Tennessee football hasn’t lost to Vanderbilt since 2018 and is 4-0 under the watch of Josh Heupel.

That recent history didn’t stop Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia from giving his thoughts on the future of the rivalry. He called out the Vols on an appearance on the podcast ‘Bussin’ with the Boys.’

“Vanderbilt is going to run Tennessee after this year,” Pavia said. “This is going to be the new staple of college football. It’s going to happen here at Vanderbilt.”

The following podcast contains NSFW language.

His reasoning is Vanderbilt’s location and NIL funds. He claims the reason people visit the state is to go to Nashville, the home of VU’s campus.

He also said that the Commodores will have ‘the most money in NIL’ in the future. The key is to get the ball rolling this upcoming season.

“Everyone wants to come to Tennessee because of Nashville. They want to come to Nashville, so Vanderbilt,” Pavia said. “And then when we have the most money in NIL, why not come here? We literally just have to win this year and throughout the rest of the year, it’ll take care of itself.”

Pavia enters his second season with the program as the starting quarterback. A year ago, he started against Tennessee at home, but had little success.

The Vols won the matchup 36-23 with their defense limiting what Pavia could do. He finished throwing 8-for-17 for 104 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times.

On the ground, Pavia notched 45 yards on 11 carries.

Overall, Tennessee owns the series 81-32-5. Since 1983, the Vols are up 36-6 in the series. This included a 22-game win-streak from 1983-2004.

This upcoming season, for Pavia and company to win, they’ll have to win inside Neyland Stadium on the road. The last time Vanderbilt pulled that off was 2017 in Butch Jones’ final season. Jones was already fired by that time with Brady Hoke serving as interim head coach.

Overall, the Vols are 40-11-1 at home in the series.

FILE – South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers (16) reacts after scoring a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Clemson, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Clemson, S.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman, FIle)

(WCIV) — South Carolina’s breakout star quarterback, LaNorris Sellers, couldn’t think of anywhere else to play.

After leading the Gamecocks to a 9-4 (5-3) record in the 2024 season, Sellers, a redshirt sophomore, proved that some things are worth more than money. Sellers’ father, Norris, told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that his son was offered a two-year, $8 million NIL offer from another school, which he declined.

“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” Norris said. “I told him he could say, I’m gonna stay or I’m gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn’t come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we’re not gonna jump ship because they’re offering more than what we’re getting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

LaNorris echoed the sentiment, claiming that he wants to build something special in his home state.

“I’ve been playing football all of my life for free,” LaNorris said. “I’ve built relationships here, my family’s here, my brother’s here. There’s no reason for me to go someplace else and start over.”

South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers looks to throw a pass during the first half of the Citrus Bowl NCAA college football game against Illinois, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Sellers is just the latest quarterback in the college football ranks to command eye-opening amounts of money.

According to On3’s NIL valuation tracker, Arch Manning commands $6.8 million at the University of Texas. Carson Beck, who earned $4.3 million from the University of Miami, was not far behind.

Sellers has built a cult-like following after his slow start in Columbia.

He threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns. Sellers also pitched in on the ground, rushing for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.

The defining performance of Sellers’ first year as a starter came in a rivalry game against Clemson, where he ran for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a come-from-behind 17-24 win. He capped off that performance with an impressive 20-yard touchdown run on a third-and-16 play with one minute remaining.

With just one year as a full-time starter under his belt, Sellers is already ranked as a top-five draft pick in 2026, according to ESPN.

But until then, he is comfortable saying that no amount of money can buy him the happiness he felt playing for the Gamecocks.

“He’s made of the right stuff,” Gamecocks Head Coach Shane Beamer said. “He’s got a great family around him. He knows what he means to this state. LaNorris has a chance to leave a legacy here.”

While waiting for the House v. NCAA settlement to conclude, I, like many other college football fans, had to finally accept that the amateurism model, in place for over a century, has come to an end.

The settlement ruling, which has been five years in the making, results from the 2020 class-action antitrust lawsuit filed by Arizona State swimmer Grant House and Texas Christian University women’s basketball player Sedona Prince, along with other student-athletes.

I found it particularly interesting that the lawsuit was led by House and Prince, who do not participate in the top revenue-producing sports.As a swimmer, House participates in an Olympic sport, and swimming, along with sports like tennis and golf, will not benefit as much from the $20.5 million that schools will be allowed to share with athletes.

Women’s Division I basketball does generate a respectable profit, with NCAA figures for the 2019 season calculated at $600 million, and the NCAA will begin paying women’s teams “performance units” for their participation in the tourney for the upcoming season, with $15 million being awarded. The units will increase to $20 million for the 2026-27 season, then jump to $25 million the following year. Schools will receive payments on a continuous three-year basis in 2026. Men’s basketball teams have profited from performance units since 1991, and the men’s tournament brought in over $900 million for the 2024-25 season. Schools will continue to rake in millions of dollars from March Madness and the expanded College Football Playoff, but with the $20.5 million cap that will be split among student-athletes, the lion’s share of these profits will go to the major money-making sports of football and men’s basketball in the Power Four conferences, although female basketball stars like the University of Southern California’s JuJu Watkins and Louisiana State University’s Flau’jae Johnson should also see their earnings rise. Stars in these sports will continue to prosper financially from lucrative name, image and likeness deals made possible by the 2021 NCAA v. Alston ruling.

Athletes who played before the Alston decision will be compensated back to 2016, as U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved a whopping $2.8 billion — which will be disbursed within 10 years — to reimburse those who competed before the current NIL era. As a Buckeye fan and alumna, I was very sorry that the stars of Ohio State’s 2014 national championship football team will not be able to cash in on their past laurels. I can only imagine the millions Cardale Jones, our third-string quarterback who led us to the title, would have made from his storybook run. Wideout Braxton Miller would have sold thousands of T-shirts with his signature spin move from his breathtaking performance against Virginia Tech that season. I’m sure many college athletes who won championships before 2016 are pondering what could have been if they had been allowed to accept endorsements. The House ruling will permit colleges and universities to pay student-athletes starting July 1, and as this next phase begins, the newly formed College Sports Commission will oversee NIL transactions and enforce new rules for the Power Four conferences. One significant benefit of the commission’s oversight is that it will be able to determine if athletes are seeking much more from university collectives than what their market value says they are worth, and many football coaches are hoping for a change to the transfer portal, which is currently open twice a year.

Knowing that the House settlement was inevitable, I have mixed feelings about this new era of college sports that continues to evolve. While I believe athletes should be paid fairly, direct payments from schools and NIL will take some focus away from academics and personal development. I continue to assert that the culture in athletic programs will now be more important than ever, and smaller schools probably have an advantage here in that NIL deals and revenue sharing will not be massive for their student-athletes.

© Kirby Lee/Imagn

Audio By Carbonatix

As we move into the revenue sharing era of college sports, schools are getting more creative to find ways to generate more income. For some schools, that includes working with the state legislature, as is the case with a new law in Lousiana.

Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports reports that the state of Lousiana is set to raise taxes on sports betting in order to distribute additional funds to its 11 state-sponsored universities, including the LSU Tigers.

The new bill, which must first be signed by governor Jeff Landry, is expected to raise more than $24 million. Landry is a Louisiana-Lafayette graduate but seemingly a big fan of the Tigers. Last football season, Landry backed a push to return a live tiger to the sidelines of games in Tiger Stadium.

LSU Tigers Set To Land Major Pay Day Thanks To New Louisiana Sports Gambling Tax

According to Schiffer, the new bill stands to  raise the state’s 15% tax on online betting profits to 21.5%.

Additionally, “A quarter of the tax revenue, estimated to bring in $24.3 million, would be split evenly among the state’s 11 public universities that play in Division I football conferences. The money won’t be used for direct NIL payments

“Instead, it must be used for ‘for the benefit of student athletes,’ which includes scholarships, facility enhancements, and insurance, among other uses. The money could help free up other resources within the athletic department as schools adjust their books for revenue sharing.”

Meanwhile, the Tigers have emerged as one of the strong NIL players in college football. On3 Sports, led by five-star wide receiver Tristen Keys, currently ranks LSU’s 2026 class No. 2 in the country. Keys recently inked a lucrative NIL deal with Adidas, which is interesting given LSU’s current apparel deal with competitor Nike. Especially given the fact that Keys took a weekend visit to Tennessee, which is rumored to move from Nike to Adidas following the 2025-26 academic year.