The winter holidays mark a time of joy and celebration for some, but are more defined by anxiety for others. Amid college football’s annual holiday-season tradition of bowls games, the sport’s shift from the long-held postseason customs to an expanded playoff heightens anxiety.

Regardless if one falls in the category of joyful reveler or cantankerous Scrooge, consumerism plays a critical role in the season. College football is no different, with the recent advent of NIL becoming a foundational element of the game evident in the remaining Playoff field.

As the bracket whittled down from 12 to eight with last weekend’s opening-round games, the College Football Playoff demonstrated an exercise comparable to Eddie Murphy’s monologue about Christmastime spending in the seasonal classic Trading Places: “I ain’t gonna have money to buy my son the G.I. Joe with the kung-fu grip, and my wife ain’t going to make love to me ‘cause I got no money.”

Well, reaching the Playoff and advancing are similar. The eight quarterfinalists stand as testament to spending power — though it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how much, which contributes to rising anxieties.

A CBS Sports article ahead of the 1st Round broke down the tournament into NIL-spending tiers, with five of the 12 labeled “elite spenders.” Four of those play on in the round of eight: reigning national champion Ohio State, Oregon, Texas Tech and Miami, which outlasted fellow elite spender Texas A&M in what was perhaps uncoincidentally the most competitive of the four opening-round games.

James Madison and Tulane were both routed against deep-pocketed opponents in Oregon and Ole Miss, which isn’t necessarily a data point worth applying to any NIL discussion. Athletic departments with more funds through television revenue, merchandising, etc. have long had advantages against their counterparts from conferences with fewer resources, and that disparity is a defining trait of the underdog stories fans love.

In the case of this year’s Playoff other historical underdogs, however, NIL spending is an undeniably crucial factor in Indiana and Texas Tech pursuing the national championship.

The top-seeded, undefeated Hoosiers head into their first Rose Bowl Game in almost six decades behind the Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. The Indiana quarterback has an NIL valuation of $2.6 million per On3.com estimates, up from the $1.6 million estimate shortly after Mendoza’s transfer from Cal.

And while less dramatic in a historical context than Indiana’s rise to prominence, Texas Tech competing for the national championship is a significant jump for a program previously destined to also-ran status. The Red Raiders are underdogs in the sense that they were rarely competitive on a national level previously, but Texas Tech reportedly spends on NIL with a fervor comparable to top-tier soccer clubs.

The soccer parallel works in part because, like a once-middling Manchester City became an English Premier League powerhouse coinciding with an infusion of cash, Texas Tech owes much of its rise to oil money.

On3 reported Texas Tech spent a whopping $28 million on its 2025 roster, making it one of the highest-priced lineups in college football. The public face of Tech’s NIL collective, former Red Raiders lineman Cody Campbell, sold his energy company Double Eagle for a reported $4.1 billion earlier this year.

So does this year’s Playoff foreshadow all our football holiday seasons to come? Does a program need its own version of Landman to strike it rich in order to compete?

Looking at the other closely contested 1st-Round matchup — Alabama’s comeback win at Oklahoma — offers fascinating perspective. It pit against one another two historically outstanding programs that CBS Sports designated as “good, but not as elite as you think” spenders.

That’s an interesting description, as it aligns particularly with Alabama’s drop-off from the most dominant program in the sport in the years just before the Supreme Court allowed NIL payments in 2021, to the Crimson Tide’s current positioning as a consistent winner but hardly a world-beater.

Now, it’s overly simplistic to credit Alabama’s marginal slide to NIL spending and discredits just how remarkable Nick Saban was as the Tide’s head coach. But it is noteworthy that Saban has been an outspoken critic not of NIL, but its lack of structure.

“I’m all for the players making money,” [but] I don’t think we have a sustainable system right now,” Saban said last spring. I think a lot of people would agree with that. In terms of the future of college athletics period, not just football, how do we sustain 20 other non-revenue sports that create lots of other opportunities for people in the future?”

In its parallel with the holiday season, Saban’s comments about the long-term health of college athletics during this present-day era of unregulated spending might bring to mind nightmares of credit-card bills coming due after a gift-buying spree.

You have perhaps noticed much of the information on NIL spending is presented in estimates. The lack of concrete oversight or regulation makes evaluating the landscape difficult, and only adds to the anxiety surrounding NIL.

Tulane finished the regular season as American Athletic Conference champion and secured the AAC’s automatic berth into the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff, closing the year with a 12–1 record.

Unfortunately, the Green Wave’s historic season ended with a 41–10 loss to Ole Miss in the first round, as the Rebels dominated from the opening kickoff and advanced to face No. 3 Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Jon Sumrall, Tulane’s head coach since December 2023, guided the program to consecutive conference-title contention and the 2025 AAC crown before taking the open Florida job on November 30, agreeing to a six-year deal worth nearly $7.5 million annually.

Now, one of the Green Wave’s cornerstone players is set to leave alongside him.

On Wednesday, Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett reported that Tulane All-American interior offensive lineman Shadre Hurst is entering the NCAA transfer portal.

Hurst is a redshirt junior interior lineman who has started 36 career games for the Green Wave, earning First-Team All-AAC honors and All-American recognition in both 2024 and 2025.

Tulane’s athletic department also placed Hurst on multiple preseason national watch lists in 2025, including the Outland Trophy Preseason Watch List.

Pro Football Focus graded Hurst with a 90.5 pass-blocking mark, placing him among the nation’s highest-rated pass protectors at his position.

Before arriving at Tulane, Hurst was a Cartersville (Georgia) high-school product who earned First Team All-State honors from the AJC and First Team All-Region 7-AAAAA recognition.

He also emerged as one of the Southeast’s top heavyweight wrestlers, finishing state runner-up as a junior before winning a state championship as a senior.

Despite those accolades, Hurst was an unranked prospect who held just five offers—Tulane, UMass, Washington State, Chattanooga, and Southeast Missouri State.

Now, he is widely viewed as both an NFL prospect (projected third- to fourth-round pick) and a highly attractive Power Four transfer target in need of experienced interior offensive line help.

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Ole Miss Rebels running back Kewan Lacy is in the midst of a historic 2025 season after joining the program in Oxford last offseason.

The Missouri Tigers transfer has taken on a significant workload for the Rebels where his meteoric rise catapulted his status to a Doak Award finalist – annually given to America’s top running back.

Lacy was named a first team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America last week after a historic 2025 campaign.

It became the sixth All-America honor for Lacy, who was also the first Doak Walker Award finalist in Ole Miss history.

Lacy has been a second-team honoree on other All-America teams released by the Associated Press, AFCA, The Sporting News, Walter Camp and Sports Info Solutions. Lacy has also been a first-team All-SEC running back for both the AP and the league coaches.

The Ole Miss star running back has been one of the best rushers in the nation all season long for the 12-1 Rebels, currently holding a season line of 258 attempts for 1,279 yards and 21 touchdowns.

But there remains buzz surrounding Lacy’s future in Oxford amid Lane Kiffin’s move from Ole Miss to LSU this fall.

Once Kiffin accepted the LSU Tigers head coaching job, the rumor mill started swirling surrounding where he would play during the 2026 season: Could Ole Miss retain him or would he enter the portal?

Fast forward to Monday and Ole Miss running backs coach Kevin Smith was formally introduced as the next running backs coach/associate head coach of the LSU Tigers – joining offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. and others in Baton Rouge.

Now, with Lacy’s former head coach, offensive coordinator, and position coach on staff with the LSU program, there is concern surrounding his future in Oxford.

But the Ole Miss Rebels aren’t going down without a fight, according to multiple reports, with the program offering a significant NIL package in hopes of having him back for the 2026 season.

According to LouisianaSports.net, the Ole Miss Rebels are offering a $1.8 million deal to get him back next fall:

“Lacy has not declared his intention to enter the portal, however, a video surfaced of a phone conversation where Kiffin suggested Smith and Lacy would be joining him at LSU.

“LouisianaSports.net previously reported Ole Miss has offered Lacy $1.8 million to return to the Rebels in 2026.”

Now, as Lacy’s future with Ole Miss remains in questions, it’s no secret that Rebels officials are rolling out the red carpet in hopes of having him back with the program for next season with a strong offer presented.

More Ole Miss News:

Lane Kiffin Reacts to New Offensive Coordinator Being Hired By Ole Miss Football

Ole Miss Football QB Trinidad Chambliss Wins Major Award Amid Breakout Season

ESPN Predicts Outcome of Ole Miss Football vs. Tulane Green Wave in CFP Showdown

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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and Ole Miss Rebels On SI: @OleMissOnSI for all coverage surrounding the Ole Miss program.

The NCAA transfer portal will open for all college football players looking for a new school to play for in the 2026 season.

The transfer portal can be an exciting prospect for successful programs looking to reload their talent pool ahead of the following season. For struggling programs, the idea of roster retention can feel like an uphill battle against potential suitors in the transfer portal.

One program that is fighting the aforementioned uphill battle with roster retention is West Virginia. A multitude of players on the 2025 roster for the Mountaineers have already decided to look for greener grass in the transfer portal.

Among the more notable departures for the Mountaineers in the 2026 offseason will be quarterback Khalil Wilkins and running backs Jahiem White and Diore Hubbard.

Wilkins was given snaps as a backup in games against Robert Morris, Kansas, Utah, BYU, UCF and Texas Tech. He tallied 185 passing yards, a touchdown pass and two interceptions while rushing for another 243 yards and two interceptions.

While his 2025 season was far less productive due to injury, White had been given a lot of run with the Mountaineers in his prior two seasons in the program. He accumulated 1,820 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground while catching 27 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns in three seasons.

Hubbard finished 2025 as West Virginia’s most productive running back. He ran for 335 yards and four touchdowns and caught 16 passes for 156 yards.

So far, 247Sports has reported 19 other players will transfer out of West Virginia.

Offensively, running backs Tyler Jacklich, Kannon Katzer and Clay Ash, wide receivers Tyshawn Dues and Oran Singleton Jr, and offensive linemen Robby Martin, Cooper Young, Jude Edwards and Ethan Chill are heading for the portal.

On defense, linemen Adam Tomczyk and Jackson Biser, linebacker Mike Hastie, and defensive backs Zae Jennings, William Davis, Dawayne Galloway Jr., Devonte Golden-Nelson, Kaleb Gray, and Matthias Squire are all exiting. Punter Aidan Stire is also entering the transfer portal.

The Mountaineers rehired Rich Rodriguez to be their head coach after parting with Neal Brown at the conclusion of the 2024 season. Rodriguez coached at West Virginia from 2001-2007 and had held head coaching jobs at Michigan, Arizona and Jacksonville State after leaving.

West Virginia finished 14th in the Big 12 standings with its 4-8 overall record. The Mountaineers’ 2025 wins were against Robert Morris (45-3), Pittsburgh (31-24), Houston (45-35) and Colorado (29-22).

The landscape is evolving fast, and more teams saw the success of Miami, Texas Tech, Oregon, and Indiana in the portal, and will become more
competitive. Texas Tech is doubling down, and we can expect more competition even inside the ACC with Clemson and VaTech. Point here, is what was good and competitive in 2025, wont be enough in 2026. Solid HS recruiting helps, but just look at the impact of our portal class this season. January 2nd through the 10th is going to be crucial, and hope we have our ducks in a row right now. The financial commitment needs to grow to be on par with Texas Tech and Oregon.