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Three college football storylines to focus on INSTEAD of LSU coach Lane Kiffin this offseason

Fri, 15 May 2026 18:23:24 -0400

We have reached what is, perhaps, the trough of the college football offseason.

This is partly due to the time in between the end of last season and the start of next season being nearly identical and is also due to the fact that there is next to nothing of substance happening right now.

Spring games for most if not all teams are over and official visits for recruits won't start until after Memorial Day.

Hell, even media days seem like they might as well be decades away.

WOULD YOU WANT YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACH POSING FOR VANITY FAIR?

That hasn't stopped people from talking, though. And the main topic on everyone's tongue is LSU head coach Lane Kiffin.

Most of that is his own doing, but I have to say even I am guilty of mentioning the man's name when I maybe could have refrained.

What can I say, he's an easy target.

OLE MISS LEGEND DESCRIBES 'HURT' CREATED BY LANE KIFFIN'S DECISION TO JOIN LSU: 'THERE’S ANGER'

Today, I'm here to tell you that offseason discourse doesn't have to center around the Lane Train.

There are plenty of engaging storylines to dive into this summer that won't include the Bayou Bengals and their carnival barker of a head coach even in the slightest.

Let's talk some college ball sans Kiffin, shall we?

FIVE SEC TRAP GAMES IN 2026 THAT COULD UPEND THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RACE, FROM LSU TO GEORGIA

Playoff Expansion

If it wasn't for he-who-shall-not-be-named, I can almost guarantee the big talking point this offseason would be about whether the College Football Playoff should expand to 24 teams.

I'm sure you all know my thoughts on the matter at this point, but I was shocked to see that the discourse on social media wasn't quite as lopsided against expansion as I thought it would be.

The argument seems to splinter into two factions: people who view the regular season as sacred and people who want more programs to get a bite at the apple.

ESPN IS REPORTEDLY PREVENTING THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF FROM EXPANDING TO 24 TEAMS

While it's noble to want to include everyone in the postseason, it does reek of "participation trophy" vibes, and if you want college football to be this egalitarian society, you're probably new here and you shouldn't hold your breath.

College football has always been an aristocracy, and most fans like it that way.

Besides, NIL has done far more to level the playing field than an expanded playoff ever could.

Look at my darlings out in Lubbock, Texas Tech.

You're finally legally allowed to pay players, and all the Red Raiders have done is summon their bottomless pit of billionaires to start purchasing five-star edge rushers and offensive tackles.

Arch Manning Redemption Tour

Last year was supposed to be Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning's coronation.

ARCH MANNING, TEXAS SIT ATOP PRESEASON AP COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL

Many fans thought he should have been starting over Quinn Ewers a season earlier, and bemoaned the fact that the prodigal nephew had to wait his turn in this instant gratification society we have.

2025 arrived, but Manning took a little time to morph into even a shell of what Texas fans expected him to look like.

By the end of the season, though, Arch had put together a hell of a second half of the season, ending with a brilliant performance against Michigan in their bowl game in which the Longhorns signal caller posted a QBR of 99.2 (they measure those bad boys on a scale that goes to 100, by the way).

Now that we've seen what Manning is truly capable of, the pressure will be on for him to deliver in 2026.

The redshirt junior is already the presumptive Heisman favorite heading into this season, and the Longhorns will be viewed as one of the teams with the shortest odds to win it all.

Will Manning's 2026 resemble the first half of 2025, where he looked like a deer in the headlights at times? Or will he look more like the version of himself during the second half of last year, throwing darts all over the field and knocking off top-ten teams like Vanderbilt and Texas A&M?

WHICH TEAMS HAVE THE TOUGHEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE HEADING INTO COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON?

There's only one way to find out.

Changing Of The Guard In Recruiting

I wrote about this a little earlier with UCLA's surprising jump into the top ten of recruiting rankings, but the talent acquisition landscape as a whole is starting to look a lot different than it has in years past.

Aside from UCLA, you have "new blood" Texas Tech knocking on the door of the top ten and boasting one of the highest class averages in the country, with three five-stars already in the fold.

What's even more noteworthy than who is in the top ten is who isn't, as traditional recruiting powers like Georgia, LSU, Alabama and Clemson are all comfortably sitting outside of the top 20!

Hell, even Texas finds itself on the outside looking in on the top ten.

LSU and Alabama are fine, both already having at least one five-star commit in their class and their issue being more of a quantity than a quality thing, but Georgia specifically may have some self-evaluating to do.

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The Dawgs lost three blue-chip commits in the last month, including five-star cornerback Donte Wright, who flipped to the Miami Hurricanes less than a week ago.

Georgia still has a pair of five-stars in the fold and plenty of room to grow, but this is an uncharacteristic spot for them to be in this far into the cycle.

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Does this represent a changing of the guard? A new era of recruiting where non-traditional powers will start to rise up and shrink the talent gap?

It's too early to tell, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on as the recruiting season soldiers on through the doldrums of summer.

Does UCLA's surprising top-10 recruiting class have legitimate juice or is it just fool's gold?

Fri, 15 May 2026 16:16:47 -0400

College football recruiting is a 24/7, 365-day endeavor, but during the offseason, the discussion gets turned up another notch entirely.

Some of you more casual college football fans may be thinking May is too early to be grabbing the scalpel and dissecting a recruiting class full of verbal pledges who won't even sign their papers until December at the earliest, but you could not be more wrong.

More often than not, how you are recruiting post-spring practice is usually a pretty solid indicator of how your class will finish in the winter.

Be forewarned, though. It takes more than just glancing at the number next to your team's logo and giving a thumbs up or thumbs down.

HOW NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS LAWS HAVE CHANGED COLLEGE SPORTS

Sure, it's nice to be ranked in the top 10 on recruiting sites in the month of May, but there are other factors involved when breaking down a class. Speaking of which, if you go to your favorite recruiting service and peruse the top 10, you'll see some familiar names littered throughout the page.

Recruiting mainstays like Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Miami, among others, are humming right along with their 2027 classes, but one logo may have stuck out to you.

That's right, the UCLA Bruins, fresh off a disastrous 3-9 season where they eventually fired head coach DeShaun Foster, are sitting all the way at No. 6 on the 247Sports composite rankings (they're 11th on Rivals, but let's not split hairs).

It looks like the boosters finally got serious about dumping some of that money they save for basketball into the football program's NIL budget, along with the fact that a young, successful coach like Bob Chesney may have injected some optimism into the fanbase.

A top-10 class would represent a nearly historic finish for the Bruins, as I could only find one instance of UCLA finishing in the top 10 (2013) since recruiting rankings became more homogenized.

PENN STATE'S JAMES FRANKLIN FACES SCRUTINY FOLLOWING BAD LOSS TO UCLA

But can they finish strong and bring home a recruiting class that can compete with the big boys of college football?

Let's start with the positives.

The Bruins have 18 commits in their 2027 class, and 10 of those are four stars. This puts their "blue chip ratio" above 50%, which is considered the baseline for a competitive recruiting class.

UCLA also has three top-100 prospects in their class, a pretty solid mark for any program in May.

While a decent blue-chip ratio and three top-100 recruits is a great start, there is a problem, and it comes in the form of something I mentioned above.

UCLA's 18 commits is a fairly high number, even in the NIL era of getting deals done early. This means their class doesn't have as much room to grow as some other classes with 11 or 12 commits currently in their class.

At 18 commits and a class average below 90 (89.85), the Bruins would have to fill the rest of their class out with top-100 or borderline five-star players to have a chance at finishing where they sit right now.

Take a look at their crosstown rivals for a good comparison.

The USC Trojans have 13 commits in their class currently, but sit two spots above the Bruins.

How is that possible?

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Well, the Trojans boast a class average of 93.39, more than 3.5 points higher than UCLA's class average. For context, a full class of 25 commits from last cycle with a similar average finished 13th (Washington), while everyone in the top five from the '26 cycle finished with a 91.90 or higher.

USC already boasts double the top-100 pledges in its class and even has a five-star already in the fold.

If I had to bet money on who finishes in the top 10 between the two Los Angeles schools, I'm taking the Trojans every day of the week with the data presented to me.

Is there a path to a top-ten class for UCLA?

Of course.

They could catch fire on the trail this summer and make some inroads with some elite prospects.

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When you couple that with the possibility of having a stellar first season under Chesney, there's a chance the Bruins sneak into the upper echelon of recruiting rankings.

It's just not likely given how far along they are already.

Things change, and this new era of NIL-driven recruiting definitely shifts the timeline. But historical data would indicate the Bruins are more likely to finish in the top 15.

That's still an incredible class, especially considering the doldrums that have plagued the UCLA football program for the past decade plus.

Regardless, I will have both eyes trained on this Bruins recruiting class for the rest of the year.

It will be fascinating to see if they can buck the historical trends stacked against them, and knowing my reputation, I may have just reverse jinxed them into an elite 2027 class.

You're welcome, Bruins fans.

NFL schedule releases are the antithesis of 'football guy' culture and must be stopped

Fri, 15 May 2026 13:23:16 -0400

Thursday was a huge day for football fans.

Wait, no. Let me rephrase that. Thursday was a huge day for social media nerds and wannabe influencers masquerading as football fans.

You see, Thursday was a little national holiday called NFL Schedule Release Day, a time when 32 social media teams ride the wave of trends experiencing their 15 minutes of fame under the guise of informing their fans what the upcoming season looks like.

I wrote not too long ago about the abomination that was the Kansas City Chiefs' sourdough schedule release soft launch, which they "rectified" by doing a QVC-themed schedule release (hey, kids, remember the '90s?), but Thursday was the big day in which fans of every team got their precious schedule release video.

PAIGE SPIRANAC AND HER MOM STUN THE INTERNET, LANE KIFFIN'S INCREDIBLE SHOT AT OLE MISS & THE NFL DID IT AGAIN

And, like hamsters at a drip feeder, everyone lined up to suck down some of the dopamine being rationed out by their NFL overlords.

Seriously, anyone who got overly excited about this stuff sounds like a 15-year-old girl.

"OMG! Did you see Trevor Lawrence cut his hair?"

Admittedly, there were some cool concepts, like the Colts' Simpsons' video or the Chargers' "Halo"-themed release (I guess they found their social media manager), so I can't knock some of the production work that went into these things (not you, Jets).

Speaking of the Chargers, you know we've reached the days of "late-stage schedule releases" when people are actively anticipating what one team will do.

I couldn't scroll on X for more than 12 seconds on Thursday without everyone predicting whether the Chargers will be the ones to make a Russini-Vrabel reference.

MIKE VRABEL'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DIANNA RUSSINI TURNS PATRIOTS' MOTHER'S DAY POST INTO A TROLLING FRENZY

Guys, it's a freaking schedule of football games and we've turned it into Super Bowl Sunday!

By the way, getting excited about a schedule release even on the face of it, without all the pomp and circumstance of social media managers sniffing their own farts, is lame.

There are 31 other teams and 17 games in a season, and you know you're playing everyone in your division twice. When you add in the fact that where you placed in your division last year determines the strength of your schedule and you'll usually know which other divisions you'll be playing, how many combinations would possibly surprise you?

"Oh man! We have to play the Colts in Indy? I didn't see that coming!"

How? Did you forget Indianapolis had a professional football franchise?

Maybe I'm just speaking as a college football snob who knows everyone his team is playing years in advance, but I just don't get the excitement.

WHICH TEAMS HAVE THE TOUGHEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE HEADING INTO COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON?

I found out Florida had a home-and-home with Notre Dame five years ago and we are still five years away from that series even being played (until they expand the Playoff to 84 teams and they cancel all Power 4 non-conference matchups).

September 11, 2032. The Irish are coming to The Swamp. Mark your calendars, folks!

Or should I make a TikTok with Ice Spice rapping every non-conference matchup the Gators have for the next decade with Steve Spurrier sitting on a throne in the background, nodding in approval?

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The whole "social media schedule release arms race" is actually the antithesis of what being a football guy is, anyway.

Getting excited about games that haven't even been played yet. What happened to "one week at a time" and "don't look ahead?"

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Vince Lombardi is rolling in his grave as we speak.

Enjoy the memes and nostalgia bait, and wake me up when training camp starts.

Paul Finebaum roasts Lane Kiffin for recent comments: "Trying to wipe Ole Miss off the map"

Thu, 14 May 2026 22:34:52 -0400

The world of college football is rarely dull. Even with the regular season a few months away from starting, this week has been full of drama.

And most of the most recent drama has been created by LSU Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin, who's no stranger to making headlines, made several comments that garnered attention in new interviews. The most contentious and controversial being some very pointed criticisms of Ole Miss, his former school.

Specifically Kiffin claimed Ole Miss would lose out on recruits because of supposed concerns over racial diversity on campus and in Oxford.

"'Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’ That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana," Kiffin said to Vanity Fair. "Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’s diversity feels so great: 'It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.'"

LANE KIFFIN TAKES SHOT AT OLE MISS, CITES RACISM IN RECRUITING GAP WITH LSU IN AWKWARD INTERVIEW

Reactions on social media were immediate and generally dismissive of Kiffin's claims. And you can add one of the SEC's biggest supporters to the list of those roasting him for bringing race into the Ole Miss discussion. Even at a new school.

ESPN's Paul Finebaum, during a new episode of his "The Paul Finebaum Show," went after Kiffin and had some thoughts on what motivated him to say what he did.

"An SEC coach at LSU is breaking big news in Vanity Fair," Finebaum said. "Has to be shaking up Fifth Avenue right now. But it's Lane Kiffin.

"The most important thing to factor in here, this wasn’t a slip of the tongue. I talked to the writer who did the Vanity Fair piece the other day, Curt [sic] Smith, he said he didn’t even ask Kiffin about the racism aspect, he just started rifting [sic]. This is Kiffin trying to wipe Ole Miss off the face of the Earth, he’s still very bitter at them, even though they're the jilted lover. He's bitter at them because they wouldn’t let him coach in the playoffs.

"And he has to recruit against them, he has to coach against them on September 19th, a game that will get a little bit of attention."

Finebaum then took a minute to address Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian's comments, which implied that Ole Miss has an advantage because it's not a good academic school. "The Sarkisian thing is even more amazing. The fact that any coach is whining and complaining about anything ... Steve Sarkisian makes about $12 million a year, and not one person on his roster is going to the University of Texas for their curriculum. They're going for the money."

OLE MISS PLAYERS PUSH BACK ON LANE KIFFIN’S CLAIM THAT TEAM ASKED AD TO LET HIM FINISH SEASON WITH REBELS

Paul Finebaum, not holding back. And he's right.

Lane Kiffin is bitter, upset, whatever the adjective, that Ole Miss didn't let him coach in the playoff after taking the LSU job. But he knew that was going to be the outcome if he decided to leave, and he left anyway. Kiffin then essentially proved Finebaum right in another interview with Wilson Alexander from On3.com.

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"Obviously, I wish the timing was different. There was no way around it," he said. "Tried to do everything possible to still coach and, obviously, that was [athletic director Keith Carter's] decision and understandable. Do I still wish that had happened? Yeah, I do. I wish that would have been allowed to happen. Maybe we would have won it all."

That's why he's so upset. He believed Ole Miss had a chance to win a national championship. And he would have that on his résumé, winning a title, especially at a program like Ole Miss. But he has no one to blame but himself for missing out on that opportunity. Even if the LSU job is a better one in the long run.

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And he's right on Sarkisian too. Sark knows the Texas football team isn't there for academics, or at least, the starters. If any coach is going to complain about putting together a roster, it shouldn't be the head of arguably the richest program in the country. With a massive NIL budget, classic uniforms, a legendary stadium and history, and a gigantic, devoted fan base.

Credit where credit's due, Finebaum didn't pull any punches. Even though the target was based in his beloved SEC.

Another one: Georgia DB Ja'Marley Riddle arrested on speeding, felony marijuana possession charges

Thu, 14 May 2026 15:52:42 -0400

The tradition of Georgia football players not obeying traffic laws is alive and well in 2026 thanks to safety Ja'Marley Riddle, who was arrested last week on speeding and felony possession charges.

The ongoing issues for Kirby Smart and his players have only increased since a tragic accident claimed the life of offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy following the 2022 national championship season.

Since then, there have been a plethora of speeding incidents involving Georgia football players that Smart has done his best to curtail. But his best hasn’t stopped players from breaking the law.

Exclusive: Clark Lea says college football will have to sacrifice tradition in exchange for CFP expansion

According to a police report first obtained by WGIG 98.7 FM, Riddle — a transfer from East Carolina — was traveling at a high rate of speed on I-95 on May 8 when one officer driving an unmarked vehicle alerted another officer down the road that the Georgia DB needed to be stopped.

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Driving a Dodge Durango, Riddle was allegedly observed "weaving in and out of traffic" at a speed officers suspected to be 95 mph. After approaching the vehicle, an officer noticed the smell of marijuana inside the vehicle and described Riddle as acting "extremely nervous" during the ongoing traffic stop.

According to the report, after telling the officer that he did not posses any controlled substances, he gave them permission to search his vehicle.

"While I was re-searching the front driver's side, Officer R. Dinkins pulled a large heat-sealed bag from one of the backpacks in the back seat. Inside the backpack was a large amount of multicolored packaging, some with a leafy substance stating marijuana, and some containing vapes stating THC," the report stated.

The arrest report states that Riddle was charged with "purchase, possession, manufacture, distribution, or sale of marijuana." His bail was set at $4,258 for that charge. The other felony charge was a Schedule I or II controlled substance, with his bail listed at $12,058.

Georgia Bulldogs Add To Arrest Total With Two More Players

His misdemeanor charge of speeding had bail set at $210, which he posted in conjunction with the other felonies.

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Essentially, Georgia has this type of response now saved in their drafts, given the amount of arrests of players that have occurred over the past number of years.

The school — which by now likely has this type of response saved as a template — released the following statement.

"We are aware of the charges and are actively gathering additional information. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not be providing further comment at this time."

NFL’s grossly expanded national schedule is making RedZone and Sunday Ticket less essential

Thu, 14 May 2026 14:56:55 -0400

By continuing to increase the number of national broadcasts, the NFL has diluted the value of both RedZone and Sunday Ticket.

The 2026-27 season will begin on a Wednesday, followed by a Thursday night game from Australia. The league will also debut its first-ever Thanksgiving Eve broadcast this year, leading into three games on Thanksgiving and one on Black Friday. Another game is set for Christmas Eve, with three more scheduled for Christmas Day.

Beyond that, the NFL is extending its late-season Saturday package to four weekends, spanning Weeks 15-18. In total, the league will stage a record nine international games this season, all of which will air nationally.

And all of that comes on top of the league’s usual lineup of three windows on Sunday and one Monday.

JEMELE HILL BECOMES SURPRISING VOICE OF REASON IN CAITLIN CLARK-MORGAN WALLEN "CONTROVERSY"

The NFL saw the risks of overloading the national schedule last season. By midseason, there simply were not enough relevant teams to justify the number of standalone broadcasts.

Last Christmas, five of the six participating teams were either already eliminated from playoff contention or ultimately missed the postseason. On Thanksgiving, only one of the six teams in action reached the playoffs.

The Sunday slate used to be elite enough that fans could justify paying for Sunday Ticket to access every out-of-market matchup. This season, YouTube will charge returning subscribers roughly $480 for the package. However, the more games siphoned into standalone broadcasts, the fewer games remain in the traditional 1 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. windows, leaving Sunday Ticket with less to offer.

Take Thanksgiving week as an example. By Sunday morning, 10 teams will have already played. Another six teams will appear in the national Sunday afternoon slot, "Sunday Night Football" or "Monday Night Football." That leaves just eight games for paying Sunday Ticket viewers.

The same dynamic applies to RedZone. The channel was once essential to the Sunday viewing experience. It was the most efficient and thrilling way for viewers to follow every meaningful moment across a crowded Sunday slate. Yet with fewer games in the early and late windows, RedZone has become less of a necessity.

By mid- to late season, any game of substance will likely air nationally. Keeping track of the other, less consequential games may then only appeal to sports bettors and fantasy football players.

At the same time, fans are now required to pay for multiple streaming platforms — including Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Peacock — to access the full NFL schedule. That added fragmentation could reduce consumers’ willingness to also pay for premium products such as Sunday Ticket and RedZone.

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More broadly, the NFL is eroding the scarcity that helped turn the sport into America’s dominant television property.

Sundays used to feel distinct. The concentrated schedule created a sense of occasion and urgency that is diluted when games are spread across Thursdays, occasional Wednesdays, Friday holidays, Saturday nights, Sunday mornings and multiple streaming-exclusive windows.

For the first time in decades, NFL games are beginning to feel skippable. There are simply too many of them spread across too many days. The combination of an overloaded schedule, international travel and shortened preparation time increasingly produces mediocre matchups in premium television windows.

The NFL is unlikely to reverse course because of concerns about the quality of play. The league has shown little evidence that competitive aesthetics matter as much as media rights growth and inventory maximization.

However, if the continued expansion of national windows ultimately weakens premium properties such as Sunday Ticket and RedZone, the league may eventually reconsider whether it has stretched the product too far.

Exclusive: Clark Lea says college football will have to sacrifice tradition in exchange for CFP expansion

Thu, 14 May 2026 11:33:40 -0400

Go ahead and get used to it now: the debate over expanding the College Football Playoff to 24 teams isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Sitting inside Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea's office on Wednesday, it wasn’t hard to notice the ongoing chatter that has now once again reared its head.

Ever since CFP leaders wrapped meetings in Miami — before Indiana capped an historic season with a national championship — the battle between the SEC and the rest of college football has only intensified, with the most recent gathering taking place just outside of Dallas.

COACHES PUSH FOR 24-TEAM CFP, AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADS TOWARDS PARTICIPATION TROPHY TERRITORY

At the center of it all is one question: how big should the playoff field actually be?

For months, the SEC has stood firm behind a 16-team format, a model its television partner ESPN supports. Meanwhile, the Big Ten has pushed for 24 teams — an idea that initially drew resistance from the ACC and Big 12 before opinions started to shift.

That’s nothing new. Conference commissioners changing positions is practically part of the job. But this time, the stakes are higher. With revenue-sharing challenges mounting across college athletics — and some schools already cutting sports — expanding the playoff has become a potential financial lifeline.

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More teams mean more games. More games mean more television inventory. And more inventory means more money, maybe.

As the new College Football Playoff contract with ESPN starts, which is a six-year deal, there is a number of teams that could essentially trigger additional bidding. According to industry sources, if the CFP were to agree on a 14-team postseason, ESPN would still hold onto its inventory of games, which they could continue sub-licensing out to networks like TNT or TBS.

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But, if CFP leaders were to somehow agree to the 24-team format, or even 16-teams, this would allow networks like FOX, NBC or CBS to join the party if they were willing to pay. This stems from the contract signed by ESPN and the CFP, which would allow the playoff to put the extra games that would come from a 24-team postseason on the market.

And while that might be the case, from an economic standpoint, the smarter move would be for ESPN to just purchase the rights to the added games of a 16-team playoff given it might not be worth the price for FOX or NBC to purchase the additional two matchups.

Though it’s not hard to see why multiple conferences would be on board.

It's not that easy. Conference title games replaced by play-in matchups?

As Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea pointed out this week in Nashville, expansion isn’t as simple as adding more teams.

"The first thing that we need to focus on is when we end the season," Clark Lea told OutKick. "I think we have a real issue right now, and I think the issue is tied to TV contracts and dedicated time slots where we're not competing with the NFL, and stuff like that which extends our season three weeks into January that absolutely undermines the integrity of what we're trying to do as a sport.

"Whatever we do next with the playoff, expansion is coming. We (SEC) all expected it for this year and it hit a hiccup. But, as expansion comes, it cannot come at the expense of paying attention to the seasons end, and let's be more reasonable at tying that."

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As OutKick reported over the past year, expanding the playoff in this magnitude could also come with the caveat that conference title games would cease to exist. While this might sound like an easy fix to some, it's a much bigger concept to actually pull off, given the amount of money ESPN and FOX pay for these title games, with both games receiving a reported $160 million for their title games combined.

"We're going to have to let go of some traditional end of the year elements in college football," Clark Lea mentioned, while also noting that he 'thinks' that would be a conference championship.

So what replaces them?

"Somehow the playoff model is incorporated, right?" Lea offered up. "Otherwise, this (season) extends forever. I think we saw last year these ridiculous breaks in play, which I think ruins the competitive product on the field. I would be really interested to hear answers and to get people thinking towards those things.

"How do we improve the product, tighten the season? Finishing closer to the semester ending, the portal window. Now all of the sudden we have a better product."

INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION

Coaches become fans in these conversations around expansion

The idea of repackaging an SEC, Big Ten, ACC or Big 12 championship weekend into play-in type games for each conference is an idea that television networks like ESPN and FOX have been at least discussing.

Given that they would be giving up a money-making game in terms of advertising and ratings, the substitute would have to be enticing enough to contemplate.

But, if you were to ask the fans if they would rather watch four teams battling in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Charlotte or Dallas over a two-day period for a spot in the college football playoff, I'd imagine that would be an easy sell to networks and advertisers alike.

Dabo Swinney is right: Coaches might be right, but opinions don’t matter in College Football Playoff expansion fight

Even then, deciding on a route to take is not easy task.

"Those decisions need to be made based on driving as much possible revenue and getting the best possible negotiation out of each game we have. So, to say 24 or 16 is really just to say as many teams as we can, while also not giving away the ability to negotiate what those games can bring to us.

At the end of the day, folks just want to see the sport of college football put in the best possible spot moving forward, which includes the coaches who are competing for spots, like Clark Lea.

"What we do when we start to participate in these conversations is we become fans. I know it's way more complex than just adding as many teams as possible. This has got to be done in the best way to optimize our product, and to drive the revenue we need to sustain our sport."

ONE DAY AFTER LANE KIFFIN MESS, STEVE SARKISIAN TORCHES OLE MISS FOR 'BASKETWEAVING' CLASSES IN OXFORD

While SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is essentially standing on an island by himself in terms of pushing a 16-team format over a jump to 24, we're starting to hear his coaches within the conference start to voice their differing opinions on what the future should actually look like.

While that might be the case, the coaches only have so much weight in these conversations, as I discussed on Wednesday.

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Either way, spring meetings in college football became much more important over the past two years, with the Big Ten set to meet next week in Los Angeles, while the SEC prepares to meet after Memorial Day in Florida.

Let the games continue.

Curt Cignetti reveals how working for Nick Saban changed everything: 'Every day was 4th-and-1'

Thu, 14 May 2026 11:06:32 -0400

If you have followed OutKick at all over the last six months, you'll know just how fond I am of Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti.

His two-year run in Bloomington has been so impressive, I already believe he's on the short list of "greatest coaches of all time."

There are very few who could have orchestrated the turnaround he pulled off with the Hoosiers, given the dearth of resources and interest in the program when he arrived.

Cignetti has Indiana as a mainstay in the national championship conversation, and if you had told me that even five years ago, I would have laughed you out of the room.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE, YOU'RE NOT TOO OLD: NATIONAL CHAMPION CURT CIGNETTI JUST PROVED IT

Naturally, Coach Cig owes his success to someone, but who?

When he sat down with Josh Pate earlier this week, he mentioned a familiar name that got him up to speed on what it meant to be a championship-caliber coach very early in his career.

Pate broke down how then-Alabama coach Nick Saban changed his perspective on "process oriented thinking" on a speaking tour during his first year in Tuscaloosa when Cignetti revealed he was on that tour, and the lessons being imparted on Pate also rubbed off on him.

NICK SABAN REVEALS 'BIGGEST MISTAKE' OF ILLUSTRIOUS COACHING CAREER

"I went with him in '07, part of his original staff. I just learned so much," Cignetti said.

"He had a philosophy, and he had been a head coach 13 or 14 years by then... and he could just lay it out there where it made so much sense."

Cignetti said even from day one on the job with the Crimson Tide, Saban had a detailed plan for everything.

EX-ALABAMA STAR DAMIEN HARRIS EXPLAINS WHY CRIMSON TIDE DOESN'T WANT TEAMS TO FEAR THEM

"After one year with coach [Saban] I felt like I had learned more about how to run a program than the previous 28 as an assistant."

The sense of urgency to win every day stuck with Cignetti more than almost anything.

"Every day was 4th-and-1 one with coach Saban," he said.

"But that's the way it had to be to fight complacency and find the edge on a daily basis and be as good as you can be."

When you hear Cignetti talk about the wisdom he gained with Saban, it's easy to see why he's such a successful head coach.

But being around Nick Saban and actually retaining that wisdom don't always go hand in hand.

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Plenty of coaches who have been assistants under Saban have had middling and forgettable careers as head coaches.

The fact that Cignetti was able to apply Saban's teachings - at a non-traditional power, no less - is all the more impressive.

When Saban retired in early 2024, it left a huge void in the college football community.

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It might sound outlandish, but Curt Cignetti could very well be the closest thing we have to prime Nick Saban in the game today.

The results speak for themselves. He wins, just Google him.

ESPN is reportedly preventing the College Football Playoff from expanding to 24 teams

Wed, 13 May 2026 22:27:10 -0400

The College Football Playoff was supposed to provide some certainty in a sport that, for too long, based its rewards on unreliable polls. And to the extent that there's no debate over the team crowned as national champions, it's worked.

But if there's one thing fans have learned over the last few years, it's that little in modern college football is certain. And after one round of expansion, from four teams to 12, there's now more discussion and debate over the next round of growth.

Some, including many fans, are happy leaving the field at 12. The SEC, arguably the most powerful conference, wants to move to 16, while maximizing the number of at-large teams. That would, in their view, allow for more teams to reach the field based on strength of schedule instead of conference affiliation. Strength of schedule=more SEC teams, the thinking goes.

Then there's the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC, and independent Notre Dame.

INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION

This week, several reports confirmed that the majority of power conferences and the Irish want a 24-team playoff field. While that number has been met with justified skepticism from most fans, there's apparently plenty of support within the sport.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told On3 that 24 is their strong preference.

"We like 24, we want 24," he said. "There are too many teams getting left out and 24 teams provides the type of access that is warranted. That being said, we need to do the work around the economics around a 24-team format and make sure we address any unintended consequences."

HERE'S WHY THE COACHES ASSOCIATION'S 24-TEAM COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF COULD RUIN THE SPORT

ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips said much the same thing at his conference's media days this week.

"Our desire with the coaches and the ADs is 24," Phillips said. "When you’re leaving national championship-contending teams out of the playoff, you don’t have the right number. We lived through it, we suffered through it with Florida State, when the field was four.

"I know other schools have suffered for it. Notre Dame was a CFP worthy team last year and you saw what happened to the last team that got invited with Miami."

That aligns with what the Big Ten and Commissioner Tony Petitti proposed in initial discussions after the end of the 2025-2026 season. So if the Big Ten, the Big 12, the ACC and Notre Dame, essentially four of the five most important voices in college football all agree on 24 teams, why hasn't it already happened?

Reportedly, mostly because of ESPN.

"ESPN’s made it clear, they want it to stay at 12 or 14, but no more than 16," Phillips added on Wednesday.

What? ESPN? A broadcaster has that much power over the playoff format for an entire sport?

There are some reasons why ESPN would want the playoff to stay where it is, or not expand too widely. Mainly that they own the rights up to a 14-team field, meaning they'd be forced to open up bidding on any additional playoff games. Ironically, for fans that dislike ESPN's perceived level of control over college football, it's that exact level of control that could stop a potentially unpopular 24-team format.

The SEC also has an important voice in the room, and Commissioner Greg Sankey already reaffirmed recently that he believes a 16-team expansion is better.

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"That focus hasn’t changed," Sankey explained Monday at a media meeting in Alabama. "We’re open to the conversation, but there are a lot of ideas out there that have to be supported with analysis and information, not speculation."

The incentives here are obvious. The ACC and Big 12 believe that a larger field will give them more opportunities in a new landscape dominated by the Big Ten and SEC. The Big Ten thinks 24 teams would bring in more revenue and the opportunity to host more home playoff games. Notre Dame has realized that, as teams optimize their schedules to make the playoff instead of play tougher non-conference opponents, it'll be a struggle for them to compete with the strength of the Big Ten or SEC resumes and reach the top 12 each year.

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Meanwhile, the SEC wants 16 teams with as few auto bids as possible in the hopes of putting half their conference in the field each year. Thereby reinforcing their view that they're the premier conference in the sport. And half the conference isn't an exaggeration, considering Sankey's prior remarks.

Where this ends up is anyone's guess, but it's hard to see ESPN winning out in the long run relative to the power of those other conferences.

Which teams have the most valuable college football rosters heading into 2026 season?

Wed, 13 May 2026 19:59:24 -0400

The new era of college football based around name, image and likeness payments has changed how rosters are built and which programs can compete at the top.

The Indiana Hoosiers came out of nowhere in 2024, reaching the College Football Playoff in Curt Cignetti's first year as head coach. Then, with some help on the NIL front, they brought in Fernando Mendoza through the transfer portal. Mendoza went on to win the Heisman Trophy, and the Hoosiers went 16-0 and won the National Championship. Just a few months after Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said undefeated teams were a thing of the past.

There are plenty of other examples: Texas Tech, with the support of billionaire Cody Campbell, built up one of the top defenses in the country and reached the playoff. NIL can dramatically change a program's fortunes overnight.

Spending more money on players can't guarantee anything. But there's a much stronger likelihood that more expensive rosters will generally lead to higher-quality teams. So as we rapidly approach the start of the 2026 college football season, looking at estimates of NIL spending by team carries a significant amount of weight. Which teams will dominate their conferences and make a run at the playoff? Or which may have to hope they've spent their money wisely, even if it's a lower overall number?

INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION

An organization called "College Front Office" has been compiling estimated NIL valuations for 68 teams in the Power 4 conferences, with the ultimate goal of determining which team has the most valuable roster in the sport. And, wouldn't you know it, there are plenty of playoff and SEC teams near the top of the list. Here's how the top 15 looks, per their estimates.

Texas - $47.9M
Miami - $44.0M
Ohio State - $43.5M
LSU - $42.8M
Oregon - $42.8M
Notre Dame - $40.4M
Texas A&M - $38.9M
Alabama - $37.2M
Texas Tech - $36.3M
Tennessee - $35.7M
Ole Miss - $35.2M
Georgia - $34.2M
USC - $34.2M
Oklahoma - $33.0M
Michigan - $32.4M

It's important to note that these are based on valuations of the players on the roster and not necessarily what these teams and their collectives actually spent on NIL. But valuations are likely closely correlated to real-world spending, and the results bear that out.

WHICH TEAMS HAVE THE TOUGHEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE HEADING INTO COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON?

There are several obvious takeaways here, primarily that it's no surprise Texas, Miami and Ohio State are leading the way. The Longhorns have Arch Manning, one of the most valuable NIL players in the sport, and were widely viewed as the most expensive team in college football in 2025 as well. Miami's another example of a program that rebuilt itself quickly after committing to spending more. The Hurricanes were just a few plays away from winning the National Championship game themselves, and beat Texas A&M in a road game, Ohio State and then Ole Miss in the playoff just to advance to the final.

Another takeaway? The SEC and Big Ten are dominant, with 12 of the top 15 teams from those two conferences. Miami is the lone ACC team; Texas Tech is once again one of the top teams and the only Big 12 program on the list. And Notre Dame, with this level of talent and the schedule they have, looks to be a near guarantee to reach the 12-team field.

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Interestingly, Indiana is not listed in the top 15, despite coming off a National Championship win. Will that matter, or can the Hoosiers and Curt Cignetti rely on getting the most out of the talent they have? Lane Kiffin, too, has spent this offseason talking about the project he's facing at LSU, but the talent he has on the roster is, at least by these estimates, clearly playoff caliber.

Then there are two other programs that have a high-dollar-figure roster with little to show for it thus far: USC and Michigan.

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Every other team on this list has either made the playoff over the last two years, or in LSU's case, hired a new head coach who led his previous team to the playoff in the last two years. Michigan's Bryce Underwood is a sophomore and looking to build on an up-and-down freshman year and also has a new head coach. USC is at a pivotal point in Lincoln Riley's tenure, with a roster that's now finally capable of competing against other playoff-caliber teams.

Again, money can't buy everything, but the success rate of these programs in reaching the playoff indicates some level of connection. Or can Indiana be the exception once again? Yet again, we're heading for a fascinating college football season.

Olivia Dunne cozies up with Baywatch model Brooks Nader, Oxford police on alert & Rockies girl Gianna Girardi!

Wed, 13 May 2026 15:39:24 -0400

Middle Hump Day of May? Sure, why not?! We're halfway to June, somehow, and that means ... well, it means very little. It's a pretty slow(ish) time of year, which is fine with me.

I know what's coming. I know what's on the horizon. In fact, we're already starting to get a little taste of it. The college football world is heating up ahead of "spring" meetings later this month. The NFL's full schedule gets released tomorrow. We've got OTAs and minicamps in a few weeks. We're about nine weeks away from training camps.

College GameDay just announced its first two locations of the college football season. Herbie's dog is resting up. Again, it's slow right now. But, I know what's coming. It ain't that far away.

For now, though, we ride the wave and see where it takes us (whatever that means). Let's ride.

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Welcome to a Hump Day Nightcaps — the one where Olivia Dunne parties with her Baywatch friends while Miller Lite continues to raise the bar ahead of next month's FIFA World Cup. I think Molson Coors is in for a big second half of 2026, folks. Strap in.

What else? I've got Rockies girl Gianna Girardi dumping out #content from a dominant few weeks, the Oxford Police Department is ready for Lane Kiffin, and Mr. October got fooled by a totally plausible AI video of a hot blonde running onto a soccer pitch.

We've all been there, Reggie. Chin up!

OK, grab you a Miller Lite in a giant soccer ball, and settle in for a Hump Day 'Cap!

Olivia Dunne has another dominant outing

Look at that thing. I hate soccer. Despise it. Won't watch a single second. Not one. But buddy, I will absolutely throw some money at a soccer ball filled with beer cans. Genius. So simple, so effective.

A few weeks ago, I got into a heated back-and-forth with a reader because he was pissed at my love for Busch Light Apple. Any domestic beer, really. He told me to stop giving the big corporations money, and start supporting local beer. And that's fair.

My wife is an artist. Believe me, I know all about "supporting local." I get it. When I go to the brewery down the road, I support local. I'm all for it. Funky Buddha Floridian is probably my favorite "local" beer in the state.

But ...

I do love a good Miller Lite. Sorry, I like what I like. Now they're putting cans in a soccer ball on the heels of partnering with Olivia Dunne? How am I supposed to say no to this?

Yeah, I just can't. I have to respect good, smart advertising, especially after what I lived through in 2023 with Bud Light. Fair is fair, and I'm simply being fair here.

PS: The old Miller Lite blue cans are the best of the best. Elite stuff.

OK, let's get this class going with Miller Lite influencer Olivia Dunne dominating the Fox red carpet with her Baywatch friends last night:

Oxford might be in trouble here

Olivia Dunne and Brooks Nader on the same set? Again, I assume the new Baywatch reboot will be a tough watch. Most reboots are. But I will be DIALED in whenever it premieres. I was too young for the Baywatch craze back in the '90s. I'll be damned if I miss out this time.

Give 'em hell, ladies!

Speaking of hell, let's check in on the Oxford Police Department ahead of the recently announced Sept. 19 night game between LSU and Ole Miss!

ONE DAY AFTER LANE KIFFIN MESS, STEVE SARKISIAN TORCHES OLE MISS FOR 'BASKETWEAVING' CLASSES IN OXFORD

Football, more football, and Mr. October

Perfect. No notes. 10/10. Speaking of Oxford potentially burning to the ground, I did get an email from a student this week on the heels of Lane Kiffin telling Vanity Fair that he had a hard time recruiting five-stars because of ... segregation.

Shockingly, boots on the ground in Oxford say that's complete BS.

From Matt:

Just read the comments Lane made about recruits and parents and segregation in Oxford BS. My oldest daughter went to Ole Miss for grad school. We visited many times. Never saw an ounce of segregation, racism, or anything related. Actually, her first year there (fall 2022-2023) she worked with a kid at Neilson's on the square...young guy, nice kid.

He was homecoming king that year... he also happened to be black and gay. Amazing how that didn't seem to bother anyone in Oxford when he was voted homecoming king. Kiffin is a good coach (I'll give him that), but he is also good at getting diarrhea of the mouth.

Thanks, Matt! Black AND gay. Talk about a one-two punch. Can't believe Oxford survived that one. I guess Lane's recruits missed him during their visit. Oh well. Hopefully they all feel safer in Baton Rouge!

OK, let's stick with college football and rapid-fire this Hump Day into a Hump Night. How do we feel about the first two (three) College GameDay visits of the new season?

How many times are we going to try to stuff Clemson into a marquee Week 1 game? I feel like we do this every year! They'll be ranked 23rd just so ESPN can market this as a top-25 game. I've seen this movie before.

Don't get me wrong, I'm rooting for Dabo. I'm very much out on Lane Kiffin at this point, if you couldn't tell.

But going to Death Valley ... at night ... in Week 1 of the Lane Kiffin era? Yikes.

Ohio State-Texas in Week 2 is a no-brainer, although I'm sure Big Noon would've liked that game. They haven't announced Week 3 yet, but we can assume Herbie's dog will get a police escort into Oxford that weekend.

I know it's a rival network and rival show but goodness ... I miss football. Three more months. Hold on tight, folks. We're almost back.

Next? Let's end the day on the diamond ... with a legend!

Reggie! NOOOOO! Reggie Jackson got duped by maybe the most clearly AI video I have ever seen in my life. Poor Reggie. We've all been there before. Mr. October, by the way, turns 80 next week. 80! What a player.

PS: "The Bronx is Burning" is one of the most underrated miniseries of all time. Just an absolute banger back in the mid-2000s. If you're a baseball fan and haven't seen it, go track it down at your local Blockbuster before the weekend!

OK, that's it for today. Good Hump Day. Let's stay on the diamond and with the Yankees theme, and end the day with Rockies in-game host (and Joe's niece) Gianna Girardi!

See you tomorrow.

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OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m. (roughly, we’re not robots).

Is Oxford in for a rough night this September? Email me at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.

Dabo Swinney is right: Coaches opinions don’t matter in College Football Playoff expansion fight

Wed, 13 May 2026 10:30:47 -0400

As the ongoing debate around expanding the College Football Playoff intensifies, with the ACC and Big 12 prepared to publicly endorse a 24-team format, the pressure is mounting on the SEC to change its thinking.

But, as the conversation deepens and opinions flow, the opinions of the head coaches who can garner headlines across college football are just that in this era of college football: opinions.

In the upcoming days, you will start to see a more vocal outcry from conferences like the Big 12 and ACC for an expanded playoff. In reality, this is all part of the plan, as the ACC wraps up its spring meetings in Florida this week.

ONE DAY AFTER LANE KIFFIN MESS, STEVE SARKISIAN TORCHES OLE MISS FOR "BASKETWEAVING" CLASSES IN OXFORD

It's the continued pressure that many within conferences outside of the SEC are hoping sways the opinion of those who have Greg Sankey representing them on the biggest stage.

The problem for others is that the SEC commissioner, along with some of those he represents, are sticking with a proposed 16-team format at the moment, and they split the majority power with the Big Ten over future expansion.

COACHES PUSH FOR 24-TEAM CFP, AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADS TOWARDS PARTICIPATION TROPHY TERRITORY

"We’re trying to inform that with research. We’ve done that, from our perspective, with 16," Sankey told reporters this week about the discussion around expansion beyond 16 teams. "We want to understand, through some analytic support, games that matter in an expanded environment, and games that might not matter."

LANE KIFFIN SAVAGELY DESTROYED ON SOCIAL MEDIA AFTER INSANE OLE MISS SEGREGATION COMMENTS

The opinion of Dabo Swinney doesn’t matter. His words, not mine

But, that won't stop some coaches in conferences like the ACC or Big 12 from voicing their opinions, which comes with the territory of being a school representative, and in some cases the highest-paid employee in each state.

And though it might sound great to have someone like Dabo Swinney come out in favor of an expansion that sees the field increase from 12 to 24 teams, his athletic director is not overly concerned with his opinion.

DABO SWINNEY GETS CANDID ABOUT PAST EXPECTATIONS, TRANSFER PORTAL HESITANCY

No, that's not a shot at the Clemson head coach, those are essentially his words from this week at ACC spring meetings.

"It doesn’t really matter what I think," Swinney told reporters, while also noting that he has no control of what happens moving forward.

Bingo! Athletic directors are not looking for their coaches to be in agreement with the school's philosophy on whether more teams should be added to the postseason.

NICK SABAN BLAMES STATE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL FOR STRING OF HEAD COACH FIRINGS

Why? Because their opinion truly doesn’t matter in the long run for each institution. If you haven’t realized it by now, there has been an uptick in schools firing coaches over the past two years.

In this era, with so much money being spent on rosters and infrastructure across college campuses, their job is to get them in position to be considered for a playoff spot.

College coaches only carry so much weight in the grand scheme

Leave the business side to the athletic directors and presidents of each that are praying the football program is successful enough to continue generating enough money to keep them in the fight.

FORMER LSU COACH BRIAN KELLY USES AI TO PREPARE FOR JOB INTERVIEWS, PROVING HE'S JUST LIKE THE REST OF US

Do you think former LSU athletic director Scott Woodward was garnering advice from Brian Kelly about whether additional teams should be added to the field?

Both of them are now out of a job, collecting substantial buyouts in the process. I don't imagine Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter was basing his own opinion on playoff expansion off the advice of Lane Kiffin. The same can be said for plenty of schools across the country, like Indiana, Ohio State or Notre Dame, just to name a few.

Now, I would say that when the SEC decided to increase its conference schedule to nine games per season that plenty of school administrators were asking their coaches for input on how this would impact their chances of making the playoff.

INSIDE THE FIGHT: NIL ARMS RACE FUELING NEW PUSH FOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF EXPANSION

But, that's about as far as it goes.

This is also another reason you've recently seen coaches from the SEC publicly discussing the expanded format, given that plenty of them were under the assumption that an additional conference game would equate to some type of playoff expansion, even if that meant 16 teams.

Athletic directors are praying each hire works out, but opinions are just that

But, this era of college athletics has already led to coaches being on a shorter leash, given the amount of money being poured into sports that actually turn a profit. Meaning, while the athletic directors are certainly going to hear the head coach out, their opinion is only going to carry so much weight in the long term.

FLORIDA STATE-GEORGIA SERIES CANCELLATION IS OMINOUS SIGN FOR FUTURE OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL

So, Dabo Swinney was right. His opinion, though warranted and appreciated as a successful coach in the sport, is not going to be the reason why the College Football Playoff expands in the future.

That decision, which is being discussed at an increased level right now inside hotel ballrooms across the country, will come down to those who are hired to make the decisions that are best for each school and conference.

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Pressure on the SEC to give into a change to 24 teams is only going to increase from here, as other conferences across college football come out in favor of adding 12 teams to the fray.

And while the noise is certainly getting louder, this will come down to two conferences that control the future.

The battle rages on between the Big Ten and SEC, as others start increasing the volume of their opinions.

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Sage Steele questions Lane Kiffin's timing after he links Ole Miss recruiting to segregation concerns

Wed, 13 May 2026 06:06:54 -0400

Lane Kiffin is no stranger to stirring controversy.

The former Ole Miss head coach drew attention again this week after floating a theory about diversity efforts that he claimed at times hindered his ability to recruit players during his tenure at Oxford.

In excerpts taken from a wide-ranging interview with Vanity Fair, Kiffin noted that some recruits would tell him, "‘Hey, coach, we really like you. But my grandparents aren’t letting me move to Oxford, Mississippi.’"

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Kiffin said he does not expect to face similar challenges in his new home, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, saying, "That doesn’t come up when you say Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Parents were sitting here this weekend saying the campus’ diversity feels so great: ‘It feels like there’s no segregation. And we want that for our kid because that’s the real world.’"

Kiffin did not directly point to inherent challenges to diversity at Ole Miss, nor did he frame the school as uniquely racist in the article. He did, however, suggest he believes its history still shapes national perception.

OLE MISS PLAYERS PUSH BACK ON LANE KIFFIN’S CLAIM THAT TEAM ASKED AD TO LET HIM FINISH SEASON WITH REBELS

Former ESPN host Sage Steele was a guest on the "Will Cain Country" podcast, hosted by Fox News Channel’s "The Will Cain Show" host Will Cain, on Tuesday and weighed in on the LSU coach’s comments. Cain admitted he had never traveled to Oxford, while Steele spoke about her ties to the campus.

"I have not seen the Confederate flags there, it that doesn't mean that it's not there. But I have not seen it. My daughter is a sophomore at Ole Miss."

Steele questioned the timing of Kiffin’s remarks, suggesting he raised concerns only after leaving Ole Miss.

"I just think it's really fascinating that now he says that," she said. But, you were fine in Oxford all those years. You were fine in Oxford leading into last football season, saying 'It is just so much more than football.' .... it's how the community has embraced him and his family. And he's come such a long way personally. ...And then all of a sudden, they hold your feet to the fire, and no, you can't coach the college football playoff after deciding to leave."

Confederate flags were once a common sight at Mississippi football games until the university effectively phased them out in 1997 by banning flagpoles.

Until 2003, the school’s mascot, Colonel Reb, reflected its Civil War-era past. The program still uses the "Rebels" nickname and the "Ole Miss" moniker, both tied to the state’s slavery-era history.

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Kiffin later clarified his comments saying, "I just hope [my comment] comes across respectful to Ole Miss. ... There are some things that I'm saying that are factual, they're not shots." he told On3.

"I really apologize if anybody at Ole Miss or in Mississippi was offended by that," Kiffin said. "In a four-hour interview, I was asked a lot of questions on a lot of things, and Ole Miss has been wonderful to me and to my family. I was asked questions about the differences in recruiting, and I said a narrative that we battled there from some out-of-state Black parents and grandparents was not wanting their kid to move to Mississippi. That's a narrative that coaches have been fighting forever. It wasn't calculated by bringing it up."

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One day after Lane Kiffin mess, Steve Sarkisian torches Ole Miss for 'basketweaving' classes in Oxford

Tue, 12 May 2026 13:53:09 -0400

Ole Miss just can't seem to catch a break from opposing coaches within the SEC, with Texas coach Steve Sarkisian joining the party.

There obviously must be something in the water down in Oxford that is attracting coaches to somehow keep the Rebels part of the offseason conversation, coming off a two-day stretch that saw Lane Kiffin take an enormous amount of heat for his comments regarding some recruiting struggles at Ole Miss.

In what started as another interesting look into the life of Kiffin, which has many layers built into the body of his overall work, the subject that drew the most attention centered on what some perceived to be racial epitomes about struggle to recruit certain players to Oxford based on the state's history.

LANE KIFFIN TAKES SHOT AT OLE MISS, CITES RACISM IN RECRUITING GAP WITH LSU IN AWKWARD INTERVIEW

When describing certain problems that had risen in the past, across different sports, Kiffin brought up on his own that getting players to Ole Miss was not only about how much money could be offered.

"I just hope (comments) comes across respectful to Ole Miss ... There are some things that I'm saying that are factual, they're not shots."

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Kiffin would then go on to say in later interviews that his comments were not calculated, and he did not mean for it to come across as derogatory toward the State of Mississippi.

But unfortunately for the LSU coach, the benefit of the doubt is not something that will be granted to him based on past instances of taking shots at other schools.

And no, I don't think Kiffin had anything remotely racist in his body when describing Ole Miss recruiting, but sometimes he says these off-the-wall things to draw attention.

In this case, I don't think it went according to plan, which is easy to notice when Kiffin is messaging media members to clarify his remarks.

But, he wasn't the only one who had Ole Miss on their minds in recent weeks, as Steve Sarkisian proved on Tuesday morning.

Texas head coach takes a massive swing at Rebels

When Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took aim at Ole Miss nearly three months ago for the recruitment of transfer linebacker Luke Ferrelli, the college football world was put on notice, or so it seemed at the time.

Swinney has the proof that Ole Miss tampered with the short-term rental linebacker that spent only a few days at Clemson before heading off to Oxford. There were claims of text messages, a picture of a $1 million check sent to Ferrelli, along with other forms of communication that were sent to entice him to leave Clemson after only just arriving.

DABO SWINNEY BROUGHT RECEIPTS, GOES NUCLEAR ON OLE MISS FOR TAMPERING WITH LB LUKE FERRELLI. NCAA RESPONDS

And yes, he ended up at Ole Miss. Which brings us to Steve Sarkisian, who was asked about the ongoing circus in college athletics pertaining to the transfer portal and athletes losing out on an education by transferring so many times during their career.

"At Texas, we will only take 50% of a player’s academic credit hours," Sarkisian noted to USA TODAY. "You may be a semester from graduating, but you’re going all the way back to 50% if you play here and want a degree. But at Ole Miss, they can take you. All you have to take is basket weaving, and you can get an Ole Miss degree."

Sure, Sarkisian also brought up other schools during his rant, but he's also pointing the finger at the current system in which we currently reside in.

"We all signed up to be part of the NCAA, and then we all allegedly make the rules," Sarkisian said. "Everyone knows the rules, right? Then we go to our attorney general and say we don’t like that rule, let’s just sue. Right now, no one is afraid of the consequences."

OK, I don't know how many people are going to offer sympathy to the Texas football program, but to each their own.

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Everyone gets a shot at Ole Miss right now

The story of the 2025 college football season, outside of Indiana running through opponents on its way to a national championship, was the Ole Miss Rebels.

A traveling circus would honestly be a better way to describe what I witnessed from the second half of the season until Lane Kiffin raced to an Oxford airport for a flight to Baton Rouge just two weeks before Ole Miss would start their CFP run.

"Kind of amazing how uncomfortable our success is making some people," Ole Miss AD Keith Carter wrote on social media.

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Whether it's Lane Kiffin, Dabo Swinney or Steve Sarkisian, everyone seems to be using Ole Miss as a punching bag right now.

Have people forgotten that Kiffin does not reside in Oxford any longer? Who knows.

But, this has certainly been an interesting few months for the Rebels athletic department, and we haven’t reached the start of Summer yet.

All I know is that SEC spring meetings have the chance to be unhinged in two weeks, and we'll be there to cover the potential madness that arises from the beaches of Destin, Florida.

Notre Dame-USC rivalry game discussions back on after college football series ended in 2026

Mon, 11 May 2026 19:05:03 -0400

One of the biggest stories of the 2025-2026 college football offseason was the collapse of the historic USC Trojans-Notre Dame Fighting Irish rivalry.

Long hailed as the "Greatest Intersectional Rivalry in College Football," the game paired two of the sport’s most storied teams. Played every season since 1926, outside World War II and the COVID lockdown years, both fanbases loved the annual tradition and opportunity to travel to historic stadiums in LA and South Bend.

Which is why the reaction to news that the series was ending, even if temporarily, was overwhelmingly one of frustration and disappointment. From both sides.

Who to blame for the end of the series mostly depends on allegiance. Much of the disagreement between the two sides came down to timing. USC fans point to comments made by Irish head coach Marcus Freeman in 2025 about the rivalry and his commitment to it.

USC COACH LINCOLN RILEY MAKES BOLD CLAIM, SAYS USC IS READY TO WIN 'CHAMPIONSHIPS'

"It’s pretty black and white for me," Freeman said at the time. "You want my opinion? I want to play them every single year. When? I don’t care. I don’t care when we play them. Start of the season, middle of the season, end of the season — I don’t care. I want to play USC every year because it’s great for college football."

Those comments resurfaced when the series was cancelled in large part because Notre Dame didn’t want to move the game to Week 0 from its traditional spot in either October or November. USC head coach Lincoln Riley brought that up as well, saying at the end of the season, "The fact is very, very clear, and this can all be settled very quickly — had Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we would be playing them the next two years and looking ahead after that and hopefully continuing the series. They did not follow through on it. Thus, we are not playing them the next couple years."

Notre Dame fans would counter that USC joined the Big Ten Conference and they shouldn’t have to make accommodations for the Trojans’ new travel schedule and conference affiliation. While both sides expressed their intention to keep negotiating, it seemed like priorities had shifted. Notre Dame, with their new arrangement with the College Football Playoff guaranteeing them a spot if they finish in the top 12 in the final poll of the season, lined up a much easier schedule in 2026. USC, facing a pivotal year for Riley and the program, and an already brutal schedule on tap, replaced the Irish with San Jose State.

But a new report from the Los Angeles Times on Monday says the two sides have renewed talks to restart the rivalry. Though with one disappointing caveat.

Ryan Kartje reported that while "it’s not clear yet when the rivalry series will return or what the terms will be," both sides are back at the table. Importantly, the Irish are now, per Kartje, "willing to discuss playing the game earlier in the season."

That source was now "optimistic a deal could be reached," though the earliest timeline to restart the game would likely be 2030.

It was always likely that Notre Dame would compromise on timing because, to put it simply, the Irish need the game more than USC does. The Trojans are now in a super conference. The conference that’s won three straight national championships. Their schedule in 2026 is already extremely difficult, with road games at Penn State, Wisconsin, and defending national champion Indiana, plus home games against Ohio State, Oregon, and Washington. Not to mention playing the UCLA rivalry game on the "road" at the Rose Bowl.

WHICH TEAMS HAVE THE TOUGHEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE HEADING INTO COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON?

Three playoff teams, the defending champs, and road games in extremely tough environments at Wisconsin and Penn State. Oh, and Washington, the 13th best team in the country last year, according to analytics-based ranking system SP+. Had the Notre Dame game continued in 2026, SC would have played four of the top five teams in the country last season, per SP+. Then, if they somehow got through that gauntlet to finish in the top two spots in the conference, they’d be rewarded by playing another top-5 team in the Big Ten Championship game.

Point being, USC can reach the playoff at 10-2 without the Irish on their schedule. But Notre Dame, as an independent, has no championship game or rigorous conference schedule to point to. As such, they need more opportunities for big wins to bolster their resume. Or they could risk falling out of the top 12 in some seasons due to weaker perceived schedules relative to Big Ten or SEC rivals.

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USC reportedly offered to continue the series as it traditionally had been played for 2026-2027, before moving to Week 0 down the road. The Irish balked, then SC pulled the offer anyway after finding out about Notre Dame’s unique arrangement with the playoff committee and believing it provided a significant advantage.

The Trojans’ other argument, that non-conference games are traditionally played earlier in the season in the Big Ten, had some merit too. And it now seems like the Irish are willing to revisit that timeframe. That’s good news for fans of both schools, as well as fans of the sport concerned that marquee matchups will become a thing of the past. The only bad news? That we’ll have to wait four long years for the next game.

Florida State-Georgia series cancellation is ominous sign for future of college football

Sun, 10 May 2026 18:50:41 -0400

What makes college football special, and for some fans, superior to the NFL, is that big games mean something.

The shorter regular season, smaller playoff field relative to the size of the sport, historic rivalries and the organization of teams into (formerly) regional conferences created a unique dynamic. Non-conference games between historic programs are must-see TV, not just because of the stakes, but because fan bases and conferences rely on those results.

And the unfortunate reality of how the sport is organized in the modern era is that those big non-conference games are going to become less and less common. Which is precisely the opposite of what most college football fans want.

The 12-team College Football Playoff has already created incentives for easier schedules. Notre Dame being perhaps the best example. The Irish have, historically, never shied away from tough games, despite being an independent program. But a new arrangement with the College Football Playoff committee has guaranteed them a spot in the tournament moving forward should they finish in the top 12.

FIVE SEC TRAP GAMES IN 2026 THAT COULD UPEND THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RACE, FROM LSU TO GEORGIA

Their schedule in 2026 reflects that reality: Wisconsin at Lambeau Field, Rice, Michigan State, at Purdue, at North Carolina, Stanford, at BYU, Navy, Miami, Boston College, SMU, at Syracuse. That’s a schedule set up to win 10-11 games and be in the top 12 come December.

Compare it to Texas. The Longhorns have Texas State, Ohio State, UTSA, at Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, at Missouri, at LSU, Arkansas, at Texas A&M. Then, should they finish that brutal, grueling schedule with a quality season, a date in the SEC Championship Game against a team like Georgia or Alabama. Head coach Steve Sarkisian was so frustrated at missing the 2025-26 playoff field at 9-3 that he essentially threatened to stop scheduling top non-conference teams like Ohio State moving forward.

Then, just this month, the American Football Coaches Association came out in favor of expanding the field to 24, further limiting the incentive to schedule tough games. Why put yourself at risk of losing that fourth game when a 3-0 non-conference run and 6-3 in-conference record in the Big Ten or SEC would likely be enough to reach the field?

USC LEGENDS REACT TO STORIED NOTRE DAME RIVALRY GOING ON INDEFINITE HIATUS

That brings us to another recent sign that college football is moving in the wrong direction: the cancellation of a scheduled home-and-home series between Georgia and the Florida State Seminoles.

In a recent statement, the teams announced that they had "mutually agreed" to take the 2027 and 2028 games off the calendar. With hopes of moving to a mutual site.

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"As we considered the effects of evolving scheduling mandates within both the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference, we have mutually agreed that it is in the best interest of both schools to cancel our home-and-home series scheduled for 2027 and 2028," said FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford. "We are now discussing playing a future neutral-site contest, and we are optimistic we will get that done. Importantly, this change will not reduce the total home games on our schedule moving forward."

Well, there you have it. Instead of playing huge games against big-name teams from other conferences, on campus, in front of a student section and raucous home crowds, new "schedule mandates" are influencing teams to move games to neutral sites. Instead of "The Doak" or "Between the hedges," should the series be rescheduled, it’ll likely be yet another game played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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These new schedule mandates, playing nine conference games like teams in the Big Ten or the former Pac-12 did for years, as well as the expanded playoff, now mean that schools are looking for ways to minimize their downside. Instead of prioritizing the upside and providing a better and more meaningful experience for fans.

It’s been that way for quite some time, unfortunately. But this new era of super conferences and bigger postseason tournaments is only making it worse. Most fans would almost certainly prefer to play these big games in a home-home format, even if it means an extra loss. Most schools now don’t seem to care.

Urban Meyer shares story about Pete Rose trying to get gambling intel out of him about Ohio State

Sun, 10 May 2026 15:32:43 -0400

As an Ohio native who grew up in the 1970s, Urban Meyer had quite the baseball team to root for in the Big Red Machine. Like most young fans who pulled for that Cincinnati Reds team, Pete Rose became a hero for the young Meyer, and one he managed to meet later on in his life.

During a recent appearance on the "Triple Option" podcast, Meyer addressed the ongoing gambling saga involving Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby. As is often the case, when a conversation turns to athletes and gambling, Rose's name is brought up, which is exactly what unfolded in this instance.

BRENDAN SORSBY AT CROSSROADS: NCAA GAMBLING PROBE COULD END TEXAS TECH QB'S COLLEGE CAREER

As Meyer explained, shortly after he was hired to be the head football coach at Ohio State ahead of the 2012 season, he met Rose at a Reds contest. The two also exchanged numbers, and the MLB legend wasn't exactly shy in reaching out.

"I was a huge Pete Rose fan, still am, we lost him several months ago, but he became a friend of mine. When I got hired at Ohio State, (the Reds) asked me to come down and throw out the first pitch … when I walked in the clubhouse, there was Pete Rose," Meyer explained.

"So we sat and talked for a couple of hours, exchanged phone numbers. I couldn’t get enough talking about the Big Red Machine, and he wanted to talk college football. And I (was) pretty naïve about the gambling thing, I’ve never really gambled in my life," Meyer continued.

"During the season, my first year in 2012, every once in a while I’d get a text … ‘Hey man, how’s the team look? How’s Illinois look? How’s Braxton Miller’s shoulder?’ or something like that. And I’d text him back, ‘Yeah, we’re doing fine.'

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Meyer didn't think anything of it, that is, until a person he explained the situation to painted a clear picture of what appeared to be going on.

"I told that to someone, they said, ‘You’re an idiot. You know he’s trying to get information from you for gambling (purposes), and you could get in trouble,’" Meyer continued.

"I never gave much, but from that point forward, (if Rose texted) ‘How’s Braxton’s shoulder?’ I’d say, ‘How are the Reds doing?’ and just kind of moved on."

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Rose, who passed away in September 2024, was banned from baseball after being accused of gambling on the Reds team he played for and managed in the late 1980s.

After also being made permanently ineligible to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, Rose was posthumously reinstated and became eligible for the Hall just months after his death.

Trump warns college sports could be ‘lost forever’ as committee pushes changes, Congress urged to act

Sat, 09 May 2026 19:40:20 -0400

President Donald Trump is ramping up pressure on Congress to overhaul college sports, warning the system could be "lost forever" as a White House-backed committee pushes sweeping changes to rein in athlete pay, transfers and soaring costs.

The proposals include creating a task force to examine pooled media rights, limits on coaching salaries, rewritten eligibility rules and changes to the transfer portal, according to a draft document obtained by Yahoo Sports and reported by The Associated Press.

The push builds on a recent executive order from Trump, which described college athletics as an "out-of-control financial arms race" fueled by loosening rules around player compensation, transfers and eligibility — and urged federal action before the system destabilizes further.

The White House said the current model is "driving universities into debt," threatening women’s and Olympic sports and undermining student-athletes’ educational opportunities.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO REGULATE THE BUSINESS OF COLLEGE SPORTS

"Further delay is not an option given what is at stake," the order states, citing roughly 500,000 annual educational, athletic and leadership opportunities and nearly $4 billion in scholarships.

Trump has also raised alarms about the direction of college sports, saying during a White House roundtable last month that "crazy things are happening" as players stay in school longer and earn more through NIL deals, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.

The draft proposal calls on Congress to quickly pass legislation creating a task force with an antitrust exemption and authority to override individual state laws, a major priority for NCAA and college sports leaders seeking national standards.

I PLAYED DIVISION1 VOLLEYBALL — NIL CHAOS IS OUT OF CONTROL. THE SCORE ACT WILL SAVE SPORTS

Among the most divisive ideas is pooling media rights across conferences, a move opposed by the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten but backed by a group led by Texas Tech regent Cody Campbell, who has argued it could add billions in value, according to AP.

The draft also calls for rules targeting "salary-cap circumvention," an apparent reference to schools using third-party NIL deals to get around current limits on direct payments to athletes.

That issue is already at the center of an arbitration case brought by Nebraska football players whose NIL deals were rejected by the College Sports Commission, which reviews third-party contracts.

NCAA SETTLEMENT CHAOS: NEW LEGAL MOVE COULD TRIGGER MASSIVE INCREASE IN NIL SPENDING

Trump’s executive order also directs agencies that contract with or give grants to higher education institutions to evaluate certain violations of college athletics rules, including eligibility limits, transfers, revenue sharing and "improper financial activities."

The order defines those activities to include fraudulent NIL schemes, use of federal funds for NIL or revenue-sharing payments and interference with contracts between student-athletes and other schools.

The White House also urged college athletics governing bodies to clarify rules before Aug. 1, including limits on eligibility, transfer rules, medical care for athletes and protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

HOUSE VOTE ON NIL REGULATION ACT CANCELED DESPITE TRUMP'S BACKING AS SOME REPUBLICANS STILL NOT ON BOARD

Congress has been stalled for more than a year on legislation codifying parts of the House settlement that put revenue-sharing into place, according to AP.

The draft committee document calls for lawmakers to act before Congress leaves for its traditional August recess.

Without a national solution, the administration has warned, the financial pressure created by football and basketball could force schools to cut other sports or reshape college athletics entirely.

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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Ryan Morik contributed to this reporting.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

CFP, NCAA Tournament expansion both draw backlash, but one is definitively worse than the other

Fri, 08 May 2026 17:50:58 -0400

There has been much conversation and consternation lately over the expansion of both the College Football Playoff and NCAA Tournament.

Judging by the reactions of fans and pundits alike on social media, the decision to expand the fields of both postseasons in the "money sports" of college athletics has been met with nearly universal disgust.

While the NCAA Tournament has officially ballooned to 76 teams, the CFP committee and powers that be are discussing opening their field to a 24-team playoff.

Both of these are gross to anyone who is a fan of tradition in college sports (as you are aware, I am one of them), but, in my opinion, one of these is clearly worse than the other.

PROPOSAL FOR HISTORIC NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPANSION REACHES FINAL STAGES: REPORT

Yes, expanding the NCAA Tournament (yet again) is a slap in the face to fans everywhere and a blatant money grab, but it doesn't come close to how catastrophic a 24-team College Football Playoff would be to the sport of college football.

In the end, it's a numbers game.

March Madness going from 68 to 76 teams represents a roughly 12% increase in teams added to the field, hardly a drop in the bucket for an already-bloated postseason tournament.

When you compare that to the 100% increase a 24-team College Football Playoff would represent, we aren't even talking about the same game anymore.

The regular season in college football also has way fewer games than college basketball's regular season, and, as my colleague Ian Miller pointed out, a 24-team field would just dilute a once-great regular season more than it already has.

It's a zero-sum game. If the College Football Playoff expands, the urgency of the regular season diminishes by comparison, and in a sport that had, inarguably, the greatest regular season in sports, that's a huge blow.

Think about how badly teams like James Madison and Tulane got smoked in their respective playoff games. Now imagine teams like Virginia, Georgia Tech and Navy in the postseason as well.

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As I've discussed in the past, college basketball is more conducive to upsets in a single-elimination tournament format.

The advanced talent profile along the lines of scrimmage for "the big boys" alone makes it nearly impossible for a Cinderella to make a deep run in the CFP.

Meanwhile, all it takes is a hot day from beyond the arc for David to sink Goliath in the month of March.

The aggressive and expedited nature in which the playoff has expanded is concerning as well.

Just a few years ago, we had a four-team playoff (which many fans were perfectly fine with, mind you). How we got to 24 teams in less than half a decade just doesn't sit right with me.

While the NCAA Tournament becoming a 76-team bracket sucks, it happened after a decade and a half of adding another four teams to the Big Dance.

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Expansion is bad news any way you slice it for both sports, but acting like we are dealing with the same problems is ignorant.

This will fall on deaf ears, because the powers that be haven't taken the fans into account when making big decisions in quite some time (the real, passionate fans, anyway).

Run from it. Dread it. Expansion comes for us all the same.

Ex-college football star gets 16 years for $197M scheme that preyed on seniors and disabled veterans

Fri, 08 May 2026 15:03:44 -0400

A college football standout was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday for his role in a $197 million fraud scheme.

Rufus French participated in a yearslong scheme in which he sold patient information and sham doctors’ orders for orthotics braces that patients did not want or need.

"Fueled by lies, bribes and overseas telemarketers, this corrupt scheme preyed on senior citizens and disabled veterans to flood the country with unnecessary medical devices — and then billed the taxpayer for it," Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said.

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"Today’s sentence makes clear that if you target America’s elderly, sick or vulnerable — and rob America’s purse doing so — you will be targeted and brought to justice."

The Department of Justice said French worked with overseas telemarketers that pressured elderly Americans to provide their health information and agree to accept unnecessary braces. The telemarketers would alter call recordings to make it sound like the patients agreed to the braces if they had not.

French paid fraudulent companies to get signed doctors’ orders, despite oftentimes never interacting with the patients.

FOUR MORE WOMEN ACCUSE FORMER NFL PLAYER OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AMID EXISTING ALLEGATIONS: "BLATANT LIES"

French was convicted of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to offer, pay, solicit and receive kickbacks.

He was also ordered to pay nearly $111 million in restitution and forfeit roughly $17 million that the government seized from bank accounts.

French's son, Charleston, plays football for Bill Belichick at the University of North Carolina.

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Rufus starred at Ole Miss and was twice a first-team All-SEC tight end. He was also a unanimous All-American in 1998.

He went undrafted in the 1999 NFL Draft but played two seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.

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New faces, new places: Five transfer portal players poised for success this coming season

Fri, 08 May 2026 14:43:42 -0400

When it comes to talent acquisition, there are two split camps regarding which method is better.

While I would personally prefer to build a program through high school recruiting, there are still plenty of arguments to be made for building through the transfer portal.

Programs like Ole Miss, Texas Tech, and, of course, Indiana were able to make playoff runs in 2025 off the backs of strong transfer portal classes, and if you are looking to make a quick fix to your roster, the portal is the answer.

With all that in mind, this past portal period was one of the most active in recent memory, with several high-profile players moving on to new locales.

FIVE SEC TRAP GAMES IN 2026 THAT COULD UPEND THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RACE, FROM LSU TO GEORGIA

Below, I'll identify five players who transferred to different programs and will be key contributors to their new teams' success.

Keep your eyes peeled for these players to become household names by the end of the year (if they aren't already).

5. Princewill Umanmielen (Edge Rusher, Ole Miss to LSU)

Considered the top edge rusher in the portal class of 2026, Princewill Umanmielen followed his head coach, Lane Kiffin, from Oxford to Baton Rouge, helping the Tigers solidify their top-ranked transfer portal haul.

LSU, LANE KIFFIN SET TO LAND STAR QUARTERBACK IN TRANSFER PORTAL: REPORT

Finding a pass rusher of Umanmielen's caliber in the portal is a rarity, and he has both the statistical profile (nine sacks in 2025, third-team All-SEC selection) and the bloodline (his brother, Princely, was a former All-SEC edge rusher and second-round NFL Draft pick out of Ole Miss) to really boost an already talented LSU defense.

While the Tigers landed a few other, more notable names on offense, including top-ranked signal caller Sam Leavitt, I believe Umanmielen will be the straw that stirs the drink for that Bayou Bengals defense, and will give Kiffin and Co. a lot less to worry about on the other side of the ball.

4. Eric Singleton Jr. (Wide Receiver, Auburn to Florida)

The kind of speed that a guy like Eric Singleton Jr. possesses is uncanny, to put it mildly.

His sub-10.3 100-meter dash time alone would have made him one of the most coveted wideouts in the portal, but his production on the field backs up the numbers on the stopwatch.

The blazing wide receiver took a bit of a step back in his one year with the Auburn Tigers, but in his two years prior with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, Singleton put up 1,500 yards and nine touchdowns receiving while averaging over 14 yards per catch.

He chose to reunite with his old Yellow Jackets offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, and play for the Florida Gators in 2026, and their stable of wide receivers like Vernell Brown III and Dallas Wilson should give Singleton a ton of one-on-one matchups to feast on in his final year of eligibility.

3. Cam Coleman (Wide Receiver, Auburn to Texas)

From one misused Auburn wide receiver to another, Cam Coleman's time on The Plains can only be described as underwhelming.

The former five-star recruit had two really good years with the Tigers, but it always felt like he was capable of so much more.

This is through no fault of his own, though, as the Auburn quarterback room was, at best, dysfunctional throughout his time on campus.

TEXAS' TOP RUNNING BACK TO ENTER TRANSFER PORTAL

Coleman will be heading to Austin this fall, where the offensive scheme and quarterback situation is anything but dysfunctional.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian and offensive coordinator Kyle Flood have put up some impressive passing seasons since arriving on the Forty Acres, and quarterback Arch Manning had a torrid second half of 2025 and will be considered the Heisman favorite heading into 2026.

Couple all of that with the fact that Coleman will have standout wide receiver Ryan Wingo on the other side of the formation, and teams will have to choose who they want to double, meaning Coleman could be in for a monster season.

2. Damon Wilson II (Edge Rusher, Missouri to Miami)

If Princewill Umanmielen was the headline grabber of the 2026 transfer portal edge rushers, Damon Wilson II wasn't far behind.

Built like a prototypical pass rusher at 6'4" and 250 pounds, Wilson started his career at Georgia before transferring to Missouri and tallying nine sacks in 2025 and being named second-team All-SEC for his efforts.

After a breakout campaign in Columbia, Wilson chose to return to his native Florida and play for the Miami Hurricanes, where he is almost guaranteed to flourish.

The Canes play a ferocious brand of defense that produced two high-end edge rusher draft picks from the 2025 season in Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain, and their stellar recruiting along the interior of the defensive line the past few seasons will allow Wilson to get favorable one-on-one matchups.

It doesn't hurt that he will be playing against ACC offensive lines instead of SEC offensive lines, though the talent gap isn't quite as massive as it has been in years past.

1. Josh Hoover (Quarterback, TCU to Indiana)

Josh Hoover's time in Fort Worth didn't result in a ton of wins for the Horned Frogs, but his numbers and overall play were enough to make him one of the more sought-after signal callers in the portal.

That's why the marriage between Hoover and Indiana made complete sense from a football perspective.

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The Hoosiers went out and got one of the best wide receivers in the portal in Michigan State's Nick Marsh, and pairing him and their other stable of wideouts with Hoover will create magic in Bloomington.

Not only that, but since coach Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana three seasons ago, he has been able to squeeze every last drop of potential out of his starting QBs, including Kurtis Rourke in 2024 and Heisman winner and No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza in 2025.

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It's only right that Cignetti continue the pipeline with Hoover, who should fit in brilliantly in coach Cig's scheme, as this is as much of a vote of confidence for the coaching staff in Indiana as it is for Hoover himself.

I don't see the gravy train slowing down for the Hoosiers in 2026, and Josh Hoover will be a big reason for that.

Former South Carolina QB Stephen Garcia changes his approach on mental health amid cancer battle

Fri, 08 May 2026 13:26:53 -0400

Former South Carolina quarterback Stephen Garcia is currently battling for his life after being diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.

The diagnosis came after noticing certain abnormalities, but the hard-nosed former athlete thought he could figure out the issues on his own without a visit to the doctors. His wife wasn’t comfortable with that plan from the quarterback, who used to take snaps for a Steve Spurrier-led offense led offense in Columbia.

Reluctantly, Garcia went in for a colonoscopy where doctors discovered the cancer, and that it had been growing for a number of years.

Unfortunately, Stephen wasn’t fully grasping the news when first given, due to him still being somewhat groggy from sedation.

Coaches push for 24-Team CFP, as college football heads towards participation trophy territory

But, when it was finally explained to him how serious this situation was, reality set in pretty quickly.

Obviously, there's nothing simple about hearing the word 'cancer,' no matter which stage or form you are dealing with. It will humble you quickly, with the grim outlook overtaking the mind.

And while this process to fight the disease will be tough, filled with many obstacles, Garcia was most worried about his family.

While his older son understands the magnitude, he has yet to fully inform his youngest daughter, which led to the former Gamecock shedding a few tears while discussing the situation with OutKick on Friday morning.

Former Gamecock has changed his tune amid battle with cancer

In the past, Stephen Garcia was not one to jump aboard the mental health awareness train, looking at it as someone who was not strong enough to handle the circumstances surrounding whatever battle they were facing.

But, that's the football side of Garcia, and he was the first to admit that his mindset had changed because of the stigma surrounding people, most importantly men, not feeling comfortable enough to discuss their struggles.

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This problem has led to many downfalls, or problems that arise by not talking to others about what they are going through in the moments of trials and tribulations.

For Stephen, that has all changed.

"In years past, I thought mental health was an absolute joke, just to be completely frank with you," Garcia told OutKick. "I was like, if you gotta have some mental toughness, I played for Coach Spurrier so I had to have some mental toughness to deal with him. But, I was also extremely hard headed. It is huge. There’s gonna be days when you’re not gonna walk to talk with anybody, days you wanna give up, you gotta stay mentally tough. This whole process has opened my eyes to a whole different deal.

"People can change. I was against the whole mental health thing, I thought it was stupid. But, it’s changed my opinion, my outlook on life in general, and I encourage everyone to speak it up. I’ve had so many people reach out to say if you need to talk, reach out to me. Everyone said the same thing that you have to be mentally in it. If you are positive mentally, you’re going to get through it. If you’re feeling down in the dumps, figure out a way to get positive. It’s no joke, you are where your minds at."

Outreach has been overwhelming, with a long battle ahead

After going through his first round of chemotherapy this week, Garcia is coming to terms with the battle he faces, though he's keeping a positive outlook for the sake of himself and his family. He will continue training athletes, when his body allows, and using his platform to encourage others to take their health seriously.

If it weren’t for his wife pushing him into getting examined, who knows how long this could’ve gone before his cancer was noticed. In the meantime, the support system has been overwhelming, as Garcia described while choking back tears.

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Whether it's the Clemson football team, or Dabo Swinney himself, and the thousands of people who have reached out over the past few days, it's not lost on the former quarterback how much the support has meant for his own sanity during uncertain times.

For now, Stephen Garcia is taking his battle with cancer one day at a time. But, he's also got college football fans rooting for him to beat this terrible disease.

Here's why the coaches association's 24-team College Football Playoff could ruin the sport

Thu, 07 May 2026 17:37:58 -0400

When college football first moved to a playoff format, there were just four teams included. That limited field created an endless series of arguments as to the criteria and selection process for the selected teams.

Almost immediately, discussions started to expand the field to include more teams and, the theory went, end more of those arguments, make the tournament more exciting, and of course, increase television revenue. The 12-team field has, for the most part, achieved those goals.

There are on-campus playoff games, generally creating a compelling, exciting atmosphere with a high-stakes, winner-take-all matchup in front of home fans. There are weeks' worth of games to watch and follow, sometimes pitting conference rivals against each other, or allowing for direct comparisons of top teams in different conferences.

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Still, with all the positives, the arguments around the selection process have not changed. The 2025 field being a near-perfect example. The Alabama Crimson Tide were blown out in the SEC Championship Game, yet still made the playoff with three losses, ahead of a two-loss Notre Dame team that had won 10 games in a row. Two Group of Five teams made the field, before being promptly demolished by Power Five teams in Oregon and Ole Miss.

That’s inevitably led to more discussion of expansions, and competing theories as to how best to expand. The Big Ten and SEC couldn’t agree on their preferred solution in the offseason, but the American Football Coaches Association has now come out in favor of a 24-team field, along with other changes. And that, unquestionably, is the worst possible answer.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF COMMITTEE SPARKS FRENZIED DEBATE AS NOTRE DAME KEPT OUT OF FINAL FIELD

While their recommendations are not binding, nor do they carry any specific authority, it’s still a powerful and influential group coming out in favor of a substantially larger field. The Big Ten Conference reportedly also prefers a 24-team format, while the SEC wants to expand to 16 teams instead.

The SEC’s right, and the Big Ten and the coaching association is wrong.

Many critics have said that the current schedule and format drag on too deep into January, with good reason. The 2026 National Championship Game was on Jan. 19, when the sport traditionally wrapped up in the first week of January. The coaches association wants to fix this by ending conference championship games and compressing the break between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoff. That makes sense; conference championship games serve little purpose in the modern college football landscape, and the traditional break in December had mostly existed for academic reasons. But nobody pretends academics matter for college football players in 2026, and shortening the lull could maintain momentum and move the National Championship up a few weeks.

But where they’re wrong is that 24 teams is simply too many. Not just because it would extend the playoff schedule significantly, but because it would include many teams that have no business participating in the College Football Playoff.

COACHES PUSH FOR 24-TEAM CFP, AS COLLEGE FOOTBALL HEADS TOWARDS PARTICIPATION TROPHY TERRITORY

In 2025, for example, the committee ranked an 8-4 Iowa team at No. 23. Arizona was ranked No. 17. Georgia Tech was No. 22. In 2024, UNLV finished the regular season at No. 24. Syracuse was No. 21 at 9-3. Mississippi State was No. 22 at 8-4 in 2022. That team lost by a combined score of 75-25 to Alabama and Georgia.

If there are already concerns over the lack of competitiveness in games against Group of Five teams, how would that be improved by including teams that lost four games?

But that’s not even the biggest issue. What a 24-team format would also do is diminish the importance of the best regular season in sports. What makes college football special is that each Saturday, there are games that have season-changing stakes in a way that the NFL can’t match. The 12-team format already reduced some of that impact, but it hasn’t eliminated it entirely. A 24-team format would.

We’re already seeing how the expanded field has changed non-conference scheduling for the worse, perhaps permanently. The USC-Notre Dame rivalry collapsed, in part, because both sides realized they had a better chance of reaching the playoff by avoiding each other. Many other big non-conference matchups have been canceled as the SEC moves to nine conference games. Imagine how much worse that scheduling would get if the field expands to 24?

For example, if you guarantee yourself three non-conference wins with cupcake opponents, all a big SEC or Big Ten program needs to reach the playoffs is to finish the conference schedule at 6-3 to essentially guarantee a spot. Even four losses, a 5-4 conference record, might be enough in some seasons. So why risk the additional loss by playing a tougher non-conference game?

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Then there’s the other problem: the end-of-the-season rivalry games could be completely changed. Take, say, Ohio State-Michigan. Both teams hypothetically could enter the game at 9-2 and in the top 15 in the rankings. A loss wouldn’t matter for either side, since it would be viewed as a "quality" loss for strength of schedule purposes. Why would you risk your starters in a game with no benefit? Sure, maybe they play the first half, but with only seeding at stake, why push it?

A 16-team field makes more sense, if not leaving it at 12. Sixteen teams would allow for more teams in the SEC and Big Ten to make the field despite their tough schedules, while also incorporating Group of Five teams who deserve a chance too. But 24 goes too far, dilutes the field and hurts the regular season.

Former LSU coach Brian Kelly uses AI to prepare for job interviews, proving he's just like the rest of us

Thu, 07 May 2026 11:17:04 -0400

Artificial intelligence has become so pervasive in our modern society, it feels like you can't escape it.

I use AI at least once a day in my routine currently, and I'm sure others can say the same or close to it.

It certainly has its uses, though, outside of one day enslaving humanity. Things like cooking recipes, workout plans and even job interview prep can be streamlined through the use of AI.

Funny enough, according to On3, that last example is exactly what a certain recently fired college football coach has started using AI's services for.

JOBS THAT ARE MOST AT RISK FROM AI, ACCORDING TO MICROSOFT

I literally had to do a double take to make sure this wasn't a fake or parody account, but this is real, folks. It says "On3" not "No3."

Even the graphic cracks me up, with the big, bold "CLAUDE" really driving the point home that former LSU coach Brian Kelly is just like the rest of us.

"Hey, Claude! Can you tell me why I was the only coach that was hired by LSU in the 21st century to NOT win a national championship while employed by the school? Please cite your sources."

BRIAN KELLY SET FOR $54M PAYOUT AFTER SUING LSU OVER CONTRACT BUYOUT DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS

I wonder if he shelled out some of his buyout money for the premium version, or if he uses the free stuff like the rest of us plebeians.

As you probably could have predicted, the fine folks on X had an absolute field day teeing off on Kelly and his preferred method of mock interviewing.

In all seriousness, maybe Brian Kelly is just ahead of the curve on this one.

Who knows? Maybe someday, AI will replace offensive and defensive coordinators. It would be like a real-life version of "Ask Madden," where coaches can just "Ask Grok" whether to go four verticals or mesh against a certain look.

Let's pray that isn't the case, though.

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The powers that be are already ruining this sport even more than they already have by trying to introduce a 24-team playoff. Let's not bring AI into the equation.

As for Kelly, kudos to him for being honest, but I doubt this transparency will make him any more hirable than he was before.

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He might want to take a few years off and do some TV in the meantime. I don't think any Power Four programs are looking to hire a 64-year-old former head coach who needs AI to tell him which tie to wear to a job interview.

Good luck with the job search, Brian!

Ex-college football star diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer at 38

Thu, 07 May 2026 06:59:03 -0400

Former South Carolina Gamecocks star quarterback Stephen Garcia revealed heartbreaking news on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer.

Garcia, 38, made the announcement in a post on Facebook.

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"Wasn’t overly excited to share this news but it is what it is. We have a great team of doctors and staff that’s confident we can beat this! It’s the only option," he said in a post while sharing a GoFundMe link. "If there’s one lesson to be learned, get checked and don’t be afraid to visit the doctors’ office when you don’t feel 100%.

"We got this and I appreciate all yall!"

Garcia has raised more than $116,000.

The GoFundMe page said Garcia was taking the "most aggressive" path to treat the disease.

"Stephen is beginning chemotherapy today," the page read. "His medical team is starting him on FOLFIRINOX, which confirms they are taking the most aggressive treatment path available to fight this.

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"Following these initial rounds, he will be meeting with specialized liver and colon surgeons to determine the next steps in his treatment plan. Stephen’s entire focus is now dedicated to one thing: fighting this disease with everything he has."

Rectal cancer deaths are rising at a significantly faster rate than colon cancer among younger Americans, a trend that researchers warn will continue to escalate without a shift in treatment, according to a study presented this year.

Mortality rates for rectal cancer are growing two to three times faster than those for colon cancer among adults aged 20 to 44, according to a study to be presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026 in Chicago. The data suggested that for older millennials, specifically those between the ages of 35 and 44, rectal cancer mortality is projected to escalate through 2035.

Garcia spent all four years of his collegiate career with South Carolina – from 2008 to 2011.

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He had 7,597 passing yards and 47 touchdown passes in 40 games.

Fox News’ Khloe Quill contributed to this report.