Jason Walker and Eric Frandsen discuss the latest in local sports, starting with their picks for players they think will have breakout seasons for Utah State football. Also, more details have been reported about the new “NIL Go” clearinghouse that will monitor NIL deals in college sports. And a look at Logan Hammer and Shelby Jensen’s success at the NCAA Nationals this week.

The Ohio State football program is figuring out how to navigate the fact that it will have a strict NIL budget to follow now that the House settlement has been approved. They have been planning for this for a while, but some fans were surprised at how small the budget is.

For the entire athletic department, the Ohio State Buckeyes will have $20.5 million to work with in terms of NIL money. How that money gets dispersed will be up to Ross Bjork and the athletic department now that athletes will be paid directly from the school.

Bjork recently spoke to the media for about an hour. He re-committed to keeping all 36 varsity sports and spoke on a number of other topics. One of those topics is the topic of revenue sharing. His thoughts have Ohio State football fans ecstatic.

Ohio State football fans are happy with Ross Bjork’s comments on revenue sharing

Bjork revealed that the Buckeyes will share about $18 million worth of revenue, and that will be shared among four sports: football, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball. That’s where the revenue sharing will start, and that will be reassessed after this year.

Ohio State will certainly use that money well with the football program. Any extra money that can be used to keep current players on the roster or get new recruits is money well spent. Ryan Day will have a better idea of how to allocate that money once things get nailed down.

Winning a national championship certainly helps the football team’s claim to some more money. The Buckeyes will learn who deserves that money once they’ve had a year to try some things out. This is something they’ve been planning for, so they won’t be caught off guard.

Bjork seems to have a good idea of which programs deserve this extra money. If they are able to make more, perhaps some other programs will also be able to join the revenue-sharing party. Until then, these four programs will be the ones that benefit.

The Buckeyes are in a really good spot to keep succeeding in the current landscape of college football.

West Virginia University’s Board of Governors took two steps on Friday to help its athletic department stay with the lead pack in the future of college sports. 

The BoG authorized the addition of a student fee to assist with the new revenue-sharing expense as well as an arrangement with Gold & Blue, Inc, which will do business as Gold & Blue Enterprises and work to develop “a comprehensive Name, Image, and Likeness, and revenue-generating ecosystem.” This is expected to be the creation of WVU’s in-house NIL operation, the details of which should be made public soon. Previously, the Mountaineers have benefited in the NIL space from Country Roads Trust, the collective founded by Ken Kendrick and Oliver Luck in 2022.

Meeting materials distributed on Friday showed that its primary objectives will be “to generate new and diversified revenue streams that fuel the continued success of WVU Athletics, and to harness the strength and visibility of the WVU brand to elevate the personal and professional opportunities available to Mountaineer student-athletes.”

Gold Blue Enterprises will be authorized to handle critical services for WVU and its NIL endeavors: 

• Compensation and Comprehensive NIL Support: Offer a full suite of services, including education, compliance guidance, compensation, and personalized brand development, to compensate and empower student-athletes in maximizing their NIL opportunities.
• Strategic Partnerships: Collaborate with leading marketing and advertising agencies to connect student-athletes with corporate partners, as well as facilitate meaningful endorsement opportunities and brand alignments.
• Innovative Business Structure: Operate with a private-sector approach, integrating sales, media, marketing, and business operations to drive revenue and support the long-term sustainability of WVU Athletics.

WVU is also adding what it calls the Mountaineer Athletic Advantage Fee, a $125 administrative charge per semester that begins in the fall. However, the meeting materials refer to an Athletics Revenue Share Support fee. A news release says the fee intends “to support the future of WVU Athletics and student-athletes.” The fee, which is separate from any other administrative fee associated with athletics, is for students on the Morgantown campus only. Full-time WVU Online students, all students enrolled in summer classes, WVU Institute of Technology and WVU Potomac State College students are exempt.

The House v. NCAA settlement created a new budget expense for WVU and peers choosing to opt into revenue-sharing. The Mountaineers will share with student-athletes roughly $20.5 million in generated revenue, money that used to fund athletic department operations. A spokesperson told EerSports that WVU and the athletic department are “pursuing many avenues, including increased sponsorships, additional fundraising efforts, a reallocation of expenses within Athletics, enhanced University support, and this new Mountaineer Athletics Advantage Fee.”

The 2025 College World Series field has been officially set, and all that’s left to do is play it out in Omaha. Eight teams are battling for the chance to be immortalized in the history of the sport as champions.

It all begins at Charles Schwab Field on Friday, June 13, and the tournament will run until the following weekend. Who stands tall above the field is anyone’s guess, but as the games roll on, this story will be updated to reflect the latest action. Your one-stop shop for all your College World Series needs.

The participants are ready, with Arizona, Arkansas, Coastal Carolina, LSU, Louisville, Murray State, Oregon State, and UCLA entering Nebraska dreaming of victory. Check out the full bracket below. Play ball.

Friday, June 13

Game 1 – Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4
Coastal Carolina and Arizona were tied at 4-4 entering the bottom of the eighth, but the Chanticleers’ bats woke up in a big way from there. They scored three runs in the inning to go up 7-4, which held as the final as Coastal Carolina advanced into the winners’ bracket.

Game 2 – Oregon State vs. Louisville, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Saturday, June 14

Game 3 – UCLA vs. Murray State, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN
Game 4 – Arkansas vs. LSU, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Sunday, June 15

Game 5 – Arizona vs. Loser of Game 2, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN
Game 6 – Coastal Carolina vs. Winner of Game 2, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Monday, June 16

Game 7 – Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN
Game 8 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Tuesday, June 17

Game 9 – Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 6, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN
Game 10 – Winner of Game 7 vs. Loser of Game 8, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Wednesday, June 18

Game 11 – Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9, 1 p.m. CT on ESPN
Game 12 – Winner of Game 8 vs Winner of Game 10, 6 p.m. CT on ESPN

Thursday, June 19

Game 13 (if necessary) – Winner of Game 11 vs. Loser of Game 11, TBD on TBD
Game 14 (if necessary) – Winner of Game 12 vs Loser of Game 12, TBD on TBD

Saturday, June 21

CWS Finals Game 1 – Winner of Bracket 1 vs. Winner of Bracket 2, 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN

Sunday, June 22

CWS Finals Game 2 – Winner of Bracket 1 vs. Winner of Bracket 2, 1:30 p.m. CT on ABC

Monday, June 23

CWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary) – Winner of Bracket 1 vs. Winner of Bracket 2, 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPN

More on the 2025 College World Series

Some history is being made with this year’s College World Series field. In the Super Regional era, dating back to 1999, there has always been at least one repeat visitor. But as Aria Gerson of The Tennessean put out on social media, a completely fresh slate of teams is making their way to Omaha.

“2025 will be the first time in the super regional era (since 1999) that no team that made it to the College World Series the year before will be back in Omaha,’ Gerson said via X.

Six different conferences will be represented as well. Nobody has more than two, as the SEC has a pair of teams still alive to win a national championship. However, the former Pac-12 might have something to say about that, seeing Oregon State and UCLA in the field.

Tennessee softball coach Karen Weekly on June 13 voiced her opinion against tampering in the NCAA transfer portal — and how teams have used NIL to land players.

With revenue sharing payments set to begin in less than three weeks and major changes coming–and still in flux–for college sports, Mizzou Director of Athletics Laird Veatch met with the local media for about half an hour on Thursday afternoon. Here’s a complete transcript of everything Veatch had to say.

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Opening Statement

“First of all, thank you all for coming. My opening statement is really just to start it off by thanking you for taking the time. I really have a disclaimer, and that is that this is, as you know, very much an evolving landscape. So I don’t pretend to be the expert on everything. If I can answer questions, I will. If I can provide some type of insight, I will certainly do so. If I can’t or don’t, there’s probably reasons for that, and I may end up–she’s shaking her head. I may have to refer to a couple of my experts in the back of the room, or come back to you later with answers. We will do our best to provide some perspective. But thank you all for for taking the time. And just want to open it up for questions.”

Now that this is approved, how many sports are going to be getting rev share funds, and what’s the breakdown going to be among them?

“First of all, to answer that question, I would just say that, you know, the bulk of our revenue share funds will go to football, men’s basketball, similar to the conversation you’re seeing across the country, in large part, in line with, you know, how money monies are generated, but also the brand value that those student athletes bring to Mizzou. There will be other sports that will receive revenue share. Not all sports will, but there’ll be opportunities for student athletes across our sports to receive those funds.”

Can you say what sports those are and can those change year to year?

“Yeah, first of all, thanks to that question, they can change year to year. And I’m sure there will be a lot that we learn this process, just like everyone else does, as we enter into this for the first time. I don’t feel like we’re in a position to share specific sports or specific details and amounts. And the reason for that, candidly, is because until we’re at a point where, you know, the process allows for that kind of transparency across the board of all sports, I just candidly don’t see a competitive value or reason, a strategic incentive for us to disclose those specifics. I do think that will likely happen in time across the board, but until that time, I just don’t think it’s in the best interest.”