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.

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)

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.

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.