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Ranking the Big Ten MBB teams in the transfer portal

The landscape of college sports is forever changing. The transfer portal is now the norm across the country and especially for teams in a power conference like the Big Ten. This is a ranking of how the conference has done in the transfer portal so far: No. 1: Michigan The Wolverines made a big splash, […]

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Ranking the Big Ten MBB teams in the transfer portal

The landscape of college sports is forever changing. The transfer portal is now the norm across the country and especially for teams in a power conference like the Big Ten. This is a ranking of how the conference has done in the transfer portal so far:

No. 1: Michigan

The Wolverines made a big splash, landing the top rated player in the transfer portal in UAB’s Yaxel Lendeborg from UAB. Lendeborg is still going through the NBA Draft process to see if he gets any first round interest, but if he doesn’t (which he hasn’t yet), then he’s going to be the top dog on Michigan. Last season with UAB, Lendeborg averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game and was one of the top players in the country last season. The Wolverines also got three four-star caliber players on top of landing Landeborg: center Aday Mara from UCLA, forward Morez Johnson Jr. from Illinois and guard Elliot Cadeau from UNC. Specifically with Mara, he showed flashes at UCLA and with Dusty May’s coaching, he could be in for a huge breakout season. Michigan is looking better than ever despite some of its own transferring out (guards Tre Donaldson and Justin Pippen as well as forward Sam Walters). Don’t be surprised if the Wolverines go back-to-back with a Big Ten Championship in 2025-2026.

No. 2: USC

I’m gonna start off with talking about who USC is losing in the portal this year. Desmond Claude, in his one and only year as a Trojan, led the team in scoring with 15.8 points and tied for first in assists with 4.2 per game. The other player to average 4.2 assists, Saint Thomas, is also in the portal alongside Claude. Both are currently looking for a new team. USC’s second leading scorer from a season ago, Wesley Yates III, is still playing in the Big Ten, just not for the Trojans. On the other hand, Chad Baker-Mazara from Auburn and Rodney Rice from Maryland were the two big splashes made by USC. Baker-Mazara was the second leading scorer behind Naismith College Player of the Year runner-up Johni Broome as the Tigers made it to the Final Four. Rice was the third leading scorer for the Terps behind Derik Queen and Ja’Kobi Gillespie as they made a run to the Sweet 16. Adding onto this transfer class are Jacob Cofie from Virginia and Gabe Dynes from Youngstown State. USC improved despite losing its top end talent from 2024-2025.

No. 3: Drake..I mean Iowa

Iowa hired former Drake head coach Ben McCollum. With that hire came an influx of former Bulldogs who followed their coach to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes added one of the top players in the portal in Drake’s Bennett Stirtz. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged just over 19 points per game on close to 50/40/80 splits. Also from Drake is four players who saw run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. This includes Drake’s rebounds leader Cam Manyawu. Iowa also landed Robert Morris’s second leading scorer and top rebounder Alvaro Folgueiras and Kansas State’s sharpshooter Brendan Hausen. The Hawkeyes did say goodbye to Pryce Sandfort, Josh Dix, Owen Freeman, Brock Harding and Ladji Dembele, but Ben McCollum has brought over his players and his culture to reshape Iowa basketball into a tournament team.

No. 4: Indiana

Yes, Malik Reneau, Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles Rice and Bryson Tucker among others are no longer with Indiana, but the Hoosiers got a whole bunch of dogs and look to be stronger entering the 2025-2026 season. Tucker DeVries from West Virginia and Lamar Wilkerson from Sam Houston State headline the transfer class for Indiana. DeVries averaged 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 47.3% from three. He did only play in eight games after an injury ended his season early. Wilkerson averaged 20.5 points for the Bearkats last season (11th in the country) and was one of the best three point shooters in the country, making 109 on 44.5% shooting. Davidson’s Reed Bailey, Elon’s Nick Dorn, Troy’s Tayton Conerway and the North Florida duo of Jasai Miles and Josh Harris also headline this transfer group. Indiana got 10 transfers in and all could easily be playing next season.

No. 5: Washington

After finishing last in the Big Ten this past season, Washington has a chance to finish higher up in the conference next year. The Huskies did lose Mekhi Mason and Tyler Harris to the portal, but they more than makeup for those losses with what they gained. USC’s Wesley Yates III is the highlight of this transfer class. Beyond that, the Huskies landed Quimari Peterson from ETSU, Lathan Sommerville from Rutgers, Bryson Tucker from Indiana and Jacob Ognacevic from Lipscomb. Peterson led ETSU in scoring last season, averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting over 40% from three. Sommerville was the third option on a Rutgers team that included likely top-3 picks in Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper. Tucker is entering his sophomore season and showed flashes at Indiana. Ognacevic was Lipscomb’s leading scorer (20.0) and rebounder (8.0) as the Bisons won the ASUN conference to make the NCAA Tournament.

No. 6: Maryland

Maryland did lose a lot of significant contributors in the transfer portal. The main ones being Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Julian Reese and Rodney Rice. However, with Kevin Willard going to coach at Villanova and the Terps bringing in Buzz Williams from Texas A&M, some of Williams’ players followed him to College Park. Pharrel Payne is the highlight of the former Aggies following Williams, plus three others. Outside of the A&M transfers, Maryland got Elijah Saunders of Virginia, David Coit Jr. of Kansas, Myles Rice of Indiana and Isaiah Watts of Washington State.

No. 7: UCLA

There are both pros and cons to UCLA’s transfer class. Starting with the negatives, the Bruins saw Aday Mara, Sebastian Mack and Dylan Andrews along with a few others. Mara, despite only playing 13 minutes per game, was a game wrecker at times and has insane potential. Mack was the third leading scorer for the Bruins and Andrews led them in assists. Now onto the positives: New Mexico’s Donovan Dent is now playing at UCLA. Dent entered the portal after his former head coach Richard Pitino took the coaching job at Xavier. In each of his three seasons at New Mexico, Dent took massive leaps. In his junior season he averaged 20.4 points per game (12th in the country) and scored 21 points in the Lobos’ Round of 64 victory over seven seed Marquette. The Bruins also got Xavier Booker to come play in Los Angeles. Although Booker struggled at Michigan State, he was a five star recruit out of high school in 2023 and might just need a change of scenery. UCLA also landed UMKC’s Jamar Brown and San Diego’s Steven Jamerson to round out its class.

No. 8: Illinois

Despite some major adds overall this season, the Fighting Illini only got two of those additions from the portal while losing some contributing pieces. The most impactful outgoing transfers were Morez Johnson Jr. and Tre White. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, Carey Booth and Keaton Kutcher entered the portal as well. Even with some big blows to the roster from the portal alone, Illinois got two ballers. First is Tomislav Ivisic’s twin brother Zvonimir Ivisic from Arkansas. Zvonimir Ivisic averaged 1.9 blocks per game a season ago and was Arkansas’ fifth leading scorer. The other addition from the portal is California’s Andrej Stojakovic, son of NBA legend Peja Stojakovic. Andrej Stojakovic averaged 17.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game on 40/30/80 shooting splits. If he is anything like his dad though, he can become a lethal three point shooter.

No. 9: Wisconsin

This is specifically transfer portal rankings, not power rankings. That’s why the loss of John Tonje doesn’t matter here. Wisconsin did very well in the portal this season. None of its top six scorers from 2024-2025 entered the transfer portal or have already transferred. The team’s biggest loss transfer wise is Carter Gilmore, who averaged just 3.9 points per game. On the flip side, the Badgers have brought in Andrew Rohde from Virginia. Rohde was the third leading scorer for the Cavaliers and led them in assists with 4.3 per game. Wisconsin also got Nick Boyd. Boyd played his first three seasons at FAU before transferring to San Diego State for the 2024-2025 season. He led the Aztecs in scoring and in assists. The other big get was Austin Rapp from Portland. The first-year was second on his team in scoring and averaged 1.5 blocks per game. The Badgers also landed Braeden Carrington from Tulsa to round out their transfer class.

No. 10: Minnesota

The Golden Gophers lost their top four scorers to the transfer portal. Dawson Garcia entered with the hope of being granted an extra year of eligibility, while Lu’Cye Patterson, Mike Mitchell Jr. and Femi Odukale are all still awaiting new destinations. On the other hand, new head coach Niko Medved, formerly of Colorado State, has enticed the fourth leading scorer for the Rams to come to Minnesota. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson averaged 9.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game last season under Medved. Also joining the Gophers is Davidson’s three-point specialist Bobby Durkin, Northern Colorado’s Langston Reynolds, California’s BJ Omot and Western Michigan’s Chansey Willis Jr. among others headed to the Twin Cities.

No. 11: Nebraska

The Cornhuskers brought in a lot of new faces from the transfer portal. It’s headlined by Pryce Sandfort from Iowa, Ugnius Jarusevicius from Central Michigan and Kendall Blue from St. Thomas. Sandfort only averaged 8.8 points per game but shot 40.0% from three. Jarusevicius led the Chippewas in scoring (16.2 points per game) and rebounding (7.3 rebounds per game). Blue was St. Thomas’ second leading scorer and its leading rebounder. Nebraska also didn’t lose much. Only two ‘Huskers entered the portal: Nick Janowski and Gavin Griffiths. Both didn’t have much of an impact in 2024-2025 for Nebraska so transfer portal wise, it’s a solid class.

No. 12: Ohio State

In terms of the transfer portal, the highest scorer for Ohio State that entered was Meechie Johnson Jr. who averaged just 9.1 points per game. Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart also did enter which brings this class down a bit, but the Buckeyes got good returns out of the portal. Seven footer Christoph Tilly from Santa Clara averaged 12.5 points and 4.9 rebounds. Josh Ojianwuna from Baylor started in all 23 games he appeared in before going down with an injury. Before that, Ojianwuna averaged 6.4 rebounds while being on the same team as one of the best rebounders in the country in Norchad Omier. The last big get for the Buckeyes was Wright State’s leading scorer, Brandon Noel. Noel averaged 19.0 points per game on 50/35/70 shooting splits.

No. 13: Oregon

The Ducks didn’t lose too many impact pieces in the portal. Brandon Angel is the headliner of the transfer out group for Oregon as he was its fifth leading scorer and third leading rebounder. In terms of what the Ducks brought in, they chose to bet on younger players and upside. Penn State freshman Miles Goodman and Texas sophomore Devon Pryor haven’t played too much in their college careers. Ohio State sophomore Sean Stewart averaged 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds for the Buckeyes a season ago in 18.4 minutes per game. Elon junior TK Simpkins is the veteran of this transfer class. Simpkins led the Phoenix in scoring on 16.4 points per game.

No. 14: Michigan State

The Spartans lost three players in the transfer portal. Xavier Booker was never able to find a spot in the rotation in East Lansing. The same went for Gehrig Normand. The big loss for Tom Izzo is Tre Holloman. Holloman was the Spartans’ third leading scorer and was second in assists. Coming in for Izzo is FAU’s leading scorer Kaleb Glenn. Glenn averaged 12.6 points for the Owls as they finished the season 18-16. The other transfer is Samford’s leading scorer Trey Fort. Fort averaged 14.6 points on close to 45/40/75 shooting splits.

No. 15: Northwestern

For Northwestern standards, this class is fantastic. The Patriot League’s 2024-2025 Rookie of the Year Max Green comes to NU, bringing a well-rounded skill set as a 6-foot-6 guard. The ‘Cats also brought in USF’s Jayden Reid, a volume three point shooter who can initiate the offense. Lastly, Northwestern added big man Arrinten Page from Cincinnati to try and fill in at the center position. The ‘Cats didn’t lose much to the portal; just Blake Barkley and Luke Hunger entered and are now with different teams. Because this transfer class has been discussed more in-depth on the site compared to the other Big Ten teams, make sure to check out the other Northwestern transfer portal content!

No. 16: Purdue

Purdue didn’t do much in the portal because it didn’t need to. Myles Colvin and Camden Heide were the main losses, but with Braden Smith and Trey Kauffman-Renn both returning, not much really changed for the Boilermakers. They did bring in Oscar Cluff from South Dakota State. Cluff led the Jackrabbits in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double and shooting 63.4% from the field. They also landed North Florida’s third leading scorer Liam Murphy. Murphy shot 42.3% from deep on 7.7 attempts per game.

No. 17: Rutgers

Obviously losing Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper to the draft is a big loss for the Scarlet Knights. That doesn’t change the fact that even without including them, they still don’t have a great transfer class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. Rutgers lost its first, second and fifth leading scorer from a season ago (not including Bailey and Harper) with Lathan Sommerville, Jeremiah Williams and Jordan Derkack either committed elsewhere or still waiting in the portal. They did bring in Baye Fall from Kansas State, Tariq Francis from NJIT and Darren Buchanan from George Washington. Fall has only appeared in 13 career games over his two seasons in college. Francis led NJIT in scoring with 19.2 points per game, but the team only won six games. Buchanan had a better year as a freshman than he did at a sophomore, with his scoring average dropping by five points from his first to second season.

No. 18: Penn State

All Penn State did in the portal was bring in forward Josh Reed from Cincinnati. Reed played over 17 minutes per game last season but scored under five points per game. While his shot volume was low, his shooting percentages weren’t that good. With an increase in volume, Reed may end up blossoming for the Nittany Lions. He’ll likely need to do so too as Puff Johnson and Miles Goodman among others are either in the transfer portal or have already committed elsewhere.

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How Kentucky Football Won the Offseason

When Mark Stoops sat in front of the podium at Kroger Field for the first time ahead of the 2025 Kentucky football season, he shared an offseason anecdote that would be unremarkable in most instances. During this offseason, every small detail matters. For the first time in 13 years, the strength and conditioning staff reported […]

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When Mark Stoops sat in front of the podium at Kroger Field for the first time ahead of the 2025 Kentucky football season, he shared an offseason anecdote that would be unremarkable in most instances. During this offseason, every small detail matters.

For the first time in 13 years, the strength and conditioning staff reported to the head coach that they had 100% participation in summer workouts. There was just one exception.

“We had a situation where a freshman was late a couple times, and his unit grabbed him, straightened it out, and got them right back on track,” Stoops said.

That’s not nothing. As Kentucky’s 2024 season spiraled, we heard whispers about cracks in the culture. There was a void in leadership and accountability.

This anecdote does not mean all of Kentucky’s problems have been solved. You can keep the “Mission Accomplished” banner in the closet a little longer. However, this is one small sign that this program is taking a step in the right direction.

Kentucky Stacked Up Winning Days in the Weight Room

Every offseason is dedicated to getting bigger, faster, and stronger. This applies in every sport. If you got a nickel for every time a professional athlete said ahead of a season, “I’m in the best shape of my life,” you could fully fund your 401(k).

Kentucky amplified the urgency in the locker room this offseason, in part because of the injuries that depleted the team’s depth in the trenches last fall. Mark Stoops’ best teams have been some of the most physical teams in the SEC. You can’t get that by snapping your fingers on Saturdays. It can only be done by putting in the work every single day. Mark Stoops set out to accomplish that by challenging his staff to demand more from the players.

“Our strength and conditioning team, I really challenged them because they are amazing. They’ve done a remarkable job for a long time, and they have my full trust,” said Stoops.

“But I did challenge them because we need to be bigger, we need to be stronger, we need to be more athletic. We need a lot of things, and so there was a lot of pressure put on them, and they’ve really delivered. Now, it’s up to us and our (coaching) staff to make sure that we have a great camp,” said Stoops.

Entering his 13th season in Lexington, Mark Stoops isn’t putting his head in the sand. He knows his program fell well short of expectations a year ago. In order to create a successful team, he did what we knows works, go to work.

Kentucky fans get tired of hearing that their coach is, “Going to get back to work.” But that’s who he is. He couldn’t try to be a Shane Beamer and run PR for his program all offseason. Instead, he went back to the well and built a team in his identity.

“It’s been very quiet. Guys have put their head down, have worked extremely hard,” he said. “They’ve been remarkable. You could see that with their strength, with their size, and their commitment to each other. The fact that we’ve been so consistent this summer says a lot about them.”

If you do the little things right every day, the big things aren’t so hard. This Kentucky football team has a monumental task ahead. They did the little things the right way to set themselves up for success in 2025.



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MAC upsets are a treasured college football tradition. Will they go extinct in the new era?

DETROIT — Like a No. 14 seed beating a No. 3 seed in March, a team from the Mid-American Conference knocking off one of college football’s big spenders is the kind of upset that captivates an entire sport. One of those indelible upsets happened last season when Northern Illinois stunned fifth-ranked Notre Dame in South […]

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DETROIT — Like a No. 14 seed beating a No. 3 seed in March, a team from the Mid-American Conference knocking off one of college football’s big spenders is the kind of upset that captivates an entire sport.

One of those indelible upsets happened last season when Northern Illinois stunned fifth-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend. NIU’s victory, shocking at the time, became even more mind-bending as Notre Dame reeled off 13 consecutive victories on its way to the championship game of the College Football Playoff.

The formula for these massive upsets hasn’t changed, but the 2025 season could bring a new wrinkle: the first underdog to upset a team with a $30 million payroll. NIU’s Thomas Hammock has a few words of advice for whichever lucky coach finds himself in that position.

“I should have taken more time to enjoy it,” Hammock said. “That’s a regret that I have, because I did not enjoy it personally. I was on to the next opponent. As I reflect, I’m proud of the accomplishment. We don’t have a big NIL budget. We don’t have all these extra things that most people have. We came together and found a way to get it done.”

The approval of the House settlement and the arrival of revenue sharing reinforced an age-old divide between the upper echelon of college football and teams in the middle class. The bluebloods have always had bigger budgets, nicer facilities, larger staffs and more talented rosters. Now they’ll have bigger payrolls, too, measured not just in third-party NIL deals but also in direct payments from schools to the players.

The big schools will pay out the full $20.5 million allowed under the settlement terms, with the lion’s share going to football players. Smaller schools are likely to distribute a fraction of that. If that means programs in the MAC are at a disadvantage, well, what else is new?

“When I was a little kid, Texas still had advantages, and Michigan and Ohio State,” Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin said. “There’s always been a gap. The difference between Michigan and Purdue is a gap. Is it probably getting wider? Yeah, but there’s always been the haves and the have-nots.”

The Big Ten’s September schedule features a heavy rotation of MAC opponents. Those games are typically lopsided, which makes the occasional upset — Toledo over Michigan in 2008, Eastern Michigan over Illinois in 2019, Bowling Green over Minnesota in 2021 — even more special.

Those MAC matchups will be played as long as Big Ten teams need home games to pad their nonconference schedules. The long-term question is whether the forces unleashed by the House settlement will bring these schools closer together or push them further apart.

MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher suggested the arrival of revenue sharing might give bigger schools a taste of the tight margins that MAC programs know all too well. A wave of belt-tightening has already hit Power 4 programs as they trim staff and look for alternative funding sources to offset the millions that will be paid out to athletes.

“Given the new system we’re moving into, I think the pressures will be even higher at the upper level of the food chain,” Steinbrecher said. “I think they’re going to have very similar issues to what we will have.”

The best course of action, Steinbrecher said, is for the 10 FBS conferences to work together. The alternative scenario is that these new pressures drive the Power 4 conferences — and the two behemoths, the Big Ten and the SEC — to distance themselves from the smaller leagues further.

The implementation of the House settlement has been marked by clashes between collectives and the newly formed College Sports Commission, which is responsible for vetting NIL deals to prevent boosters from pouring unlimited money into the rosters of their favorite teams. President Donald Trump has also weighed in, issuing an executive order that aims to rein in a system that “reduces competition and parity by creating an oligarchy of teams that can simply buy the best players.”

In theory, MAC programs would stand to benefit if new rules make it harder for programs to lure the best Group of 5 players into the transfer portal with lucrative NIL offers. But coaches in the MAC understand the reality: If a big school wants one of their players, there’s only so much they can do.

“The boys that want to pay, they’ll just go back to cheating,” Martin said. “We’ll go full circle, from ‘This is going to legalize it’ to now we’re hampering them and they want to do more. So let’s just go back to showing up in a Speedway parking lot with a bag.”

Martin caused a stir last August when he said Alabama “stole” Miami’s kicker, alluding to the way Power 4 programs recruit players from the rosters of smaller schools. Martin was amused by the reaction to those comments, as he merely said aloud what everyone in the sport already knows.

Programs employ staffers who analyze the rosters of every MAC program and identify the players who might be good enough to play at a higher level. Martin got a reminder of that when he called a friend at a bigger school and realized his friend knew Miami’s personnel almost as well as he did.

“I had trouble last year when I said Alabama stole our kicker,” Martin said. “It wasn’t (just) Alabama. I got a receiver stolen by Texas Tech. That’s what’s going on. ‘Tampering’ is such a nice term for stealing our players.”

With so many advantages, Power 4 programs have no excuses for losing to a team from the MAC. The money being spent on roster building means more pressure on coaches and players to avoid these unsightly upsets and, in all likelihood, more backlash when a $30 million team loses to a team with a payroll closer to $1 million.

And make no mistake, it’s going to happen. Precise payroll numbers are difficult to pin down, but there are plenty of early-season opportunities for a MAC team to score a Big Ten upset. Miami opens the season with games at Wisconsin and Rutgers, Ball State opens at Purdue, and Northern Illinois plays at Maryland in Week 2. If you want to dream big, Central Michigan plays Michigan in Week 3, and Ohio plays at Rutgers and Ohio State in the first three weeks of the season.

By the numbers, Big Ten teams should win all of those games. But no matter how much they’re being paid, college athletes are never going to be as consistent as NFL players, Hammock said. All the money in the world can’t eliminate the distractions, pressures, and lapses in focus that, on a particular day, could allow a MAC team to shock the world.

“I don’t think fans understand that,” Hammock said. “They think, ‘If I throw more money at something, it’s going to be successful.’ That’s not how life works. That’s not how the game of football works. I think you’re going to continue to see upsets like you do (now), and you’re going to continue to see teams pay a lot of money for a roster and implode because they’re not prepared to deal with adversity.”

Hammock’s advice to any coach who shocks the world is to take a moment to soak it in. Life moves fast, and last year’s Northern Illinois team was a prime example. The Huskies lost four of their next six games after beating Notre Dame, then rallied for an 8-5 finish and a bowl victory against Fresno State. In early January, NIU announced it would leave the MAC after the 2025 season and take its football program to the Mountain West.

For programs with tight margins, every extra dollar helps.

“It is bittersweet, because I was a MAC player,” said Hammock, a former NIU running back. “I grew up in this conference. I love this conference. This conference helped mold and develop me. I think the world of the MAC, but as the landscape continues to change and evolve, you have to figure out a way to constantly move forward.”

(Photo: Matt Cashore / Imagn Images)



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Rhett Lashlee doubles down on calling the SEC top-heavy: ‘It was a factual comment’

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee made a few ears perk up in SEC country due to his comments about the league. He pointed out how the same six teams have taken home a conference championship since 1964. “Top-heavy” is the term Lashlee used to describe the SEC instead of “depth,” something you might hear others […]

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SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee made a few ears perk up in SEC country due to his comments about the league. He pointed out how the same six teams have taken home a conference championship since 1964. “Top-heavy” is the term Lashlee used to describe the SEC instead of “depth,” something you might hear others say.

Less than a week later, Lashlee doubled down on what he said during ACC Kickoff in Charlotte. “It was a factual statement,” he said on The Paul Finebaum Show, diving into the topic a little more.

“It wasn’t a shot at anybody,” Lashlee said. “I spent six hours answering questions at ACC Kickoff Media Days last week. I think I mentioned in about two sentences and that’s what everybody took and ran with. I feel like I’ve got a respect for the SEC… I’ve got a lot of respect for the league. All I said was a comment and unfortunately, it was a factual comment. The same six schools have won that league for the last 60 years. It’s hard to argue parity if that’s the case.”

Lashlee played quarterback at Arkansas before starting his coaching career in Fayetteville. He was eventually a part of Gene Chizik‘s staff at Auburn, helping them win a national championship as a graduate assistant. Three years later, Lashlee was back on the Plains as the OC for Auburn‘s historic run under Gus Malzahn. But now at SMU and playing in the ACC, he is going to do whatever it takes to support his program.

Coaches going to bat for their conference is nothing new in college athletics. Basketball is usually the main culprit as seasons wear on, attempting to boost their own NCAA Tournament resume. More teams from your conference getting into the field helps your program and league immensely. And in the days of the College Football Playoff, football has become similar.

“I’m not necessarily saying the ACC’s better or worse,” Lashlee said. “I think the SEC’s a league I really respect, it’s done great things. But we’re in a day and age where, unfortunately, we’re forced to politic, almost like it’s a contest or a pageant, to get into the Playoff.

“When that’s the case and one league is considered to maybe need preferential treatment for bids because of their depth, we’ve got to look at the facts. It’s not a comparison of league vs. league — I think that argument is not the reason. I think each year, teams should stand on their own production and success.”

The CFP’s future is still up for grabs. Folks from the Big Ten appear all in on the 4+4+2+2+1 model, while the other three power conferences are warming up to 5+11. Dec. 1 is when decisions will ultimately have to be made.

No matter what model gets implemented, Lashlee stands by what he said about the SEC. After all, the 4+4+2+2+1 model would give the SEC two more autobids than the ACC. Something no head coach in the ACC is going to be thrilled about.



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Donald Trump stamps new NIL executive order weeks after House settlement

President Donald Trump signed an executive order July 24 establishing regulations for the NCAA’s name, image and likeness. The order, titled Saving College Sports, prohibits third-party, pay-for-play payments and clarifies college athletes are “amateurs, not employees.” “The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat,” Trump wrote. “Waves of recent litigation against collegiate athletics governing […]

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order July 24 establishing regulations for the NCAA’s name, image and likeness. The order, titled Saving College Sports, prohibits third-party, pay-for-play payments and clarifies college athletes are “amateurs, not employees.”

“The future of college sports is under unprecedented threat,” Trump wrote. “Waves of recent litigation against collegiate athletics governing rules have eliminated limits on athlete compensation, pay-for-play recruiting inducements and transfers between universities, unleashing a sea change that threatens the viability of college sports.”   

College athletes have been on the receiving end of NIL-based compensation from third-party vendors since 2021. After the House settlement in June, athletes can also receive pay directly from their universities. 

In the eyes of fans, it’s led to unrest among college athletics. Athletes have prioritized finances over performance and transferred schools to earn higher paychecks. Decisions surrounding potential recruits have also been affected.

The University of Florida was supportive of Trump’s decision and released a statement July 25 backing the president. 

“The attention President Trump and congressional leaders are giving to the future of college athletics is welcomed and appreciated,” Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin wrote. “Yesterday’s executive order underscores the growing recognition in Washington of the need to modernize the collegiate model.”

Trump’s order calls for ending third parties’ engagement in “pay-for-play” payments to athletes, which the executive order deems “improper.” However, it does not discern an athlete’s ability to receive compensation for the “fair market value” they might provide a brand. 

Trump backs the ruling in the House settlement about advanced scholarship opportunities and highlights the importance of achieving representation in smaller, nonrevenue sports.

“This opportunity must be utilized to strengthen and expand non-revenue sports,” he wrote. “The third-party market of pay-for-play inducements must be eliminated before its insatiable demand for resources dries up support for non-revenue sports.”

The focus on revenue-generating sports like football and basketball has led to smaller sports like track and field, wrestling and swimming to be cut from several athletic programs. While not applicable at larger schools like UF, smaller schools have seen the elimination of nonrevenue sports on campus. 

Washington State University, which is ranked No. 61 among college athletics programs in revenue generation, recently changed its track and field teams to a “distance-focused” program. It eliminated all field events like long and high jumps, javelin and shot put because of the strain from expanded NIL-compensation responsibilities. 

Trump clarified athletes’ status on campus, urging Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer and the National Labor Relations Board to codify athletes as non-employees. Under President Joe Biden, the NLRB declared athletes as employees, which it rescinded earlier this year. 

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NCAA president Charlie Baker believes there are threats to college sports that federal legislation can address, he wrote in a statement. 

“The Association appreciates the Trump administration’s focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provide millions of young people, and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump administration to enhance college sports for years to come,” Baker wrote.

Trump cannot unilaterally impose the rulings upon the NCAA. However, much of what he highlighted in the executive order aligns with the SCORE Act, which seeks to replace statewide “patchwork” NIL laws with a nationwide ruling. 

The act was passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce July 23 and will find itself on the House floor as soon as September. 

Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on X @lukeadrag.

The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.


Luke Adragna

Luke Adragna is working his fifth semester at The Alligator and returns as the Summer 2025 assistant sports editor. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with his cat Pete and researching niche professional athletes (shoutout Jacquizz Rodgers).





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Deion Sanders jokes about Googling health issues: ‘You gon’ die dawg’

Deion Sanders revealed he was cured of bladder cancer Monday and the Colorado coach can make a little light of the situation at this point. He even joked about a Google search when he looked up his symptoms and what could happen. Basically, Sanders won’t exactly Google a health issue again, especially one of this […]

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Deion Sanders revealed he was cured of bladder cancer Monday and the Colorado coach can make a little light of the situation at this point. He even joked about a Google search when he looked up his symptoms and what could happen.

Basically, Sanders won’t exactly Google a health issue again, especially one of this magnitude. Coach Prime was very thankful to his doctors and supporters and pleaded for others to get checkups. Heck, he even made a will because he thought this could be it.

Safe to say, the Google search could’ve accelerated those fears. Although, Sanders did joke about it a bit, just to remove any tension during his press conference.

“Well, the initial thing you do is what we all do. We Google, and that’s the wrong thing to do, because they tell you, ‘you gon’ die dawg,’” Sanders said, talking next to Dr. Janet Kukreja. “I mean, like they pretty much say that when you Google it and you don’t want to see that mess, whoever doing Google, you may want to change it up, because that ain’t the thing to look at when you’re going through what I went through. Like, ‘you got about 30 days, man,’ like, that’s the way it seems like it’s talking to you, and you don’t want that. 

“And, you know you gotta, that’s why you gotta rely on your faith. You gotta rely on your faith and these wonderful people that’s telling you the truth. Like dog, shoot it straight. You know, when they start turning their head to the side, it’s getting ready to come. You know, it’s real. But she never falsified anything. She told me what was 100 and never said, ‘Well, you should do this. You should do that.’ She just explained everything to me so that I can make the decision that I felt like I needed to make for me and my family.”

Sanders acknowledged that “God is good” over and over and was truly thankful for all those around him. After this harrowing ordeal, he’s certainly ready to fully get back to football.

Sanders is getting ready for his third season at Colorado after leading the Buffs’ impressive turnaround in 2024. The program went 8-5 one year after a 4-8 record, making it to the Alamo Bowl. However, star players Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are off to the NFL, meaning CU will have a new-look roster in 2025.

Coach Prime pointed out the impact of losing its quarterback and Heisman Trophy-winning two-way threat. That said, he thinks the rest of the group has a chance to be even better this season.

“They were great players. We have a better team,” Sanders said during an appearance on ESPN at Big 12 Media Days. “There’s a difference between great players and a great team. We have a better team, but we can never replace those type of players.”



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Eligibility lawsuits lingering as start of season draws near

The stream of lawsuits across the country from college athletes trying to grab another season of eligibility appears ready to fizzle out for a bit. With fall football practice cranking up this week, players still hoping for a judge to allow them to take the field may be left waiting for a ruling that likely […]

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Eligibility lawsuits lingering as start of season draws near

The stream of lawsuits across the country from college athletes trying to grab another season of eligibility appears ready to fizzle out for a bit.

With fall football practice cranking up this week, players still hoping for a judge to allow them to take the field may be left waiting for a ruling that likely won’t help them compete again.

“We’re at a point in the summer where I think any athlete out there is going to know that it’s probably too late to file a case and be able to get relief on it,” said Sam Ehrlich, a professor of legal studies at Boise State studying the 2021 Alston ruling’s effect on college athletics.

Relief on a larger question surrounding eligibility may take a while, too: In cases from California to Wisconsin, judges have provided inconsistent results for players seeking legal help for another season, and it may very well be a topic settled for good by a higher court.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is perhaps the highest-profile athlete to win his court fight. The New Mexico State transfer sued the NCAA last fall, arguing that his junior college years should not count against his eligibility while citing the potential losses in earnings from name, image and likeness deals. U.S. District Judge William Campbell Jr. in Tennessee granted a preliminary injunction, ordering the NCAA to allow Pavia to play.

The NCAA is appealing Campbell’s decision but granted a blanket waiver that will allow an extra year of eligibility for Pavia and other athletes who played at non-NCAA Division I schools before enrollment if they were going to exhaust their eligibility this year.

Pavia won. Others, such as Wisconsin cornerback Nyzier Fourqurean, have lost or are in limbo.

Practice starts Wednesday for SEC members Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Chris Bellamy and Targhee Lambson are among four football players waiting on the same federal judge who gave Pavia another season of football last December.

Some schools have helped by filing waivers. Others wait and hold a spot, letting the athlete fight the legal battle.

“They’re just kind of in limbo in the transfer portal because schools don’t really know whether they’re going to have eligibility,” Ehrlich said. “It’s a really weird situation right now.”

The NCAA would like Congress to grant limited liability protection to help address all the lawsuits over eligibility. NCAA President Charlie Baker noted in June that athletes had five years to play four seasons for about a century, a situation that changed recently. Baker told The Associated Press then that the NCAA has won more of these cases than it lost.

“But the uncertainty it creates, the consequences of this for the next generation of young people if you play this thing out, are enormous,” Baker said. “Moving away from an academic calendar to sort of no calendar for college sports is hugely problematic.”

Duke Coach Manny Diaz thought such eligibility issues would be addressed after the House settlement, which took effect July 1.

“All I have been told is once they got House out of the way they are going to double back on a lot of these oddities and make sure eligibility is tied into a college career,” Diaz said at ACC media days. “We don’t want nine-year guys playing the sport.”

Thanks to the extra season granted due to covid-19, the college eligibility calendar has been scrambled a bit. Pavia will play his sixth season after starting with two at New Mexico Military Institute, a junior college, then two more at New Mexico State.

Hayden Large played three NAIA seasons at Dordt before transferring to Iowa, where he will be playing his sixth season this fall after he was granted another year.

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz sees a simple solution in giving players five years to play five seasons. He’s also in favor of players who start in junior college having an extra year, even as he sees the need for a limit even if he doesn’t know what that should be.

“If a guy during his first year ends up being able to play five or six games, why not let him play?” Ferentz said. “It’s all about creating opportunity, in my mind. I’ve never understood the rationale for not doing that.”

Ehrlich is attempting to track all lawsuits against the NCAA, ranging from the House settlement; name, image and likeness litigation; college athletes as employees; and Title IX lawsuits, along with other cases. Ehrlich has tracked more than a dozen lawsuits involving eligibility, and common factors are hard to come by.

He saw three very different rulings from judges appointed by President Donald Trump. Standards of evidence for a preliminary injunction also have varied from judge to judge. Three cases have been appealed, with other motions helping delay some waiver requests.

Ehrlich said there remains the chance a case lands before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“I don’t see these cases drying up anytime soon,” Ehrlich said.

Vanderbilt Quarterback Diego Pavia discusses upcoming football season during the SEC Media Day, Monday, Jul. 14, 2025 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)
Vanderbilt Quarterback Diego Pavia discusses upcoming football season during the SEC Media Day, Monday, Jul. 14, 2025 at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. (Hunter Dawkins/The Gazebo Gazette via AP)
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