Hannah Mattix | Clarion Ledger | USA TODAY NETWORK David Pollack has a solution that could help address some of the public’s biggest concerns about name, image, and likeness from the very start. Pollack shared that idea last week during the latest episode of his podcast ‘See Ball Get Ball.’ The famous Georgia alumn thinks […]
Hannah Mattix | Clarion Ledger | USA TODAY NETWORK
David Pollack has a solution that could help address some of the public’s biggest concerns about name, image, and likeness from the very start.
Pollack shared that idea last week during the latest episode of his podcast ‘See Ball Get Ball.’ The famous Georgia alumn thinks the first thing that needs to be fixed about NIL is the inflated amounts being awarded to incoming freshmen, leading him to suggest a cap on how much they can profit in NIL before ever playing a snap in college.
“I have a proposal to start round one. Like, again, I’m seeing all this stuff and you see all these topics, like, how do I really fix NIL? I know the number one thing that needs to be changed,” Pollack said on his podcast. “Like, if you want to start with something and change college football, and make it better and make it better for the athlete, the athlete’s future and everything about it? We need a rookie salary cap. A coming into a university salary cap. It cannot exceed X.”
Pollack’s point is that most recruits coming in as freshmen don’t have much equity in name, image, or likeness to profit from, even if they’re top overall recruits in high school. Also, from the player’s perspective, Pollack suggested a cap for freshmen will allow them can make an informed decision in their recruitments without it being just about the NIL money.
“NIL — name, image, and likeness. What you did on the field should dictate how much money you get paid. It should not be what you did in high school. Like, it should’t be,” Pollack added. “Not everybody comes from the same background, same stuff. I mean, there’s a lot of factors that go into that.
“Have a rookie cap. Now, you can choose the spot that’s best for you and it’s not just based on money,” Pollack continued. “Here’s the thing. When you make a decision based on money and not looking towards the future, how many of those decisions have you made and you regretted? Like, a lot for me. If I’m making them just on money, I’m blinded, it’s harder. I can’t make a decision based on what’s really best for me.”
Getting something like this enacted would be difficult considering the free-wheeling precedent set over the past few years of NIL.
“You want to do something that’s really better for the players? Institute that and it immediately will get better,” said Pollack.
Oregon is getting beat on the recruiting trail pretty badly this off-season. It’s been ages since the program has had a major win. It appears that Dan Lanning and Oregon’s main NIL cooperative, Division Street, may be changing their strategy, with a greater focus on spending NIL dollars in the transfer portal rather than on […]
Oregon is getting beat on the recruiting trail pretty badly this off-season. It’s been ages since the program has had a major win. It appears that Dan Lanning and Oregon’s main NIL cooperative, Division Street, may be changing their strategy, with a greater focus on spending NIL dollars in the transfer portal rather than on high school recruits. Mr. FishDuck took a break from figuring out his betting payouts on the expected value calculator–to express his concern as many Duck fans have.
At this point in the year, this can feel like a good explanation for Oregon’s recruiting woes, but the reality is that Oregon doesn’t like to get in bidding wars concerning NIL allocation until December, right before the early signing period. For the most part this strategy has worked for the Ducks and this likely explains what is happening right now regarding Oregon’s recruiting woes.
The Ducks and Division Street refuse to get into a bidding war this early in the recruiting cycle and are continuing to recruit many of these committed athletes. However, if some of these NIL deals hold to the end of the cycle, the Ducks may be left with a small prep recruiting class, and thus a change in strategy is prudent.
USC and Others Are Spending Money Like It’s 2022
Through this recruiting cycle so far, some programs have gotten more active in NIL and they are playing the game like it is 2022. USC, for instance, seems to be throwing millions at recruits right now, and according to Athlon Sports, their NIL cooperatives are going to pay Mater Dei tight end Mark Bowman $10 million to come and play at USC — more than most NFL tight ends make, let alone rookies.
Emmanuel Pregnon (left) lined up at left guard during the Oregon Spring Game. (Photo By: Gary Breedlove)
There are also reports of absolutely insane requests being made by recruits this cycle, like charted flights for their families to all their games and leases on luxury vehicles. There are also reports of recruits being paid to just commit and stay committed.
And we have already seen this story before. In 2022, Texas A&M spent by far the most on their No. 1 recruiting class, and that class failed to save Jimbo Fisher’s job and has since imploded. Furthermore, Tennessee signed Nico Iamaleava in 2023 to a multi-million dollar contract, and his on-field results have been underwhelming for a price tag that high. He transferred out of Tennessee when he failed to leverage the program’s NIL for more money.
USC’s NIL cooperatives have woken up and are spending money like it’s 2022. And they are recruiting like it too. They are buying their recruiting class without learning from the history of how this has played out in the past. I don’t blame a high school recruit like Bowman for taking that payout — that is enough money to set him up for life.
But what is also clear is that USC is not spending enough of their NIL resources on maintaining their roster. Otherwise, they never would have let their best lineman, Emmanuel Pregnon, transfer out and go to Oregon.
Lanning and Division street are too savvy to play this NIL game and as a result, they are possibly changing their strategy.
Using All of College Football as a Feeder League
Focusing on the transfer portal to fill holes in the roster with proven recruits is a better way of spending Oregon’s NIL money. However, this strategy shift only works because Lanning has proven that he can go into the portal and effectively get whomever he wants, including two of the most coveted positions out of the portal, offensive and defensive linemen.
Derrick Harmon puts fear into Ohio State quarterback Will Howard in October 2024. (Photo By: Eric Becker)
Ajani Cornelius was the best offensive lineman of 2023 in the transfer portal, and Ohio State was pushing for him before he settled on Oregon. He was developed at Oregon and drafted in the sixth round of this year’s NFL draft. Additionally, Derrick Harmon transferred from Michigan State to Oregon in 2024 and certainly elevated his draft stock. He was still likely to be drafted if he stayed at Michigan State, but in transferring to Oregon, he elevated his skills to where he became a first-round pick.
Outside of offensive and defensive line positions, Lanning and his staff has proven they can develop transfer players into draft picks. Bo Nix is probably the poster child for this. He was unlikely to be drafted at all if he stayed with Auburn, but in his two years at Oregon, he boosted his stock enough that he was taken No. 16 overall and had a fantastic rookie season with Denver.
This point was emphasized by one of the best safeties in the 2025 transfer portal, Dillon Thieneman, when he explained why he chose Oregon: “I saw that Oregon’s really good at taking in transfers and developing them and transitioning them to the next level.” With this reputation, Lanning gets almost anyone he wants out of the portal.
This all emphasizes the difference between recruiting the transfer portal instead of high schoolers. For transfer portal recruits, their priorities tend to be fair pay via NIL, a chance to compete at the top of college football, and the opportunity to elevate their draft stock — all of which Oregon can provide.
This means Oregon can rebuild every year with the best players from other teams who are proven college talent. Just on the offensive line, this year Oregon landed: Alex Harkey from Texas State, Isiah World from Nevada, and Pregnon from USC. All of these linemen were huge gets for Oregon, as they were some of the best linemen in the portal.
Alex Harkey protects Dante Moore in the Spring Game. (Photo By: Gary Breedlove)
In addition to adding Thieneman from Purdue, Oregon landed another defensive back from a B1G team, Theran Johnson from Northwestern. On the face of it, neither of these players come from teams at the top of the B1G as both are typical conference basement dwellers. However, Oregon picked up two experienced players who were perhaps the best players on their former teams.
Oregon is using the rest of college football as feeder programs, not unlike Ohio State and other major programs. They are letting other programs develop diamonds in the rough and then taking them once they hit the portal, continuing their development, and elevating them to the next level.
The position Oregon is in has become highly unique at this stage of the transfer portal. Oregon can supplement their roster with the best players from teams all over the country, including the B1G and SEC. Oregon is able to treat the majority of the college football programs as feeder programs. These teams bring in undiscovered talent that they develop, and then Oregon and other top tier programs take from the transfer portal and polish them into higher NFL draft picks.
Oregon does this at a far more sustainable and reasonable NIL cost than the method many other college football programs are taking this year. Is this what Oregon is doing, or am I outright sunshine pumping Oregon’s transfer recruiting while the Ducks continue to struggle with prep recruits?
David Marsh Portland, Oregon Top Photo By: Gary Breedlove
Andrew Mueller, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in higher education in Chicago, Illinois.
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David Marsh is a high school social studies teacher in Portland, Oregon. As a teacher he is known for telling puns to his students who sometimes laugh out of sympathy, and being both eccentric about history and the Ducks.
David graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with Majors in: Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. David began following Ducks Football after being in a car accident in 2012; finding football something new and exciting to learn about during this difficult time in his life. Now, he cannot see life without Oregon football.
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The Big Ten and SEC have been encouraging the College Football Playoff landscape to change, and the NCAA has yet to find a stable, consistent format that makes everyone happy. The 2024-25 CFP format was a 12-team playoff bracket with the five, highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids. The top four conference champions received a […]
The Big Ten and SEC have been encouraging the College Football Playoff landscape to change, and the NCAA has yet to find a stable, consistent format that makes everyone happy.
The 2024-25 CFP format was a 12-team playoff bracket with the five, highest-ranked conference champions receiving automatic bids. The top four conference champions received a bye in the first-round. The other seven spots were filled out by the highest-ranked teams remaining, according to the CFP Selection Committee. This format revised the original bracket that included the six, highest-ranked conference champions with the leftover spots filled by the six, highest-ranked teams remaining.
Heading into he 2025-26 season, the picture is still under revision.
How the College Football Playoffs format could look in 2025-26
In May 2025, the CFP format was officially tweaked again, according to ESPN. It was decided that CFP would take on a straight seeding format with the highest-ranked conference champions still receiving an automatic bid. The four highest-ranked of all 12 qualifying teams, regardless of if they are a conference champion or not, would receive a bye in the first-round.
This still did not appease all conferences in the NCAA, notably the Big Ten and SEC. In return, the commissioners decided for a total do-over, according to Brett McMurphy on X, to determine what the 2026 CFP format will look like.
The Big Ten and SEC pushed for their conferences to have four automatic qualifiers and the ACC and Big 12 to have two per conference. As expected, the ACC and Big 12 opposed this pitch and eventually the SEC followed suit. Instead, the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 openly supported the 16-team playoff bracket with five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams.
The Big Ten and SEC butt heads over regular season schedules influencing the CFP format
Alongside the 16-team bracket, the SEC wants strength-of-schedule to be an important deciding factor for the committee wen ranking teams. Not only does the conference as a whole support this but so do individual players.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia said on a podcast that certain conferences are not challenged week after week in the regular season.
“You want to play with the best – you don’t want to play with the Big Ten … You ignore those calls,” Pavia said on the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, according to Spartans Wire. ” … The SEC, it’s like week after week. You’re going to get beat on. The Big Ten, you’re not gonna get beat on with the Purdue, Nebraskas.”
Determining the playoff bracket with strength-of-schedule being one of the most important factors, though, also leads to some questions. If SEC schools, like Vanderbilt, were thrown into schedules from other conferences, it can’t be said for certain that they wouldn’t struggle.
Some conferences also don’t play the same number of league games, which goes into their schedule strength or lack thereof. The SEC, for example, plays eight league games while the Big Ten plays nine in the regular season. The Big Ten has also encouraged playing an SEC school in the regular season, but the SEC continues to oppose this idea.
“I don’t think there’s any way we can do a 16-team playoff if [the SEC is] not at nine,” Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said.
As for Penn State, committee bias remains a larger issue.
“There’s all these complaints about the BCS, but then we go to this, and I think it goes back to really, my answer is, the problem is, everybody voting and everybody involved in the process — whether you want to be biased or not, we all are biased,” Franklin said, according to CBS Sports in early June.
When commenting on selection committee bias, though, the Nittany Lions’ 2025 playoff fate was not something fixing bias would change. If anything, switching to a 16-team bracket would help improve objectivity as opposed to the Big Ten-pitched model that automatically gave two conferences eight playoff seeds.
At the latest, the 2026 CFP format must be finalized on Dec. 1. With the straight seed format still in consideration and conferences throwing in their wants and opinions, the playoff landscape will likely be up in the air for a while.
Texas Tech softball is going all in a year after Gerry Glasco's arrival
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech softball team on June 20, 2024. A year later, the Red Raiders have gone from afterthought to headliner, occupying a space in the world of college softball never seen in Lubbock. Hours after the Red Raiders returned from their run in the Women’s College […]
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the Texas Tech softball team on June 20, 2024. A year later, the Red Raiders have gone from afterthought to headliner, occupying a space in the world of college softball never seen in Lubbock.
Hours after the Red Raiders returned from their run in the Women’s College World Series, Glasco, his staff and the boosters supporting the program started building toward 2026. First came the commitment of Ohio State catcher Jasmyn Burns. A few days later, the second wave came in with Florida’s Mia Williams, UCLA’s Kaitlyn Terry and Southern Illinois’ Jackie Lis entering the fray.
Then came the commitment of Tennessee’s Taylor Pannell, who hit the transfer portal and pledged to the Red Raiders in the span of a few hours. And on Wednesday night, El Paso native and New Mexico State two-way player Desirae Spearman added her name to the list.
These moves have generated numerous headlines, not all of which are positive. Texas Tech has been accused of tampering — being in contact with players before the end of their seasons with their respective teams — to put together this transfer portal haul. Hearsay is enticing, creates buzz and generates clicks bosses love. The initial claim caught much more traction than another story, from the Austin American-Statesman, which poked several holes in the story from SI, but Tech’s reputation had shifted altogether regardless.
In two week’s time, Glasco has gone from the feel-good story of the sport to the leader of college softball’s equivalent to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The star power brought in to join NiJaree Canady in Lubbock is something never seen before in the sport, and most people aren’t sure how to handle it.
Texas Tech is the new kid on the block, operating behind a group of wealthy alumni motivated to stake a claim in a sport it had little relevance in this time last year. The turn from baby face to heel was swift, sudden and unexpected, causing a ripple effect throughout the sport. It started with bringing Canady to Lubbock, and now the Red Raiders are ready for their second act.
Texas Tech softball roster for 2026 after transfer portal additions, losses
Here’s where the Red Raider roster stands for the 2026 season after the transfer portal window for softball players has closed. Players are listed by school year for the 2025-26 academic calendar.
SENIORS: NiJaree Canady (pitcher/utility), Jackie Lis (infielder), Mihyia Davis (outfielder), Victoria Valdez (catcher), Alana Johnson (outfielder), Chloe Riassetto (pitcher)
JUNIORS: Lauren Allred (first base), Mia Williams (second base), Taylor Pannell (third base), Kaitlyn Terry (pitcher/outfielder), Jasmyn Burns (catcher), Logan Halleman (utility), Makayla Garcia (utility), Desirae Spearman (pitcher/outfielder)
SOPHOMORES: Hailey Toney (shortstop), Samantha Lincoln (pitcher)
FRESHMEN: Mallie West (pitcher), Cimone Edge (first base/catcher), Timber Hensley (pitcher/utility), Mia Richards (first base/catcher)
DEPARTURES: Exhausted eligibility — Alexa Langeliers and Demi Elder; Entered transfer portal — Bailey Lindemuth, Raegan Jennings, Brenlee Gonzales, Sydney Shiller, Anya German and Kiley Huffman.
Why Texas Tech softball’s transfer portal haul is significant
The Red Raiders have all but sewn up their roster for the 2026 roster after Spearman’s commitment. Another name or two could come up in the next week or two, but they could sit tight if they so choose to.
Now the attention turns to putting all these new pieces together, making them fit into a new puzzle. The onus is on Glasco to do just that.
Prior to the 2025 season, Texas Tech had four players in program history named All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. The 2026 team is slated to have four players who were NFCA All-Americans during the 2025 season alone. Canady and Burns were first-team selections while Williams and Pannell were second-team selections.
Texas Tech hit a total of 60 home runs as a team last year. Williams, Pannell, Burns, Lis, Terry and Spearman hit a combined 93 dingers themselves.
Williams, Terry and Lis have been officially announced as signings. Tech is expected to announce the signings of Burns and Pannell in the coming days, Spearman committed late Wednesday night.
Transfer additions have garnered the most attention, though the Red Raiders also have important pieces who have decided to stick around. Mihyia Davis, Hailey Toney, Alana Johnson and Lauren Allred should all return to the starting lineup in 2026. Victoria Valdez is back as well, though her starting catcher spot seems gone with the addition of Burns.
Moving pieces abound for the Red Raiders right now, which makes fall ball even more important for Texas Tech this year. Competition exists for several players on the roster, and team depth is a bit stronger than it was in 2025.
Texas Tech softball building for 2026 and beyond
While the focus for Texas Tech will be to finish things off with a national championship in 2026, something the Red Raiders came so close to doing in Year 1 under Glasco, the moves made over the last few weeks weren’t intended as one-year investments.
Among the in-coming transfers (so far), Lis in the only senior for the 2025-26 season. Williams, Pannell, Terry, Spearman and Burns will also be juniors next season, as will Allred, and Toney will be a sophomore. The entire projected starting infield will have multiple years together, giving Texas Tech a foundation beyond 2026.
Just how will this all work by the time the season officially starts in February? Nobody knows for sure. A year ago, the question was who exactly was going to be in a Red Raider uniform by the time Glasco coached his first game at Texas Tech. This is a much better problem to have for any coach.
AI-assisted summary Texas baseball secured a commitment from Seton Hall outfielder Aiden Robbins, a top transfer portal player. Robbins, a two-year eligible player, boasts impressive 2025 stats including a .422 batting average and All-Big East honors. Known for his strong defense and speed, Robbins is expected to start immediately for the Longhorns. Robbins joins recent […]
Robbins, who primarily plays right field, has two years of eligibility left. In 2025, Robbins hit .422 with six home runs, 38 RBIs and 63 runs scored. He was a 1st-team All-Big East selection.
Robbins played high school ball at Holy Ghost Preparatory school in Yardley, Pennsylvania, before signing with Seton Hall. He figures to be a potential day one starter in the outfield. Robbins, known for his defense, had zero errors in the 2025 season. He also will add speed to the basepaths for the Longhorns.
The commitment comes on the heels of two other transfer portal commitments from former Mississippi State pitcher Luke Dotson and Georgia State utility player Kaleb Freeman. Robbins is the second outfield transfer Texas has picked up in the portal, joining Butler’s Jack Moroknek. Texas is looking to add depth in the outfield after losing Tommy Farmer IV to the portal and Max Belyeu (most likely) to the Major League Baseball draft.
Questions remain over foreign college athletes, NIL money
Kristi Dosh, an attorney and reporter who has covered the business of college sports as well or better than anyone during the turbulence of NIL and the transfer portal era, last week said a leading immigration attorney told her that foreign athletes continue to be ineligible to get NIL money. I listened to her interview […]
Kristi Dosh, an attorney and reporter who has covered the business of college sports as well or better than anyone during the turbulence of NIL and the transfer portal era, last week said a leading immigration attorney told her that foreign athletes continue to be ineligible to get NIL money. I listened to her interview on Sirius XM Channel 84, a college sports channel.
How can that be? That would mean former Arizona basketball player Henri Veesaar, who transferred to North Carolina, will not receive any money from the Tar Heels. I can’t believe he transferred from Arizona to North Carolina so quickly after the season without a pile of money as incentive.
If what Dosh says is true, that means Arizona foreign basketball players Mo Krivas, Dwayne Aristode and Anthony Dell’Orso, among others, are playing strictly for scholarship money and cannot be part of the estimated $3 million Tommy Lloyd will get from the new revenue-sharing plan for his athletes. Not a chance.
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Baylor guard Robert Wright III drives to the basket against Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso during the first half Feb. 17, 2025, in Waco, Texas.
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If you wish to become educated on the implementation of the House settlement for college athletics, the NCAA has made a 35-page document available at tucne.ws/house.
I read it. It took more than an hour and I still wasn’t certain what is legal and what isn’t. Good luck.
Dig deeper into Arizona Daily Star columnist Greg Hansen’s notebook
Andrew Mueller, the FishDuck.com Volunteer Editor for this article, works in higher education in Chicago, Illinois.
Gerry Glasco was hired as head coach of the 
