Purdue was one of the top-selling schools at the NIL Store in May. It was one of four Big Ten schools to crack the top 10 for the month, coming in at No. 8.

The NIL Store works with more than 110 schools across college athletics. Cracking the top 10 is a sign of great fan and team support. At this time, the NIL Store did not release specific players whose sales did the best in May.

Here’s the complete top 10 for the month of May:

1. UConn Huskies
2. UCLA Bruins
3. Duke Blue Devils
4. Arkansas Razorbacks
5. Florida Gators
6. Illinois Fighting Illini
7. Tennessee Volunteers
8. Purdue Boilermakers
9. Maryland Terrapins
10. West Virginia Mountaineers

Throughout the college basketball season, Purdue is consistently in the top 10 for sales at the NIL Store. With so much hype surrounding the Boilermakers entering the 2025-26 campaign, it probably helped with sales in May.

Purdue fans are also gearing up for the 2025 volleyball and football seasons.

ERTEL MAKES ALL-STAR GAME HISTORY: 2026 Purdue commit Luke Ertel made history in the Indiana Junior-Senior All-Star Game on Wednesday night, scoring a junior record 36 points in a 117-114 win. CLICK HERE

STAHL COMMITS TO PURDUE WBB: Saige Stahl, a former Indiana State forward and native of Seymour, announced her commitment to Purdue via social media over the weekend. CLICK HERE

PURDUE FB LANDS COMMITMENT FROM GEORGIA SAFETY: Purdue continues to add to its 2026 recruiting class, picking up a commitment from three-star Georgia safety Dana Greenhow, who had received 24 offers. CLICK HERE

TALLAHASSEE – Former Florida State softball players Michaela Edenfield, Kalei Harding and Jessi Warren will begin the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) season on Saturday. Edenfield and Warren will play for the Volts while Harding will play for the Blaze. The Volts and the Blaze will open their seasons against each other at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night on the MLB Network.
 
 It is an exciting time for professional softball as the MLB announced last week that they will be investing in the AUSL and softball at all levels. Along with MLB’s investment, 16 games including the Championship Series on July 22-23 will be aired on ESPN2 or ESPNU. Five games will be aired exclusively on the MLB Network with over 30 games available to stream for free on MLB.com and MLB.TV.
 
Two of the top hitters in FSU history will pair up for the Volts who have softball legend Cat Osterman as its general manager. Warren is undoubtedly the greatest hitter to ever wear the Garnet and Gold. Warren was a three-time NFCA All-American in 2016-18 and helped the Seminoles to their first WCWS National Championship in 2018. Warren is the all-time leader in FSU history for career batting average (.391), career runs (229), career home runs (83), career RBI (273) and career slugging percentage (.820). Warren was also a Gold Glove recipient at third base. Warren is in her seventh season for Athletes Unlimited and is also a member of the US National Team. Warren was named the 2023 AU Pro Softball Defensive Player of the Year. 
 
Edenfield ended her career as one of the most recognizable figures to come through the Florida State program. “Area 51” became a figure of college softball for her power at the plate and her famous eye makeup. Edenfield finished her career as a four-time All-ACC performer and was a Third Team NFCA All-American in 2024. Edenfield finished her career second all-time in career slugging percentage (.649), third in career home runs (54), fifth in career RBI (202) and third in career walks (63).
 
Harding will play for the Blaze who are led by Dana Sorensen who was a three-time NFCA All-American at Stanford under Coach Alameda who was her pitching coach. Harding is in her second season with Athletes Unlimited and had a great first year. Between the AUX Season and the Championship Season, Harding hit .276 with five home runs and 24 RBI. Harding’s 17 RBI in the AUX Season was a new record and she also broke the record for most RBI in a single game with seven. At Florida State, Harding was a four-time All-ACC performer and ranks in the top 10 in FSU history for career doubles, carer home runs, career RBI and career slugging percentage. 
 
The AUSL will travel to 10 different cities this year before each team having a home city in 2026. The league will run from June 7 through July 24 with the Championship Series taking place on July 22-23 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. For the full schedule and more information, visit theausl.com. 
 

Unlike colleges such as the University of Alabama or Ohio State, Drexel is not typically top of mind when it comes to prestigious athletics programs. As a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, which is not part of the Power 5 conferences (which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference), Drexel is classified as a mid-major. This label comes from the conference that a school’s men’s basketball team plays in. In today’s college athletic landscape, which is shaped by name, image and likeness opportunities, this characterization has limited the ability of Drexel’s student-athletes to fully benefit from NIL deals. 

Unfortunately for Drexel, the shortcomings of the men’s basketball program have undermined the success of other Drexel athletics programs. Just this season, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams made trips to the CAA championship, and the women’s team was consistently ranked as one of the top 25 programs in the nation. Both Drexel squash programs rank in the top 10, the rowing teams have dominated in recent competitions, and, in 2024, the women’s basketball team won the CAA championship and competed in March Madness. 

Despite these achievements, Drexel is still a relatively unknown school in college athletics. While this can be attributed to a number of factors, perhaps the main issue of name recognition stems from the lack of NIL funding towards athletes. 

Since the initial Supreme Court ruling back in 2021, NIL has transformed the landscape of college athletics. The court found that college athletes can profit off of their name, image and likeness on top of the scholarship given to them by their school. 

In the four short years since this ruling, how athletes prioritize and decide the schools for their collegiate career has completely changed. Now, on top of following their dreams of professional sports, athletes are also weighing the possibility of making as much revenue as they can. 

This dynamic is especially prevalent in men’s basketball, where it is not uncommon for players to enter the transfer portal two or three times. One example of this is PJ Haggerty, who has played on three different teams and recently announced he would be committing to Kansas State after negotiating to receive a $2.5 million NIL package. While athletes from mid-majors are not getting as large of deals as Haggerty, they still stand to benefit financially by transferring to schools with better NIL infrastructure. 

During this offseason, Drexel’s men’s basketball team lost four of its most impactful players to the transfer portal. Cole Hargrove and Kobe McGee, who both earned CAA awards this season, transferred to Providence and Florida State University, respectively. Jason Drake announced he would spend his final year at the University of Indiana, and Yame Butler transferred to Butler University after an outstanding season. In recent memory, other standout players such as Amari Williams and Justin Moore have made moves to larger universities. 

Despite head coach Zach Spiker’s claim of a culture with “a group that is connected [and] a locker room that loves being around each other” at Drexel, it seems not to be enough as the Dragons continue to lose top talent every offseason. What is the motive for these players entering their names into the NCAA transfer portal if not for potential NIL deals?

While NIL has given numerous opportunities to many different athletes, it has also created problems for universities struggling to keep up with the ever-changing rules. Currently, colleges believe that for NIL to be successful, rules and regulations are needed to stop the disproportionate allotment of money to players. At the time of publication, athletes are allowed to get paid in any amount and without any restrictions. In an attempt to make resources more equitable, the College Sports Commission was created by the Power 5 conferences to establish limitations.

For Drexel and other mid-major institutions, NIL equality is especially important, as they do not have the resources available to attract and keep star athletes. Earlier this year, an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that Drexel’s NIL resources rank in the bottom half out of all the schools in the CAA, raising concerns for Drexel and its sustainability in the coming years. 

In December 2023, Drexel announced that they were launching the Dragon Fire Collective, a NIL Collective intended to support Drexel athletes by creating NIL opportunities for them. However, this effort seems to be inactive at the moment, as the last post on their Instagram was a “day in the life” video featuring Yame Butler from June 2024. Without an active collective to assist students in earning NIL money, Drexel is positioning itself further behind other mid-major universities and running the risk of losing athletes to the transfer portal. 

The future of NIL remains uncertain to this day. Pending a judge’s decision on the House vs. NCAA lawsuit, which could allow schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to student-athletes, the CAA’s Board of Directors has voted to opt in to the settlement. If the judge rules in the athletes’ favor, CAA institutions, including Drexel, would be required to share their revenue. 

While this decision is expected to come in late June, Drexel has already announced that they will comply with the CAA’s decision and that they are prepared to share revenue with their athletes, as confirmed by the Inquirer. 

Other schools in the CAA, such as Stony Brook, have also stated plans to share their revenue with their athletes. On May 28th, they became the first school in the CAA to partner with a third-party platform to help manage revenue sharing. In addition to being an early adopter of the CAA’s mandate, Stony Brook, which has similar athletic success as Drexel, boasts one of the best NIL systems for a mid-major university. 

Despite Stony Brook’s collective being launched around the same time as Drexel’s, it has made much more progress. Since the launch of the 1957 Club, the organization has hosted galas, created merchandise and partnered with NIL websites that allow fans to subscribe and gain access to the Seawolves’ athletes. Although these efforts have not entirely prevented players from entering the transfer portal this year, the university is still setting itself up for a better future than Drexel, which does not have any of these opportunities in place.

Drexel will never become the next Notre Dame, but that should not be an excuse to not build up a NIL system that prioritizes keeping players at Drexel, winning games and creating better opportunities for their athletes. With the upcoming ruling regarding revenue sharing, Drexel has the chance to level the playing field with other mid-major programs. Taking action now will make the university more competitive and set up every current and future athlete to have a successful career as a Drexel Dragon.

For just the seventh time in the history of the Women’s College World Series, the very, very last possible day on the college softball calendar will be played.

From Devon Park in Oklahoma City, welcome to Game 3 of the WCWS championship series.

Texas Tech and NiJaree Canady avoided a second straight heartbreaking loss on June 5, staving off a late top-of-the-seventh comeback by Texas to defeat the Longhorns 4-3 in Game 2 of the best-of-three series.

In front of former Texas Tech and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech scored four runs across the fifth and sixth innings to jump out to a 4-1 lead going into the seventh inning. Canady, who has an NIL deal worth over $1 million, bounced back from adversity in the seventh inning to get Kayden Henry to strike out and end the game.

One intriguing storyline going into Game 3 between the Longhorns and Red Raiders will be who starts inside the circle for both teams. The likely candidate for Texas is sophomore Teagan Kavan, who came on in relief in the Game 2 loss. For Texas Tech, it is almost certain that it will be Canady, who has thrown every single pitch for the Red Raiders since the start of the super regional round of the NCAA softball tournament.

Here’s a look at the schedule for the WCWS on June 6, including start time, TV channel information and more:

Women’s College World Series game today

The winner of Game 3 of the WCWS championship series will make history, as neither Texas nor Texas Tech has ever won a national championship in college softball. It will be the first time since Florida State in 2018 that a first-time national champion will be crowned.

With the final game of the 2025 college softball season on deck, here’s a look at the WCWS schedule for June 6:

All times Eastern

• WCWS Championship Game 3: (6) Texas vs. (12) Texas Tech | 8 p.m. | ESPN (ESPN+)

REQUIRED READING: WCWS first-time champions: Texas, Texas Tech softball have chance at historic win

Who is in the Women’s College World Series?

The WCWS began on May 29 with eight teams fighting for a spot in the best-of-three championship series. That field was trimmed down to two teams with Texas and Texas Tech.

Here’s a look at the full WCWS field for 2025, including who remains:

• No. 2 Oklahoma (51-8)
• No. 3 Florida (48-16)
• No. 6 Texas (53-11)
• No. 7 Tennessee (45-16)
• No. 9 UCLA (55-12)
• No. 12 Texas Tech (52-12)
• No. 16 Oregon (53-9)
• Ole Miss (42-19)

REQUIRED READING: Patrick Mahomes lauds NiJaree Canady, Texas Tech softball in WCWS finals appearance

Women’s College World Series bracket

Click here to see the official bracket for the 2025 Women’s College World Series.

When is the Women’s College World Series?

The 2025 WCWS began on May 29 and will wrap up on June 6 after Texas Tech forced Game 3 of the championship series.

Watch the 2025 Women’s College World Series live with ESPN+

What channel is the WCWS championship series on?

• TV channel: ESPN
• Streaming options: ESPN app | ESPN+

ESPN will broadcast Game 3 of the WCWS championship series on June 6. Streaming options include the ESPN app (with a TV login) and ESPN+, ESPN’s subscription streaming service.

USC Transfer Fires Up NIL Market with Impressive Deal Ahead of Debut originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

When a running back racks up 1,614 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns in a single season, brands take notice. When that same back lands at USC, one of college football’s marquee programs, you’ve got the perfect storm for a headline-making NIL deal.

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Waymond Jordan, the No. 1 junior college running back transfer and NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year, announced via social media that he’s signed a Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) agreement with C4 Energy. It’s a power move both on and off the field for the explosive newcomer, who’s aiming to carve out a role in USC’s deep backfield this fall.

Jordan joins a star-studded NIL lineup under the C4 Energy banner, which includes former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch. The deal signals more than just endorsement value, it’s validation of Jordan’s rising profile in the college football landscape.

“Waymond’s really compact, really kind of moves effortlessly and obviously a ton of production at [Hutchinson Community College],” said USC head coach Lincoln Riley during spring practices. “He brings a real explosive aspect to the room.”

And he’s not just showing up, he’s standing out. After transferring to USC in January, Jordan turned heads in spring camp and is battling for touches with fellow transfer Eli Sanders and returning talent Bryan Jackson. With former lead rusher Woody Marks headed to the NFL, the opportunity is there, and Jordan is clearly seizing it.

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Represented by veteran NIL agent Darren Wilson, Jordan is strategically building both his brand and future. For C4 Energy, betting on Jordan is a calculated move: He’s not only a proven performer but a potential breakout star in the nation’s second-largest media market.

With USC kicking off its season on August 30 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum against Missouri State, all eyes will be on the Trojans’ new-look offense—and Jordan’s legs might just be the motor behind it.

Related: Former Kentucky Great Has Words About NIL: “I’m Glad I Didn’t Play in That Era”

Related: USC Lands 5-Star TE in Record NIL Deal for 2026

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.

We are in the thick of the offseason, but that does not slow speculation on the 2025 college football season and beyond. You, the listeners of Andy and Ari On3, have questions, and I am here to answer them.

From Joe:
How much credit does Steve Sarkisian get in college football for the work he’s done at Texas?

From Steve in San Antonio:
No this is not an Arch Manning question.  You’re welcome.  Maybe it’s just me but I’ve been surprised by Sark being labeled the offensive genius/guru with all of the very obvious and serious red zone and goal line issues they’ve had.  Since Sark has had them relevant, regardless of who they are playing, the offense marches up and down the field but once they hit the red zone or goal line, they come to a screeching halt and issues ensue ( I won’t mention Ohio State or Red River 2023).

I don’t know that Sark has gotten the appropriate heat for these deficiencies and had they just been average inside the 20, Texas could have a natty right now.

How does he fix these issues if they’ve plagued Texas multiple seasons with all that high-end talent? 

Why has the media overlooked it when it’s of the utmost importance and many in your line of work are picking them to win it all this season?  You can’t win it all if you can’t score a TD when you have to.

Steve’s question will help us answer Joe’s question. Because Sarkisian has fixed the most pressing issues Texas had when he got the job in 2021, we now can nitpick him on things like red zone percentage.

In other words, Sark repaired the cracks in the foundation and rebuilt the frame of the house. Now we’re arguing about light fixtures.

This is, of course, huge progress for Texas. And Sarkisian and his staff deserve most of the credit.

The most important repair they made was turning Texas into a program that developed talent again. In the tail end of the Mack Brown era and through the Charlie Strong and Tom Herman eras, the Longhorns simply did not turn the highly touted recruits they signed into NFL players with any regularity. Teams that can’t do that don’t tend to win championships, and they’re susceptible to losses to teams that — on paper — are less talented.

From 2011 to 2022, Texas produced two first-round draft picks (safety Kenny Vaccaro in 2013 and defensive tackle Malcom Brown in 2015). In 2016 and 2017, the Longhorns had just one player drafted. In 2022, they didn’t have a single player drafted.

Before the Sarkisian era, the last Texas offensive player drafted in the first round was Vince Young in 2006. The last first-round offensive lineman was Mike Williams in 2002.

Since Sark took over, Texas has produced six first-rounders (tailback Bijan Robinson in 2023, defensive tackle Byron Murphy and receiver Xavier Worthy in 2024 and offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, DB Jahdae Barron and receiver Matthew Golden in 2025). The Longhorns have had 23 players taken in the past two drafts, and it’s possible they touch double digits again in 2026.

Those are the kind of numbers Nick Saban produced at Alabama and Urban Meyer produced at Ohio State and Kirby Smart produces at Georgia. It’ll win you a lot of games.

Sarkisian has re-opened the Texas NFL production factory. His athletic director, Chris Del Conte, has gotten donors who couldn’t seem to stay on the same page in previous eras to pull in the same direction since the dawn of NIL. Texas has the big-picture issues taken care of.

Now let’s talk about the red zone.

Steve isn’t wrong. Texas was bad in the red zone last season. It’s not just an anecdotal memory of the toss play that Ohio State safety Caleb Downs blew up near the goal line in a one-possession Cotton Bowl semifinal in the fourth quarter. Texas ranked 101st in the nation in red zone scoring percentage at 79.7. 

That’s the bad news. The more promising news is that Texas tied with Indiana for second in the nation in red zone trips last season with 69. The difference is the Hoosiers turned 92.8 percent of those trips into points. Indiana scored 55 red zone touchdowns, which led the nation and was seven more than second-place Penn State, which played three more games than the Hoosiers did. Texas, meanwhile, scored 44 red zone touchdowns in 16 games.

To Steve’s point, if Texas can get to a middle-of-the-pack red zone scoring percentage, that probably adds another four or five touchdowns. That could mean the difference between a playoff exit in an earlier round and a national title.

How does Texas fix the issue? Running back play certainly seems to be a factor. When the Longhorns had Robinson in 2022, they finished 19th in red zone scoring percentage. They dropped to No. 90 the next year.

A deeper running back room this season could help. Recall that the Longhorns lost presumed starter C.J. Baxter and freshman Christian Clark to season-ending injuries in August. 

Quarterback Arch Manning also will shoulder much of the responsibility. After Quinn Ewers injured his ankle late last season, Sarkisian used Manning in a QB run package. As the starter, Manning’s size and speed should make him an option for which defenses have to account near the goal line. 

Red zone percentage will be a critical stat to watch for Texas this season. It’s one of the only things the Longhorns have struggled with during CFP runs the past two seasons. They’ll likely continue to rank among the national leaders in getting inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. If they start punching in a few more touchdowns, they might be unstoppable.

From Tom:
Will we ever get back to a point where power conference teams non-conference games were all against other power conference teams? (For example, Missouri’s 1976 non-conference was USC, Illinois, Ohio State, North Carolina.)

The addition of the 12th regular-season at the start of this century probably eliminates the possibility of all power-conference schedules returning. The TV networks and streaming networks paying the leagues would love a return to this, and depending on how the next iteration of the CFP is set up, we should see more power conference vs. power conference games.

And for certain schools, an all power conference schedule probably would be helpful. 

Earlier this week, Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire was complaining about the perception of conferences during an interview on SiriusXM. “We’ve got to take some of the bias out of conferences – that, ‘This is a tougher conference because of this and this and this.’ Let’s fight it out on the field,” McGuire said.

He’s talking about CFP selection, and that would be fine if the conferences were equal. But they’re not. The Big 12 is demonstrably weaker at the top than the Big Ten and SEC. Texas Tech could help itself close this perception gap by playing some Big Ten and SEC teams in the non-conference. That would be fighting it out on the field. 

So who is Texas Tech playing in the non-conference this season?

Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Kent State and Oregon State.

Maybe it gets better in 2026.

Nope, it’s Abilene Christian, Oregon State and Sam Houston State.

At least Texas Tech has N.C. State scheduled in 2027 alongside Arkansas Pine-Bluff and North Texas.

Slates like these will do little to help the Red Raiders. Their CFP participation likely will depend on whether they can win the Big 12 title, because they won’t have any quality non-conference wins to bolster their resume if they don’t win the league. So McGuire needs to visit with his athletic director Kirby Hocutt and get some better non-conference games scheduled.

They don’t have to schedule Ohio State and Georgia. But they do need to be trying to schedule teams like Illinois, Minnesota, Ole Miss and South Carolina. And if those teams don’t want to come to Lubbock, the Red Raiders should take a check, hit the road and, as McGuire said, “fight it out on the field.”

From John:

What are the top three books about college football that you would recommend to someone who knows nothing about CFB?

It is beach reading season, so here’s a trio of books that would be great for anyone who either loves college football or just wants to learn more about it.

The Opening Kickoff: The Tumultuous Birth of a Football Nation, Dave Revsine

Revsine isn’t just a great TV host. He dives deep into the creation of the sport. If you thought the NIL era was wild, it has nothing on the turn of the 20th century.

Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting, Bruce Feldman

To understand college football, you need to understand recruiting. There isn’t a better book on the subject. Feldman spent a year in the early 2000s with Ed Orgeron’s Ole Miss staff, and the result is a fascinating look at how the sausage got made in that era.

The Junction Boys: How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team, Jim Dent

The story of Bear Bryant’s first preseason practice at Texas A&M is the stuff of legend, and it will get you fired up for the season (even though a coach would get put in jail for this stuff now). 

My co-host Ari Wasserman also recommends Michael Rosenberg’s War As They Knew It: Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, and America in a Time of Unrest. This one delves into the most interesting period in the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, and it will help you understand why that game means so much to so many people.

If you want a better window into some of the changes in college football now, I’d also recommend a book about a different kind of football. Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg’s The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports explains the dawn of the Premier League in England. And you’ll be shocked at the similarities between English soccer in 1990 and college football in 2025.

A Random Ranking

As I write this, I’m preparing to head to Tampa for a Metallica concert. Time to rank my favorite Metallica songs…

1. One
2. Master of Puppets
3. Sad But True
4. For Whom the Bell Tolls
5. Enter Sandman
6. Fade To Black
7. The Unforgiven
8. Fuel
9. Seek and Destroy
10. Nothing Else Matters