In the fast-evolving landscape of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) and a soon-to-expand College Football Playoff, the definition of a “top job” in college football has changed — and Clemson finds itself firmly among the elite.

According to rankings compiled by respected On3 insiders Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman, Clemson comes in at No. 9 on Staples’ list of the Top 10 College Football Jobs in the NIL Era, a sign of the Tigers’ sustained relevance and the unique advantages they currently hold.

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While powerhouse brands like Georgia, Ohio State, and Texas dominated the top spots, Clemson stood out as a program whose structure and league context may uniquely position it for continued success in the coming years.

Staples notes that Clemson’s placement is bolstered by a number of factors — most notably the potential two-bid access to the College Football Playoff for the ACC. That pathway means the Tigers may only need to finish as one of the conference’s top two teams annually to punch a ticket to the postseason bracket.

“Given Clemson’s superior recruiting to most of the league, that’s a fairly light lift,” Staples wrote.

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He also added that while Clemson’s long-term conference affiliation remains uncertain amid ACC media rights challenges, a future move could position the Tigers more equitably in terms of financial resources — further boosting their appeal as a top-tier job.

Clemson’s place on this list also reflects the program’s reputation for development, culture, and national recruiting pull, even as Dabo Swinney has navigated the NIL era more cautiously than many peers. Despite Swinney’s more traditional approach, Clemson has retained top talent and remained competitive in the transfer portal and high school recruiting alike.

On the field, the Tigers boast eight ACC championships in the last 10 seasons and seven College Football Playoff appearances — a consistency matched by only a handful of programs.

While Staples placed Clemson at No. 9, Ari Wasserman’s list did not include the Tigers in his top 10, instead opting for Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Wasserman cited NIL aggressiveness and ceiling potential in his rankings, leaning toward programs with deeper donor bases and more favorable conference positions — a potential blind spot given Clemson’s historic run and current ACC leverage.

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Clemson’s inclusion in Staples’ list signals that while the NIL arms race may challenge traditional powers, the Tigers’ infrastructure, culture, and competitive window remain strong. If the ACC maintains its Playoff access and Clemson continues to adapt in the NIL marketplace, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Tigers climb even higher in future versions of these rankings.

Full Top 10 Jobs in the NIL Era (Andy Staples):

Ari Wasserman’s Top 10:

Related: Jon Gruden Gushes Over Clemson in Viral Unboxing Video

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NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – For the first time in program history, the Kansas State women’s golf team has advanced to the NCAA Championship as the Wildcats tied for second place, while senior Carla Bernat was the individual medalist of the 2025 NCAA Lexington Regional after final-round play on Wednesday at the par-72, 6,095-yard Keene Trace Golf Club.
 
The Wildcats, who entered play on Wednesday in third place and just six shots clear of the cutline, turned in the round of the day at 10-under par 278, which tied for the eighth-lowest round in program history. K-State finished with a three-round total of 10-under par 854, the sixth-lowest 54-hole score in school history and 12 shots clear of the cutline.
 
“Moments like this are why we do all the work,” head coach Stew Burke said. “It was a pleasure to be out there today with them. They were composed, confident, and determined. Nobody was going to give it to us, so we just had to go out there and take it.
 
“The team was excellent with everyone contributing this week. They never looked uncomfortable and just stuck to the task at hand. We couldn’t be prouder of how they came into this week wanting to play again next week and not resting on a great season.”
 
Bernat – the 2024-25 Big 12 Player of the Year – earned her third victory this season and fifth as Wildcat – the latter of which moved her into sole possession of second place in school history – while she has eight in her collegiate career after picking up three wins at Tulane prior to transferring to K-State.
 
Her 54-hole score of 12-under par 204 tied the school record set by fellow senior Sophie Bert three months ago at the Westbrook Invitational. Additionally, it was one shot better than her collegiate low of 205 during a victory at the MountainView Collegiate in March.
 
Bernat’s winning tally was fueled by a final-round score of 6-under par 66, which tied for the sixth-lowest round in school history. After she parred the first four holes, Bernat kicked off her low round with an albatross on the par-5 5th hole, the first time in her collegiate or international career she went 3-under par on a hole. From there, she carded birdies on Nos. 8, 11, 12 and 16. A product of Castellon, Spain, Bernat now has 17 rounds in the 60s this season and 42 in her collegiate career.
 
Ranked No. 23 in the National Collegiate Golf Rankings and No. 22 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), Bernat earned a two-shot victory over the No. 1 and 2 players in the WAGR, Florida State’s Mirabel Ting and Lottie Woad.
 
“Carla really had a great tournament and built well into the week,” Burke said of Bernat, who led the field by going 9-under par on the par 5s. “Winning a regional against the No. 1 and 2 players not just in the country but the world is no easy feat. It was special to see her albatross at hole 5, and it came right when we needed it as a team. To win once in college golf is an unbelievable achievement, but eight times is truly remarkable. She has a bright future ahead of her after college, but let’s first try and add to that total in California.”
 
Freshman Nanami Nakashima posted a season-low round of 5-under par 67, one shot better than her previous low of 68 during the second round of the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in October. The Kani, Japan, native went bogey-free and 5-under par on the front 9, while she had one bogey and one birdie on the back. Nakashima improved 16 spots on the leaderboard during the final round to tie for 18th place – her third top-20 finish this season – at even-par 216.
 
Sophomore Alenka Navarro tied with Nakashima as she went even par on the day, including a bogey-free and 1-under par back 9.
 
Junior Noa van Beek turned in a counting score of 1-over par 73 on Wednesday thanks to an eagle on No. 5 and birdies on four of her first five holes on the back 9. The Oene, Netherlands, native finished in 29th place at 4-over par 220.
 
Bert produced her second-straight round of 3-over par 75 on Wednesday as she finished in 58th place with a three-round total of 14-over par 230.
 
After going a collective 12-over par on the back 9 over the first two rounds, the Wildcats did not let the tougher half of the golf course derail their final-round momentum as they were 5-under par on that side on Wednesday, the best of any squad in the 12-team field. Kansas State led the field by going 20-under par on the par 5s, tied for first with two eagles or better and finished with 47 birdies to rank second, just one behind team champion Florida State.
 
Along with K-State and Florida State, the other teams to advance out of the NCAA Lexington Regional were Georgia Southern – which tied with the Wildcats for second place – USC and Vanderbilt. TCU finished one stroke back of the Commodores and in sixth place.
 
The 2025 NCAA Championship begins on Friday, May 16, with the first of three days of stroke play. Following Sunday’s third round, the field will be cut to 15 teams and the top nine individuals on a non-advancing team for the fourth and final round on Monday, May 19, to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion.
 
The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals on Tuesday, May 20, followed by the finals on Wednesday, May 21. Monday’s final round of stroke play and all three rounds of match play will be shown on GOLF Channel.

 

May 7, 2025

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Regional Format One of Many Topics Discussed at Coaches Convention

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor (@chn-adam-wodon)

The NCAA will soon allow individual sports, including hockey, to have more autonomy over their own rules and guidelines. That news was conveyed to coaches and conference commissioners by NCAA president Charlie Baker at the recent annual Coaches Convention in Florida.

Baker said the new structure will be unveiled in July.

Instead of an Ice Hockey Committee and Hockey Rules Committee that reports to higher NCAA bodies, hockey would only have to answer to a general hockey committee.

The upshot would mean that any changes the hockey community wants to see, such as changes to the recruiting calendar, recruiting regulation, rules, NCAA Tournament structure, and so on, would only need approval by itself. For example, the recent rule change that allows Major Junior players maintain NCAA eligibility, had to approved by a series of bodies that had members with few, if any, relationship to a hockey-playing school.

Of course, one of the issues discussed in the course of the meeting with Baker was the structure of the NCAA Tournament, which is currently held at four neutral Regional sites before meeting at the Frozen Four. A contingent of coaches are pushing to change that, and move the Regionals to home sites. Under a proposed change championed by Denver coach David Carle, the teams would play a single game one weekend, then play second-round games at the four highest remaining seeds on the next weekend, and then go to the Frozen Four.

That topic has been discussed endlessly, heating up again in the last couple of years, and has been well-chronicled. But under the new governance structure, the hockey group would make its own decision without NCAA intervention.

Any change on that couldn’t come until at least 2029, with Regional neutral sites already scheduled through 2028. In a survey of college coaches taken last year, 75 percent wanted to keep the status quo.

“Hockey getting its own governance, it’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf said. “That is the big takeaway. The (rest) was a side skirmish.

“If coaches want to change the recruiting calendar, if people want to decide the right roster size, they can. “If it’s something championship-related (in the past) it would have to go through an NCAA body to approve it, and not a single person on that body knows what the Pairwise is. The (Major Junior) issue, the only reason the (NCAA) Council got so informed is because hockey people called them.”

Most of all, perhaps, college coaches are hoping to change the transfer portal window. Currently, the window opens just after NCAA Regionals and lasts for 45 days. This year, 300 players entered the portal, and around half have found a new team, with more player still trickling in. Most coaches would like to see that change to 30 days.

That new proposal, however, would not address when the portal opens, which currently happens while games are still taking place; not to mention the issue of there being “unofficial” communication taking place throughout the regular season, when it’s not technically supposed to be.

 

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri gymnastics has signed Illinois transfer and uneven bars specialist Makayla Green, head coach Shannon Welker announced on Wednesday.

A 2025 team captain for the Fighting Illini, Green comes to Columbia after a breakout senior season in Champaign. She captured multiple uneven bars titles during her final year, including at the NCAA Championship First Round meet on April 3. Green achieved a career-best score of 9.925 four times in the campaign, including at the Big Ten Championships to help lead Illinois to a second-place finish in its quad meet and sixth overall.

“We are thrilled to welcome Makayla to the ambush,” Welker said. “She brings incredible talent to our uneven bars squad and embodies what it means to be a Tiger.”

Green began her collegiate career in 2022 and debuted in 2023 against Mizzou, competing in nine meets on vault, three on bars and one on beam. 

Originally from Mays Landing, New Jersey, Green is pursuing a degree in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences with an emphasis in health behavior change. She earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2024. 

Prior to college, Green competed for Bright Stars Gymnastics Academy. Green is a two-time Junior Olympic National Qualifier, two-time Level 10 NJ State Qualifier and 2019 Level 10 Regional first-place finisher on vault, second on beam and floor.

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Riverview junior Alex Bates took up pole vaulting after growing up as a gymnast and has since become one of the best in the state. 

He pole vaulted 4.20 meters at the Class 4A-Region 3 meet at Plant City Highon May 3 to win his region and earn a spot at the 4A state championships from May 9 and 10 at Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville. 

When and why did you start pole vaulting? 

I started it my freshman year of high school. Before that I was a gymnast for around five years, and I wasn’t enjoying it as much anymore, so I ended up quitting that. I still wanted to do something, and my mom was a gymnast in college and my dad was a runner in college, so it’s kind of a mix of the two. My mom also knew a bunch of pole vaulters who were ex-gymnasts who ended up turning out really good, so I figured I’d give it a shot. 

What’s been the most memorable moment this season?

Saturday when I won regionals. Last year, I didn’t even make it to regionals because I no-heighted at districts. This was my first year at regionals. 

What’s gone right for you this year?

This year I’ve been focusing more on the technical stuff and trying to perfect my arms and my run, and I feel like that’s helped a lot. 

What’s your favorite all-time memory in pole vaulting? 

I really like going to all the meets. I get to see all of my friends and be sociable before I jump. That’s my favorite part of pole vaulting. 

What’s been your most humbling moment in pole vaulting?

When I no-heighted at districts last year. My goal was to jump really well at that meet, but clearly it didn’t turn out very well. After that I told myself, ‘Well, just keep moving forward and focus on yourself and try to get better.’

What’s your favorite meal?

A good steak cooked medium-rare and I love chimichurri on top of it. You can never go wrong with potatoes on the side.

What’s your favorite TV show or movie?

I don’t usually watch a lot of TV. I don’t have a lot of free time.

What’s your go-to warm-up song?

Anything by Nicki Minaj. She is the queen of rap and she has opened so many doors for so many people. I believe she is a very good symbol of women empowerment. 

If you’re not pole vaulting, what are you doing?

Usually studying. I focus a lot of my time on school because I want to be a doctor when I’m older, so I have high expectations for that. 

What does your ideal weekend look like? 

Saturdays I like to go over to my friend’s house and hang out with them. I usually have work every Sunday at Oasis Cafe, a little breakfast place at Siesta and Osprey, so that’s reserved for that. Then I relax after. 

Who is your favorite athlete and why?

Simone Biles. I’ve met her a few times. We used to train together. She’s the best gymnastics has ever had, and it’s such an inspiration looking up to her. When the Larry Nassar scandal happened, they shut down the girls national training camp, so they ended up coming to EVO Gymnastics by the airport during the summer to train. It was cool to watch. 

Finish this sentence. Alex Bates is…

A lot.