SEATTLE — The college sports world has very much changed and has done so in a very quick timeframe.

If you told someone in, say, 2020, that the Pac-12 would be a shell of its former self and the Big Ten would stretch from coast to coast, even the most hardened college football fans would have a hard time believing it.

But here we are.

A lot of the changes have been ushered in by name, image and likeness, which has finally gotten athletes paid for their work on the field, but still needed some fine-tuning.

Certainly, it was overdue for some compensation to come the players’ way, but as many coaches told me the last couple years it was like the “wild wild west” out there, with few regulations to keep the playing field level.

Now, in the wake of the House vs. NCAA settlement, schools can revenue share and pay athletes directly with a $20.5 million salary cap to be spread among all of an institution’s sports.

It’s not perfect but it’s a start in a world where just last year you may have seen the football powers of the south spending tens of millions while some schools could only muster a fraction of that.

“It’s a huge culture shift, I mean we’re going from no rules for our coaches to rules again. That’s gonna be interesting to see how the environment adapts to that,” said UW Director of Athletics Pat Chun.

Chun says UW is still figuring out how exactly to allocate those funds through all its sports and does point out that this doesn’t preclude athletes from landing their own third- party NIL days, but those will be much more closely monitored for fairness.

To most, the implementation of the revenue share salary cap and regulations are a welcome sight. The changes in college sports felt inevitable, but also went from 0 to 60 in half a second, so to speak.

In other words, the committee charged with putting the regulation together which includes Chun, believes this can help restore order to college athletics.

“There’s a little bit of soul searching that we all have to do in college sports. And if we want to do what’s best for young people for this environment, I am one who is firmly in the camp that the last environment we were in was unsustainable. It was unhealthy for college sports and the most unhealthy for the young people who participate in it,” Chun said, adding, “This participant agreement, this membership agreement, it’s just another step in trying to do what’s best for college sports.”

The work isn’t done.

Yes, the NIL framework was necessary and top priority, but there’s more to come. Chun expressed a great desire to fix the college football calendar, pointing out what so many already know about the transfer portal — that it shouldn’t open during the season.

Chun brought up Penn State losing a backup quarterback while the Nittany Lions were in contention for a national title playing in the College Football Playoff. Closer to home, Washington State fans got a gut punch when the Cougs lost star quarterback John Mateer before WSU could suit up against Syracuse in the Holiday Bowl. It’s important to note, Chun believes those athletes have a right to pursue a better opportunity, but that players shouldn’t be switching schools during the season. He’s hoping for some work on a new calendar by July, but recognizes the difficulty in that coming to fruition. The hope is for something that resembles the NFL calendar as far as the steps that offseason transactions take that make sense and avoid the most chaos.

A lot of work, a lot of information, but ultimately a better and more stable college athletics landscape.

But, lastly, how does it impact the Washington Huskies?

Let’s not forget, the Dawgs have a head coach in Jedd Fisch who lived the salary cap world for an extended time in the NFL.

“To Jedd’s credit, for those who cover football, it’s no surprise, I mean, he has been exposed to a salary cap environment for a lot of his career. He has spent a lot of time on how he wants to model his roster.”

The Huskies open the season Aug. 30, hosting Colorado State at Husky Stadium.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has signed a bill to raise the state’s sports betting tax. A portion of the revenue will go to the state’s colleges to help offset revenue-sharing costs upon House v. NCAA settlement implementation.

HB 639 was proposed in April and went through the state House of Representatives and Senate before heading to Landry’s desk June 10. It features a provision to raise Louisiana’s tax on sports betting from 15% to 21.5%. The law also states 25% of the dollars – an estimated $24 million – collected under the tax increase will be split equally among 11 of the state’s public universities to go toward revenue-sharing. It will take effect Aug. 1.

Under the House v. NCAA settlement, schools will be able to directly share up to $20.5 million with athletes. That figure will increase annually. The law is a way for the state to help offset those costs as universities prepare for the budget increases.

“Monies in the fund shall be appropriated to the Board of Regents for distribution to athletic departments at public universities that are members of conferences that compete in NCAA Division One athletics at the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision levels in Louisiana for the benefit of student athletes,” the law states.

“For the purposes of this Section, ‘benefit’ means scholarships, insurance, medical coverage, facility enhancements, litigation settlement fees, and Alston awards. Each university shall establish eligibility criteria for benefits awarded pursuant to the provisions of this Section.”

‘Without the athletes, we wouldn’t have the revenue’

At most schools, football is expected to receive 75%, followed by men’s basketball (15%), women’s basketball (5%) and the remainder of sports (5%) after Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement earlier this month. LSU is expected to follow a similar model, The Advocate reported.

According to bill co-sponsor Neil Riser (R), the law is a way for the state to support its schools and athletics programs. The athletes and revenue go hand-in-hand, in his eyes, and Louisiana will now help play a role in making sure there’s success on both fronts.

“Without the athletes, we wouldn’t have the revenue. I just felt like it’s fairness that we do give something back and, at the same time, help the general funds of the universities,” Riser said, via the AP.

Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Coastal Carolina advanced to the College World Series finals with a 11-3 victory over Louisville on Wednesday, scoring five of its six first-inning runs before making an out and extending its win streak to 26 games.

The Chanticleers (56-11) will face LSU, a 6-5 winner over Arkansas, in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday. They are going for their second national championship in two all-time appearances in Omaha. They won their first in 2016.

“To do what we did today versus that team, as well coached as that team is, is really amazing,” coach Kevin Schnall said. “The Chanticleers are one of two teams in the entire country still playing. It’s incredible, but it’s not unbelievable. And it’s not unbelievable because we’ve got really good players, really good players.”

Louisville (42-24) started left-hander Colton Hartman, primarily a reliever who hadn’t appeared in a game since May 17. He didn’t last long.

Caden Bodine singled leading off and Sebastian Alexander and Blake Barthol were hit by pitches to load the bases. Walker Mitchell punched a ball into right field to bring in two runs, and then Hartman issued a four-pitch walk.

Out went Hartman (2-1) and in came Jake Schweitzer. Colby Thorndyke greeted him with his second bases-clearing double in two games to make it 5-0. Thorndyke came home on Ty Dooley’s one-out single and finished 3 for 4 with five RBIs.

“We always preach when the bases are loaded, the pressure is on the pitcher,” Thorndyke said. “It’s not on the hitter. He’s got to throw three strikes. If he throws four balls then it’s a run. So we always preach the pressure is on the pitcher.”

The Chanticleers padded their lead with Pete Mihos’ two-run triple in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth. Coastal Carolina is 43-0 when leading after six innings.

The Chanticleers made an impressive run through their bracket, beating Arizona 7-4 and Oregon State 6-2 before eliminating the Cardinals. They led or were tied all the way through except for a half-inning against Arizona.

“These guys, ooh, they’ve done it in the last half of the season, in the conference tournament, in the regionals, in supers, in Omaha, against, as we say, the best teams,” Louisville coach Dan McDonnell said. “It’s impressive what they’ve done.”

Riley Eikhoff (7-2), making his second start in the CWS, held the Cardinals scoreless until Tague Davis drove an RBI double into the right-center gap in the sixth. Matthew Potok, Hayden Johnson and Dominick Carbone combined for 3 2/3 shutout innings of relief.

“Offense goes out there gives you a big lead, it’s big pressure off yourself,” Eikhoff said. “You go out there, just do your thing, try and make pitches. I made quite a few pitches today, and the defense made great plays behind me. Without them, the score wouldn’t be the same today.”

Cardinals ace Patrick Forbes, who pitched 5 1/3 innings in a 4-3 loss to Oregon State on Friday, had asked to be the starter against the Chanticleers on four days’ rest, according to ESPN.

Coach Dan McDonnell planned to hold him back for a possible second bracket final against the Chanticleers on Thursday or use him for one inning if needed Wednesday. Hartman’s disastrous start all but ended Louisville’s hopes of forcing a winner-take-all game.

“I’m just grateful to be along for this journey and just be one of the people or one of the teams that can go down in the history books for Louisville,” Eddie King Jr. said. “This is a special team and I’m just sad that it came to an end today.”

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

You guys probably recall the surprise when we all learned just how much Cooper Flagg made this past season at Duke, around $28 million.

He’s an outlier of course, but the trend is unmistakable: income is going up across the board.

That’s a bit of problem and not just for the NCAA. Turns out it’s causing a global…well, let’s call it a game drain.

What’s happening, in essence, is that NCAA players are suddenly making a lot more money than international players, and the employers of said international players don’t like it one bit.

Philippe Ausseur, the President of France’s National Basketball League, calls it looting, saying this:

“Given the number of players approached, about fifteen of whom have signed up, we can call it looting. The colleges are casting their net wide, even in Pro B, and are dispossessing us of a certain number of our key players without us being able to react.

“What took us by surprise were the amounts. We were expecting big contracts worth $350,000, but it’s $2 million…We were expecting half a dozen players to be approached, but it’s more than triple that…We’ve heard of agents trying to get clubs to sign certificates to demonstrate that their players are still amateurs. The situation remains unclear.”

Well first of all, looting seems like a very Gallic response to competition. Secondly, they didn’t complain when sub-NBA American players left college ball for European paychecks.

All that said, he does have a point: in a very short period of time, the NCAA has emerged as the second-best league in the world, the money keeps getting better and there are some real perks: you can get an education if you want, you get access to first-class coaching, facilities, training, nutrition and equipment. And you’re on TV all the time and thus on the NBA’s radar.

And while this appears to be less of a problem than it was in recent years, at least in Europe, there was a time when players spent way too much time trying to get paid. This has apparently been a problem for American players in China too. It’s less likely to be the case for NCAA players, which could also be a factor.

Another day, another college commissioners’ meeting — and another conversation about potential College Football Playoff expansion that has ended without resolution. Or, as I like to put it, just your typical Wednesday in June.

“Pretty much everything’s on the table and they’re taking a good look at all of it,” CFP executive director Rich Clark told reporters in Asheville, N.C. “So I wouldn’t say there’s a leading contender right now for them, but they’re taking a fresh look at it.”

Round and round we go on a topic that never seems to go away completely. Even though there’s an easy (if boring) solution: The CFP should stay as is — at 12 teams.

Now, I get why there’s always at least one loud voice clamoring to expand the field. College football is a sport that has crowned its champion by polls and by computer algorithm. There’s always been incredible interest in a playoff model, even when college football didn’t have one. Then we got a four-team bracket, approved in 2012 and implemented in time for the 2014 season. Just one year into the 12-team era, commissioners now demand further expansion.

The Big Ten has pushed for a 16-team bracket with multiple automatic qualifiers (AQs) per league, with the Big Ten and SEC each nabbing four designated spots — the so-called 4-4-2-2-1 model, which grants them double the number of AQs of the ACC and Big 12 with one spot designated for the highest-ranked Group of 5 champion. The SEC stunned those in Big Ten circles with its coaches publicly pushing for a 5+11 model — one AQ per league and the Group of 5, with 11 at-large spots — at its spring meetings last month.

The SEC’s interest in the 5+11 model aligns well with what’s best for both the ACC and Big 12, two leagues that did not want to accept a model that essentially defined them as second-tier conferences.

The posturing and preening over the past month has left the sport in a messy spot. It’s also uncharted territory, because any format changes made for the 2026-27 season do not require unanimity. Changes do require the Big Ten and SEC to agree on them, though, and the relationship between the two is in a far more tenuous place than it was six weeks ago. Multiple sources in the Big Ten have told NBC Sports that the conference will not support the 5+11 model if the SEC remains at eight conference games. (The Big Ten plays nine.)

As the CFP expansion debate stretches further into the doldrums of the summer, even the Big Ten’s coaches are jumping into the fray.

https://x.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1935104742679519328

It is quite possible that the current Big Ten-SEC standoff delays or stymies bracket expansion. Any format changes for the 2026-27 season need to be decided on and communicated to ESPN by Dec. 1.

But if the Big Ten and SEC can’t come to an agreement on a specific 16-team format by that date, the expectation is that the Playoff would simply move forward in its current iteration — with 12 total teams, including five conference champions and seven at-large selections.

And, frankly, that is the best possible outcome.

The 12-team CFP worked out exceptionally well in its first year. More teams had access to the sport’s premier postseason than ever before, which meant dozens of teams that previously would have been eliminated were still fighting for spots in the final weeks of the regular season. Increased access led to increased engagement by fans. First-round games on campus were as electric as we had hoped they would be. Even early round blowouts turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as they set up some great quarterfinal games and excellent, evenly matched semifinals.

Even with just one season’s worth of data, it’s clear that there aren’t actually going to be 12 teams truly capable of winning a national title, that there are perhaps only six to eight built to get to the finish line. But it is obvious, too, that the very best teams in college football will fall within the 12 teams picked to participate year in and year out. Teams No. 13 or 14, on the wrong side of the cut line, were flawed teams that had lost to lesser opponents multiple times. The first team out of any field will always complain, but that exclusion felt far different from the Bowl Championship System era or even the four-team bracket days. In the past, we all worried that the best team in the country might not have a chance to play for a national championship. That’s no longer a fear in a 12-team world, because the buffer is so wide.

The only real problem with Year 1 of the 12-team CFP era was the way its convoluted seeding system worked — and that issue got fixed this offseason. Straight seeding 1-12 means a balanced bracket, and it also means that the four best teams (per the selection committee) are the four teams that get first-round byes. That is how the system should work, and it will give us more competitive, evenly matched early-round games.

The 12-team format worked well, and it’s going to work even better with straight seeding. But this sport’s leaders are impatient; they started discussing expanding beyond 12 teams before a single CFP game was played last winter. They assume bigger is better just because. Their bloated leagues need more access points, so they like the idea of 16 more than they do 12, even if the status quo is a pretty great solution to the problems that have ailed college football. The current format is fundamentally fair, and it will help the sport continue to evolve from its regional roots to its status as a national behemoth.

Ultimately, the Big Ten and SEC will surely figure out a way to work together again. The current standstill may just be a momentary (fortuitous?) blip. But while we’re here and while we’re paused, I hope the sport’s leaders take a second to look around. The grass isn’t always greener someplace else. Sometimes, it’s best to stay put.