Illinois football made its triumphant return to video games last season with the release of College Football 25.

It had been over a decade since fans could play as the Illini in a video game. That all changed with the ability for players to make money through Name, Image, and Likeness.

Well, in the first edition of the game in the 2020s, College Football 25 assigned tiers to programs to determine the value they would earn from the video game. According to an article from Matt Liberman of Cllct, every team that opted into the game last year was given a tier.

There were four tiers. The game slotted each program into a tier based on the past 10 years of play. For each season you finished in the AP Top 25, you get a point. Tier 1 was 6-10 points ($99,875.16), tier 2 was 2-5 points ($59,925.09), tier 3 was 1 point ($39,950.06), and tier 4 was 0 points ($9,987.52).

Where did Illinois get slotted? Tier 1, obviously. We didn’t finish a single season from 2014 through 2023 in the AP Top 25. That means Illinois only received $9,987.52 from the first installment of the new game.

Past failed coaches have hindered Illinois football in the NIL department

It is kind of a gut punch to know that the past coaches at Illinois affected the future of the program when it comes to NIL dollars.

I know the past coaches affected the program with a lack of success and the inability to recruit. That was a given. That was also being corrected by the Bret Bielema regime in Champaign. But losing out on all of those NIL dollars is brutal.

If Illinois had just finished in the AP Top 25 once from 2014 to 2023, the program would have made $30,000 more in NIL money. That could have potentially been the difference between landing a game-changing player or not. Thankfully, the structure is changing, and Illinois is on the rise, so this should never happen again.

The 2025 college football season will be the third year under the new mega Big Ten media deal, a revolutionary structure that is unmatched across the rest of the conferences. As a reminder, FOX, CBS and NBC all put games on their flagship networks, with additional contests occasionally airing on their auxiliary channels (and streaming services) as well.

FOX’s Big Noon Saturday has been the main source of controversy, while CBS’s 3:30 spot and NBC’s 7:30 window have not been immune from criticism. However, as we recently got the kickoff times to open the season, I am here to defend this creative broadcast approach which continues to push the Big Ten towards the top of the entire sport.

Brand recognition

Love it or hate it, everyone knows what Big Noon Saturday is at this point. While not always the week’s biggest Big Ten game, FOX is committed to airing a prominent matchup at the noon window whenever it can, giving fans a consistent anchor that stands alone across all networks. By year three, most Big Ten enthusiasts are also familiar with the CBS and NBC premier time slots, making it easy to know where to find the week’s most compelling matchups.

The branding may be silly (CBS’s Big Ten Time and NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night are neither creative nor catchy), but the consistency is important. Given college football’s 13-day selection schedule, each network also gets to build up to the games with nearly two-weeks of marketing and advertising hype. Having three times the coverage is never a bad thing, and the Big Ten has been soaking that up.

Leaders and best

On a more personal level, Michigan itself has certainly benefited from this media deal. While that was also the case under ABC/ESPN/Disney, the Wolverines (and Ohio State) have really separated themselves from the pack. Over the first two years of this structure, 17 of Michigan’s 24 regular season games have been selected by one of the three main viewing windows, as all three networks love to prioritize the maize and blue in their draft choices.

Michigan continues to wield a lot of power in this media deal. While FOX has created a Friday night window, the Wolverines will not be a participant. There are still no night games late in the season either, making the concept of a Black Friday game at Ford Field quite laughable. The networks will always have Michigan near the top of their list each week, and in turn, Michigan has substantial authority.

Good to be wanted

While the SEC has racked up championships, and ESPN continues to lead sports media, the Big Ten may be catching up in both regards. Obviously, on-field performance has started to tilt, and FOX is quickly establishing itself as both a college sports player and a Big Ten cheerleader. Having CBS and NBC in lock-step helps ensure that no other conference can match the Big Ten’s hold on the largest broadcasters in the country.

It may feel irrelevant to the average football fan to drone on about media contracts, but their (potentially detrimental) impact cannot be ignored. Look at the conferences playing actual games on the CW or ESPN+. Think about how difficult it can be to even find some Power Four games at times. This will never happen to the Big Ten.

The financial aspect is even more significant. Even schools like Rutgers are making substantially more than most other programs, leading to upgraded staff and facility budgets which directly translates to better programs; the benefit of this can clearly be seen in Ann Arbor. So yes, multiple consecutive Big Noon Saturdays can be annoying (we have had them too, Buckeyes) and New Mexico at night feels unnecessary, but these are minor inconveniences to stay at the top of the college football landscape.

Texas Tech superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady was the first $1 million softball player last year and has now made another deal to become the second and only.

Canady has signed another seven-figure NIL contract with the Matador Club, the Red Raiders’ collective, her manager, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management, told ESPN.

She transferred to Texas Tech last year after she led Stanford to the Women’s College World Series and lost in the semifinals.

Canady reportedly signed a $1,050,024 one-year NIL deal to become a Red Raider, a deal that included a million for her, $50,000 for living expenses, and $24 for her jersey number.

Canady has consistently said she intended to stay at Texas Tech, but questions persisted as to whether she would enter the NCAA transfer portal again after another record-setting season to see what her value would be.

Now, as she prepares for a National Championship, she signs another deal with Tech.

The Red Raiders and NiJaree will take on Texas in game three of the Women’s College World Series at Devon Park in OKC on Friday to determine the champion, as the series is tied 1-1.

Canady was named a first-team All-American for the third consecutive year this season.

We know Kentucky is going to be good in Mark Pope‘s second season as head coach, but how good? Good enough to be included in Dickie V’s Dazzling Dozen — Dick Vitale’s ranking of the best 12 teams in college basketball going into 2025-26.

The hoops legend wanted to celebrate 150 days from the start of the season by dropping his summer rankings, breaking down the teams “that look ready to rock the hardwood,” as he puts it. The Wildcats belong in that bunch, thanks to the returns of Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison, among others.

“Mark Pope reloads again, folks,” Vitale said of Kentucky. “Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison will be looking to lead an incredible group of transfers including Jayden Quaintance, Jaland Lowe and Mouhamed Dioubate. The Wildcats are roaring loud in Lexington.”

Just how loud are they roaring? Not the loudest in the country — or even the SEC, for that matter — but still pretty darn loud. Kentucky sits at No. 11 in Dickie V’s rankings, good for No. 3 in the conference behind only Florida (No. 3) and Arkansas (No. 8).

Take a look at the complete top 12:

1. Purdue Boilermakers
2. Houston Cougars
3. Florida Gators
4. UConn Huskies
5. St. John’s Red Storm
6. Texas Tech Red Raiders
7. BYU Cougars
8. Arkansas Razorbacks
9. Duke Blue Devils
10. UCLA Bruins
11. Kentucky Wildcats
12. Michigan Wolverines

Not as high as we’d like, Dick, but we’ll take it at this stage.

Where Kentucky sits in other preseason rankings

• ESPN – No. 9
  • “Kentucky is absolutely loaded on the perimeter next season,” Jeff Borzello wrote. “… Mark Pope also revamped the frontcourt with defense in mind.”
• The Athletic – No. 9
  • “This roster does not have the shooting of Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team, but it should be better defensively and have more playmaking on the perimeter,” said CJ Moore.
• Sports Illustrated – No. 7
  • “Mark Pope has his sights set on more after taking the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 in his first year on the job in Lexington, Ky,” Kevin Sweeney added. “The Wildcats spent big on their roster this spring, adding 10 new players, including high-profile transfers Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance while bringing back star wing Otega Oweh.”
• ROTHSTEIN 45 – No. 12
• CBS Sports – No. 12
  • “This ranking is based on the Wildcats returning two of the top seven scorers — specifically Otega Oweh and Brandon Garrison — from a team that finished 24-12 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament,” Gary Parrish said.