came in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against Indiana, where he threw for just 67 yards in a 38-3 blowout loss.

Bleacher Report’s NFL Scouting Department considers Simpson to be the No. 30 overall player and the No. 3 quarterback in this year’s draft class. In the latest mock draft from B/R, Simpson is projected to land with the Los Angeles Rams with the No. 13 pick.

While Simpson is widely projected to be a first-round pick, the NFL combine should give him a good idea of where he might land in April. Assuming he’s a consensus first-round pick, it’s hard to imagine Simpson will return to the collegiate level.

If he isn’t so confident about going in the first round, perhaps he’ll take one of the lucrative NIL offers he’s reportedly received.



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Tennessee football offered Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson $4 million

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Jan. 11, 2026Updated Jan. 12, 2026, 1:12 a.m. ET



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Ty Simpson “not wavering” on decision to turn pro amid NIL bidding war

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Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson announced last week that he was leaving school early to enter the NFL draft. But that hasn’t stopped other college programs from offering him lucrative NIL deals.

What started out in the $4 million range has reached in excess of $6 million, a source with knowledge of the situation told Bama247.

But that same source said the offers were unsolicited and that Simpson “hasn’t wavered” in his decision to enter the NFL draft. The expectation is he will not change his mind before the Wednesday deadline for underclassmen to declare.

Al.com was first to report the unrelenting interest in Simpson as the draft deadline approaches.

Simpson went 11-4 in his lone season as the starter, leading Alabama to the College Football Playoff and a come-from-behind victory at Oklahoma in the first round. But his season ended on a sour note as he threw for only 67 yards and no touchdowns in a 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl that saw him sidelined for much of the second half with a rib injury.

Simpson, who was named a team captain in the summer, finished the season with 3,567 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns and five interceptions. He also ran for 93 yards and two scores.

Recent NFL mock drafts have had Simpson ranked among the top three quarterbacks — behind Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Oregon’s Dante Moore — and a borderline first-round pick.

Alabama 2026 NFL draft decision tracker: Who will stay in school or enter draft?

With Simpson gone, Mack and Russell are the two most experienced quarterbacks on the roster. The two were listed as co-backups this season with Mack having a 62-to-36 edge in total offensive snap over Russell.

Both Mack and Russell resigned with Alabama last week.



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The Ohio State football program is in Transfer Portal crisis thanks to Ross Bjork

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When Ohio State made the decision to hire Ross Bjork as athletic director once Gene Smith stepped down, a large reason was that he was supposed to be an expert in the NIL space. Bjork touted his ability to galvanize donors and pay the athletes what they rightly deserved.

The end of his tenure at Texas A&M did see the football program spend a lot of money on recruits. It backfired spectacularly. Jimbo Fisher did not coach the team well, and Bjork had to fire him and pay him around $77 million to not coach the program.

Since coming to Columbus, Bjork has used the opposite approach. He has been borderline stingy at every corner when it comes to NIL for the Ohio State football program. Instead of helping the Buckeyes, he is actively sinking the ship just a year after winning a national title.

Ross Bjork is actively hurting the Ohio State football program

30 players have entered the Transfer Portal from this year’s version of the Ohio State Buckeyes. That is by far the most since the portal became a widely used thing. What’s even worse is that Bjork has refused to pay enough to bring enough players in to replace those guys leaving.

There have been several instances of the Buckeyes losing out on talented portal players because they did not use their NIL money correctly. Bjork seems to think that the College Sports Commission is actually going to be able to enforce any sort of cap when it comes to revenue sharing.

No other high-major program is operating under those assumptions. In fact, most of Ohio State’s competitors keep reloading in the portal. Indiana is arguably passing the Buckeyes when it comes to finding talented older players in the portal, and that’s why they are playing for a national title.

Bjork was a questionable hire when he was brought in. The shine has worn off from the 2024 national championship, and more people are realizing that the title was won in spite of him, not because of him. Ryan Day needs to start putting his foot down when it comes to the football program.



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