Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart believes the biggest issue with college football has to do with the transfer portal. However, he also believes there is a big issue with name, image and likeness deals stating that with the way the NIL is going, teams could “buy a championship” if parity isn’t maintained.

“You could end up with some haves and have-nots out there and ultimately a team could drive prices and go buy a championship, like you’re talking about with super teams,” Smart said when asked about undefeated teams in college football at the SEC spring meetings.

The NIL has affected Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs in several ways. The most recent example came when five-star offensive tackle recruit Jackson Cantwell, who surprisingly picked the Miami Hurricanes over the Georgia Bulldogs. One of the reasons for Cantwell’s commitment was said to be a massive NIL package worth $2 million a year.

Smart has made it clear that he wouldn’t want a freshman to make more than a senior. However, he believes that if the NIL isn’t regulated, it could be a threat to parity, as teams could sign the best recruits to rapidly increase their team’s success. Unless there’s some sort of cap, then certain schools could continue to have a significant advantage solely from having more NIL funding.

The 2023 Michigan Wolverines were the last undefeated team in college football. Before that, Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs were undefeated in 2022.

Virginia baseball head coach Brian O’Connor has emerged as a frontrunner to be Mississippi State‘s next head coach, per D1Baseball‘s Kendall Rogers. O’Connor has been the head coach at Virginia since 2004.

In his 22 seasons at the helm, O’Connor has amassed a stunning 913-392-2 record. He’s led the Cavaliers to two regular season conference championships, two ACC Tournament titles and a College World Series championship in 2015, the program’s only national title.

O’Connor has also led Virginia to seven appearances in the CWS (2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023, 2024). For his efforts, he’s been named the ACC Coach of the Year five times and reeled in multiple national coach of the year awards.

Despite reaching the CWS in the previous two seasons, Virginia failed to reach the NCAA Tournament this season after posting a 31-25 overall record and a 12-18 mark in conference play. O’Connor was understandably disappointed in his team’s exclusion from the tournament.

“They were heartbroken and they should be,” O’Connor said of his team. “They knew we were on the bubble. They knew that this could happen, but they believed; they had hope… We had practice all three days this weekend. We scrimmaged two of the days. We prepared like we were into the tournament. 

“But I wanted them to watch that show, whether we got in or not. If we didn’t get in, I wanted them to know what it felt like.”

O’Connor’s players will be able to use that feeling to motivate themselves in the future but he might not be around to remind them. If O’Connor takes over at Mississippi State, he will be replacing Chris Lemonis, who the school fired on April 28.

Assistant coach Justin Parker has been serving as the team’s interim head coach since Lemonis’ dismissal. The Bulldogs made the Tallahassee Regional and will face off against Northeastern on Friday.

“A change in leadership is what’s best for the future of Mississippi State Baseball,” Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon said about the decision to fire Lemonis. “We have not consistently met the standard of success that our university, fans and student-athletes expect and deserve.

“I want to thank Coach Lemonis for his work and the time he gave to our program, including a national championship in 2021. We appreciate his efforts and wish him and his family all the best moving forward.”

OKLAHOMA CITY – Baylor Softball’s Shaylon Govan picked up the 16^th All-American honor in program history, voted to the National Fastpitch Association (NFCA) All-America third team, announced by the organization on Wednesday afternoon during a press conference at the Women’s College World Series. 
  
Govan is just the second Bear to receive three-time All-American honors, joining Baylor Hall of Famer Brette Reagan as the only two to garner the honor three times. She is one of two honorees this year picking up a third All-American honor, joining Jordy Bahl from Nebraska. Govan adds a third-team at-large nod this year to her first- and second-team selections in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
 
A senior from Katy, Texas, Govan led BU with a .407 batting average, seven home runs and 28 RBIs. She led the Big 12 in batting average this season with a .453 average during conference play, which earned her the Big 12 Batting Champion honor. Govan also led the conference with her .587 on base percentage, marking her second-straight season leading the Big 12 in that statistical category. 
 
Setting a Baylor all-time record in career walks with 143, she also set Baylor career records in batting average (.407) and on base percentage (.558). Govan earned All-Big 12 First Team honors for the third-straight season and was named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team, honored as the best defensive first-baseman in the conference. 
  
Also taking care of business off the field, Govan earned Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year honors for dominating the classroom with a 4.0 GPA earlier this season. 
 
Fifty-four student-athletes from 33 different institutions have been voted to one of three 2025 NFCA Division I All-America teams. Govan is one of 15 repeat All-Americans honored this season.
 

– BaylorBears.com –

TALLAHASSEE – Florida State soccer player Ashlyn Puerta has signed a professional contract with USL Super League side Sporting Club Jacksonville. Puerta becomes the fourth Seminole to be signed to a professional side from the 2024 team. She was announced as one of the first signings in the expansion franchise’s history alongside Georgia Brown.

Puerta finished her freshman campaign scoring four goals and providing five assists with the Seminoles. The San Diego, California, native appeared in all 21 games in 2024, providing multiple key contributions, including long-range goals against Rice and SMU. Puerta was part of the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in 2024, according to TopDrawerSoccer. The freshman class scored 77 points with five players recording 10+ points.

“These exceptional players [Puerta and Brown] set the tone for the type of team we want to be – competitive, disciplined, and proud to represent Jacksonville,” said Sporting Club Jacksonville head coach Stacey Balaam. “We’re building something special for this club and this community. Each of these players brings leadership, a relentless work ethic, and a genuine commitment to the game.”

Puerta has made numerous appearances at the international level, representing the United States at multiple youth levels. She and Peyton McGovern will represent the U.S. at the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s U-20 Championship in Costa Rica later this month.

Sporting Jacksonville will begin its inaugural season on Saturday, August 23, against DC Power FC at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.

For more information on the Florida State soccer program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at NoleSoccer (IG), FSU Soccer (X), and Florida State Seminoles Soccer (FB).

Michigan is off to a slow start in the 2026 recruiting cycle, with the Wolverines just cracking the top-40 on 247Sports last week when four-star tight end Matt Ludwig joined the class. The picture is a little brighter when it comes to On3’s rankings, where Michigan is at No. 19. Still, the rankings are well below Sherrone Moore’s 2025 class.

There’s a lot of information out there about Bryce Underwood’s NIL deal and the money behind his flip from LSU. For many, the transfer portal and NIL deals are cheapening the sport, but it seems like some of those aspects are here to stay. While it’s easy to say kids are just going after the biggest payday, there could be other factors at play for this slow start.

The House Settlement is still pending

It’s tough to speculate when you’re not inside the program, but there’s a settlement pending that many of us have been following for some time — the House Settlement still hasn’t been finalized. The case, among other things, looks at rules for implementing revenue sharing for TV rights. It also includes caps on things like roster sizes, which is the issue that seems to be holding up the judge’s ruling for now.

With the exact amount of money available not immediately known, Michigan — and other programs as well — is in a tough spot and cannot give players all the financial information they need. While it’s nice to have some recruits already committed, there’s a very legitimate chance the coaches are also in a wait and see pattern for some aspects of recruiting until this thing gets resolved.

Michigan didn’t rush the process last season, why would they now?

The Wolverines didn’t move into the top-10 in recruiting rankings until late in the 2025 cycle. While some of that initially seemed tied to Moore’s hiring timeline, maybe the conversations were less about pressuring kids to commit early and more about letting them take in all their options and weigh as much information as they could. It feels like the coaching staff is still focused on finding the right players and culture builders, and they’re okay waiting to get those guys.

The Wolverines hosted a ton of top recruits on official visits last year, and while they did get some commitments during that window, some of the biggest commitments came much later. Bryce Underwood flipped a week before Thanksgiving, and other recruits like Shamari Earls, Jordan Young, Elijah Dotson and Jamar Browder, among others, didn’t choose Michigan until late in the cycle. It’s possible this staff is okay giving players time to make up their mind, instead of seeing them decommit later on after a rushed decision.

There’s less pressure because of the transfer portal

After landing quite the haul this offseason, there’s no doubt Michigan knows how to utilize the transfer portal to fill holes in the roster. Of course, landing top tier players at the high school level will also be valued by the coaching staff, but it’s good to balance things out with the portal, especially in the event they swing and miss on some of their top high school recruiting targets.

We’ll have to wait and see if a similar thing plays out this year when it comes to late-season commitments. NIL deals are certainly changing the game and it’s easy to say people are only in it for the most money. It’s also possible that recruiting is more complex in the changing landscape of football, and it seems unfair to solely blame NIL deals for why programs aren’t getting kids to commit.

What are your thoughts on Michigan’s current recruiting situation? Are you worried about it, or are you okay with waiting things out? Let us know in the comments below!

Major League Baseball is investing in Athletes Unlimited to support its softball league that will debut next month, marking the first time MLB will have a comprehensive partnership with a professional women’s sports league.

MLB said Thursday it was making a strategic investment in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League of an undisclosed amount for operational costs and a commitment to help it gain visibility in various ways, including assistance with content, marketing and sales, events, distribution, editorial, and digital and social platforms. That includes marketing the AUSL and its athletes during MLB’s All-Star Game and throughout the postseason.

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“This is something we’re really excited about,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press. “We studied the space hard. We think it’s a real opportunity and we’re excited to be involved.”

Athletes Unlimited has featured softball since 2020, when it unveiled a unique format that crowned an individual champion. The company will launch a league with a traditional, team-based format starting June 7 and will keep its individual format for the AUSL All-Star Cup that follows.

Manfred noted that interest in women’s sports had “escalated significantly” in recent years and his league had been looking for ways to get more involved, including the possible launch of its own softball league. He said Athletes Unlimited’s overall success and its strong infrastructure helped make the decision to collaborate easier.

“We thought rather than starting on our own and competing, that finding a place where we could invest and grow a business was a better opportunity for us,” Manfred said.

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Kim Ng, a former Major League Baseball executive, signed on as an adviser with the AUSL and was promoted to commissioner in April. Ng is the former general manager of the Miami Marlins, the first female GM in any of the major U.S. pro sports leagues, and has three World Series rings from a combined 21 years in the front offices of the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“As the process moved forward and it looked like we were going to make an investment, they hired Kim, and we had a long relationship with Kim, and it just added additional comfort to the idea of making the investment,” Manfred said.

Athletes Unlimited co-founder Jon Patricof said MLB’s commitment to increasing the AUSL’s visibility is as important as the financial investment.

“They’re committed to really elevating the AUSL,” he said. “It’s probably about one of the most difficult things for any sports league to do which is to get visibility and break through to new audiences, and I think MLB is already doing that for the AUSL, and there’s going to be a lot more to come.”

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Women’s pro softball leagues and independent teams have come and gone over the years, but none have offered a consistent option for women to have a stable future in the sport.

It appears that might change, with the help of softball greats Cat Osterman, Jennie Finch, Jessica Mendoza and Natasha Watley as AUSL advisors. On June 7, the Bandits and Talons will open with a three-game series in Rosemont, Illinois, and the Blaze and Volts will start off with a three-game series in Wichita, Kansas. The four teams will play 24 games this season as touring properties that will play games in 12 cities. The top two teams will compete in the AUSL Championship, a best-of-three series July 26-28 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Patricof said the league plans to expand to six teams next season and be city based.

MLB already supports several women’s softball and baseball initiatives, including a partnership with USA Softball and operation of the MLB Develops girls baseball pipeline. It is not involved with the upstart Women’s Professional Baseball League, which plans to launch in 2026 as the first pro baseball league for women since the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League — of “A League of Their Own” fame — folded in 1954.

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Manfred said he sees a bright future ahead for AUSL.

“I fully expect that they will expand, and we hope that we will end up with a league that is sustainable on its own, a good investment for us, and a partner in growing diamond sports internationally,” he said.

Patricof said the partnership with MLB and the already existing relationship between the Athletes Unlimited and USA Softball combine to help give the AUSL stability.

“As we announce MLB coming into the fold formally into what we’re doing with the AUSL, you really see a full alignment of this sport behind this league, and that I think is exciting for everyone,” Patricof said. “People who have sat on the sidelines or maybe have watched pro softball from a little bit of distance — everybody’s now jumped in, and I think that is an exciting moment for people who’ve been around this sport.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB