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NIL Go Could Hurt Big 12

Share Tweet Share Share Email I’ve owned Heartland College Sports for over 10 years. And I’ve written thousands and thousands of stories for the website. However, I’ve never had a dedicated Monday column for you. It only seems appropriate to start now and play off of Monday, Mundo and Musings. So here we go with […]

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I’ve owned Heartland College Sports for over 10 years. And I’ve written thousands and thousands of stories for the website. However, I’ve never had a dedicated Monday column for you. It only seems appropriate to start now and play off of Monday, Mundo and Musings. So here we go with the fifth-ever, Mundo’s Monday Big 12 Musings: Edition 5.

If you’re a fan, let me know in the Big 12 Heartland College Sports forums. They’re free and you can sign up here.

 

NIL Go is Doomed to Fail

As part of the House vs. NCAA settlement comes plenty around what the future of college athletics looks like. NIL Go will be the clearinghouse that will approve NIL deals, and as Forbes’ Kristi Dosh noted on social media this past weekend, part of the approval process will be based on the local market and the market reach of the student-athlete’s institution.

That’s BS. And could hurt the Big 12.

I have no idea how strict any of this will be, and the reality is there will be lawsuits when the first rejections start rolling in. But the reality is a star player at Oklahoma State could have a much more substantial “market reach”, despite being in Stillwater, Oklahoma, than a Big Ten player who goes to Rutgers, about an hour outside of New York City.

Why? Because people in Oklahoma actually care about college football. No one in the New York City metro does, and if they do, it’s probably not for Rutgers. Just sayin’. So how can the market size and the “reach of an institution” be properly quantified? That’s a scam that will benefit the big brands, and if they’re strict about it, will require a lawsuit.

 

EA Sports 26 Tier 1 Programs

This drew some controversy in recent days. EA Sports dropped its College Football ’26 tier programs, and the two Big 12 Tier 1 teams may surprise you: Oklahoma State and Utah.

Notably, the pair of programs struggled significantly in 2024, with neither team achieving bowl eligibility. Oklahoma State went winless in conference play, finishing 3-9 overall (0-9 CONF), while Utah finished 5-7 overall (2-7 CONF).

Now, if they’re based on Top 10 finishes the last decade, then one bad outlier of a season for each program is not going to change a decade worth of results.

But no matter what, it still goes to show you that these two programs need to get back to competing atop the Big 12. The conference needs it badly.

 

Congrats, Texas Tech Softball

The Texas Tech Red Raiders softball team has helped set an all-time viewership record on ESPN. According to the TV outlet, Texas Tech vs. Texas’ Game 3 rubber match of the 2025 Women’s College World Series set a record with 2.4 million viewers last week.

The NiJaree Canady contract that was mocked last off-season for a reported $1 million was worth every penny. Tech invested heavily in a star in a sport that isn’t football or basketball, but is a sport rising very quickly in popularity.

And it got Texas Tech millions of new eye balls this spring as a result.

Before this year, the Red Raiders had made six previous NCAA Tournament appearances. Texas Tech had never won a conference title, a conference tournament title and certainly had never been to the Women’s College World Series.

Now, they’re setting viewership records. Canady was worth every penny, and then some.





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Heisman Winner Johnny Manziel Drops Wild NIL ‘Pay Cut’ Bombshell, Mocks Texas A&M’s Spending

College football legend Johnny Manziel made waves this week after claiming that, had he played in today’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era, he would have made so much money that going to the NFL would’ve been a “pay cut.” Dive into Try out PFSN’s FREE college football playoff predictor, where you can simulate every […]

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College football legend Johnny Manziel made waves this week after claiming that, had he played in today’s Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) era, he would have made so much money that going to the NFL would’ve been a “pay cut.”

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Johnny Manziel Reflects on Missed NIL Millions, Takes Aim at Texas A&M’s Return on Investment

The 2012 Heisman Trophy winner dropped the bombshell during a recent interview with ESPN’s Greg McElroy, also taking a subtle jab at Texas A&M’s massive NIL spending with little to show for it on the field.

Manziel’s comments came in response to a question about how his NIL earnings would look if he were the quarterback of Texas A&M in 2024. “I really feel like I would’ve taken a pay cut had I gone to the NFL,” Manziel said. “Guys who are really marketable are making a great amount of money to the point where they have the opportunity to stay in school rather than go to the NFL early.”


It’s not hard to imagine. During his historic 2012 freshman season, Manziel became the first-ever freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, outpacing the competition by more than 150 first-place votes.

He threw for 3,706 yards and 26 touchdowns while rushing for 1,410 yards and 21 more scores. His 5,116 yards of total offense shattered the previous SEC record held by Cam Newton, making Manziel one of the most electrifying players in college football history.

Under today’s NIL system, a player with Manziel’s star power and national presence could realistically earn millions in endorsements, sponsorships, and social media deals.

In fact, during the 2012–13 academic year alone, Texas A&M brought in $740 million in donations, according to ESPN, a figure largely attributed to the Aggies’ move to the SEC and the national buzz surrounding Manziel’s play. While those funds didn’t come from NIL, the impact he had on the university’s bottom line was undeniable.

KEEP READING: Texas A&M Draws ‘Oklahoma State in Bedlam’ Comparison From RJ Young Ahead of Arch Manning Showdown

Yet, despite the explosion of NIL opportunities in recent years, Manziel also pointed out the flaws in how some programs are approaching it. “If you look at A&M, I feel like we’ve put a ton of money into our NIL and it hasn’t necessarily translated onto the field,” he said.

His comments reflect a growing concern in college football, that NIL funds, often steered by wealthy boosters, don’t always result in better performance or stability.

Still, Manziel acknowledged there’s something special about the era he played in, even with its “underbelly” of shady dealings. But with NIL here to stay, he recognizes how different things could have been.





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Sankey discusses SEC’s role in future College Football Playoff structure at media days

Commissioner Greg Sankey opened SEC Football Media Days on Monday by giving a shoutout to the city of Atlanta for hosting the unofficial kickoff event and noting his gratitude for the conference’s newest sponsor in Wayne-Sanderson Farms. He quickly pivoted into a monologue about how strong he believes each member institution is on the field […]

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Commissioner Greg Sankey opened SEC Football Media Days on Monday by giving a shoutout to the city of Atlanta for hosting the unofficial kickoff event and noting his gratitude for the conference’s newest sponsor in Wayne-Sanderson Farms. He quickly pivoted into a monologue about how strong he believes each member institution is on the field while discussing some of the off-field headlines that have taken the college football world by storm this summer.

Sankey subtly addressed rumors that the SEC might pull away from the NCAA if the governing body slips up when managing the College Football Playoff or name, image, and likeness (NIL) issues and revenue sharing. Using a marathon as a metaphor, he said the “messy” days of paying athletes are starting to simmer down after a recent federal settlement and believes the best of the race is ahead.

“I have run and finished 41 marathons in my lifetime. It’s been a while, but I do remember the importance of getting it off to the right kind of start,” Sankey said. “We’re in the middle of change, and in the middle of anything significant, it will get messy. This doesn’t mean you leave. In a marathon, it doesn’t mean you step off the course because myself — as poorly as I may have felt sometimes after two or three miles – recall that those moments might actually produce the best efforts.”

The rest of the race could include the conference’s role in controlling how future College Football Playoff brackets look. According to Sankey, the SEC and Big Ten have “authority” when it comes to the format after the 2025 season.

However, Sankey and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti are not currently aligned to pack the most powerful punch – not for a lack of communication, though, as Sankey noted they spoke four times last week.

“I think there’s this notion that there has to be this magic moment and something has to happen with expansion and it has to be forced – no,” Sankey said. “When you’re given authority, you want to be responsible in using that authority. I think both of us are prepared to do so. The upfront responsibility in this, maybe where some of the confusion lies, is we have the ability to present a format or format ideas, gather information, see if we can all agree within that room. We don’t need unanimity.”

The Big Ten, which has won the last two national championships, favors a 4-4-2-2-1 format, giving four automatic bids to the SEC and Big Ten and awarding the ACC and Big 12 two bids apiece. The SEC switched gears at its spring meetings in Florida, now favoring five conference champions and 11 at-large bids, which would presumably favor the top conferences most seasons.

The commissioner, now in his 10th year leading the SEC, backed up such authoritative statements with on-field evidence of his conference’s domination.

“For the 26th consecutive season, we led the nation in football attendance,” Sankey said, pointing to the league’s gridiron success against non-conference Power Four opponents. “It’s a special place with a remarkable set of people, remarkable competition, and remarkable achievements.”

Beyond backing up the SEC’s status as a “super conference,” Sankey also pointed to what he believes is a need for further structure in college athletics to be established by federal lawmakers. Specifically, Sankey referenced the recently introduced the SCORE Act, a U.S. House bill that provides for a national framework for NIL in college sports. The commissioner sees the policy proposal as progress.

“That’s an important moment,” Sankey said. “I think what’s happening in college athletics is a nonpartisan issue, but using the typical nomenclature, to have members of both of our major political parties willing to step out and introduce the SCORE Act is a positive step.”

While Sankey and other administrators work to straighten out the details that will determine college football’s long-term future, the student-athletes and coaches aim to return the SEC to the top of the game’s mountain at year’s end. After Ohio State claimed the 2024 national title, 2023-2024 became the first two-year stretch since 2013-2014 that an SEC team did not win the national championship.

Each of the SEC’s 16 programs will kickoff the 2025 season in late August.



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Two Wildcats Taken on Final Day of 2025 MLB Draft

MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State saw two baseball players selected on the final day of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft, as shortstop Maximus Martin and left-handed pitcher Jacob Frost heard their names called on Monday.   Martin was selected in the 10th round by the Boston Red Sox with the 298th overall pick, followed by […]

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – K-State saw two baseball players selected on the final day of the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft, as shortstop Maximus Martin and left-handed pitcher Jacob Frost heard their names called on Monday.
 
Martin was selected in the 10th round by the Boston Red Sox with the 298th overall pick, followed by Frost, who was taken with the 315th pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out the round. Martin becomes just the second Wildcat ever drafted by the Red Sox, joining Robert Youngdahl (2011), while Frost is the ninth player in program history selected by the Dodgers.
 
Under seventh-year head coach Pete Hughes, K-State has had 12 players selected within the first 10 rounds. In total, Hughes has overseen 91 players selected in the MLB Draft, including eight first-rounders during his 28 seasons as a head coach while he has recruited 145 players who have gone on to play professionally.
 
In his first season at K-State, Martin earned ABCA/Rawlings First Team All-Region honors and was named Second Team All-Big 12. A native of Edgewater Park, New Jersey, he slashed .320/.420/.612, tallying a team-high 18 doubles and 14 home runs – tied for fourth-most in a single season in program history.
 
Martin was one of the league’s top offensive performers, finishing the regular season ranked in the Big 12’s top 10 in three statistical categories. He garnered both Golden Spikes Award and National Shortstop of the Week recognition. He led the team with 18 games with two or more hits and ranked second with 15 multi-RBI games.
 
Frost caps his second season with the Cats where earned his first All-Big 12 accolade in 2025, striking out 75 batters while holding opponents to a .238 batting average – the eighth-best mark in the league. The St. Louis, Missouri, product was one of two K-State pitchers to record 10 or more strikeouts in a single game this season, notching a career-high 10 against KU. He also led the Big 12 with 22 strikeouts looking in conference play.
 
Across two seasons with the Wildcats, Frost posted a 4-6 record with a 6.49 ERA and totaled 115 strikeouts over 32 appearances and 23 starts, including three quality starts. In 2024, he helped lead K-State to its ninth no-hitter in program history.



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Argument over ‘valid buisiness purpose’ for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement | National Sports

Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting […]

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Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have.

The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don’t provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance.

“This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,” attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement.

Kessler told AP his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to AP’s request for a comment.

Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that “the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission … is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.”

When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called “collectives” that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren’t allowed to be paid directly by the schools.

Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now, but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more.

The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a “valid business purpose” because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.

Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose.”

Kessler’s letter notes that the “valid business purpose” rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above.

To prevent those payments “would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments,” Kessler wrote.


AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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Chat Wrap

Bucknuts.com’s Steve Helwagen hosted his weekly Chat on Monday night on The Front Row message board. Check out the transcript below. Programming Note: Steve will again join Ohio State Buckeyes Live at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Check out The Front Row for access details after 11 a.m. on Wednesday. ButlerBuck: Players may want all they can […]

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Chat Wrap

Bucknuts.com’s Steve Helwagen hosted his weekly Chat on Monday night on The Front Row message board. Check out the transcript below.

Programming Note: Steve will again join Ohio State Buckeyes Live at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Check out The Front Row for access details after 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

ButlerBuck: Players may want all they can get as a HS kid.

For hoops, Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg would have been the #1 draft pick whether they went to a blue blood or not.

For football, getting that development during college is more important since the NFL watches you for 3 years.

Will kids get that idea/does OSU use that as a basketball recruiting pitch from OSU or another pigskin blue blood?

OSU hoops would use that to recruit those 5* players….you’ll be #1 wherever you go.  You just need to get the most playing time you can. You’ll get all the minutes you can play here. At UK and Duke, maybe not

Helwagen: Yeah, lot of ifs in there. Every kid’s upbringing, wherewithal and recruitment is different. Some have to have as much as they can get their hands on as soon as possible. Some are interested in being one and done and on to the league. Some are content to play the long game to prolong their development and maximize their pro value.

So, yeah, you can look at it and say Ohio State can help you get there. But if you watched the NBA Finals, here were the schools of the starters:

Pacers: Pascal Siakam (New Mexico State), Aaron Nesmith (Vanderbilt), Myles Turner (Texas), Andrew Nembhard (Gonzaga), Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State)

Thunder: Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga), Jalen Williams (Santa Clara), Isaiah Hartenstein (Germany/Lithuania), Lu Dort (Arizona State), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky)

Only one real blueblood there. You can get there from anywhere, so why not Ohio State? Of course, will need Ohio State to be competitive in the pay department.

foxr2001: Don’t know if you can answer this and has nothing to do with OSU. BTN has aired a few US women’s volleyball games, which has nothing to do with the B1G. I can only imagine its some reciprocal agreement with FOX that they (BTN) air events when FOX doesn’t have room on their schedule or something like that. Any intel on why these are airing on BTN?

Two other completely different questions for you. The Columbus Dispatch said that McGuff was able to drive again, presumably meaning that his license was temporarily suspended. The article didn’t go into much detail about his current status though. Has his DUI arrest already been processed and if so, what penalty(ies) did he receive? Did the university do anything to him or are they going to like suspend him for a few games? Hey, maybe OSU will suspend him in the MIDDLE of the non-conference schedule when we are playing our easiest two games!

Other question, no one here at Bucknuts has mentioned Cleveland getting an WNBA franchise. I imagine you are a Cavs fan, how do you feel with the city sharing the court with a women’s team? Do you think, with the improved success in the WNBA that this franchise will survive, unlike Cleveland’s earlier WNBA franchise?

Thanks Steve.

Helwagen: I was not aware BTN was airing women’s USA volleyball events, but it makes sense if FOX needs an outlet that they do that. ESPN puts some NCAA events it can’t get on ESPN or ESPN2 on SEC Network (usually involving an SEC team). Big Ten is big in volleyball and maybe they rationalized some of the players were from Big Ten schools.

Have not heard anything about McGuff or his status. I assume the judge in his case has granted him work driving privileges. I assume if Ohio State is going to suspend him, it will happen before the season starts. No idea when his next court appearance would be. I will try and check on that. Not sure how he beats the rap if they play the video at trial, unless he can prove he was drugged somehow.

Don’t really have a thought about the WNBA in Cleveland. It seems the league has 10-12 needle movers who draw crowds. People will come there to watch Caitlin Clark and some of the others. But to win and contend you need stars. Those are hard to come by. Good luck and, I agree, I hope it goes better than the last time. Sophie Cunningham’s comments about why would anybody want to play in Cleveland were not the least bit helpful. LOL

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Argument over ‘valid buisiness purpose’ for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement

Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting […]

Published

on


Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a “valid business purpose” that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have.

The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don’t provide goods or services to the general public for profit.

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A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance.

“This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,” attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement.

Kessler told AP his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to AP’s request for a comment.

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Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that “the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission … is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.”

When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called “collectives” that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren’t allowed to be paid directly by the schools.

Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now, but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more.

The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a “valid business purpose” because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.

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Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose.”

Kessler’s letter notes that the “valid business purpose” rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above.

To prevent those payments “would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments,” Kessler wrote.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports



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