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Blacksburg’s recruiting thermometer spiked within days of James Franklin’s arrival.

The former Penn State coach was introduced by Virginia Tech on November 17 after a 12-season run with the Nittany Lions that saw him win a Big Ten title, appear in the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal, and leave with a 128-60 overall record.

In just over two weeks since taking the Hokies job, Franklin has already translated relationships and urgency into rapid sign-and-flip activity that dramatically improved the program’s industry rankings.

Industry trackers pegged Virginia Tech outside the top 100 (No. 121) on November 25; by Tuesday, the program had climbed up 96 spots to No. 25 after a string of commitments and flips, several of them former Penn State pledges.

Over a short window, Franklin and his staff flipped multiple four-star prospects, adding playmakers on both lines and at skill positions. 

Some of the biggest moves include flipping six four-star recruits — LB Terry Wiggins, QB Troy Huhn, TE Pierce Petersohn, WR Davion Brown, OT Marlen Bright, and RB Messiah Mickens — all of whom decommitted from Penn State after Franklin’s firing.

That volume, not just a single headline recruit, is what pushed the Hokies up industry leaderboards. 

Franklin’s early, unceremonious exit at 3-3 hasn’t disrupted his recruiting relationships.

For Virginia Tech, after a 3-9 season and a mid-season coaching change, the immediate priority was reestablishing connections and winning back recruits.

Franklin’s staff accomplished that quickly, which gives athletic directors, donors, and fans visible proof the program can compete for top regional talent again. 

Virginia Tech’s 2026 schedule features home games against VMI, Old Dominion, and James Madison, along with a road test at Maryland before an ACC slate that features Clemson, Miami, NC State, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Boston College, California, and Virginia.

If victories don’t come early, the recruiting spike risks fading before Franklin’s rebuild fully takes shape.

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The final week of the regular season delivered plenty of rivalry flare. It was also an opportunity for networks to score more TV ratings wins to close out the college football campaign, and On3 is breaking down the most-watched games of Week 14.

The Week 14 slate began on Thanksgiving with Navy vs. Memphis before a jam-packed Black Friday slate of SEC rivalry games. From there, Saturday had more marquee matchups, headlined by Michigan vs. Ohio State in the early window, which became the most-watched college football game of the 2025 season.

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On3 obtained Nielsen Big Data + Panel ratings data for the most-watched rivalry games of Week 14. Here is the full breakdown of the week’s college football TV ratings.

Note: SEC Network, ACC Network and CBS Sports Network do not pay for Nielsen to measure viewership.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

Date/Time: Nov. 29, Noon ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 18.4 million

The Game was once again a big draw in Week 14 and became the most-watched game of the season. Ohio State’s victory over Michigan averaged 18.4 million viewers on FOX to lead the charge as the Buckeyes ended their losing streak against the Wolverines.

Texas vs. Texas A&M

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 13.0 million

The Lone Star Showdown had plenty at stake as Texas A&M headed to Texas. The Longhorns came away victorious, though, pulling off the upset in primetime on Black Friday in front of 13 million viewers on ABC.

Alabama vs. Auburn

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 11.3 million

One of college football’s most storied rivalries returned to Jordan-Hare Stadium and it lived up to the billing. Alabama nearly saw a commanding lead disappear before eventually fighting off Auburn in the Iron Bowl, which drew 11.3 million viewers for ABC’s Saturday night game.

Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 8.7 million

The Clean, Old Fashioned Hate game saw two top teams in their respective conferences square off. Ultimately, Georgia rose to the occasion in a big way, handling Georgia Tech with ease at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the rivalry affair.

LSU vs. Oklahoma

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 6.4 million

Needing a win to continue its quest for a College Football Playoff berth, Oklahoma did just that in the late-afternoon window in Week 14. The Sooners took down LSU in Norman to put themselves in strong position in the 12-team bracket.

Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State

Date/Time: Nov. 28, Noon ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 5.2 million

All eyes were on the Egg Bowl as the Black Friday slate began as Ole Miss took down Mississippi State. It turned out to be the last game for Lane Kiffin as the Rebels’ head coach, and 5.2 million viewers were dialed in to watch.

Oregon vs. Washington

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 4.3 million

In an old Pac-12 showdown, Oregon headed to Seattle for a late-afternoon matchup against Washington. The Ducks continued their strong season, taking down the Huskies in CBS’ Big Ten game – and the regular-season finale for analyst Gary Danielson.

Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Viewers: 4.0 million

The Diego Pavia Show arrived on Rocky Top as Vanderbilt took down Tennessee. The electrifying Commodores quarterback continued to make his case for the Heisman Trophy and did so on the big stage with 4.0 million people tuned to ESPN.

Iowa vs. Nebraska

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 3.8 million

A top Big Ten rivalry looked a bit different this year as both Iowa and Nebraska’s offenses showed out early. But the Hawkeyes kept their foot to the floor, taking down the Huskers 40-16 in one of the Top 10 most-watched games of Week 14.

Cincinnati vs. TCU

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 2.74 million

Immediately following Michigan-Ohio State, TCU vs. Cincinnati also drew strong numbers for FOX. The Horned Frogs handed the Bearcats a fourth straight loss to end the season and get to the 8-win mark for the 2025 season.

• Indiana vs. Purdue (Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) – 2.69 million
• USC vs. UCLA (Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) – 2.2 million

With 11 games topping 10 million viewers this year, college football put together a huge year for TV ratings. Three of the Top 10 most-watched games of the regular season came in Week 14, and it’s now on to conference championships.

If the Lane Kiffin to LSU saga exposed one thing, it was that the current college football calendar is really not conducive to major coaching changes. There are simply too many variables involved.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was asked if the league could put into place some kind of rule that would prevent one program from pulling another program’s coach before the end of a season. Realistically, it cannot.

“You have to go back a number of years, we had a rule about responsibility for outreach if you were going to contact another coach,” Sankey explained. “Our outside legal counsel suggested for anti-trust reasons that it be eliminated, which it was years and years ago. I think that’s an example of the difficulty just legislating at a conference level.”

In fact, Sankey essentially predicted some of the chaos that unfolded with the Lane Kiffin saga. He knew having so many things packed into one area of the calendar was going to create some unintended consequences.

“You can go find my quotes where I warned that an early signing period added in December would change the calendar and the timing of coach changes,” Sankey said. “I think now there are more factors involved. But, in fact, going back to the moment where we added the December signing period, you saw earlier terminations of coaches during the season, and then the need to rapidly hire a coach in late November and early December.”

That’s exactly what happened this offseason. Both Florida and LSU fired their coaches to go with weeks remaining in the season, kicking off the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes.

LSU eventually got the upper hand, but even then, the hiring was messy. There were reportedly ultimatums given to staffers looking to join Kiffin, though those claims were later disputed. All of this in the middle of a playoff run for Ole Miss.

Regardless, the Lane Kiffin ordeal clarified for many people that change is needed. Sankey offered a few avenues.

“There are opportunities for adjustments to the calendar that, at least in my view, probably won’t solve everything but could provide a healthier environment,” he said. “And where there are solutions, so that you’re not disrupting a team’s season, I think those should be pursued.

“Unfortunately the environment we’re in doesn’t allow and hasn’t resulted in some of the changes that even the basic change like removing that early signing period from kind of compelling people to make change rapidly has taken place. Can changes be made? Absolutely. Is it just the recruiting calendar? Likely not.”

What other solutions could there be? How can a Lane Kiffin 2.0 be averted?

“Perhaps it’s the competitive calendar that can be explored,” Sankey said. “But those are multi-level issues where people have different opinions. We’ve added a transfer portal on top of that signing period that adds to the complexity.

“But I think everyone would agree, and forget particular circumstances, you take a step back and whether it’s a roster or a coaching staff, looking at something other than maybe a medical emergency, we should be able to have competition through the year with those rosters and coaching staffs intact. And we ought to figure out how we can adjust collectively on a national basis to make that happen.”

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A few quick back-of-the-notebook thoughts:

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The proposed SCORE Act promises to provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the organization that regulates student athletics from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules, and it would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools.

Shortly before it was set to be brought to the floor on Wednesday, House leadership canceled a vote on the SCORE Act. The decision came amid concerns about whether Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., had secured the required votes for passage.

Following the delay, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., voiced his concerns about the chaotic events leading up to what ultimately became a failed effort to move the bill forward. 

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U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The question that a lot of people are asking this week related to the SCORE Act legislation is who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to bring this bill to the floor this week? Was it the big donors connected to LSU? That legislation would not have benefited college athletes. It would hurt college athletes, take away the antitrust exemption. It would preempt the ability of states to actually pass legislation that promotes the health, the safety and the well-being of their own college students.” 

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Jeffries continued: “It would take away legal rights to seek redress the organized labor unions across the country were strongly opposed because it undermined the ability of college athletes and undermined their freedom to negotiate, took away collective bargaining rights. And of course, the players’ associations across every sports league led by the NFL Players Association were opposed to it because they concluded, when evaluating the bill on the merits, that it would actually hurt college athletes, not help them.”

Jeffries then facetiously renamed the SCORE Act to the “Lane Kiffin Protection Act.”

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Day at Omni Atlanta Hotel on July 14, 2025. (Jordan Godfree/Imagn Images)

“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to bring the Lane Kiffin Protection Act to the floor of the House of Representatives? Legislation that would do nothing to benefit college athletes and everything to benefit coaches like Lane Kiffin, who got out of town, abandoned his players in the middle of a playoff run to go get a $100 million contract from LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”

(L-R) Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), participate in the first nail ceremony for the construction of the 2025 presidential inauguration platform on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 18, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“People are asking the question, why did you decide to bring this bill this week with all the other issues that the country is demanding that we focus on, led by the affordability crisis that they claim is a scam and a hoax, but that the American people know is very real.” 

A narrow 210-209 procedural vote was enough to get the bill to the House.

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The SCORE Act calls on schools to share revenue, per terms of the House settlement, per terms of the House settlement to the tune of 22% “if such rules provide that such pool limit is AT LEAST 22 percent of the average annual college sports revenue of the 70 highest-earning schools.” 

The bill would also prohibit schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.

Proponents of the proposed legislation have argued the SCORE Act would introduce some stability to college sports amid a landscape that increasingly lacks adequate regulation. However, critics have pointed to the possibility of returning arguably too much power back to schools and the NCAA.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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