NIL

Alexi Lalas blames U.S. Soccer’s struggles on ‘diversity’

Alexi Lalas recently blamed the U.S. Men Soccer’s struggles on “diversity,” following some disappointing games of late. The former Rutgers and Team USA standout chalked it up to 11 men representing the United States and all being on the same page is going to be difficult. It’s certainly an interesting reason as to why the […]

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1 month ago

June 16, 2025

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Alexi Lalas recently blamed the U.S. Men Soccer’s struggles on “diversity,” following some disappointing games of late. The former Rutgers and Team USA standout chalked it up to 11 men representing the United States and all being on the same page is going to be difficult.

It’s certainly an interesting reason as to why the men’s team is struggling right now, at least according to Lalas. He argued being “exclusive” rather than “inclusive” would be key to the U.S’s success in the future.

With just a year to go before the FIFA World Cup is held on American, as well as Canadian and Mexican, soil, some fans are panicking. That was after a 4-0 loss to Switzerland ahead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which the USA won 5-0 over Trinidad and Tobago in the opening group stage game.

“We oftentimes talk about our diversity and we talk about it in the fact that it is one of the advantages we have, and of the great things about our country,” Lalas said on First Things First. “But with that diversity comes diversity of thought. If I go and ask a hundred soccer people out there, ‘What’s beautiful soccer?’ I’m going to get a hundred different answers. And it might be based on ethnicity, where you grew up, even geography. All of these different things.

“So I’ve argued that the homogenous nature of some other countries and cultures just in population in terms of size are much more manageable. And there is a collective understanding and, more importantly, an agreement in this is how we’re going to play. But getting 11 men to represent this great country of 350 million people, and all be on the same page, that is very, very difficult.”

Team USA isn’t helped by the fact that star player Christian Pulisic, who’s considered one of the best American soccer players in recent memory, isn’t playing in the Gold Cup. He decided not to play due to a grueling season with his club team AC Milan.

As Awful Announcing pointed out, France won the last World Cup with a very diverse group, so it’s hard to understand when Lalas is coming from, at least from that perspective. But Lalas, who initially bought into the melting pot argument, wants all players to be on the same page and develop more of an American style, so to speak.

“I’ve argued before that maybe our best route to actually being better from a men’s perspective in soccer is actually being more exclusive, not being as inclusive,” Lalas said. “In that if you went to the New York metropolitan area or Southern California and you just took players that all grew up in the same area, had all this shared experiences, maybe that would be better in terms of an understanding.

“This melting pot fallacy that I’ll be the first to admit, I bought into. And I’m not saying it can’t happen. It just takes a lot longer and with a lot more work. And especially when it comes to a national team, you don’t have time to be able to do that.”

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House settlement provides level NIL playing field in SEC, Pittman says

Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement has leveled the playing field in college football. ATLANTA — Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that went into effect this month levels the college football playing field in a good way for his Arkansas team. Pittman said Arkansas now has a chance […]

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40 minutes ago

July 18, 2025

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Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement has leveled the playing field in college football.

ATLANTA — Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that went into effect this month levels the college football playing field in a good way for his Arkansas team.

Pittman said Arkansas now has a chance to compete on more even terms with other Southeastern Conference powers like Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Pittman said Thursday at SEC media days his program previously dealt with a financial disadvantage against the schools with more established name, image and likeness collectives since NIL payments began in 2022.

According to the terms of the House settlement, each school now can share up to about $20.5 million with their athletes.

“Financially with revenue sharing I think we are finally back on even keel with everybody, which we weren’t,” said Pittman, whose team finished 7-6 in 2024. “If I was going to make an excuse, it would be financially is why we haven’t done quite as well. … But I think now with it being even, look out, the Razorbacks are coming.”

Pittman and most other coaches brought seniors and graduate players to represent their teams at SEC media days, which concluded on Thursday. Pittman brought two 2021 recruits and a transfer, but Arkansas could have difficulty finding seniors next year from his original 2022 signing class because many members of that class have transferred.

Pittman, whose Razorbacks have earned bowl bids in four of his five seasons, said players have different reasons for transferring but many were lured away from Arkansas by more attractive NIL packages at other schools. When asked about the 2022 class, Pittman said, “Here’s what it’s not because of: the way they’re treated, because of the way they’re developed, because of the way they’re taught.”

“That’s not the reason. It could be playing time. It could be finances. Probably the majority of it is finances.”

The House settlement era began on July 1.

The enforcement of the House settlement is still being worked out as the new College Sports Commission has informed athletic directors in letters last week it was rejecting payments to players from collectives created only to pay players instead of as payment for name, likeness and image.

Some seniors at SEC media days said NIL payments and the transfer portal have contributed to their decisions to complete their eligibility instead of leaving school early to pursue opportunities in the NFL.

“I would most definitely say so,” Missouri offensive lineman Connor Tollison said. “Obviously, you know, you have a chance to make some money these days. … With the transfer portal, if you don’t have a necessarily a good opportunity at this place you’re at, you have the chance to go somewhere else and get a fresh start. It wasn’t necessarily something I experienced to my college career, but I’ve seen it. You know, it works for plenty of players. So yeah, I think it’s good for the players.”

When asked if NIL makes it easier for players to complete their eligibility, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, coming off a 4-8 season, said, “Listen, we all love our players, whether they’re one year in our program, six months, or four years.”

Linebacker Alex Afari, defensive back Jordan Lovett and tight end Josh Kattus were the seniors who accompanied Stoops to Atlanta.

“Of course I love making money from name, image and likeness,” Lovett said. “But I love football first. You know, football was my first love. So I play for the game, not for money.”

Lovett added his primary motivation for returning was to earn his first win over Georgia.

“It’s the big part of college football now because some dudes just make decisions off, you know, the financial stuff,” Lovett said. “I love football. … I still haven’t, you know, beat Georgia yet. You know, Georgia’s one of my goals.”

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What Bronco Mendenhall said about how Utah State football is trending

Any weirdness surrounding Bronco Mendenhall being Utah State football’s head coach should dissipate almost entirely after Thursday. Decked out in Aggie gear at Mountain West media days in Las Vegas, Mendenhall has — by all appearances — fully embraced USU. During an appearance on the Mountain West Network, he quickly — and correctly — cited […]

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1 hour ago

July 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

What Bronco Mendenhall said about how Utah State football is trending

Any weirdness surrounding Bronco Mendenhall being Utah State football’s head coach should dissipate almost entirely after Thursday.

Decked out in Aggie gear at Mountain West media days in Las Vegas, Mendenhall has — by all appearances — fully embraced USU.

During an appearance on the Mountain West Network, he quickly — and correctly — cited Utah State football’s recent history, differentiating his current job from his old one (New Mexico).

He noted the Aggies’ successes over the last decade-plus, getting to bowl games regularly even with considerable turmoil in and around the program and athletic department, and he cited high expectations that exist in Logan after multiple 10-plus win seasons since 2012.

“The winning is different (at Utah State),” Mendenhall said. “The history is different. The expectations are different on a yearly basis.”

He unabashedly praised The HURD, Utah State’s boisterous, maybe even a little belligerent, student section.

“The HURD is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Unbelievable.”

He noted that two of his sons have transferred to Utah State since he took the head coaching job, with Breaker — a former Aggie player — back on the football team even.

Six months after taking the job, it really does look like Mendenhall is Utah State football, and because of that, there still isn’t much known about the Aggies ahead of the 2025 season.

Much like he did in the spring, when he closed practices to the general public, Mendenhall continues to want to keep a shroud over his program, at least for the time being.

In the spring the reasoning had to do with the NCAA transfer portal and tampering. Mendenhall didn’t want to lose players to other programs, players he needed to help quickly rebuild Utah State.

For the most part, the strategy worked. Utah State has brought in 87 players since Mendenhall took over, and the vast majority have remained with the program. Mendenhall did concede that not everyone was thrilled with his decision at the time, though.

“It’s always difficult because I was looking to connect with the community, looking to engage, looking to unite, and here I am closing practice,” Mendenhall said. “But I was transparent about the reason. As long as there is a transfer portal after spring practice, I won’t open spring practice simply because of the roster being protected.

“I’m the steward over (the Utah State) program. I think everyone understood that. … I think it ended up serving its purpose. Not everyone was thrilled about the decision, but ultimately, now, I think everyone can see the benefit of it.”

Now, lack of details coming out of the Aggie program and Mendenhall are about creating a competitive advantage for the upcoming season.

Mendenhall made it clear Thursday he expects USU to be capable of being bowl eligible in 2025, no matter that the team was picked to finish No. 9 in the MWC preseason poll and ESPN’s FPI currently predicts the Aggies will win between four and five games.

Mendenhall noted that he wanted to keep those outside of the program in the dark, particularly when it comes to the offense under offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven.

“I’d like to be unnameable,” Mendenhall said. “So what style do we play? I don’t know, which makes it harder to prepare and I like the creativity that comes with that, and Kevin is a perfect fit that way.”

Mendenhall did say he believes USU’s secondary, headlined by senior Ike Larsen and New Mexico transfers Noah Avinger, Bryson Taylor and Bobby Arnold, will be a strength of the team’s this season.

“It’ll be a strong suit of our organization,” he said.

Mendenhall noted that Larsen, a game-breaking star at times at USU, had a down season in 2024, but is capable of bouncing back in a big way this year.

“He’s anxious to re-link the upcoming year to what he’s truly capable of and what will be needed from him,” Mendenhall said.

Mendenhall also praised quarterback Bryson Barnes, Utah State’s starting quarterback for next season.

“His experience is impeccable, the type of leadership, the type of grit, the type of determination and he’s dual threat,” Mendenhall said.

“As a defensive coach, you run out of numbers pretty fast when someone can run and throw. … And with the head coach that loves tough, competitive people and style of play, he’s a perfect fit for us.”

Mostly, though, Mendenhall talked about the culture he is trying to establish at Utah State, which anyone who has followed Mendenhall during the course of his coaching career is familiar with.

“The foundation is the expectations,” Mendenhall said, “and there’s a lot of research that talks about how the level of expectations determines outcomes. Our program is demanding. It’s challenging. It requires a lot, but by giving a lot, there’s a sacrifice part, but there’s also a connection part that’s deeper and interesting.

“Many (in college football) are afraid to ask that much because their players might leave, but what we have found, and what research shows, is just the opposite. The more you ask, the more sticky they become to your organization, and so our team is becoming more resilient. They’re becoming stronger. They’re more united by doing hard things together and that’s always led to pretty strong outcomes, at least in my career.”

Mendenhall has, by all objective measures, had a highly successful coaching career at the Division I level, first at BYU, then Virginia and New Mexico, so while there are still a lot of unknowns about Utah State football in its Mendenhall era, precedence suggests there is reason for optimism for Utah State football, in 2025 and in subsequent seasons to come.

Washington State offensive linemen Brock Dieu, left, and Devin Kylany (70) block Utah State defensive tackle Gabriel Iniguez Jr. (10) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. | Young Kwak, AP

NIL

Why Alabama Football could have college football’s No. 1 defense

From a position of being more than good last season, the Alabama Football defense can be better in the coming season. Among all FBS teams, the Alabama Crimson Tide defense finished at a credible No. 10 in Scoring Defense last season. Against FBS teams with a winning record, Alabama was No. 3 in allowing 4.62 […]

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2 hours ago

July 18, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The problem for Alabama last season was when Kane Wommack’s defense was bad, it was glaringly bad. The Crimson Tide outscored Georgia, but gave up 519 yards to the Bulldogs. After the loss to Vandy, Alabama legends George Teague and Roman Harper questioned Wommack’s scheme. Harper stated that being “brutally honest …(the Tide’s) vision coverage was a failure, lacking eye discipline.”

Though the Tide’s defense improved in the latter half of the season, Oklahoma’s offense out-schemed Kane Wommack’s defense, allowing Jackson Arnold to rush for 131 yards.

A second season playing Wommack’s system should benefit many Alabama defenders. Based on the talents of individual players, a calculation by Pro Football Focus (PFF) projects the Crimson Tide will be college football’s No. 1 defense for 2025. PFF is sometimes questioned for its rating system. In ranking the best defensive teams, it does not consider how schemes will fare against a team’s schedule.

According to PFF, college football’s best defenses will be Alabama, Texas, Clemson, Georgia, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. PFF’s short explanation for rating Alabama Football No. 1 is “Alabama is also the only school in college football that features a top-10 player at every defensive position.”

Using Phil Steele’s ranking of position groups, the Clemson, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Michigan defenses are ahead of the Crimson Tide. Close behind Alabama in Steele’s calculations are Texas and Georgia.

According to a subjective projection by Saturday Down South, the SEC’s top defenses are expected to be in order: Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. According to Steele, the Sooners have the 20th-best defensive back group, but OU is top four for defensive line and linebackers. Steele’s analysis does not rate Tennessee as being top five in the SEC.

An Alabama Football Defense at No. 1?

Talent and experience favor the Crimson Tide. Add into consideration depth and Alabama has the potential to be at or near No.1 defensively. To the extent scheme was a problem last season, it is reasonable to believe that Wommack, Mo Linguist, Chuck Morrell, Freddie Roach, and Christian Robinson have made adjustments.

When will Alabama football fans know how good the defense will be? The September date in Athens, GA will be telling. It is possible the Tide’s defensive front will prove too much for the Bulldogs’ offensive line.

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National outlet ranks two different Kansas teams among some of the best in recent history

The Athletic’s Brendan Marks (subscription required) took on the daunting task of ranking each great college basketball team since 2000. The Jayhawks made some splashes throughout the list, No. 25 Kansas 2019-20 This was a fan favorite Kansas team of recent memory. When you think of “What if” teams, this one has to be up […]

Published

2 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Athletic’s Brendan Marks (subscription required) took on the daunting task of ranking each great college basketball team since 2000. The Jayhawks made some splashes throughout the list,

No. 25 Kansas 2019-20

This was a fan favorite Kansas team of recent memory. When you think of “What if” teams, this one has to be up there for Jayhawk fans. This was a squad loaded with imressive stats. To start, a 28-3 record prior to the season’s cancellation due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Combine that with the fact that the Jayhawks marked a 48.4% from the field which ranked 9th-best in the nation, along with the second-best amount of losses in the nation (3).

In that shortened season, Kansas posed the 11th-best defense in the land as the 1882 points that Bill Self’s squad gave up helped drive a stout defense.

Kansas was in the midst of a 16-game winning streak, which has included a 64-61 win over the No. 1 Baylor in what was one of the final games of that season.

Now, maybe when you look at a majority of stats, there aren’t many that will jump out as “fantastic” but one really sticks out.

Stat website Sports Reference measure strength of schedule, by this description.

“The rating is denominated in points above/below average, where zero is average. Non-Division I games are excluded from the ratings.”

Kansas ranked the hardest SOS with an 11.63, was the only team with 25+ wins up until Baylor who ranked 32nd with a 9.13 SOS.

Leading the team was Devin Dotson with 18 points per game Udoka Azubuike followed up with 13.7 points per night.

6. Kansas 2007-08

Self’s fifth year at the helm of the Jayhawks ranks as his most wins as Kansas totaled 37 wins to just three losses.

A 20-game win streak launched the season for this special squad, which was halted by a 4-3 stretch before Self and Co. saw a 13-game win streak go off en route to a Kansas National Championship in that thrilling 75-68 OT win against a Memphis team marshaled by John Calipari and the high-flying Derrick Rose.

In the Final Four, Kansas beat up North Carolina by 18 points in a game that featured five future NBA Tar Heels in Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Ty Lawson, and Alex Stepheson.

Seven different Kansas players went on from that team to join the NBA, the likes of Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Darnell Jackson, Sherron Collins, Sasha Kaun, and Cole Aldrich

Self’s team averaged 80.5 points per game, which ranked 13th in the nation, while also holding firm with a defense 21st-best which allowed just 61.5 points per game.

The leading scorer on that team was Brandon rush, who returned 13.3 points per game, three more Jayhawks kept over 10 points per game during that championship-winning season.

More Kansas Basketball News

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Arkansas coach Sam Pittman says House settlement provides level NIL playing field in competitive SEC

ATLANTA — Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that went into effect this month levels the college football playing field in a good way for his Arkansas team. Pittman said Arkansas now has a chance to compete on more even terms with other Southeastern Conference powers like Georgia, Alabama and Texas. Pittman said […]

Published

3 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Your Sports Nation

ATLANTA — Sam Pittman says a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that went into effect this month levels the college football playing field in a good way for his Arkansas team.

According to the terms of the House settlement, each school now can share up to about $20.5 million with their athletes.

“That’s not the reason. It could be playing time. It could be finances. Probably the majority of it is finances.”

The House settlement era began on July 1.

Linebacker Alex Afari, defensive back Jordan Lovett and tight end Josh Kattus were the seniors who accompanied Stoops to Atlanta.

“Of course I love making money from name, image and likeness,” Lovett said. “But I love football first. You know, football was my first love. So I play for the game, not for money.”

Lovett added his primary motivation for returning was to earn his first win over Georgia.

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President Trump mulls executive order to ‘preserve college sports’: What a draft calls for

By Ralph D. Russo, Justin Williams and Stewart Mandel As the future of college sports faces continued legal and legislative friction, President Donald Trump could soon get involved in the form of an executive order that seeks to “preserve college athletics” through antitrust protections and clarity on student-athlete status. A draft of an executive order […]

Published

3 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Your Sports Nation

By Ralph D. Russo, Justin Williams and Stewart Mandel

As the future of college sports faces continued legal and legislative friction, President Donald Trump could soon get involved in the form of an executive order that seeks to “preserve college athletics” through antitrust protections and clarity on student-athlete status.

A draft of an executive order titled “Saving College Sports” was obtained by The Athletic on Thursday, but it is not believed to be a finalized version. It is unclear if or when such an executive order will be formalized, but Trump has considered taking executive action on college sports for months. CBS News reported this week that the president was set to sign an order related to name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation for college athletes. Yahoo! Sports first reported on the contents of an executive order draft on Thursday.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The seven-page draft directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to address the debate over the employment status of college athletes.

“Ongoing litigation seeks to transform student-athletes into employees, which would make college sports financially untenable for many, if not most, schools,” the draft states.

It also directs members of President Trump’s cabinet and other political officials to pursue policy and protections in a number of other areas related to college sports, including rules that could be challenged by antitrust complaints and continued opportunity for scholarships and roster spots, along with preventing “unqualified or unscrupulous agents from representing athletes.” The draft also calls for better uniformity with federal and state laws, and safeguarding the role college sports have played in the development of Olympic athletes.

The draft points to the “waves of recent litigation against NCAA governing rules” and states that, while changes in recent years allowing college athletes to be compensated were “overdue and should be maintained, the inability to maintain rules at all … will destroy what Americans recognize today as college sports.”

This potential executive order comes at a time of heightened political and legal involvement in college sports. The recently approved House v. NCAA settlement, which took effect July 1, created a revenue sharing model that allows schools to directly pay college athletes and provides back-pay damages to former college athletes who could not earn NIL compensation.

College sports leaders have also been lobbying congressional lawmakers for federal legislation and antitrust protections to help regulate the NIL market and supersede a patchwork of varying state laws on the matter.

The Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act is the latest bill to be drafted in Congress. Introduced last week by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, it was advanced through a subcommittee earlier this week and has bipartisan support. As written, the SCORE Act would codify many of the terms in the House settlement, but it has already faced considerable public opposition.

Trump has long held an interest in college athletics, according to industry sources familiar with his thinking, including preserving Olympic and other non-revenue sports amid the changing landscape. The president came away from a meeting with former Alabama football coach Nick Saban in May motivated to get involved. There were reports of a potential commission led by Saban and billionaire oil businessman Cody Campbell, a former Texas Tech football player and current board chair, but its implementation was put on hold as lawmakers worked on legislative solutions.

An executive order could be considered a way for Trump to either circumvent or push through congressional gridlock, but executive orders are not ideal long-term solutions — they are often repealed when a new administration takes office or can be challenged by courts. An order cannot grant antitrust exemptions or deny employee status to college athletes, but an order in line with the obtained draft would strongly signal Trump’s intent on those issues.

Legal battles are not new to college athletics. The House settlement is already being challenged despite being formally implemented just weeks ago, and the drafted order takes aim at the settlement as well.

“Even a recent litigation settlement that provides billions in back pay to former athletes and a revenue-sharing model between universities and student-athletes provides little assurance that it will not soon be upended by new litigation seeking more compensation with fewer rules, further reducing in the number of student-athletes,” the draft states.

Steve Berman, co-lead plaintiff counsel in the House settlement, took issue with Trump’s potential intervention in a statement on Thursday.

“Plain and simple, college athletes don’t need Trump’s help, and he shouldn’t be aiding the NCAA at the expense of athletes,” Berman said. “Mr. Trump boasts of his deal-making prowess. As a result of our case, college athletes are now free to make their own deals. For Trump to want to put his foot on their deal-making abilities is unwarranted and flouts his own philosophy on the supposed ‘art of the deal.’ Step back, Mr. President.”

Earlier this week, players’ unions for the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL and MLS issued a joint statement urging Congress to reject the proposed SCORE Act legislation, warning that an antitrust exemption would permit the NCAA and its members to “collude to harm athletes.”

“Whatever progress the athletes have made has been a result of their use of the antitrust laws,” they wrote. “The SCORE Act would take that weapon away from them.”

Despite questioning the legal viability of the settlement, the executive order draft overlaps with the settlement in its vision for NIL regulations. It also calls for the creation of a commission that would include individuals and organizations involved in collegiate athletics to continue exploring the order’s stated efforts to protect college sports.

“It is the policy of my Administration that college sports should be preserved,” the draft states. “My Administration will therefore support solutions that provide the long-term stability, fairness, and balance necessary to protect student-athletes, collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities, and the special American institution of college sports.”

(Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

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