AKRON, Ohio – On Tuesday evening the RedHawks arrived in Akron, Ohio for the Mid-American Conference tournament. The tournament features six seeded teams playing in double elimination format Wednesday, May 7, through the championship game on Saturday, May 10.
 

The RedHawks secured the No. 1 seed after claiming the MAC Regular Season Championship title for the sixth time in a row. The Red & White finished the regular season 31-23 (20-7 MAC). They look to defend their MAC Tournament Championship title, having won the title the past three years in a row.

UP NEXT: After receiving a bye in the tournament for earning the No. 1 seed, the RedHawks’ first matchup is Thursday against No. 4 Ball State University at 12 p.m. in Akron, Ohio at Firestone Stadium.

IU football coach Curt Cignetti has spent his entire life around college football, and he’s seen plenty of change along the way.

But there’s been nothing like the last five years, as name, image and likeness (NIL) and the transfer portal have completely reshaped the landscape of college athletics.

Cignetti didn’t lead a team on the field as head coach until he was 50, so while some coaches around his age (63) have stepped away in the face of this new era, he’s just hitting his prime as the leader of a Power Four program.  And that has meant this relatively old dog has had to continuously learn new tricks.

“You got to adjust, adapt, or die,” Cignetti said at a Bloomington fundraiser earlier this month. “You got to be light on your feet and be flexible, which I’ve tried to do the last five years.”

The NCAA and its conferences recently agreed to a landmark settlement of three antitrust cases (collectively referred to as House) over athlete compensation, agreeing to permit schools to directly pay athletes revenue starting July 1 under a capped system.

The settlement is in the final stages of approval.  Whether it will bring stability to college sports or the next round of lawsuits remains to be seen.

While Cignetti has proven his ability to thrive in the face of uncertainty, what he wants more than anything else is a level playing field.

“I’d like to be able to see some regulation down the road so that us, Texas, and Oregon are playing by the same rules,” Cignetti said. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask for, but it’s a complicated issue right now when you get the courts involved.”

“Hopefully in the next couple years there will be some kind of rules, because right now us coaches are like ‘what are the rules?’”

The House settlement is anticipated to bring some measure of rules, at least temporarily.  All schools will have a cap of around $20.5 million in revenue they can share with athletes.

And any other payments to athletes, such as those from NIL collectives, will have to be vetted by an independent third-party to determine whether they are legitimate arms-length transactions.  Ostensibly, that should help reduce the scenario where the schools with the richest, most motivated boosters are making sham NIL payments to assemble elite rosters.  Cignetti was vocal recently about some programs currently having as much as $40 million in booster funds available to build rosters.

The legality of the House settlement will no doubt be tested.  Does it pass Title IX scrutiny?  Will any agreement that didn’t involve the athletes at the bargaining table hold up?  There are still more questions than answers.

But whatever the future holds for the particulars of college athletes getting paid, it’s clearly here to stay in some form.  And as a basic concept, that’s something Cignetti says he is happy to see.

“I think there’s a lot of great things about NIL and rev-share,” he said. “The players definitely deserve a cut.

“These guys (the players), they work a job.  This is a job.  The amount of time they put into it, then they’ve gotta go to school.  It’s entertainment.  It’s big-time business, there’s a lot of money rolling in.  They deserve a cut and I’m glad they’re getting it.”

For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

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Nick Saban has been called a lot of things over the years, but he now has another title that might just be his most important yet: college football’s last great hope.

The news that Saban is expected to co-chair a new commission on college sports alongside former President Donald Trump is already making waves. Some folks are praising it. Others? Not so much. But whether you agree with the politics or not, one thing is hard to argue—when it comes to understanding the core of what college football is (and what it could still be), there is no one more qualified than Nick Saban.

Let’s talk about why.

Nick Saban’s Track Record Speaks for Itself

This is a man who spent nearly two decades at Alabama building one of the most disciplined, consistent, and wildly successful programs in the history of college football. Seven national titles. More than 200 wins. Countless NFL draft picks. And yet what made Saban’s run remarkable wasn’t just the trophies—it was how he built a system that valued structure and development.

So now, with college football stuck in an identity crisis—torn between NIL chaos, nonstop transfer portal movement, and legal questions about athlete employment—Saban isn’t just showing up to complain. He’s stepping into the mess. And he’s bringing with him a mindset the sport desperately needs: the long game.

Let’s not pretend like Saban is just now waking up to college football’s issues. He’s been warning us for a while. As far back as 2021, he was calling for regulation around NIL, not because he was against players making money, but because he understood that without a national framework, the sport would spiral into chaos.

Spoiler alert: it did.

Between booster collectives throwing around unregulated cash, players switching teams like they’re speed dating, and programs struggling to establish continuity, the system has cracked. And guess what: It’s only going to get worse if there’s not some intervention.

This Commission Could Actually Make a Difference

The newly announced commission is expected to dig deep into the current issues plaguing college sports. According to reports, the scope will include the transfer portal, booster payments, NIL regulations, Title IX implications, conference realignment, and more. In other words, it’s not some empty gesture.

Saban isn’t just lending his name here. He’s been actively involved in these conversations before—speaking to Congress, appearing on College GameDay to discuss policy, and meeting with legislators. Now he’s co-chairing a months-long commission tasked with proposing real solutions.

Some critics are already labeling it a “last-ditch power grab.” But that criticism misses the point. If we want college football to have a sustainable future—one where players are fairly compensated, programs maintain stability, and fans actually care—then we need experienced voices guiding the process. Nick Saban fits that bill better than anyone.

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Happy Thursday, everyone. Alabama managed to win one game in the SEC softball tournament, but that was all.

10-seed Alabama softball fell to 7-seed South Carolina 6-2 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday. This loss eliminated the Crimson Tide, as now all head coach Patrick Murphy and company can do is wait for the NCAA Tournament bracket to be revealed in a few days.

Alabama’s offense struggled in the latter two games of the road series against the Gamecocks just one week ago, but shaking that off needed to happen if the Tide wanted a chance to win this one. Alabama leadoff hitter Audrey Vandagriff only needed six pitches into the game to cement herself as a threat in her first SEC Tournament as she blasted an opposite-field home run.

It seems unlikely that they would get to host a regional, but the top notch facilities do help in that regard.

Blake Toppmeyer posted a solid interview with Kalen DeBoer.

How different will this offense look? Jalen Milroe was unique in some of the things he could do with his athleticism.

DeBoer: Much of the offense is the same offense. It’s how those concepts come together

We wanted Jalen to have a good share of opportunities in his hands, running the football, giving him concepts where he can throw it on time and get the ball delivered to other players, but also times where you let him create. That balance, I think, is hardest when you have a quarterback like him, is letting him have the ball hands long enough but also not too long.

I think all these quarterbacks are really good athletes. I think Ty would surprise you with his quickness. Keelon Russell is a really good athlete. Austin Mack is a big-bodied guy who’s becoming faster and faster, and he can make people miss and run around the edge. Don’t let him get a full head of steam.

They all have athleticism and ability to run and use their feet as well, but obviously Jalen was just different that way, so we had to utilize his strengths.

Every time he speaks, Kalen comes across quite confident about his 2025 squad. We shall see in about three-and-a-half long months.

Kane Wommack’s defense will have the challenge of dealing with a running QB, albeit one making his first start for his new team.

Wommack spoke with the media at the 2025 Mobile Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and touched on the upcoming matchup against FSU. Interestingly, Wommack played for Malzahn when their paths crossed at Arkansas in 2006, serving as a fullback in Malzahn’s offense on a team that finished 10-4.

“You look at our first game of the season against Florida State, athletic quarterback, you know I played for Gus Malzahn. I know how Gus does things from a quarterback run game,” Wommack said. “Mike Norvell does the same thing, so those are the things, right, that you kind of have to be aware of, that everybody has an element to that in their game now.”

Many have called for Nick Saban to be college football commissioner. Those people weren’t thinking big enough.

Saban, a central figure in the fight for college sports legislation, is expected to be integral to the commission’s work. During Trump’s visit to Tuscaloosa last week to give a graduation address at the University of Alabama, Trump and Saban met about college sports legislation — a meeting that’s now transformed into plans for this executive group to be formed.

College athletics is at a seminal moment in its history.

The industry sits in a sort-of purgatory, stuck between its old facade of amateurism and full-blown professionalism. Amid a decade-long athletes rights movement, the NCAA’s rules regulating player movement, compensation and other aspects have crumbled at the hands of local and federal judges.

If there is anyone who has the right ideas to clean up this mess, it’s Nick.

Last, Jaden Bradley testified in the Michael Lynn Davis murder trial yesterday, and Brandon Miller is expected to follow.

After the three left the sports bar, Bradley testified that Davis was dancing and laughing near a black Jeep that was idling on Grace Street. He said that Davis and a man in the Jeep, Cedric Johnson, began speaking to each other. According to Bradley, neither Johnson nor Davis directed threats at each other, but their conversation reached a point where Bradley and Miles tried to pull Davis away from it.

The conversation between Davis and Johnson is one of the focal points of the trial.

After the conversation, Bradley said he, Davis and Miles walked back to Bradley’s car, but that Davis went back toward Grace Street because there was “no room in the back seat.” Bradley testified that Davis said he was “worried about the Jeep.”

Everyone involved is undoubtedly sorry that they ever met Davis.

That’s about it for now. Have a great day.

Roll Tide.