College Sports

One Game, Every Season

CBS Sports Graphic Illustration Whether it’s the “Kick Six,” the “Bush Push” or “Mormons vs. Mullets,” the first 25 years of the 21st century have delivered a buffet of incredible college football games. Every season is a little different. Every game is an opportunity to experience something new — a combination of runs, passes and […]

Published

3 weeks ago

April 16, 2025

Your Sports Nation

CBS Sports Graphic Illustration

Whether it’s the “Kick Six,” the “Bush Push” or “Mormons vs. Mullets,” the first 25 years of the 21st century have delivered a buffet of incredible college football games.

Every season is a little different. Every game is an opportunity to experience something new — a combination of runs, passes and tackles that lead to wonder, astonishment and disbelief.

As college football prepares to enter a new quarter-century, we have an opportunity to look all the way back to 2000 to remember some of the great games that have defined this century so far.

To do so, CBS Sports went back in time and selected the best regular-season game, including conference championships, of every college football season from 2000-24.

Obviously, best is incredibly subjective. A Pac-12 After Dark banger might be someone’s favorite from a given season while others may prefer an old school Big Ten West rock fight. But generally, the games selected feature a combination of incredible finishes and memorable moments in games that usually had an outsized role in determining the course of the national championship picture.

One caveat before looking back at the last 25 seasons: College Football Playoff, bowl and national championship games were not considered for this piece. This is about the regular season games that shaped each season, not the fireworks seen at its conclusion.

Date: Oct. 12, 2024 | Ties or Lead Changes: 8

There were more exciting finishes (Colorado’s Hail Mary against Baylor or Alabama’s comeback against Georgia) and more exciting upsets (Vanderbilt over Alabama!) during the 2024 season. But the best football game happened in Eugene between arguably the season’s two best teams.

It was a massive matchup that lived up to the hype, including five second-half lead changes. There was plenty of drama late, too. Oregon kicked a go-ahead field goal with 1:47 remaining to take a 32-31 lead. The Buckeyes quickly advanced the ball to the Oregon 28, but a penalty, poor clock management and a rule loophole exposed by Ducks head coach Dan Lanning led to time running out on Ohio State before it could get its field goal unit on the field.

It was chaotic finish and an ultimately critical loss for the Buckeyes’ national title path. Afterward, the Buckeyes made major changes to their defense in response to what Oregon exposed. Ohio State did not allow more than 23 points in a game the rest of the way.

(Btw, a quick hat tip here: ESPN’s Bill Connelly does an almost annual list of the best games of the season that was a great resource for this piece. Though, he had this game at 13!)

College football transfer portal 2025: Top position of need for each top-10 team during spring window

Chris Hummer

College football transfer portal 2025: Top position of need for each top-10 team during spring window

2023: No. 8 Alabama 27, Auburn 24

Date: Nov. 25, 2023 | Ties or Lead Changes: 7

Behind every great game is a great nickname or play. This dramatic finish featured “Gravedigger,” Alabama’s fourth-and-goal call from the 31-yard-line down 24-20 with 32 seconds remaining.

It looked like Alabama’s playoff hopes would come to a premature and surprising end against a 6-5 Auburn team fresh off an embarrassing loss to New Mexico State the week prior. Then Jalen Milroe found Isaiah Bond in the left corner of the end zone for one of the most famous touchdowns in Iron Bowl history.

Alabama would go on to end Georgia’s hopes for a three-peat in the following week’s SEC championship game. Then, in perhaps the most controversial moment in CFP selection history, the committee picked 12-1 Alabama over 13-0 Florida State for the final playoff spot in the four-team field.

The Tide went on to suffer a last-second loss to eventual national champion Michigan in the CFP semifinals. Nick Saban abruptly retired a few days later.

2022: No 6 Tennessee 52, No. 3 Alabama 49

Date: Oct. 15, 2022 | Ties of Lead Changes: 9

Since the two CFP semifinals aren’t eligible for consideration — New Year’s Eve 2022 featured back-to-back incredible games — let’s turn to the Third Saturday in October. Tennessee hadn’t beaten Alabama on that date in 16 years.

This was the Vols’ best shot. Quarterback Hendon Hooker looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate, fronting the most explosive passing attack in college football. The Vols stormed out to a 28-10 second quarter advantage only for Alabama to erase that early in the third quarter. From there the teams would trade the lead five times. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young put Alabama in position for a go-ahead field goal with 15 seconds left, but Will Reichard’s 50-yard attempt sailed outside the uprights. Hooker completed passes of 18 and 27 yards to put Tennessee in position for a game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired.

Young finished with 455 yards and two touchdowns. But Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt stole the show with 207 yards and five touchdowns, including scores of 60 and 78 yards in the second half.

The Vols got to smoke victory cigars on the Third Saturday in October for the first time in 16 years. Alabama, for its part, would go on to miss the CFP for only the third time in nine seasons.

2021: No. 6 Oklahoma 55, No. 21 Texas 48

Date: Oct. 9, 2021 | Ties or Lead Changes: 4

The Red River Rivalry has produced some of the wildest games in recent college football history. But the 2021 iteration was crazy even by Red River standards.

Texas raced out to a 28-7 lead, which led to a critical moment in the lore of Oklahoma, USC and South Carolina history: Sooners coach Lincon Riley benched preseason Heisman Trophy favorite quarterback Spencer Rattler in favor of five-star freshman Caleb Williams.

Williams took the field down 35-17 midway through the second quarter. With 7 minutes remaining in the second half, Williams had helped the Sooners storm back for a 48-41 lead. Texas tied the game with 1:23 remaining thanks to a 31-yard pass from Casey Thompson to Xavier Worthy. But Williams would not be denied. He hit four straight passes to set up one of the wildest moments in the rivalry’s 120-year history — a game-winning 33-yard run by Kennedy Brooks with 10 seconds remaining.

The 103 points the team combined for were the most in Red River Rivalry history.

Date: Dec. 5, 2020 | Ties or Lead Changes: 5

2020 was a weird year, y’all. No game better represents that than “Mormons vs. Mullets,” a battle of Group of Five unbeatens that happened on two days’ notice after Liberty, due to a rash of positive Covid-19 tests, had to cancel its C-USA showdown with Coastal Carolina.

Both BYU (9-0) and Coastal Carolina (9-0) were looking for a strength of schedule boost during a season in which neither program was allowed to play a true non-conference slate, so Coastal Carolina hopped on a plane and agreed to play Zach Wilson on the Cougars.

The game was way better than it had any right to be, a back-and-forth affair that came down to the final second (and yard). Wilson hit Dax Milne for 17 yards as time expired. The only problem was the goal line was 18 yards away.

With apologies to Florida vs. LSU — the “shoe” game in the Swamp that may have cost the Gators a CFP berth — there’s no better and more representative game of the 2020 season than “Mormons vs. Mullets.”

2019: LSU 46, Alabama 42

Date: Nov. 9, 2019 | Ties or Lead Changes: 1

It’s appropriate the top game of the 2019 season featured LSU leading wire to wire.

The 2019 Tigers are the greatest college football team of the 21st century (fight me!). They tore through the regular season and the playoff with a quarterback on an all-time heater (Joe Burrow) and the most talented roster of the modern era.

But the 2019 Tide also have a case for that claim; Alabama’s 2020 team is also on the best team short list. Just check out the receivers who played in the 2019 matchup as an example of the combined talent:

Ja’Marr Chase, LSU
Justin Jefferson, LSU
Terrace Marshall, LSU
DeVonta Smith, Alabama
Jerry Jeudy, Alabama
Henry Ruggs, Alabama
Jaylen Waddle, Alabama

Six of those seven were first-round draft picks. The other (Marshall) went in the second round.

Alabama found itself down 33-13 at halftime only to score four straight second-half touchdowns and cut the lead to four. It wasn’t enough. LSU ensured there would be no dramatic conclusion with a pair of clutch fourth quarter touchdown drives with it mattered most.

But damn it was fun. It was also the most consequential game of the 2019 season.

LSU won the battle of unbeatens — its first win over Alabama since 2011 — and would not play a game closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

2018: No. 22 Texas A&M 74, LSU 72

Date: Nov. 24, 2018 | Ties or Lead Changes: 7 prior to OT | 14 in OT

Jalen Hurts’ redemption in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia would get the nod almost any other year. But Texas A&M’s seven-overtime win over LSU is an all-timer that changed the college football rulebook.

This game had everything: A record-breaking seven overtimes, a premature Gatorade dump and a reported fight between Jimbo Fisher’s nephew and LSU analyst Steve Kragthorpe, who claimed he was punched in his pacemaker.

So, yeah … everything.

This game seemed like it would end in regulation, which led to Orgeron’s premature Gatorade bath. But the officials put a second back on the clock. The Aggies took advantage of the second chance with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kellen Mond to Quartney Davis to tie the game at 31.

Then came seven overtimes and 84 additional points.

The game went on so long the NCAA changed how overtime works in college football. No longer do programs play an unlimited number of possessions starting from the 25-yard line until a tie is broken. Instead, teams trade 2-point plays following the conclusion of the second overtime period.

2017: No. 15 UCF 49, USF 42

Date: Nov. 24, 2017 | Ties of Lead Changes: 5

Frankly, you could pick any of UCF’s final three games from the 2017 season. They were all bangers. But the Knights’ regular season finale stands out because of the stakes and the sheer madness of the final minutes.

UCF — just two seasons removed from an 0-12 campaign — needed one more win to finish the regular season at 12-0. The Knights had CFP hopes, too. All that stood in their way was rival South Florida, which entered the week at 9-1 and hoping to earn an AAC title game berth.

The final minutes were crazy. McKenzie Milton gave UCF an eight-point lead with 2:21 remaining. Then South Florida hit an 82-yard bomb and converted a 2-point try to tie the game. That’s when Mike Hughes, with 88 seconds left on the clock, returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the game-winning score.

UCF would go on to finish 13-0 and capped the season off with a 34-27 Peach Bowl win over Auburn. The Knights, the only unbeaten team in the FBS, proclaimed themselves national champions at season end after getting left out of the CFP.

Date: Oct. 2, 2016 | Ties or Lead Changes: 5

With apologies to a very famous rendition of The Game between Michigan and Ohio State — the Buckeyes won in overtime thanks to a controversial 4th-and-1 conversion — the clash between the Tigers and Cardinals was simply too electric to leave off this list.

It helps that it featured two of the best quarterbacks of the CFP era in Lamar Jackson and Deshaun Watson. The duo combined for 601 yards passing and 253 yards rushing. But the game itself lived up to every bit of the hype. Clemson led 28-10 at half only for Louisville to storm back and take a 36-28 lead with 7:52 remaining. That’s when Watson — with help from a 77-yard kickoff return from Artavis Scott — led back-to-back touchdown drives to snatch the lead back. Louisville reached Clemson’s 12-yard line with 1:19 remaining. But the Tigers held firm, stopping Louisville one-yard short of a conversion on fourth-and-12 with 33 seconds remaining.

Jackson would go on to win the Heisman Trophy. Clemson went on to win the national championship. Flip the result of this game and the Tigers, who lost to Pittsburgh later in the regular season, may never have reached the CFP.

2015: No. 7 Michigan State 27, No. 12 Michigan 23

Date: Oct. 18, 2015 | Ties or Lead Changes: 2

There were some fantastic games in 2015: a Trevone Boykin and Patrick Mahomes shootout in Lubbock, Clemson halting a Notre Dame rally in the final moments in a top 12 showdown and Chad Kelly’s heroics in an upset 25 years in the making for Ole Miss in Tuscaloosa.

But let’s talk about the punt. You know the one. A bungled snap, a desperate spinning right-footed flail and a would-be kick that landed in the hands of Jalen Watts-Jackson for the game-winning touchdown.

The Wolverines led 23-21 with 10 seconds remaining at their own 45-yard line. The Spartans had no timeouts. All Michigan had to do was punt the ball away and they’d win the game. It would have been a statement victory for Jim Harbaugh in Year 1, launching the Wolverines into the CFP mix.

But the snap went painfully — or gloriously(?) depending on your perspective — awry. Michigan State won and went on to reach the CFP after a 12-1 regular season. Flip this result and maybe it’s the Wolverines who reach the playoff instead.

2014: No. 5 Baylor 61, No. 9 TCU 58

Date: Oct. 12, 2014 | Ties or Lead Changes: 5

Baylor began the fourth quarter with a pick-six and fell into a 58-37 hole. Then things got weird in Waco. The Bears scored three touchdowns on drives that spanned less than a minute each. TCU punted twice and failed a fourth-and-3 attempt with 1:11 remaining to give Baylor the ball at its 45-yard line.

It took advantage with a 28-yard field goal to win the game.

Bears QB Bryce Petty threw for 510 yards and six touchdowns. Three Baylor receivers — Antwan Goodley (158 yards, two TDs), Corey Coleman (144 yards, two TDs), KD Cannon (124 yards, one TD) — cleared the 125-yard barrier in a game in which the two teams combined for 119 points and 1,267 yards.

This Bears win created a massive ripple effect. TCU and Baylor finished the regular season 11-1, tying atop the Big 12 standings in a league that did not hold a conference championship game. Ohio State, also 11-1, did have another chance to play. The Buckeyes bludgeoned Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten title game, a statement victory the committee very much noticed. The Buckeyes jumped from fifth to fourth in the CFP Rankings after their win. Meanwhile, the committee dropped idle TCU from third to SIXTH behind both the Buckeyes and Bears, who had entered the week ranked fifth.

Ohio State went on to win the national championship. The Big 12 quickly added a conference championship game. Two major events in college football history that likely don’t occur if TCU just holds onto a three-touchdown lead against Baylor.

2013: No. 4 Auburn 34, No. 1 Alabama 28

Date: Dec. 1, 2013 | Ties or Lead Changes: 7

It’s the Kick Six. That’s really all you need to know. That play is so memorable you can hear it:

“There goes Davis!”

“Davis is going to run it all the way back!”

“Auburn is going to win the football game! Auburn is going to win the football game!”

That call from Auburn play-by-play announcer Rod Bramblett covered 109 yards of Chris Davis’ improbable, impossible, field goal return (!!!) that swung the 2013 season. Auburn won the Iron Bowl, went to the SEC championship and played Florida State for a national title. The top-ranked Tide? They went home, any chance at a three-peat crumbling as Davis crossed into the end zone.

It took a very specific set of circumstances for the Kick Six to occur. Alabama running back TJ Yeldon stepped of bounds with one second remaining, which gave Nick Saban the opportunity to try a 57-yard field goal. That decision is baffling in retrospect when you consider he benched starting kicker Cade Foster — after three missed field goals — and instead pivoted to freshman Adam Griffith for the most important kick of the season. Auburn had the wherewithal to place Davis deep, giving him the opportunity to make one of the most famous plays in college football history.

2012: No. 15 Texas A&M 29, No. 1 Alabama 24

Date: Nov. 11, 2012 | Ties or Lead Changes: 1

Other than perhaps Tim Tebow, there is no bigger college football crossover star this century than Johnny Manziel. The Aggies’ party-hard, scramble-out-of-anything QB burst onto the national scene in November of 2012 when he led a wire-to-wire road upset of No. 1 Alabama.

The Tide were the reigning national champs. They’d won 13 straight. Texas A&M was just entering the SEC for the first time. It didn’t matter. Manziel couldn’t be stopped. There’s no one moment from this game that stands out above all. Texas A&M never needed an epic comeback or last-second drive. Instead, it was Manziel’s ability to extend almost every play and get out of any would-be sack. He was practically Houdini that Saturday, only he had a cannon strapped his right arm.

Manziel finished the day 24-for-31 with 253 yards passing and two touchdowns to go along with 92 yards rushing.

It’s a win that spurred Manziel to the Heisman and created a legend.

Date: Nov. 18, 2011 | Ties or lead changes: 3

Oklahoma State entered the week at 10-0 and controlled its destiny to make the BCS National Championship game. Led by eventual first-round quarterback Brandon Weeden the Cowboys were averaging more than 50 points per game.

But the game felt secondary because Oklahoma State’s women’s basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant Miranda died in a tragic plane crash the day prior to kickoff. A few years later Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said of the matchup: “Honestly, the last thing that anybody wants to do, really, is play a game.”

The Cowboys raced out to a 24-7 lead early in the third quarter but could not keep the momentum. Oklahoma State had an opportunity to win the game late, but Quinn Sharp missed a 37-yard field goal, pushing the game into overtime. Both teams scored quickly to push the game to a second overtime, but Weeden threw an interception on the first pass of the second extra period. The Cyclones won three plays later.

Oklahoma State rebounded the next week with a 34-point win over No. 14 Oklahoma, but the BCS formula chose Alabama-LSU rematch in controversial fashion; several coaches, including Saban, voted Oklahoma State 4th in the final coaches’ poll, which was part of the BCS formula.

The national title game — won by the Tide — was so contentious it helped spark the CFP system we know today with discussions about a playoff formula beginning shortly afterward.

2010: No. 2 Auburn 28, No. 11 Alabama 27

Date: Nov. 26, 2010 | Ties or Lead Changes: 2

Nothing stopped Cam Newton during the 2010 season, including a 24-point first half deficit against reigning national champion Alabama.

The Tigers fell behind 24-0 midway through the second quarter. From that point on Newton completed 11 of 14 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 54 sack-adjusted yards and a touchdown.

It was hardly the most dominant performance of Newton’s Heisman season. But given the swaths of NFL players on the other sideline and the stakes — Auburn likely doesn’t make the national championship game with a loss — the comeback Newton led against the Tide is one of the most consequential in college football history.

Shoutout to the No. 19 Nevada vs. No. 4 Boise State showdown that same day, however. Led by Kellen Moore, the Broncos saw their 24-game win streak snapped by Colin Kaepernick and the Wolf Pack in a 34-31 overtime loss. Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman missed a 26-yard field goal at the buzzer in regulation.

2009: No. 3 Texas 13, No. 22 Nebraska 12

Date: Dec. 5, 2009 | Ties or Lead Changes: 4

You’ll remember this as the day single-handedly Ndamukong Suh wrecked Texas’ offense and nearly cost the Longhorns a spot in the BCS title game.

Texas came into the week averaging 43 points per game. Suh ensured the Longhorns got nowhere close to that total. He logged 4.5 sacks and helped limit Texas to 18 rushing yards on 38 attempts.

The game came down to the final second. Literally. McCoy, chased by Suh (of course), threw a pass out of bounds as the clock expired, leading to a massive Huskers celebration. But the officials put one second back on the clock after a review.

Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence then hit a 46-yarder to secure a a Big 12 championship and national title bid.

2008: No. 7 Texas Tech 39, No. 1 Texas 33

Date: Nov. 1, 2008 | Ties or Lead Changes: 3

With apologies to Tim Tebow’s post-Ole Miss promise, this is THE Michael Crabtree catch — one of the most famous moments in college football history. There was plenty at stake, too, with both teams entering the week at 8-0 with national title aspirations.

Scoring opened with a safety as Texas Tech stuffed Texas on its goal line. Led by quarterback Graham Harrell, the Red Raiders raced out to 22-3 lead. Texas would storm back, scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 89 seconds left.

Texas Tech made it to Texas’ 28-yard line with 21 seconds remaining. Then Harrell’s pass bounced off receiver Edward Britton and into the hands of Texas freshman safety Blake Gideon.

“Deflected. Interception, Texas!” said ABC announcer Brent Musburger.

But …

Gideon dropped it, leaving eight seconds left on the clock.

Harrell threw deep, finding Crabtree along the right sideline at around the 5-yard line. Crabtree turned, spun out of a would-be tackle and walked in for the biggest touchdown in Red Raiders history.

One play that completely changed the 2008 national championship race. Texas had the pole position but was jumped by Oklahoma in the BCS standings — despite the Longhorns’ 45-35 head-to-head win earlier in the year — for the right to play Florida in the national title game. Florida beat the Sooners 24-14, giving Tebow a second national championship and ensuring his status as a college football legend.

Date: Sept. 1, 2007 | Ties or Lead Changes: 7

It’s the most famous upset in college football history.

Well, I guess it’s an upset? Can an upset really be the case if Vegas didn’t even bother to set a betting line? We’ll still go with it. The Wolverines, fresh off an 11-2 season, were a preseason top-five team. The Mountaineers weren’t even a member of the FBS at the time.

But something often lost in the lore of this game is App State’s resume. The Mountaineers were the top-ranked FCS team in the country entering the 2007 season and coming off back-to-back national championships under head coach Jerry Moore.

There were two lead changes in the final minutes of this classic. The Wolverines were down 11 late in the third quarter but retook the lead with 4:31 remaining. From there, the Mountaineers threw an interception, Michigan missed a 43-yard field goal, App State went 69 yards in 1:11 to kick a go-ahead field goal and the Mountaineers capped it off by blocking a 37-yard field goal attempt as time expired to secure the upset.

App State went on to win its third-straight FCS national championship.

College Football’s Top 150 Players of 2025: The definitive spring rankings, led by Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith

Blake Brockermeyer

College Football's Top 150 Players of 2025: The definitive spring rankings, led by Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith

2006: No. 1 Ohio State 42, No. 2 Michigan 39

Date: Nov. 18, 2006 | Ties or Lead Changes: 3

The first regular-season “Game of the Century” of the 21st century — the phrase is always amusing given how often these games occur — this matchup pitted the two top-ranked teams in the country in a regular season finale that would determine at least one spot in the BCS national title game.

The Game also took on additional meaning as it was played a day after legendary Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler died.

Troy Smith’s monster performance essentially ended all Heisman Trophy debate. He finished with 316 yards and four touchdowns through the air and led the Buckeyes on a critical 83-yard fourth quarter touchdown drive that put them up 42-31 with 5:27 remaining. Michigan responded with a touchdown, but Ohio State iced the game three plays later with a game-winning third-down conversion.

This game was so big that ABC moved it off its traditional noon starting time to 3:30 p.m. ET. Nearly 22 million tuned in to watch, making it the most-viewed regular season college football game in 16 years.

Michigan argued, even with a loss, it should make the BCS national title game. Instead, the Buckeyes went on to play Florida, losing in a 41-14 rout.

2005: No. 1 USC 34, No. 9 Notre Dame 31

Date: Oct. 15, 2005 | Ties or Lead Changes: 10

This is where I remind you that postseason games aren’t eligible, thus the 2005 national championship classic between USC and Texas cannot be selected.

So, we turn to the “Bush Push.”

The play would look very normal by today’s “Brotherly Shove” standards. But back then it was an illegal maneuver when Reggie Bush pushed Matt Leinart into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown as time expired. The penalty wasn’t called, leading to one of the most controversial plays in college football history and USC’s 28th consecutive win.

This game had plenty going for it outside of the ending. Leinart and Brady Quinn were two of the top quarterbacks in the country and the fourth quarter included four lead changes.

Notre Dame finished the regular season at 10-2 while USC went 12-0 and reached the national title game. Flip the result and the Irish, who finished No. 6 in the final BCS poll, likely play Texas for the national title instead of USC.

2004: No. 2 Oklahoma 42, No. 22 Texas A&M 35

Date: Nov. 6, 2004 | Ties or Lead Changes: 5

Week 11 was the most dramatic of the 2004 season. Vince Young helped No. 6 Texas storm back from 28 down to beat No. 19 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Cal needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Oregon and even top-ranked USC needed a comeback, erasing a 13-point Oregon State lead for a 28-20 win.

But arguably the best game of the day (and season) happened at Kyle Field where the No. 2 Sooners twice faced a 14-point deficit. Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jason White tied a Sooners school record with five passing touchdowns while freshman superstar running back Adrian Peterson cleared the 100-yard barrier for the ninth straight game. Aggies fans wonder “what if” in this one given that A&M starting QB Reggie McNeal was forced out of the game with an injury midway through the third quarter. The Aggies would put together a 50-yard drive to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but it stalled at OU’s 38-yard line.

There were other entertaining games from the 2004 season that could have fit. But given the controversy that came with Oklahoma’s selection to the BCS national title game over fellow unbeaten Auburn, this game gets the nod due to its overall importance.

This is the year the BCS really began to bust. Not only did Auburn get left out at 12-0, but so did Utah and Boise State.

2003: Cal 34, USC 31 in 3OT

Date: Sept. 27, 2003 | Ties or Lead Changes: 9

USC’s 34-game win streak from 2003-05 is one of the most impressive in college football history. But that streak would be considerably longer (46 games!) if not for Cal’s 2003 upset.

For a JUCO QB making his just his second career start, Cal’s Aaron Rodgers had a pretty good day. He completed 17 of 21 passes for 203 yards and two scores in the first half before exiting with a knee injury early in the third quarter. Rodgers led Cal to a 21-7 halftime lead, but his last pass of the game — a tipped INT that turned into a pick-six — made it 21-21 with 7:26 left in the third quarter. There wouldn’t be a ton of scoring from there. Cal hit a 51-yard-field goal early in the fourth quarter. Then the Bears attempted another with five minutes remaining only for it to be blocked. USC would kick a 33-yarder to send it to overtime.

Things got weird from there. USC fumbled on the goal line during its first possession. Cal had a chance to win it with a 29-yarder, which was again blocked. The next overtime saw both teams scored touchdowns. USC opened the third overtime with a missed 39-yard field goal. Then Bears kicker Tyler Fredrickson won it — after two straight misses — with a 38-yarder.

USC’s loss mattered quite a bit to the national championship race.

At season’s end Oklahoma (which had just lost 35-7 in the Big 12 championship game), LSU and USC each finished with a single loss. While USC finished No. 1 in the AP and Coaches Poll, it ranked behind LSU and Oklahoma in the BCS formula. Thus, the Sooners played the Tigers for a national title.

LSU won. But USC beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and the AP voters left the Trojans at No. 1 in their poll, which resulted in the only split national championship of the BCS and CFP era.

2002: No. 16 LSU 33, Kentucky 30

Date: Nov. 9, 2002 | Ties or Lead Changes: 6

We love a premature Gatorade bath around these parts, and Kentucky gave coach Guy Morriss one of the most famous in history. The Wildcats were down 10 points early in the fourth quarter but rallied to hit a go-ahead field goal with 11 seconds remaining.

That’s when Morriss got soaked in celebration.

But LSU had time for two plays. The first was a 17-yard pass from Tigers QB Marcus Randall to receiver Michael Clayton. That gave the Tigers two seconds to go 74 yards. Head coach Nick Saban helped dial up “Dah Right 93 Berlin.” Randall scrambled to his right and heaved the ball some 60 yards. Several Kentucky players had a chance to bat the ball down. Instead, it deflected off a Wildcats defender and found its way into the hands of LSU wide receiver Devery Henderson just shy of the 15-yard line. Henderson broke through an attempted tackle and completed what is now known as the “Bluegrass Miracle.”

2001: Stanford 49, No. 5 Oregon 42

Date: Oct. 20, 2001 | Ties or Lead Changes: 8

Joey Harrington and Oregon looked like a legit national title threat through six weeks of the regular season. The Ducks raced out to 6-0, including early season wins over Wisconsin and USC.

The Ducks were well on their way to 7-0 entering the fourth quarter. They led 42-28 then, in the words of an AP story from that day, “the Ducks came back to Earth with a spectacular thud.”

And the collapse, which snapped Oregon’s FBS-best 23-game home win streak, was spectacular. Stanford outscored Oregon 21-0 in the fourth quarter thanks to a pair of blocked punts and a Harrington interception, all of which turned into touchdowns.

The QB known as “Captain Comeback” had an opportunity to give Oregon the lead back down 49-42 with 1:05 remaining. But the Ducks’ drive halted at Stanford’s 37-yard line after four straight incompletions.

Oregon finished the season at 10-1. Nebraska, at 11-1, got a national title bid instead.

2000: No. 7 Miami 27, No. 1 Florida State 24

Date: Oct. 7, 2000 | Ties or Lead Changes: 3

Wide Right III.

That’s how this clash between two late-90s and early-2000s juggernauts will always be remembered. The top-ranked Seminoles were unbeaten and coming off a national title. Miami, also unbeaten, was just hitting its stride ahead of a dominant 2001 national championship run.

Outside of Norman, Oklahoma, these were the two best teams in the country with a combined 26 eventual NFL draft picks in their starting lineups, per The Athletic.

Miami raced out to a 17-0 halftime lead. But Florida State clawed back thanks to the play of eventual 2000 Heisman winner Chris Weinke, who finished the day with a career-high 496 yards passing and three scores. His final touchdown throw came with 1:37 remaining, giving FSU a 24-21 lead. Miami and QB Ken Dorsey responded quickly, going 6-for-7 on the next drive, dropping dimes to eventual NFL stars Santana Moss, Reggie Wayne and Jeremy Shockey, who caught the go-ahead touchdown with 46 seconds remaining.

That left just enough time for another Bobby Bowden field-goal-caused heartbreak. Florida State pushed the ball into position for a potential game-winning 49-yard attempt. But the ball sailed wide right off Matt Munyon’s leg, snapping FSU’s 26-game regular season win streak.

As fans filed out of the Orange Bowl the words “WIDE RIGHT III” flashed across the screen, a reminder of previous kicking-related heartbreaks for Bowden against Miami from the 1991 and 1992 seasons that likely cost the Seminoles a pair of national titles.

Up Next

Buffs In 14th At Big 12 Championship

Don't Miss

Fitness trainer who helped Anant Ambani, Nita Ambani lose weight shares the best time to …

Click to comment

College Sports

River Hawks Host Massachusetts Before Visiting Northeastern and Hosting Boston College in Final Homestand

Story Links LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (17-29, 8-13 AE) prepares for non-conference play when they host Kennedy Cup foe UMass Amherst (13-29-1), on Tuesday, May 6, before traveling to Northeastern (37-9) on Wednesday, May 7, and then closing with the final homestand of the season when they host […]

Published

2 minutes ago

May 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

LOWELL, Mass. – The UMass Lowell baseball team (17-29, 8-13 AE) prepares for non-conference play when they host Kennedy Cup foe UMass Amherst (13-29-1), on Tuesday, May 6, before traveling to Northeastern (37-9) on Wednesday, May 7, and then closing with the final homestand of the season when they host the Boston College Eagls (23-26) on Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11.

LAST TIME OUT

The River Hawks are coming off a 1-3 week, with the lone victory coming in a 15-7 win over Quinnipiac. Against the Bobcats, Sophomore River Hart (Nashua, N.H.) was hot at the plate, tallying three hits with two home runs and four RBI. Sophomore Cam Sime (Pittsfield, Mass.) pitched 3.0 innings with four punchouts, while Nolan Geisler (Bayonne, N.J.) tossed 2.0 innings with three strikeouts. The River Hawks took on UAlbany over the weekend, but fell to the Great Danes in all three games. Senior Brandon Fish (Londonderry, N.H.) posted a double and one run during Friday’s 6-1 outcome against UAlbany. Fish was consistent all weekend, going 4-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, one RBI and two runs in Saturday’s 12-9 loss. The final game against the Great Danes ended in a 7-2 decision, with senior Conor Kelly (Hopkinton, Mass.) going 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI.

LEADING THE FLOCK

Going into the month of May, Fish ranks first on the team in batting average (.342), hits (54), doubles (17), and RBI (32). Senior Alex Luccini (Hopedale, Mass.) sits at the top in OPS (.958), runs (37), triples (5), slugging percentage (.547), and stolen bases (14). After this week, Hart has a team-high eight home runs. Kelly ranks first in on-base percentage at .423.

Redshirt sophomore Nick Dirito (Plymouth, Mass.) leads the team in earned run average (3.74), while tallying the most wins (5) and is tied for the lead in saves (4) on the team with graduate student Dylan Bedder (New Providence, N.J.). Bedder has also posted the lowest WHIP on the team (1.37). Redshirt junior Brendan Holland (North Andover, Mass.) has added a team-high 63 strikeouts, with sophomore Alfred Mucciarone (Franklin, Mass.) totaling the most innings pitched (63.2) by a River Hawk.

HIT INTO PLAY

The River Hawks have tallied 20 games this season with 10+ hits. The team’s overall record in those 20 games is 11-9. The River Hawks posted a season-high 21 knocks versus Lafayette on Sunday, March 9. UMass Lowell is 15-12 when totaling eight or more hits in a contest.

STRIKE THREE YOU’RE OUT

UMass Lowell’s pitching staff has totaled four games so far with 12+ strikeouts. This season, the team posted 15 strikeouts against Le Moyne on March 23, only one short of the Division I program record of 16, which was set during the 2018 season. When registering 10+ strikeouts in a game this season, the River Hawks hold a 7-4 record.

ETCHING HIS NAME IN THE RECORD BOOK

In game two of the doubleheader against Bryant on Friday, March 28, Holland was dominant on the bump, striking out 11 batters to tie the River Hawks’ Division I single-game record, matching Matt Draper’s effort from March 4, 2023 against James Madison.

200 CAREER HITS

This past Saturday against UAlbany, Fish became the first UMass Lowell River Hawk in the Division I era to record 200 hits over their collegiate career. The infielder knocked an RBI double to right center to reach the milestone.

CRACKING THE LEADERBOARD

Luccini has been ranked on the Division I leaderboard for weeks now, as the outfielder is currently tied for 13th in triples (5) and tied for 28th in triples per game (.11).

AE OVERALL PLAYER STATISTICAL RANKS

Heading into the final stretch of the season, the River Hawks fill the America East leaderboard, as Luccini ranks first in triples (5), tied for sixth in runs (37), and tied for sixth in doubles (12). Fish claims first in doubles (17) and sits tied for fifth in hits (54) in the conference.

Mucciarone sits in third for innings pitched (63.2), as Holland sits right behind him in fourth (62.1). Holland also ranks third in strikeouts (63), with Mucciarone one spot behind in fourth (55). Dirito is tied for third in wins in the America East (5) and tied for fourth for saves (4) alongside Bedder.

SCOUTING UMASS AMHERST

UMass Amherst enters this week falling in a three-game series this past weekend against Saint Louis. The Minutemen now sit at a 13-29-1 overall record. Senior Carter Hanson has recorded 44 hits, 35 RBI, 30 runs, and 11 doubles this season, as a top player for the team’s offense. Another key player is senior Jack Beverly, who has totaled 37 hits, 34 RBI, and 31 runs with a team-high seven home runs. Sophomore Callen Powers has been strong on the mound, tossing 61.0 innings with 47 strikeouts and an earned run average of 4.57.

SCOUTING NORTHEASTERN

The Huskies recently took a weekend series over Delaware, sitting at a 37-9 overall record before Wednesday’s contest. Junior Cam Maldonado has tallied a .379 batting average with 66 hits, 45 RBI, and 56 runs, adding 11 doubles and 12 home runs. Out of the bullpen, Graduate student Jordan Gottesman has recorded a 2.35 earned run average with a 0.90 WHIP in 61.1 innings pitched, while tossing 67 strikeouts.

SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE

Boston College enters this weekend’s matchup after falling to Stanford this past Sunday, now sitting at a 23-26 overall record. Junior Josiah Ragsdale leads the Eagles offense, tallying 52 hits, 27 RBI, and 47 runs with 11 doubles, five triples, and four homers. Alongside Ragsdale, graduate student Patrick Roche totals 47 hits, 32 RBI, 38 runs with seven doubles and three home runs. AJ Colarusso leads the way for the Eagles’ pitching staff, posting a 4.92 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 56.2 innings thrown.

MATCHUP HISTORY

The all-time series between the River Hawks and UMass Amherst sits at 4-2, with the Minutemen earning the win in the most recent matchup on May 7, 2024, in a 5-4 outcome. UMass Lowell owns a 2-0 home record over UMass Amherst.

The River Hawks’ all-time series against Northeastern sits at a 2-9 overall record. The Huskies took the last meeting against the River Hawks, 15-2, on May 14, 2024.

Boston College has collected two victories over the River Hawks this season. The all-time series stands at 2-7 in favor of the Eagles.

Link

College Sports

Former Lakeville South hockey forward Tate Pritchard flips commitment to Minnesota Gophers

Tate Pritchard, a former Lakeville South forward who amassed 82 points over the past two seasons for Sioux City of the USHL, announced Monday on Instagram that he has committed to the Gophers hockey program. Pritchard, a 20-year-old Savage native, previously had committed to Minnesota State Mankato. Pritchard had 19 goals and 34 assists in […]

Published

18 minutes ago

May 6, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Pritchard had 19 goals and 34 assists in 54 games for Sioux City this season after collecting 13 goals and 16 assists in 57 games for the Musketeers in 2023-24. The 6-2, 192-pounder played three seasons at Lakeville South, scoring 28 goals and assisting on 29 in 28 games as a senior.

Boston College on schedule

The Gophers announced that Boston College will visit 3M Arena at Mariucci for a two-game men’s hockey series that will be played Thursday, Oct. 9, and Friday, Oct. 10. Minnesota last played the Eagles during the 2016-17 season.

The visit from Boston College is part of an ambitious nonconference scheduled that isn’t yet finished. NCHC schools announced their schedules last week, and the Gophers will travel to North Dakota on Oct. 17-18, play host to Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 24-25, and travel to Denver to face the Pioneers at Ball Arena on Nov. 28, 29 or 30 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The exact date will be announced later.

The Big Ten portion of Minnesota’s schedule has been announced in August the past four years.

Link

College Sports

Attorney says NCAA deal should resolve judge’s concerns over roster limits, criticizes Saban

Associated Press An attorney in the $2.8 billion legal case reshaping college sports said Monday he thinks “the agreement we will reach with the NCAA will solve the judge’s concerns” over roster limits that have delayed final approval. Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the defendants, told The Associated Press that all is on track to […]

Published

3 hours ago

May 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Associated Press

An attorney in the $2.8 billion legal case reshaping college sports said Monday he thinks “the agreement we will reach with the NCAA will solve the judge’s concerns” over roster limits that have delayed final approval.

Steve Berman, co-lead counsel for the defendants, told The Associated Press that all is on track to file paperwork by Wednesday, which is U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken’s deadline for addressing concerns that prevented her from granting approval to the deal last month.

Berman said he created a chart listing the several dozen athletes who lodged objections to the agreement based on roster limits. He said he thinks almost every one will be offered a solution.

“We’re still negotiating, and I’m confident that everyone who lost a roster spot will have a chance to get a spot back,” he said.

He did not go into detail about whether those spots would be on their previous teams or new ones.

NCAA vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley said the NCAA would not comment on the litigation while negotiations are ongoing.

Wilken looked favorably on other key components of the settlement — namely, the up to $20.5 million some schools can pay their athletes for name, image likeness (NIL) deals and the nearly $2.8 billion in back pay that will go to players who said the NCAA and five biggest conferences wrongly kept them from earning NIL money.

But she asked lawyers to rework the part of the deal that will replace scholarship limits with roster limits. It’s a proposal that could make more overall scholarship money available but could cost thousands of athletes their spots on rosters in moves that began shortly after Wilken gave preliminary approval to the deal last fall.

The NCAA’s first response to Wilken’s request — which included the idea of “grandfathering in” current players to their roster spots — was to change nothing, arguing that undoing roster moves already in play would create more turmoil in an already chaotic process.

Wilken wasn’t moved, saying in her April 24 order that “any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA members schools’ own making.”

Berman acknowledged that the objectors likely wouldn’t approve of the new deal being worked on.

“But I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal,” he said, because it is designed to find roster spots for virtually all the individual athletes who objected.

Attorney: Saban should stay on the sideline

Berman also criticized Nick Saban after reports emerged that the retired Alabama football coach was urging President Donald Trump to undo damage he says has been caused by all the money flowing into college sports.

The Wall Street Journal reported Trump is considering an executive order that would call for some sort of structure behind NIL compensation now going toward players who are now able to move more freely between schools.

Berman said he believes an executive order would be subject to lawsuits “like there are against so many of his other orders.”

“But here, the question is, ‘Why does the president need to get involved?’” Berman said, while outlining the financial gains players have made in the NIL era. “Just because Nick Saban thinks he knows better and resents change? This is a coach who made more money off college football than any other coach, did absolutely nothing to make it right for these student-athletes. Why should he drive the president’s thinking?”

Saban, who made more than $11 million in his last year at Alabama and who some have said should become the commissioner of college football — a position that doesn’t exist — has said he isn’t completely against players making money.

But he has argued for rules and laws to keep things from looking like the “pay for play” model that the NCAA hopes to avoid but that is often what NIL payments look like.

___

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

Link

College Sports

Independents announce tournament, plus more on rev-share budgets

—— The five independent schools in college hockey have formed the United Collegiate Hockey Cup, an end-of-season tournament that will be hosted at Lindenwood’s Centene Community Ice Center. The inaugural tournament will be held from March 5-7, 2026. The tournament winner will not receive an automatic NCAA Tournament bid, but it will provide a championship […]

Published

3 hours ago

May 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

—— The five independent schools in college hockey have formed the United Collegiate Hockey Cup, an end-of-season tournament that will be hosted at Lindenwood’s Centene Community Ice Center.

The inaugural tournament will be held from March 5-7, 2026. The tournament winner will not receive an automatic NCAA Tournament bid, but it will provide a championship experience for the independent programs, which include Alaska, Alaska Anchorage, Lindenwood, Long Island, and Stonehill.

St. Louis just hosted the 2025 Frozen Four and also hosted a regional at Centene Community Ice Center in 2024.

“We are thrilled to bring this tournament to the St. Louis market,” said Jason Coomer, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics at Lindenwood University. “This event not only provides a competitive platform for our student-athletes but also showcases the growth and quality of independent NCAA hockey programs on a national stage.”

The format for the five-team tournament will include a play-in game. All teams are guaranteed at least two games over the three days of competition. It will be single elimination, and they will use the Pairwise rankings for seeding purposes.

“The ability to compete for a championship is an important part of every student-athlete’s experience, and we are excited this event will provide that opportunity for each participating program,” said Dean O’Keefe, Director of Athletics at Stonehill College. “We appreciate the St. Louis community welcoming this inaugural event to their region, and we look forward to Stonehill being part of this Division I post-season tournament.”

Tickets for the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup will go on sale this summer (August 1) through Lindenwood’s ticket office.

“The passion and dedication of these student-athletes deserves to be highlighted,” said Brock Anundson, Director of Athletics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “This tournament is about creating meaningful postseason opportunities and demonstrating the strength of these hockey programs in the NCAA landscape. We’re grateful to Lindenwood and the St. Louis community for hosting this inaugural event.”

Notably, this tournament does not involve Tennessee State, which is scheduled to launch as an independent program next season.

However, TSU has faced huge financial hurdles, and the school said the team would have to be self-funded. People in the program are trying to raise the funds, but it seems increasingly less likely that TSU will be ready for the 2025-26 season.

At this point, I’d be more surprised if they did compete as a D-I independent than if they did not.

Link

College Sports

Candice Storey Lee, Jill Redmond and Colleen Sorem appointed to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee

Story Links Vanderbilt Director of Athletics Candice Storey Lee, Missouri Valley Conference Deputy Commissioner Jill Redmond and Maryland Interim Athletics Director Colleen Sorem have been appointed to serve on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee. Lee will be filling the position vacated by Derita Dawkins of Arkansas, who served as committee […]

Published

4 hours ago

May 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Vanderbilt Director of Athletics Candice Storey Lee, Missouri Valley Conference Deputy Commissioner Jill Redmond and Maryland Interim Athletics Director Colleen Sorem have been appointed to serve on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee.

Lee will be filling the position vacated by Derita Dawkins of Arkansas, who served as committee chair in 2024-25 in the final year of her five years on the committee. Redmond fills the position vacated by Lizzie Gomez, who had served on the committee since 2022 and whose term was set to expire at the end of August. Gomez recently announced a move from the Southland Conference to the Big 12 Conference. Sorem replaces five-year committee veteran Deneé Barracato of Northwestern, who was recently named multiarea director for the Chicagoland Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Redmond and Sorem’s appointments are effective immediately, while Lee’s term will begin Sept. 1.

Named Vanderbilt director of athletics in May 2020, Lee is Vanderbilt’s first female athletics director and the first Black woman to head a Southeastern Conference athletics program. A former member of the Vanderbilt women’s basketball team, Lee has earned undergraduate, master’s and doctorate degrees from the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development and has been a leader in athletics and the wider Vanderbilt community since arriving on campus as a first-year student in 1996.

“It’s a great honor to serve and support a sport that has meant so much to me personally and professionally,” Lee said. “I remember the thrill of competing with my teammates in the NCAA tournament, and I look forward to being a part of a committee that helps make that dream come true for so many talented student-athletes.”

Redmond joined the Missouri Valley in August 2023 and is involved with all organizational and operational aspects of the conference. She came to the conference after spending 13 years at the Atlantic 10 Conference. Redmond, who also has previously worked in the Richmond, Dartmouth and Benedictine (Illinois) athletics departments, completed her undergraduate degree at DePaul, where she was a track and field student-athlete, and earned a master’s degree from Benedictine.

“I am truly honored and humbled to represent the Missouri Valley Conference on the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee,” Redmond said. “It is a privilege to serve the Division I membership and the sport of women’s basketball alongside such outstanding professionals on the committee and within the NCAA national office.”

Sorem, who has worked at Maryland for 10 years, served as Maryland’s senior deputy athletics director/chief operating officer before being named interim athletics director March 21. Before Maryland, Sorem was a senior associate athletics director at Towson and associate athletics director at Florida Gulf Coast. She joined the Florida Gulf Coast staff in 2008 after six years at UMass Lowell. Sorem is a 2000 graduate of James Madison and obtained her master’s from Alabama in 2002.

“I am truly honored to be selected to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Committee,” Sorem said. “At Maryland, we have a long tradition of success and support for women’s basketball, and representing the Big Ten Conference in this capacity is an opportunity I accept with great pride. The women’s game has been experiencing an exciting and unprecedented amount of growth over the past few years. As someone who is passionate about the game and supporting our fearless women, I look forward to contributing to the future of women’s basketball alongside my fellow committee members.”

Lee, Redmond and Sorem will be part of the 12-member committee that will be chaired in 2025-26 by Amanda Braun, director of athletics at Milwaukee. Other committee members include Vicky Chun of Yale; Liz Darger of Brigham Young; Jill Bodensteiner of Saint Joseph’s; Amy Folan of Central Michigan; Alex Gary of Western Carolina; Josh Heird of Louisville; Jeff Konya of San Jose State; and Lynn Tighe of Villanova.

Candice Storey Lee, Vanderbilt Director of Athletics

Jill Redmond, Missouri Valley Conference Deputy Commissioner

Colleen Sorem, Maryland Interim Athletics Director

Link

College Sports

NIL is changing college sports; for better or worse?

HUNT VALLEY, Md. (TNND) — It’s been nearly four years since the NCAA enacted a new policy allowing college athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, and just a few weeks since a federal judge opened the door for college athletic departments to pay athletes directly. Much of the details are still being […]

Published

4 hours ago

May 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Much of the details are still being worked out in the courts. Key components like roster limits, scholarship limits and payment pools are still up in the air.

As is a governing body to oversee all of these new rules, since most current regulation is a patchwork of state laws, legal settlements and NCAA rules.

But, we are starting to see the impacts of college athletes getting paid – and what it means for the enterprise as a whole.

Depending on who you ask, the historical shift is: long overdue for athletes who’ve spent thousands of hours grinding for their craft; late to the party in terms of global sports; the official death certificate for amateurism and the “student” side of “student-athlete”; or, an inevitable reality that has to run wild before it gets reined in and regulated.

To the league itself, it’s a positive step.

When a judge granted preliminary approval for a framework for schools to pay athletes, NCAA President Charlie Baker said it would “help bring stability and sustainability to college athletics while delivering increased benefits to student athletes for years to come.”

The push for college athletes to get paid spans decades, with legal challenges and legislative efforts dating back to at least the early 2000s. Which is surprising, considering the NCAA has been a multi-million dollar industry for several decades, and a multi-billion dollar industry for about a decade.

That disparity is due to the idea of “amateurism,” a word many experts and analysts use when they cite concerns about completely commercializing college sports. That idea goes back more than a century, to 1800s England, where sports were only for the wealthy, and the working class didn’t want them to be able to pay their way to victory.

“I don’t want to say [amateurism] is going to die, but it will certainly be the commercial aspects that are going to permeate,” said David Hedlund, the chairman of the Division of Sport Management at St. John’s University. “I think we’re going to see and hear less and less about amateurism, and college sports are going to look more like professional sports, or a training ground for professional sports.”

The idea that sports are for enjoyment and the love of the game rather than money is a noble one. And players can love the game and make money off their talents at the same time.

But many experts say amateurism has long been dead; the NCAA was just, for whatever reason, the last organization behind the International Olympic Committee to let it die. It’s part of an effort to keep pace with the rest of the world. Overseas soccer and basketball players are spotted when they’re 12 to 14 years old, and go pro when they turn 18.

“We’re in a global marketplace,” said Matt Winkler, a professor and program director of sports analytics and management at American University. “We sort of have to keep up with the other nations if we want to strive and have those great moments in sports for our Olympic teams and our World Cup teams and so forth.”

Coaches have long been compensated, and universities have long profited off their sports teams.

“The money has always been there. It’s just a lot more front-facing now, I think, than it’s been in the past,” Hedlund said.

Some sports analysts say it was quite front-facing in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

March Madness was devoid of any significant upsets or Cinderella teams. For the first time in five decades, every team that made it to the Sweet 16 came from a power conference, including all four No. 1 seeds and all but one No. 2 seed.

And, every team that made it to the Final Four was a No. 1 seed.

ESPN analyst Stephen Smith said NIL deals and the now no-limits transfer portal are to blame for why mid-major programs didn’t see much success, and top-tier schools prevailed.

“If there was no NIL, if there was no portal and you have the mid-majors go 0-6 in the second round, please, we ain’t sweating that,” Smith said. “But when you’re able to point to rules that have been implemented that ultimately shows itself to have inflicted upon the game itself, that’s dangerous.

“College basketball as we knew it – which, to me, is all about March Madness – will cease to exist. Because there’s no madness.”

Experts say there is a serious question mark about the current state of how much colleges can pay to entice players, and how many times players can be enticed enough to transfer.

But not all believe it has to be the death of March Madness or competition in college sports. After all, there’s still Division 2 and 3 universities.

Richard Paulsen, a sports economist and professor at the University of Michigan, said it’s hard to gauge the impact of NIL deals and the transfer portal on competition. Because while the top ten or so power schools may be able to offer the most money to the elite players, there’s still a lot of talent out there.

“The top schools have an advantage in getting the A-level talent, but some of the players that might have sat on the bench at a top school previously could be enticed away with NIL money coming from a second tier school,” Paulsen said. “So I think the impact on competitive balance is maybe a little bit less clear.”

Paulsen says, as a professor, he is worried about the impact NIL deals – particularly million-dollar ones – can have on the students themselves, some 18, 19, 20 years old. It raises the question, does a teenager or young adult need this much money?

Shedeur Sanders is 23 years old, and his NIL valuation at the University of Colorado was roughly $6.5 million. Granted, he’s the son of NFL Hall of Famer and head coach for Colorado Deion Sanders.

But, his 2024 stats were top five in completion percentage, passing touchdowns and yards. Several analysts had him as the top prospect in the 2025 NFL draft, but he slid down to the fifth round, shocking much of the sports world.

Various reports place blame on other reasons – maybe he took more sacks than he should have, maybe NFL executives see traits we can’t see, maybe he bombed interviews with the managers, maybe it had to do with his Hall of Famer dad. And he certainly wouldn’t be the first prospect to get picked later than expected and prove all the teams that passed over him wrong.

But, he’s also losing money by going pro. The iced out, custom “Legendary” chain he wore on Draft Day reportedly cost $1 million.

“It is at least worth noting that five years ago, he wouldn’t have had the online presence that he had, and that could have turned off some NFL teams,” Paulsen said. “Without being in the rooms, I don’t know if it did, but that is possible, and it’s not something that would have been possible even five years ago.”

It begs the question, is it even worth going pro for these top-tier college athletes with insane NIL deals?

In the NBA, new data shows it may not be. The league announced last week just 106 players declared early for the 2025 draft. It’s the fewest since 2015. The number typically hovers around 300.

The drop in early entrants could be lingering effects of the extra COVID year.

But, next year, ten schools will pay their rosters somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million, including several million dollars per top player. That’s far more than the players would make if they were a second-round draft pick in the NBA.

Winkler said the combination of competitive rosters and the scope of these NIL deals has more to do with this drop in early declarations.

“These deals are getting so big that unless you’re going to be a first round draft choice, maybe if you’re going to be kind of a lottery pick or a top 10, 15 pick, it would be better for you to exhaust your eligibility on a major team, because you’re going to make more,” he said.

So, it might be financially advantageous for athletes to wait on the pros. Some announcers were even suggesting Sanders should go back to college if the NFL didn’t deem him ready for the show. (NCAA rules prohibit him from doing so anyway; he declared for the draft and signed with an agent).

But what about the fact that these players, who become millionaires, are still students?

Schools are working to provide resources for these athletes so they can get advice on what to do with their wealth, so that they don’t spend it irresponsibly. Which is not to assume all of them would; it goes without saying this money could greatly benefit an athlete who grew up in poverty and change the trajectory for his/her family.

But Paulsen says he worries about the “student” side of “student-athlete” when we start talking about millions upon millions of dollars and students transferring to whichever school offers them the most. Sometimes credits don’t transfer; sometimes players could feel pressure to fulfill their NIL commitments over their studies, when the stakes are that high.

At a young age, these players are under an unprecedented amount of pressure, from their coach, from their family, from their financial adviser, from social media, from broadcast exposure, from stakeholders, from the tens of millions of people who can now legally bet on them.

“Players should be able to leave bad situations, absolutely, and I certainly support players’ autonomy and chasing financial benefit from their athletic talents,” Paulsen said. “But if we’re going to call them student athletes, we should have some emphasis on the student part of that too. Some of these rules that are helping the athlete are hurting the student.”

One of those rules, he says, is the transfer portal. But in addition to harming the students’ academic careers, experts say this also takes a toll on teams and fans of those teams.

Take Nico Iamaleava for example. The star quarterback abruptly parted ways with Tennessee over an alleged compensation dispute with the school’s collective. He demanded an NIL readjustment to $4 million to keep playing for the Vols, and when they said no, he transferred to UCLA, though it’s unclear if they met his demands.

The exit shocked his teammates in Knoxville, with one of his receivers and defensive backs, Boo Carter, telling reporters, “He left his brothers behind.”

But the new pay-to-play system does also beg the question of school loyalty, not just for the players, but the fans too.

Paulsen says roster continuity, players spending all four years playing for one team, has been an endearing feature of sports like women’s college basketball, when you look at the legacies, for example, Caitlin Clark built at the University of Iowa, or Paige Bueckers at the University of Connecticut.

“I do think there’s definitely some extent to which all this player movement can have negative consequences,” he said.

But, some experts doubt fans of teams need to see the same or similar team year to year.

After all, this past NCAA Men’s March Madness Championship between Florida and Houston – the one ESPN’s Smith said featured no madness at all – scored 18.1 million viewers on CBS. That’s up 22% from last year’s championship, and the biggest audience since 2019.

The Final Four games, featuring all No. 1 seeds, ranked as the most-watched games in eight years.

In other words, so far, so good when it comes to college sports fandom.

One thing broadly agreed upon among experts is that competition must remain intact. The Florida-Houston matchup was a nailbiter.

“The biggest thing that would kill sports is if there is no competitive balance,” Hedlund said. “It is known when you have a really great team being a not-so-great team, if the great team probably will win, people don’t want to watch.”

People still appear to be watching. If they stop, one could assume the NCAA would change its course, or it’d be out of all its money too.

Plus, these experts expect regulation soon – possible measures like transfer restrictions, collectively bargained salary caps, conference realignment to avoid concentration, turning athletic departments into LLCs, putting degree completion into bylaws and evening out the number of roster spots, among other rules.

Experts say: be patient, wait for the legal fights to run their course, and wait for the brightest minds in sports – and Congress – to come up with a solution that pleases the players, teams, coaches, schools and fans.

“This is fundamental to the success of sports, so we just need to figure out what rules, what regulations, what governing bodies, how do we facilitate this?” Hedlund said. “We don’t want to ruin sports. That’s what’s at stake here.”

Winkler says it all comes down to the most “hardcore” stakeholders: fans and alumni. If the SEC and Big 10 just ganged up and created their own Premier League and college sports turned into checkbook sports, it could threaten that school pride.

“This year, we definitely saw cracks in the system,” Winkler said. “If the best athletes just go to the top, are [fans] rooting for an inferior product? Are they still going to have that affinity for their school, their team, their degrees, and people that are doing it? This is really going to test that.

“[Schools] have two key pressure points: keep getting a lot of money from TV so you can fund your athletic department, and keep alumni, fans and donors still feeling as engagedThere’s a lot to be worked out in the next several months and probably the next year to really get a boiler plate idea of what the rules and regulations need to be.”

Link