ATHENS — Collectively, the Georgia football program is focused on its Sugar Bowl showdown with Ole Miss that’s rapidly approaching.

But behind the scenes next season’s roster is being determined, as Kirby Smart has met with players about their football futures.

Smart — arguably the master of modern-day roster management with the most NFL draft picks (46) and national titles (2) in college football the previous four years — has held private meetings with players about their football futures.

It’s fair to say retention, as much as recruiting, has been key to the Bulldogs’ championship runs going back to Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt deciding together to return for the 2021 season.

Georgia, with 54% of its roster made up of first- or second-year players, figures to have several key contributors returning to a team Smart has enjoyed coaching this season.

“A couple of them just told me they want to go back and practice tonight, they said they want to get out there tonight and get on a Bloody Tuesday when we get back home,” Smart said in his postgame on-field interview after the 28-7 SEC title game win over Alabama.

“That’s the kind of mentality this team has — they want to practice some more, they want to practice some more, they love contact, and we love them.”

Settling up

If there is a silver lining to Georgia missing out on 2026 quarterback recruit Jared Curtis — whose signing would have cost in excess of $700,000 — it’s that Smart has more funds to spread around on returning players.

The Bulldogs, like many other programs, front-loaded investing in the 2025 class with the settlement of the landmark House vs. NCAA case pending, as it brought about a $20.5 million cap that schools could directly pay student-athletes for usage of their Name, Image and Likeness.

Smart noted the challenge some of the front-loaded deals would bring when discussing last year’s signing classes.

“ … What’s going to happen when those people expect that same money the next year and it’s not there because you’re in a cap?” Smart said last April. “There’s going to be a correction eventually, and I don’t think any of us know what’s going to happen.”

What has happened is that Georgia, like other schools, is working to help secure NIL deals for student-athletes that meet the standard for approval required by the College Sports Commission’s “NIL Go” platform.

“We can now help our athletes really serve as a marketing agency to go out and source opportunities, whether it’s corporate opportunities, whether it’s local opportunities, whether it’s social media opportunities,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said on Front Office Sports Today. “That’s going to be the next race.”

Per ESPN, more than 8,300 NIL deals worth approximately $80 million were approved between June 11 and Aug. 31 alone.

Keeping the culture

Name Image and Likeness deals, though not intended to be an incentive for recruiting talent or inducing transfers, certainly have had an effect.

But in a college football world dominated by high-profile transfers — including seven of the 10 Heisman Trophy finalists — Smart’s program continues to feature a culture built from within.

Indeed, the difference between Georgia and Ole Miss — its CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal opponent (8 p.m. Jan. 1) — is no less than stunning.

UGA recruits have made 90% of the starts for the Bulldogs this season, while nearly two-thirds (66.3%) of the starts made in the Rebels’ program have been made by transfers.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Lane Kiffin, the architect of the Ole Miss roster, has himself transferred in the sense of leaving his team for what’s perceived to be a better job as LSU’s head coach.

Building blocks

Indiana and Texas Tech — the next two most transfer-heavy teams in the 12-team College Football Playoff — took different approaches to free agency.

Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti has brought 13 transfers with him from his previous job as James Madison head coach, effectively replanting a team culture in Bloomington, Indiana.

Cignetti, like Kiffin a former Nick Saban assistant, was not like Kiffin when it came to cashing in on his success in pursuit of a better job, even while his name was among the hottest for the most high-profile jobs.

Cignetti, whose most recent portal haul included 23 players (including Heisman Trophy-winner Fernando Mendoza and veteran Notre Dame starting center Pat Coogan), re-signed an 8-year contract with Indiana that will pay him $11.6 million annually — this, after more than doubling his salary at Indiana with an extension worth more than $8 million annually signed the year before.

Texas Tech, meanwhile, has a roster reportedly worth some $25 million reportedly funded by prominent Texas Tech booster and billionaire oilman Cody Campbell, a former Red Raiders offensive lineman (2001-04).

Campbell, who founded the Double Eagle Energy oil and gas company, leads the school’s “Matador Club” NIL collective and he is the school’s Chairman of the Board of Regents.

The Red Raiders brought in seven of the top 75 players in ESPN’s transfer rankings.

It’s worth noting five of the top 10 ESPN transfers helped lead their respective new programs into the 12-team College Football Playoff:

• John Mateer (Oklahoma, ranked No. 1)

• Carson Beck (Miami, ranked No. 2)

• Fernando Mendoza (Indiana, ranked No. 5)

• Makhi Hughes (Oregon, ranked No. 7)

• Zachariah Branch (Georgia, ranked No. 10).

The Red Raiders will next face Oregon in the CFP Orange Bowl quarterfinal at noon on Jan. 1.

The Ducks’ roster is widely believed to benefit from the school’s well-known association with Nike co-founder and billionaire booster Phil Knight.

Smart said at the 2024 SEC Media Days: “(I) wish I could get some of that NIL money (Knight is) sharing with Dan Lanning.”

Campaigning for dollars

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham openly campaigned on Saturday for $20 million in NIL money from someone — anyone — in the Phoenix community.

“We need to find one of these really rich people in this city to step up and stroke a check,” said Dillingham, whose Sun Devils missed making this year’s CFP field after winning the Big 12 last season.

“We live in Phoenix, Arizona. You’re telling me there’s not one person who could stroke a $20 million check right now? There is somebody out there who can.”

The funding required to compete for championships doesn’t stop with NIL dollars.

Per a recent story in “The Athletic,” this year’s College Football Playoff field reflected the four schools with the highest football budgets — not all calculated the same, the story notes — each made the field.

Total expenses submitted by the schools for 2023-24:

• Alabama: $112.2 million

• Texas A&M: $82.2 million

• Ohio State: $78.6 million

• Miami: $78.1 million

• Georgia: $68.9 million

• Oklahoma: $65.8 million

• Indiana: $61.3 million

• Ole Miss: $57.1 million

• Oregon: $53.9 million

• Texas Tech: $34.3 million

• James Madison: $15.9 million

• Tulane: $13 million

At Georgia, Smart works closely with athletics director Josh Brooks to stay within the proposed budget, while maintaining the necessary relationships with players, eschewing the trend of hiring a general manager.

“It’s still a relationship business for us,” Smart said last spring. “We find our niche in our culture, which is relational, and trying to have a relationship with somebody.”

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes quarterback Byrd Ficklin (15) warms up on the field before Big-12 Football action between the Utah Utes and the Kansas State Wildcats at Rice-Eccles Stadium, on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.

I enjoy college football, but the College Football Playoff Selection Committee just killed my postseason viewing. I’ll only watch the Utah Utes in the Las Vegas Bowl, but I’m supporting Notre Dame’s bowl boycott after it was cheated out of a spot in the College Football Playoff. The University of Alabama was chosen instead, despite having poorer performance stats and losing big in its conference championship game. The University of Miami was also elevated above Notre Dame despite its less impressive stats — with the exception of having narrowly beaten The Fighting Irish in the season opener.

In recent years, the National Collegiate Athletics Association has made a mess of college football, but if the NCAA wants to redeem itself, it could:

1. Expand the playoff to 16 teams with no byes which would have eliminated this year’s fiasco.

2. Realign conferences to have no more than ten teams. The conference champion would be the team with the best record in nine conference games. No conference championship game needed.

3. Eliminate publishing CFP rankings before the end of the season. The committee embarrasses itself when it reorders those without cause.

4. Put income limits on Name Image Likeness as it grossly enriches some players. NIL has turned college football into the NFL Lite.

5. Fix the transfer portal. Allow players only one transfer and perhaps a second if a coach moves on.

6. Convince the Heisman Trophy Trust to award its statue at the end of the playoffs eliminating the embarrassment when an awardee fizzles in postseason play.

7. Consider eliminating conferences altogether. Create leagues of 60 or so teams in upper and lower divisions like European sports are structured with fluidity between the divisions based on teams’ previous year’s performance.

To do all this would just require some good will.

Jim Catano, Salt Lake City

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nick Saban knows his strengths with seven national championships as a college football coach. He also understands how to put coaches and athletes in the best position to succeed.

That’s what he hopes to bring to the NHL’s Nashville Predators after joining the franchise as a minority owner.

“I’m no expert in hockey, so don’t look at me like I’m going to make some huge impact coaching around here because that’s not going to happen,” Saban said Monday. “But I do have a pretty good idea of what it takes to have successful organizations.”

Saban made his first appearance Monday in his new role as a minority owner alongside Predators chairman Bill Haslam.

The Predators announced Saban’s purchase Dec. 16 through Dream Sports Ventures LLC, an entity controlled by Saban and business partner Joe Agresti. That business group features 10 car dealerships, including two in Nashville.

Haslam, a former Tennessee governor, was working on a possible WNBA expansion franchise when Saban told the Predators controlling owner that he also might be interested in hockey.

“I thought, ‘Well, that’s the greatest no brainer of all time,’” Haslam said. “You have somebody who understands building a championship culture, who understands, I think, better than almost anybody in sports the process that’s needed to get to where you can compete as a champion.”

Saban grew up in West Virginia with no hockey around. He became interested in hockey when coaching at Michigan State and became friends and shared ideas with that team’s coach. Saban called this an opportunity to be involved with a team for the first time since he announced his retirement Jan. 10, 2024.

So what will Saban bring to the NHL and the Predators in his newest role?

His experience building programs both in college football and six seasons in the NFL working for Bill Belichick in Cleveland and as head coach of Miami. A “transformational leader” as Saban put it. Once college football season ends, Saban said he will be involved as much as Haslam wants.

Saban already has spoken to coaches and some players during what he called a minicamp. Saban also has met a couple times with general manager Barry Trotz, saying his goal is to support Trotz and everyone else with the Predators.

Nashville won the Western Conference before losing the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 to Pittsburgh in six games. The Predators won the Presidents’ Trophy for the 2017-18 season but ranked 26th out of 32 NHL teams Monday five points back of the second wild-card spot in the West.

“To be a part of the hockey team here is something special, and we’d love to build it into a championship,” Saban said. “We’d love to partner with Mr. Haslam to do anything that we can do to help this organization be successful.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCIV) — One day after South Carolina received word that star quarterback LaNorris Sellers was staying in town, another star said he plans to return to the fold.

Dylan Stewart, the Gamecocks’ star edge rusher, announced he is returning for his true junior season in 2026, according to Pete Thamel, ESPN’s college football insider.

Stewart has 11 sacks in his two seasons at South Carolina and has forced 6 fumbles. Among ESPN’s draft projections, he appears to be a top prospect for the 2027 NFL Draft.

READ MORE | “South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers stays put, vows stronger return for 2026 season.”

The former five-star recruit and rising SEC pass rusher chose continuity over the transfer portal, agreeing to an NIL deal that places him among the highest compensated non-quarterbacks in college football, according to ESPN’s reporting.

South Carolina’s defense is back in reliable hands, as the Gamecocks ready themselves to bounceback from a 4-8 season.

After the pitiful finish, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer shook up his coaching staff.

South Carolina is also expected to hire Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes as the defensive end and outside linebacker coach.

He’s been Penn State’s defensive line coach the past three years and worked with the line there since 2020. He coached Abdul Carter, Chop Robinson and Adisa Isaac.

READ MORE | “South Carolina to kick off 2026 football season at home against Kent State.”

Until Michigan officially hires a head coach, the name Kalen DeBoer is going to be mentioned with the search. Even after DeBoer released statements saying he would stay with Alabama, rumors are out there. Folks in Ann Arbor might have been cheering for Oklahoma on Friday night to potentially speed up the process.

Instead, Alabama is heading to the Rose Bowl to face Indiana on Jan. 1. So, if DeBoer was going to be Michigan’s hire, the wait will continue. Which is exactly what ESPN’s Rece Davis believes the Wolverines should be doing in this situation.

“From Michigan’s standpoint, if that’s the guy you want, wait,” Davis said via the College GameDay Podcast. “If it takes waiting until they finish, if they were to upset Indiana, wait if that’s the guy you want. Why settle? One portal class, one recruiting class is not worth settling for a program like Michigan. Now, I understand the concept that there’s no guarantee you’re going to get him. I get that. But if you are convicted that this is your guy, wait it out. See what happens, push forward.”

If Alabama were to win in Pasadena, the next College Football Playoff date would be Jan. 8 or 9. A run to the national championship means DeBoer would not be done coaching the 2025 season until Jan. 19. But Davis mentions no singular NCAA transfer portal and/or recruiting class is as important as getting the right guy for Michigan.

When it comes down to it, Davis does not think DeBoer will leave Tuscaloosa this offseason. Those released statements were viewed as pretty telling in Davis’s eyes. And at the end of the day, DeBoer is still looking to prove to be the guy who can replace Nick Saban at Alabama.

“I do not think Kalen DeBoer will take the job,” Davis said. “Ultimately, because I don’t think he wants to be perceived as running from what he ran to. Michigan’s a great job. If he does, he does, and great for him if that’s what he decides. I don’t think he will end up doing that. Maybe he will.”

The latest update on where the Michigan coaching search came from On3’s Pete Nakos on Saturday. Nakos outlined who the top candidates are at the moment, mainly after Kenny Dillingham signed an extension to stay in Tempe with the Arizona State Sun Devils not too long ago.