Big 12 Notes

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Big 12 Notes – Spring and Summer

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June 15th

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Statement from Big 12 Board of Directors 

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Big 12 files an action in Federal Court in Dallas against Texas Tech

… Related … Big 12 files suit v. Texas Tech, Texas Attorney General … From ESPN

… Related … Big 12 pursues legal action against Texas Tech, Texas Attorney General in Brendan Sorsby case … From CBS Sports

… Note … In addition to a letter of support to the Big 12 from the Oklahoma Attorney General, the Attorneys General from Kansas and Utah have also sent in letters of support. The State of Colorado? Nothing so far …

… A Declaratory Judgment seeks Court recognition that the Big 12 has the right to sanction Texas Tech … An Injunction would bar Texas Tech from running to a state judge to try and sue the Big 12 … 

From Pete Thamel at ESPN … Here’s the crux of the Big 12’s filing. “A declaratory judgment that the First Amendment protects the Conference’s right to invoke its authority under its Bylaws to sanction TTU related to its handling of the sports betting activity discussed in this Complaint, including if TTU fields a student-athlete in Big 12 competitions who has engaged in collegiate sports betting activity.”

Also core to the Big 12 filing, as request for Injunctive Relief: “A preliminary injunction and a permanent injunction barring Defendants from seeking to deter, coerce, prevent, or punish the Big 12 for exercising its rights under its Bylaws to sanction TTU related to its handling of the sports betting activity discussed in this Complaint, including if TTU fields a student-athlete in Big 12 competitions who has engaged in collegiate sports betting activity.”

The Complaint indicates that the Big 12 intends to sanction Texas Tech if Sorsby plays …

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June 13th

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Attorney General for state of Oklahoma to Big 12: Don’t Back Down

From ESPN … As the Big 12 continues to consider actions against Texas Tech and quarterback Brendan Sorsby, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is calling on the conference to suspend Sorsby.

In a letter sent to Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark and board chairman Douglas Girod on Friday, Drummond supported the conference’s ability to sanction Texas Tech and Sorsby and recommended the Big 12 take action, rejecting recent threats from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the conference cannot do so as “meritless” and “facially absurd.”

“[Texas Tech’s] actions in obtaining eligibility for Brendan Sorsby — an athlete the NCAA declared permanently ineligible for extensive wagering on college sports, including games involving his own team — have constituted a shameful chapter in the story of college football,” Drummond wrote. “Texas Tech has acted in a manner adverse to the Big 12 and the integrity of college football as a whole.”

Drummond argued that the preliminary injunction Sorsby obtained in Lubbock district court Monday applies only to the NCAA and should not impede the Big 12 from suspending the quarterback, noting that the conference was not a party to that proceeding and can enforce its own bylaws.

“[Texas Tech] has shirked responsibility by running with a bogus claim to a friendly court,” Drummond wrote. “Its leadership has prioritized winning over sport, over honor and over integrity. If Texas Tech will not do the right thing, the Big 12 should. Texas Tech should be sanctioned.”

The Big 12’s executive board met Thursday to continue discussions about responding to Sorsby being cleared by a judge to play for Texas Tech this season despite placing thousands of impermissible bets on college and professional sports over the past four years. The league’s other 15 universities have unanimously opposed the Red Raiders playing Sorsby this season.

Yormark will meet with the full board of Big 12 presidents and chancellors Monday and said in a statement Thursday that “all options remain on the table.”

… Continue reading story here …

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June 12th 

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Utah finalizes contract to become the first athletic department to team up with private equity

From The Athletic … Utah has finalized its deal with the private equity group Otro Capital, the Utes announced Friday.

The announcement has been in the works for months; the school’s board of trustees approved the general idea in December. But Friday’s announcement officially makes Utah the first athletic department in college sports to team up with private equity.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Utah officials have touted a nine-figure impact to the program. Athletic director Mark Harlan called it a “really innovative solution that could carry the University of Utah into the future in a really productive manner.”

The deal includes the formation of a new entity, Crimson Brand Partners, that is intended to modernize and streamline the Utes’ 19 sports. Former New Orleans Saints and Cleveland Browns executive Matt Webb will serve as the entity’s CEO. Harlan will chair its board.

When it launches July 1 at the start of the fiscal year, Crimson Brand Partners will handle the commercial aspects of Utah sports like ticketing, branding and sponsorships. The Utes will retain control of issues like fundraising, coaching, recruiting and scheduling.

Although Otro — an investment group with a portfolio that includes Alpine’s Formula 1 racing team — will have a stake in Crimson Brand Partners, the company will make annual reports to the university’s board of trustees and foundation.

“There’s no road map,” Webb said. “We’re certainly building the plane as we’re flying.”

The reasons for embracing private equity outlined Friday were largely the same as they were in December when Utah made its first public steps to this deal. The Utes are in a Power 4 conference (the Big 12) but are not a financial juggernaut like Ohio State or Georgia. That puts Utah in a tough position as it competes at the national level against bigger, richer programs. Instead of pursuing more money from the academic side or cutting sports, the Utes decided outside investors could allow their athletics to keep competing at a high level.

Questions and concerns arose as terms were being finalized. A letter from the state auditor to the board of trustees last month raised “significant risks” about the deal unless the Utes slash spending or spike revenue. Utah athletics reported $4.69 million more in revenue than expenses in 2025, but only after, auditor Tina Cannon said, using $19.4 million in reserves.

“There is a profound risk that financial gains and investor returns may be prioritized over long-term and long-held institutional values,” the letter from Cannon said.

In a news conference Friday, Harlan said he was “very comfortable” with the governance structure and steps the Utes have taken to protect themselves financially. Harlan said inaction also brings uncertainty.

“I would argue there’s more risks of not doing anything based on the climate we’re in and the rising costs,” Harlan said.

… Continue reading story here …

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June 11th 

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Texas Attorney General threatens anti-trust lawsuit / Brett Yormark: “All Options Remain on the Table”

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Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark’s statement … “Shortly before the start of today’s (Thursday’s) Big 12 Executive Board meeting, the Conference received a letter from the Texas Attorney General’s office notifying the Conference of potential legal action from Texas Tech if the Conference pursues certain actions under its Bylaws,” the statement, attributed to Yorkmark, read. “We are taking time with our legal counsel to understand the concerns of the state and will meet again with the full Board next week.

“We moved forward with our Executive Board today in preparation for our full Board meeting on Monday. We had a good and informative discussion. Sentiment among the Executive Board was no different from what we heard from the ADs earlier this week.”

“Our discussion with the full Board will determine our course of action,” he said in the statement, “and all options remain on the table.”

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Letter from Texas Attorney General’s letter to the Big 12 … 

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June 10th

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Texas Tech threatens to sue if Big 12 takes action: “We’re going to battle”

From On3Sports.com … Texas Tech is pushing back as Big 12 leaders consider potential sanctions in the wake of Monday’s Brendan Sorsby injunction ruling. Red Raiders representatives have notified Big 12 officials the university is “100%” prepared to take the conference to court if it levies any disciplinary action against it, On3’s Pete Nakos reported Wednesday.

Texas Tech is even consulting famed antitrust attorney and NCAA nemesis Jeffrey Kessler, who is also the lead attorney in Sorsby’s eligibility case vs. the NCAA, on potential legal options, according to Yahoo! Sports‘ Ross Dellenger. That includes a potential second injunction.

“If you want to go to battle with Texas Tech, get ready: We’re going to battle,” a person familiar with the sitaution told Dellenger.

This news comes an hour after Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt released a strong seven-paragraph statement defending the university’s support for Sorsby after multiple Big 12 ADs voiced their displeasure with the ruling during a conference call Tuesday. Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction Monday that reversed the NCAA’s permanent eligibility ban in light of his admitted gambling history.

Following the ruling, Kansas State AD Gene Taylor called the decision “f***ing bulls***,” and revealed Big 12 ADs had previously discussed a potential boycott of the Red Raiders’ athletic program: “This is greater than the Big 12,” Taylor told Yahoo! Sports.

“I understand the frustration,” Hocutt said in a statement aimed at his colleagues across college sports. “This situation is hard, it is new, and there is no perfect answer. The system we’re operating within is binary, but the situation is not. We are open to ongoing conversations about how to best handle these issues as an industry going forward. We will continue to be transparent in our decision-making. Most importantly, we will keep doing what we have always done, put our students first.”

Texas Tech representatives have continued to be supportive of Sorsby amid his legal battle with the NCAA, including providing institutional assistance through the school’s Center for Students in Addiction Recovery (CSAR) program that delivers outpatient clinical care and treatment. That’s in addition to the stability and structure Sorsby will receive just by being around the Red Raiders football program. Texas Tech president Lawrence Schovanec confirmed such school-sponsored support for Sorsby’s recovery in a letter to the fan base after the NCAA denied his eligibility late last month.

Under Big 12 bylaw 3.6, a supermajority of “disinterested” board of director members could sanction another member’s athletic program – once they’ve been given prior notice and been allowed to address the claim against them – if they’ve been determined to have “engaged in any action or a course of conduct materially adverse to the best interests of the Conference” or “otherwise taken any action or omitted to take an action” that other conference members deem merits sanctions. There’s also bylaw 1.3.2 that mandates “adherence to NCAA rules” and dictates programs “shall be fully committed to compliance with the rules and regulations of the NCAA” and properly administer those rules.

Big 12 bylaws dictate potential sanctions could include “prohibitions on appearance in postseason events or televised events, restrictions on revenue distribution, and limitations on recruiting or scholarships.” But the league has broad authority when it comes to perceived violations of its bylaws.

… Read full story here …

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June 9th 

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Texas Court sets hearing on Sorsby case – for February

From ESPN … A Texas court scheduled Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s trial against the NCAA for Feb. 8, 2027, two weeks after the College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled to be played at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The 99th District Court in Lubbock County, Texas, where Texas Tech is located, scheduled the trial Monday, the same day a judge granted Sorsby a temporary injunction that might clear him to play for the Red Raiders in 2026 even after the NCAA declared him ineligible for wagering on college sports.

The NCAA has already appealed Judge Ken Curry’s ruling to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas in Amarillo.

Each of the four justices in the Seventh District — Chief Justice Judy Parker and Lawrence Doss, Alex Yarbrough and Laura Pratt — are graduates of the Texas Tech School of Law, according to their online bios.

Curry’s ruling was met with outrage by coaches, athletic directors and conference commissioners after Sorsby admitted to making thousands of bets on college and professional sports during his career at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech.

Big 12 athletic directors held a conference call Tuesday with commissioner Brett Yormark. While TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State AD Gene Taylor have suggested that the league’s other teams might elect not to play the Red Raiders this season, the league was still determining what action it could take in light of Curry’s ruling.

“We had a thoughtful and productive conversation with our athletic directors today as we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation,” Yormark said in a statement from the Big 12. “Many of our athletics directors voiced their opinions. We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference.”

No immediate action was expected from the Big 12, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The Big 12 has a process to address the ruling, and the executive board will meet Thursday to discuss options. That call will likely be followed by a full Big 12 board call early next week.

“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership,” Yormark told ESPN on Monday. “I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our conference ADs and executive board this week.”

Prominent college sports attorney Thomas Mars, who helped Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss obtain a preliminary injunction to play for the Rebels this season after the NCAA denied his application for a retroactive medical redshirt for the 2022 season at Division II Ferris State, said he believes the Big 12 can take action against Texas Tech for using a player who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA.

The NCAA ruled Sorsby ineligible after it discovered he wagered approximately $90,000 on professional and college sports over four years, including 40 bets involving Indiana football when he was a freshman with the Hoosiers in 2022. The NCAA denied Texas Tech’s appeal for reinstatement Friday.

“There is no question that the Big 12 could impose draconian sanctions on Texas Tech, and the type of sanctions would only be limited by their creativity,” Mars told ESPN on Tuesday. “The Big 12 is not party to the Texas lawsuit and is, therefore, not enjoined from doing anything.”

Big 12 Bylaw 3.6 allows for the conference to sanction a member with a supermajority vote of disinterested directors after “representatives of the Member(s) that are subject of such vote has been given reasonable prior notice and the reasonable opportunity to be present and to be heard.”

Among other reasons, the bylaw allows for the Big 12 to discipline a member for being “engaged in any action or a course of conduct materially adverse to the best interests of the Conference taken as a whole.”

The bylaws allow for the disinterested directors to “be empowered to determine whether any Sanctions are appropriate, the type, extent, and conditions to any Sanctions imposed.” The bylaw allows for discipline that includes “prohibitions on appearance in postseason events or televised events, restrictions on revenue distributions, and limitations on recruiting or scholarships.”

… Continue reading story here …

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Big 12 Issues a Statement on Sorsby after meeting of Athletic Directors

Statement on behalf of Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark:
“We had a thoughtful and productive conversation with our athletics directors today as we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation. Many of our athletics directors voiced their opinions. We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference.”

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June 8th

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Georgia & Nebraska canceling any future games against Texas Tech

… Statement from Georgia athletic department … 

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Big 12 AD on Sorsby decision: “We officially lost our soul” – Report: Boycott of Texas Tech an option

… Big 12 Press release … “The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership. I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled a meeting with our Conference ADs and our Executive Board this week. We are also in touch with Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

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From ESPN … A judge’s decision to rule Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby eligible on Monday morning roiled college sports, with reactions ranging from doomsday predictions to informal chatter about Big 12 schools attempting to not play Texas Tech this season.

The reaction around college sports was nearly unanimous, with the idea of Sorsby playing in 2026 after admitting to thousands of bets on sports — including 40 on his own team — representing the latest crossroads for an industry that has faced a dizzying number of them in recent years.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told ESPN the ruling represents a “horrendous pattern” that is “eroding the integrity of our process.” A Big 12 AD told ESPN that they are “disgusted” and added: “We officially lost our soul.” TCU coach Sonny Dykes told ESPN: “How is anyone ever going to trust the outcome of a game again?”

Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks forbid his school’s teams, in a memo to staff, from playing Texas Tech, as per the document obtained by ESPN. And a fellow athletic director from the SEC, Florida’s Scott Stricklin, told ESPN he was “stunned,” even recalling Major League Baseball’s 1919 “Black Sox Scandal,” when eight players from the Chicago White Sox took bribes to lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

“As someone who grew up reading about the ‘Black Sox Scandal,’ and seeing what happened to Pete Rose and just understanding how bright that line seemed to be in all of American sports, I’m stunned that there would be a question at the court level that this is acceptable,” Stricklin said. “That’s not a judgment on the young man. It’s just that was a pretty fundamental tenet of American sports, that if you’re going to participate, you can’t gamble, especially on your own team.”

TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor both told ESPN that there has been informal chatter in the league about schools not playing Texas Tech this year.

“We anticipate having conversations surrounding it,” Buddie told ESPN. “We’re all anticipating it, but this has not been formally discussed.”

The Big 12 athletic directors are set to have a conference call Tuesday with commissioner Brett Yormark, according to sources, and in a statement made to ESPN, Yormark confirmed meetings will occur this week. It’s unknown how much purview the league would have, as the judge’s ruling is law.

“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership,” Yormark told ESPN. “I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our conference ADs and executive board this week. We are also in touch with [NCAA president] Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

… Continue reading story here …

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End of the World as We Know It: Texas judge grants Brendan Sorsby’s injunction request: Gambling quarterback allowed to play for Texas Tech

From ESPN … Texas Tech star Brendan Sorsby has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA that could clear the way for him to play for the Red Raiders in 2026, even after the transfer quarterback was declared ineligible for wagering on college sports.

A Texas judge granted Sorsby a preliminary injunction Monday that prevents the NCAA from punishing him for violating its rules on sports gambling.

Judge Ken Curry ruled that Sorsby’s attorneys demonstrated he will suffer a “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he’s unable to play for the Red Raiders in 2026 and enjoined the NCAA from prohibiting Sorsby from practicing or playing this fall.

Sorsby will still miss Texas Tech’s first two games, which was a penalty that had been proposed by his attorneys.

Sorsby was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after it discovered he had wagered approximately $90,000 on professional and college sports over four years, including 40 bets involving Indiana football when he was a freshman with the Hoosiers in 2022. The NCAA denied Texas Tech’s appeal for reinstatement Friday.

Curry instead found in favor of Sorsby in another unprecedented decision against the NCAA as the organization continues to fight a barrage of legal challenges, heightening concerns among officials and coaches that rulings from local judges continue to undermine the NCAA’s ability to enforce its own rules.

The NCAA is expected to appeal the ruling, but the timing of any formal judicial case could end up being after Texas Tech plays this season. That would make any formal legal ruling moot if it comes after the season.

Texas Tech is nearly three months from its season opener Sept. 5 at home against Abilene Christian.

“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby’s case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports,” the NCAA said in a statement. “The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one’s own sport.”

NCAA rules prohibit athletes from wagering on sports, and athletes who bet on their own teams and schools face permanent bans.

But Curry, a retired Tarrant County judge, found that Sorsby’s attorneys demonstrated a probable right to the relief they’re seeking for breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty in their case against the NCAA.

Tarrant County includes Fort Worth and is nearly 300 miles from Lubbock, where Texas Tech is located. Curry does not hold any degrees from Texas Tech.

Sorsby will sit out Texas Tech’s games against nonconference opponents Abilene Christian and Oregon State as a condition of the preliminary injunction and must continue counseling and treatment for his gambling and anxiety disorders.

“It is a just result,” Jeffrey Kessler, Sorsby’s lead attorney, told ESPN’s Pete Thamel. “Brendan gets to devote himself to his team and the education of athletes on the dangers of gambling addiction. He will continue his treatment, miss two games, and there is no injury to the competitive integrity of the NCAA. It is what we proposed and what the NCAA should have accepted had it been true to its promises to prioritize the welfare of athletes.”

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June 5th

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Where is CU’s Sugar Daddy? Virginia Tech receives $75 million donation

From ESPN … Virginia Tech has received a historic $75 million donation, with the majority directed toward athletics, the school announced Thursday.

The record donation, made anonymously by a four-generation Virginia Tech family, is set to go toward multiple initiatives — including the fundraising portion of the recently approved $229 million investment in athletics over the next four years.

In addition, the donation includes unrestricted funds to be used at the discretion of the athletics director, and additional support through Hokie Ventures, a nonprofit corporation approved earlier this week as a way for Virginia Tech to support revenue generation and strategic investment.

Virginia Tech has made it a priority to boost its investment and support of football — including the hire of James Franklin last November. In December, Virginia Tech received an anonymous $20 million donation toward athletics, which had been its largest to date until now.

The Hokies have not won 10 games in a season since 2016 and have increased their investment to try and get their football program back to national prominence during a rapidly changing time in collegiate athletics.

“Football is the front porch of the University, and sustained investment is critical to competing for championships at the highest level,” Franklin said in a statement. “This generosity provides the resources necessary to recruit, develop and support elite student-athletes while positioning Virginia Tech Football for long-term success.”

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June 3rd

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ACC calls off Virginia/North Carolina State game in Brazil

From ESPN … The NC State-Virginia football game set to take place in Brazil as the first college football game played in South America is being relocated to the Cavaliers’ home field after organizers determined the game could not be conducted in Rio de Janeiro.

Wednesday’s announcement came less than three months before the Wolfpack and Cavaliers were set to open the season in Rio.

The Atlantic Coast Conference said in a news release that the change comes after “extensive review with operational partners and international stakeholders,” with event organizer Athlete Advantage recently informing the league and schools that the event couldn’t move forward as planned in Brazil.

The game was set to take place Aug. 29, in Week 0 on the college football calendar. The league and schools are working with TV partner ESPN and the NCAA to keep the game on the scheduled date.

The teams had originally agreed to a home-and-home nonconference series that wouldn’t count in the ACC standings since games were added outside the league scheduling model. Longtime league members from neighboring states don’t meet as often because of years of expansion amid waves of national conference realignment.

NC State won last year’s first matchup in that home-and-home plan. The Rio game was set to replace Virginia’s home game in Charlottesville, though, as part of the league slate as the ACC moves to a nine-game schedule. Now it will be held at Scott Stadium in the more traditional backdrop.

Fans who purchased tickets or travel packages for the event through the official College Football Brasil website will receive refunds.

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June 2nd

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Big 12 backing 24-team playoff: “We need to roll up our sleeves, do the work, understand the economics on it”

From The Athletic … The Big 12 head coaches unanimously lent their support for a 24-team Playoff in an informal poll, following similar stances from the ACC and Big Ten. If the final 2025 CFP rankings had been used to fill out a 24-team field, the Big 12 would’ve gotten five teams in, while the SEC would’ve had seven.

No team has been burned by the 12-team field more than BYU, which ranked 12th in the final CFP rankings last year and 17th in 2024, missing the field both times. Some CFP metrics last season had BYU higher than the committee’s rankings, according to people who saw the data. But while SEC coaches grilled CFP officials about metrics and rankings during their league meetings in Florida, the cool and calm Sitake was nicer to them in Texas. He just wants a format that can settle it on the field.

“Maybe I should care more about that stuff, but I think you prove it on the field,” Sitake said. “It’s a really difficult job to do, to be a committee and try to figure out what the standard is. … So I just think that (a 24-team Playoff) gives more opportunities for teams to play, and it gives a little bit more meaning to all the games that are being played. Everybody has a shot.”

Playoff expansion decisions rest solely with the Big Ten and SEC. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark supports a 24-team field, and he’s confident it will grow the TV revenue pie despite the loss of conference championship games.

But almost everything around the 24-team CFP is hypothetical, and multiple athletic directors told The Athletic they didn’t have enough information to know the right move. The CFP’s media consultants are still working to gather those TV revenue estimates, which could be presented to commissioners at their June meeting. Everything from the money to the schedule to the impact on the regular season hasn’t been studied in-depth yet, which is why SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said last week his league likely wouldn’t make a decision until the fall.

“We need to roll up our sleeves, do the work, understand the economics on it,” Yormark said. “I plan to be with the CFP and the management committee next month, and I think that’s when the work will begin.”

… Continue reading story here …

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June 1st

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Two-hour hearing on Brendan Sorsby’s injunction request takes place in Lubbock

From ESPN … The fate of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s college eligibility will be decided in the near future after a two-hour hearing in Lubbock County District Court on Monday.

Attorneys for Sorsby are seeking a temporary injunction permitting him to play in 2026 after the NCAA ruled him ineligible and denied his request for reinstatement after he placed thousands of bets on college and professional sports, including on his own team, during his career.

Jeffrey Kessler, Sorsby’s lead attorney, argued in the hearing that the NCAA ignored its own rules by not considering Sorsby’s wellbeing in its decision, describing his gambling history as a mental health and addiction issue that the NCAA is required to support and not punish.

NCAA attorney Taylor Askew said that the organization did consider Sorsby’s mental health in its process of deeming him permanently ineligible and that those challenges do not excuse his gambling or the consequences of his actions.

Sorsby wagered approximately $90,000 over four years and continued to gamble on professional sports this year after transferring from Cincinnati to Texas Tech, according to a four-page list of stipulated facts Sorsby and Texas Tech submitted to the NCAA acknowledging his actions.

Sorsby used accounts registered in his name, a family member’s name and friends’ names to place the impermissible wagers via Hard Rock Bet, FanDuel, Underdog and PrizePicks accounts. Sorsby transferred more than $60,000 to two friends to cover bets made on his behalf.

Sorsby placed at least 40 bets involving Indiana football totaling more than $1,400 while he was a quarterback for the Hoosiers in 2022 and 2023. NCAA rules state that student-athletes wagering on their own team face permanent loss of eligibility. The bets ranged from less than $1 to $114 and were primarily parlays. Sorsby also placed at least 50 bets on Indiana men’s basketball and approximately 300 bets on college football games during his two years at the school.

In total, Sorsby has acknowledged placing at least 2,900 bets totaling more than $30,000 while at Indiana and at least 165 bets totaling at least $38,000 while at Cincinnati. Including legs of parlay bets, he made more than 9,000 total wagers. He also sent approximately $5,000 to friends to place bets on pro sports on his behalf after enrolling at Texas Tech.

If the judge clears the way for Sorsby to play this season, Askew said, the NCAA would become the first sports league in America that allows athletes to bet on its own contests without punishment.

Askew also questioned Kessler’s argument that Sorsby will suffer irreparable harm if he’s not allowed to play for Texas Tech, noting Sorsby has already received the benefit for additional years of competition because the NCAA wasn’t alerted to his gambling earlier.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 30th

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Utah state auditor: Proposed private equity deal for Utes carries with it “significant risks”

From the Salt Lake City Tribune … The state auditor has concerns about the University of Utah’s planned private-equity partnership, saying that the money it brings in won’t offset expenses for long unless other changes are made.

In a letter sent to the U.’s board of trustees on May 19, Utah Auditor Tina Cannon outlined what she sees as “significant risks” with the school’s pending deal with Otro Capital.

The private-equity plan — which was announced in December and has yet to be finalized — is expected to infuse hundreds of millions into the U.’s athletic department.

But the auditor’s letter said unless the deal is accompanied “by substantial growth in operating income or meaningful cost-containment measures,” the millions provided to the U. will be “inevitably depleted,” leaving Utah’s long-term financial issues “unresolved.”

“There is currently no observable plan to decrease spending,” reads the letter obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune. “In fact, expenditures are increasing and public commitments of additional expenditures … all but ensure record expenditure levels by the athletic department in the current and in future years.”

In a statement provided to The Tribune, the U. said it “appreciates the Utah State Auditor’s review and recommendations around prudent and transparent administration of public assets.”

The U.’s athletics department has operated in a deficit in recent years.

But “to avoid reporting losses” in 2025, Cannon wrote, the athletic department used millions from its financial reserves to “cover what otherwise would have been a loss.” Utah reported a surplus of $4.69 million in its most recent athletics financial report, but only after using $19.4 million from reserves.

The athletics department reported $61.5 million in reserves in 2024 and just over $42 million in 2025. That number is estimated to drop to $5.8 million this year, according to Cannon’s letter.

“Those reserves, at their current trajectory, will likely be exhausted within the next two fiscal years,” the letter reads.

The U. still has to make payments up to roughly $119 million in bond payments with interest through 2041 on past projects, including the recent expansion of the Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 29th

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Big 12 announces creation of a centralized Replay Operations Center (including live audio feed)

Press release from the Big 12 … The Big 12 Conference today announced the creation of a new centralized Replay Operations Center (ROC) at Williams Tower in Irving, Texas, further modernizing the Conference’s replay operations, game management and future all-sport replay capabilities.

Located within the same building that houses the Big 12 Conference headquarters, the approximately 2,000-square-foot facility will serve as a conference-controlled replay environment designed to enhance the consistency, speed and accuracy of video review while supporting official training and evaluation.

The new ROC will also support live audio feeds during replay reviews on Big 12 football broadcasts, making the Big 12 one of just two conferences to utilize replay audio as part of its television presentation. The announcement builds on the Conference’s continued commitment to increase officiating transparency, following the implementation of live replay center look-ins during the 2025 football season that provided viewers with behind-the-scenes access to the review process.

“Our new replay center is a key investment in Big 12 Football that will strengthen our football ecosystem,” said Big 12 Chief Football and Competition Officer Scott Draper. “This state-of-the-art facility enhances communication and replay operations, elevates our television broadcasts, and creates new opportunities to improve fan engagement and transparency while keeping the Big 12 at the forefront of innovation in college athletics.”

The ROC will open for the 2027 football season, initially featuring 10 replay stations – with the ability to expand to 16 – and will include:

• A 32-input replay system utilizing existing campus fiber infrastructure
• Integrated communication systems connecting stadiums, replay officials and Conference leadership
• PTZ All-30 View camera technology designed to keep all 22 players and eight officials in frame at all times
• DVS 360 post-game review capabilities
• A dedicated replay operations floor and Game Day Center
• A year-round digital content studio supporting Big 12 Studios

As partners on the project, DVSport will provide replay hardware, maintenance, software, 24/7 remote support, onsite game support and replay operator assistance.

“The Big 12 continues to define the future of collegiate athletics with its investment in their new Replay Operations Center,” said DVSport President & CEO Brian Lowe. “By expanding its capabilities and capacity, the Conference is not only meeting the evolving demands of officiating across multiple high-profile sports, but also championing transparency in the process. At DVSport, we are thrilled to extend our replay partnership with the Big 12. Together, we are enhancing the integrity of the game by putting cutting-edge technology into the hands of officials.”

Click HERE to view/download hi-res images (initial design and renderings provided by Prado Consulting Group).

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May 28th

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Commissioner Brett Yormark: Big 12 could go to ten conference games if CFP is expanded to 24 teams

From The Athletic …  If the College Football Playoff expands to 24 teams, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark would like to see his conference increase to 10 league games. Other conferences have also begun to discuss the idea.

Speaking to The Athletic from the Big 12 spring meetings on Wednesday, Yormark said he has floated the idea of his league increasing from nine to 10 conference games, and he plans to bring up the idea to the conference’s football coaches on Thursday when they arrive. Any such change would require the approval of member schools. The Big Ten and SEC hold the sole ability to expand the playoff or not, but Yormark supports a 24-team playoff.

“If we do go to 24, we should explore going to 10 conference games,” Yormark said. “It’s something I would like to do, on lots of different levels.”

For the first time, all four Power 4 conferences will play nine conference games this upcoming season, after the SEC and ACC increased their number to match the Big Ten and Big 12 (the ACC won’t have everyone play nine due to an odd number of members). SEC coaches have not been thrilled about their move to nine games.

The then-Pac-10 was the first major conference to move to nine league games in 2006. The Big 12 did the same in 2011, and the Big Ten followed in 2016.

The Big 12, ACC and SEC also mandate at least one Power 4 opponent (or Notre Dame) among the three non-conference games. The Big Ten does not. The decreasing number of non-conference games between P4 leagues has made it more difficult for the CFP selection committee to differentiate league strength.

As conferences have ballooned to upwards of 18 members, unequal conference schedules have become a larger discussion within leagues. Yormark also sees an increase in the TV value of such a change.

“When you look at our ratings, generally speaking, our conference games rate very well,” he said. “As I want to grow our ratings, going to 10 conference games, I think, has some merit, especially if you go to 24. So I’d like to pursue that as something that goes along with 24 at the right time.”

… Continue reading story here …

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May 27th

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Protect College Sports Act Bullet Points 

From CBS Sports … The bill is finally coming.

After years of dead ends, Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., have announced the “Protect College Sports Act,” a bipartisan bill to reform college sports.

The bill carries the prize college sports leaders have chased for the better part of a decade: a limited antitrust exemption regarding player eligibility and transfer rules — the legal shield that would let the industry write its own rules and enforce them without being challenged in the court system by players seeking additional years on the playing fields and courts.

The bill comes on the back of the since-withdrawn SCORE Act, which also promised antitrust protection. As with any bipartisan bill, compromises were part of the process in drafting the Cantwell-Cruz bill, and what did and didn’t make it into the upcoming legislation is paramount to the power players.

Along with limited anti-trust protections, the bill addresses player movement in the transfer portal and eligibility windows, legally limiting player movement to as few as one transfer per career. The NCAA is close to adopting an age-based eligibility model that would allow players to compete in up to five seasons.

What the Protect College Sports Act would do

• Create one national NIL law that overrides state-by-state rules
• Give the NCAA and conferences broader antitrust protection against lawsuits
• Create federal oversight and disclosure requirements for NIL deals
• Increase regulation of boosters, collectives and athlete agents
• Allow enforcement entities to review NIL deals for “fair market value”
• Give governing bodies more authority over transfer rules and tampering
• Require schools to provide certain athlete health, safety and academic protections
• Restrict some in-season coaching movement and hiring activity
• Formalize the post-House settlement structure into federal law
• Strengthen the NCAA’s ability to enforce compensation and eligibility rules

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Bi-Partisan Protect College Sports Act introduced in Congress

From YahooSports.com … Two U.S. senators have struck a deal in landmark bipartisan legislation to regulate college athletics.

Next comes a months-long process of gaining enough support for passage in a divided U.S. Congress at a divisive time in America.

Sens. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, and Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, reached an agreement on Wednesday after more than two months of intense negotiations, adopting a comprehensive bill that would grant the NCAA its long-sought antitrust exemption related to athlete transfers, eligibility and the compensation cap.

The bill — named the Protect College Sports Act — precludes the creation of a so-called “super league”; creates an agent registry limiting fees to 5%; permits the pooling of media rights; and bars coaches from leaving their team before the season ends.

“This bipartisan bill is designed to save the part of college sports that fans actually care about,” Cruz said in an interview with Yahoo Sports announcing the legislation.

Cantwell described the bill as delivering historic protections for athletes in creating a national standard for name, image and likeness compensation (NIL) by preempting state law. The bill is intended to curtail the industry’s spending arms race to protect the future of Olympic and women’s sports and also provides athletes with guaranteed medical care and scholarships.

“Congress is hungry for any bipartisan legislation. I know America is for sure,” Cantwell said on the bill’s chances of passage in the U.S. Senate, where 60 votes are necessary for the adoption of legislation.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the bill is the narrow legal protection granted to college sports’ governing body intended to slow player movement, standardize eligibility and control the third-party NIL spending on athletes.

The bill…

– enables administrators to enforce policies related to movement by permitting only one transfer before a player must miss a season of eligibility. A second or more transfers are permitted under certain conditions, such as a head coach leaving or the elimination of an athlete’s sport.

– establishes a five-year eligibility length for college athletes and prohibits professional athletes — even those having competed internationally — from participating in college sports if they earned compensation in their pro careers beyond prize money.

– codifies portions of the NCAA’s House settlement by granting legal protection to the NCAA and College Sports Commission to enforce strict standards in prohibiting third-party NIL deals.

– remains mostly neutral on athlete employment, leaving open as a possibility for athletes to eventually be deemed employees or/and collectively bargain.

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While most Division I conferences pledged their support for the Senate legislation last week — even before the bill was released — SEC and Big Ten officials withheld their position on the matter.

Those within the league expressed caution about the language specifically addressing the pooling of media rights and other concepts.

For instance, the act prevents any league earning more than $1 billion in revenue on its 2025 tax returns from merging or consolidating with another conference.

There are only two leagues that earn such revenue: the Big Ten and SEC, college sports’ behemoths who many believe are destined to eventually break away to create their own “super league.”

There is another concept targeting those two conferences: The bill offers leagues the ability — it’s an option only — to pool their media rights contracts in an effort to generate more revenue at a financially stressed time. The pooling of rights — a divisive topic among SEC and Big Ten leaders who are against the proposal — is only “voluntary,” the two senators reaffirmed to Yahoo Sports.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 26th

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SEC Commissioner Sankey – No decision expanded playoff anytime soon: “We have time”

From CBS Sports … Greg Sankey arrived at the SEC’s spring meetings Monday with a message for anyone expecting a breakthrough on the College Football Playoff: the SEC has time, and it intends to use it.

Every other power conference has picked a side on whether to expand the CFP from 12 to 24 teams. The SEC might be filled with varying opinions, but the conference’s leadership is still thinking.

“I do not anticipate any decisions on the College Football Playoff — just so we’re clear, so we can tamp that down,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said Monday evening, the day before the conference’s annual spring meetings were set to begin in Florida. “We have time. We’ll have informed discussion.”

That means the biggest story hovering over the sport will likely stretch into at least June, as the SEC remains the lone power conference not yet to publicly support expanding the format from 12 teams to 24 as early as the 2027-28 season. The SEC has long resisted expansion beyond 16 teams, but several athletic directors and coaches have expressed interest in renewing discussions initially sparked by the Big Ten last fall.

Sankey has publicly supported expansion, but he offered last week that he prefers 16 teams. He reiterated Monday, however, that a decision from the SEC is tied to the coaches, athletic directors and presidents.

“I’ve never said, even last year, that we’re opposed to some number other than 14. I’ve told my colleagues that,” Sankey said. “I’m not an opponent of 24 or 28. We have to inform the decision-making. I think we did a good job informing our position last year on 16. We’ll consider other ideas, certainly, this week and moving forward.”

… Continue reading story here …

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May 23rd

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Would a 24-team playoff render regular season games – like Michigan/Ohio State – irrelevant? 

From The Athletic … Michigan vs. Ohio State took the first real step toward becoming “The Game” in college football in 1969, when first-year coach Bo Schembechler and the Wolverines stunned mentor Woody Hayes and the No. 1 Buckeyes 24-12 at Michigan Stadium.

Huge personalities on both sidelines. Personal history between them. Bordering states. Tradition-rich programs. All these elements were in place to elevate the rivalry in the 1970s and make it what it remains to this day. But don’t forget another critical element: national stakes. Michigan robbing Ohio State — a team Hayes said many times was his best — of a national championship is more impactful than anything else about this irresistible drama’s pilot episode.

Two programs that had met only once before with both ranked in the top five did so five times in the 1970s. Both were usually in the thick of the race to finish ranked No. 1; one of them always was. In nearly 60 years of football since Nov. 22, 1969, the cost of losing “The Game” has been steep for at least one of the two combatants. This is central to the rivalry’s greatness.

And now the guy who runs the Big Ten wants to take that away.

NCAA Tournament expansionist/TV executive/Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who is navigating this era of college athletics like Joseph Hazelwood on the Exxon Valdez, is on a full PR blitz this week selling a 24-team College Football Playoff. It’s his baby, it’s got serious momentum, and the Big Ten is making sure to fill the air with endorsements — what a pleasure to find out Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck is in favor of mediocre football receiving unjust rewards.

This is a bad idea on many fronts and would be an unconscionable move in 2027, just three years after the four-team Playoff tripled to 12. The financial uncertainties alone should give pause. That’s why NCAA Tournament expansionist/bad idea guy/SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is balking.

But even if the inventory is ultimately valued and bid on as hoped, Michigan-Ohio State alone tells us staying at 12 long-term is the best path. With some hope that 16 might still be OK? And persistent concerns about what 24 would do to the sport.

Everyone should acknowledge there are things we don’t and can’t know right now. Same as with the NCAA Tournament going from 68 to 76. I’m worried about what the added opening-round games and unwieldy bracket will mean to the casual fan. I don’t know that it will be damaging. Nor do you, misguided expansionist, know it will be embraced.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 22nd

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Texas head coach/Tom Brady take shots at Texas Tech

From On3Sports.com … Steve Sarkisian calls out Texas Tech schedule at Touchdown Club of Houston

Per Anwar Richardson, the Texas head coach said, “There’s a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue if I played with our twos and our threes, we could go undefeated, and they’ll probably make the CFP this year.”

Richardson said that Sarkisian made the comment after being asked by a fan at the Touchdown Club in Houston if there is any way to get the College Football Playoff Committee to factor in the strength of schedule in its decision-making. Sarkisian did not reveal the team, but most suspect he’s talking about Texas Tech.

The Texas Tech response … 

A feud broke out on Thursday between two long-time Lone Star State foes. Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian got the ball rolling, indirectly calling out Texas Tech and their 2026 schedule. Cody Campbell then responded, saying the schools should get back on each other’s schedules. Now, Red Raiders general manager James Blanchard is in on the fun.

Blanchard decided to take a shot at both Texas and Sarkisian on social media. He used a common term in SEC Country — “It just means more.” Now, Blanchard claims a lot of “excuses” are coming out of Austin.

“For the longest they claimed ‘it just means more.’ Now it’s a bunch of excuses,” Blanchard said via X.

There is not much context regarding what Blanchard is referring to. However, this came about an hour after Campbell’s tweet about Texas and Texas Tech facing each other.

... Meanwhile, Tom Brady calls Texas Tech a “glorified community college” … 

From On3Sports.com … Tom Brady took a shot at Texas Tech while speaking to graduates at Georgetown University. The six-time Super Bowl champion gave the commencement address and spoke about Texas Tech when mentioning Danny Amendola.

“He wasn’t the tallest, he wasn’t the fastest, but he had a huge heart, and he played his ass off in the biggest moments,” Tom Brady said of Amendola. “I hope you guys find colleagues like Danny. Having business school friends are great, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes you need a kid from a glorified community college who can bail your ass out of any jam.”

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May 20th

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Iowa State athletic director to Big Ten/SEC: “I would turn it around and say we should break away from them”

From The Athletic … Significant frustration over governance and other revenue-related issues between the Big 12 and the power-conference duo of the SEC and Big Ten has boiled over for one Big 12 athletic director, who told reporters, “Let ’em break away.”

“I would turn it around and say we should break away from them,” Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard told reporters along his annual Cyclone Caravan and filmed by Cyclone Fanatic. “Let them go, but they have to go in all their sports and see how fun it is to play baseball and softball and track when it’s just the 20 of you.

“That’s probably a little more draconian, but that’s how I feel about it. Let’s quit talking about it, quit threatening, go do it.”

Part of Pollard’s frustration stems from the Big Ten’s and SEC’s unwillingness to adhere to College Sports Commission rulings. The most high-profile case involves the CSC denying name, image and likeness deals worth $7.5 million to 18 Nebraska athletes with compensation coming from Playfly Sports, a multimedia-rights company that partners with Nebraska. Both sides appealed to an independent arbiter, which ruled in the CSC’s favor.

“The four commissioners spent a lot of money creating the CSC,” Pollard said. “Then to have two of the conferences not want to adhere to it is perplexing to me, because then, why did we spend the money? If you didn’t want rules, then why did you create this entity? That’s what’s frustrating to me, the same people that say they want rules only want rules if they don’t apply to them.”

According to numbers released by the CSC, beginning on June 11, 2025, and through April 30, 2026, it has cleared 26,556 deals worth a total value of $242.35 million. The CSC has denied 1,153 deals worth a total value of $56.17 million. Other deals, primarily from Big Ten and SEC schools, remain in limbo.

Iowa athletic director Beth Goetz declined to comment about Pollard’s barbs at the Big Ten, saying, “I try to focus on Iowa and the Big Ten; I think that’s just good practice to focus on our own groups.”

“Generally speaking, I think the Big Ten is trying to do things the right way in the system that exists,” Goetz said. “We’re putting our deals in, and we all recognize that right now there’s some challenges within the system that was created for a variety of reasons. So it’s just a collective focus on identifying the best way to continue to support the enterprise, and that means we need a sustainable financial model.”

… Continue reading story here …

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May 18th

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Surprise! Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby sues NCAA for eligibility reinstatement

From The Athletic … Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in Texas state court on Monday, seeking a temporary injunction that would grant him eligibility for the 2026 college football season. Sorsby is under investigation by the NCAA for gambling violations, including bets he placed on Indiana football while Sorsby was a member of the Hoosiers in 2022, which Sorsby details in an affidavit attached to the lawsuit. Sorsby says he needs clarity on his collegiate status so that he can apply for the NFL’s supplemental draft by late June if his NCAA career is done.

The lawsuit, filed in Lubbock County Court, where Texas Tech University is located, states that Sorsby is “currently ineligible to play for Texas Tech due to prior violations of the NCAA’s sports gambling rules.

“Rather than support a student-athlete’s recovery from a gambling addiction … the NCAA has weaponized his condition to shore up a facade of competitive integrity, while simultaneously profiting from the very gambling ecosystem it polices,” the lawsuit reads.

Sorsby is represented by prominent sports labor lawyer Jeffrey Kessler and Lubbock lawyer Dustin Burrows. According to updated NCAA sports betting guidelines passed in 2023, players who bet on games involving their own team face permanent loss of eligibility.

In the affidavit, Sorsby admits to “placing small bets on the Indiana football team, typically in amounts between $5 and $50” in 2022 when he was a member of the Hoosiers. Sorsby was a true freshman at the time and competing on the scout team “with several quarterbacks ahead of me on the team’s depth chart and there was no reasonable chance that I would play,” according to the affidavit.

Sorsby said the bets were a way to “feel more connected to the team” and that he never used non-public information when deciding what bets to place.

“Because the Indiana football team was not a very strong competitor in 2022, I lost most of the bets I placed,” according to the affidavit.

He later appeared in one game as a true freshman, but the affidavit states that Sorsby “never placed any bets on any Indiana football game that I participated in or that I reasonably expected that I could have participated in.”

Sorsby, 23, announced on April 27 that he would be taking an “immediate indefinite leave of absence” from Texas Tech football to enter a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction. The lawsuit’s timing stands out because of the NCAA investigation timeline. Typically with eligibility investigations, the school must first determine whether an athlete is ineligible, which the lawsuit claims Texas Tech did “promptly” after the NCAA opened its investigation in April. Once that decision has been made, the school can request reinstatement from the NCAA on behalf of the athlete as part of the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Reinstatement (SAR) process.

… Continue reading story here …

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Oregon suing former player for transferring to Oklahoma

From CBS Sports … The University of Oregon has filed a lawsuit against former defensive back Dakoda Fields, alleging that his departure via the transfer portal was accompanied by a financial agreement that Fields failed to pay in full. According to court documents obtained by The Oregonian and filed May 15 in Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon claims Fields — who transferred to Oklahoma this offseason — agreed to pay $39,882.30 in exchange for a release from his contract with the school after deciding to transfer following the 2025 season.

The university alleges the agreement included a $10,000 reduction if Fields submitted payment by April 20, but that deadline passed without payment, per the report. The lawsuit states Fields later paid $29,882.30, though Oregon contends he still owes the remaining $10,000 along with interest and legal costs.

“Pursuant to section 7 of the Contract, the University is entitled to reimbursement of its attorney fees, costs, and disbursements plus statutory interest of 9% from April 21, 2026 until paid,” the filing states, per the report.

The details of the original agreement were not disclosed in the lawsuit. Oregon law shields many details related to athlete revenue-sharing and NIL contracts from public release.

His departure became a storyline late in the 2025 season after reports surfaced in November that Fields planned to enter the transfer portal before the season had concluded. Oregon coach Dan Lanning publicly addressed the situation during a Nov. 5 press conference and indicated there had been little communication between the program and the player.

“He didn’t come to work today,” Lanning said. “I — we haven’t talked to Dakoda, so I guess that’s the way it goes nowadays.”

Oregon’s lawsuit is one of several recent disputes tied to NIL and revenue-sharing agreements as schools increasingly attempt to enforce contracts in the transfer portal era.

In February, Cincinnati sued former quarterback Brendan Sorsby after his transfer to Texas Tech, alleging he violated the terms of a revenue-sharing agreement that included a reported $1 million buyout provision if he left the program before the contract expired. According to court documents obtained by The Athletic, Cincinnati claimed Sorsby breached an 18-month agreement that ran through the 2026 season. Sorsby later signed with Texas Tech on a reported multi-million dollar NIL package following Cincinnati’s 2025 campaign, but has since taken a leave of absence from the program to enter treatment for a gambling addiction amid an NCAA investigation into sports betting allegations.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 16th

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Stop the Madness! Stewart Mandel’s plea to stop the momentum of a 24-team Playoff

From Stewart Mandel at The Athletic …. Who here saw the 2021 disaster satire “Don’t Look Up”?

A comet is heading toward Earth that will surely wipe out civilization. Meryl Streep’s dim-witted president comes up with a plan to send a nuclear weapon into space to destroy it, but calls it off when a billionaire donor convinces her cabinet that they will all get rich by mining it for minerals instead.

Spoiler alert: Civilization gets wiped out.

This exact scenario is unfolding in college football right now. Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti (not a billionaire, but certainly a get-rich-schemer) has somehow convinced a growing number of fellow power-brokers — ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark, Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua and Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks — that a 24-team College Football Playoff is the answer to all their problems.

Much like the alarmist astronomers in “Don’t Look Up” who can’t get anyone to listen to them, 90 percent of actual college football fans are pleading with these guys: Don’t do it! (That’s a real number, by the way, based on several online polls.) But to this point, no one is listening to them.

Because what would they know? They’re only the folks who buy the tickets and deliver the Nielsen ratings that fund the entire enterprise.

We just went through this to some extent with the 76-team NCAA tournament nonsense, but the consequences of that one — a few more mediocre teams get in and the bracket gets clunkier — are puny compared with the transformation college football is considering.

Doubling the size of the CFP would redefine the entire ethos of the sport. And not in a good way.

What draws tens of millions of people to tune in on fall Saturdays is that the regular season matters. In college football, you can’t go 9-8 and play for the Super Bowl, or go .500 in your basketball conference and still reach the Final Four. No one rests their superstars for a Week 4 road game like in the NBA. But they might now.

Heck, this is a sport where, as recently as 2023, you could go undefeated and not play for a national title (sorry, Florida State). Now, in what would be the grossest overcorrection in modern sports history, we could go from that to 8-4 teams in the Playoff in the span of four years.

… Continue reading story here …

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May 15th

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Behind Oklahoma State’s complete 85-man roster flip: “We’re trying to write the same script as Indiana”

From ESPN … The Cowboys enjoyed a remarkable run of sustained success under Mike Gundy with 18 consecutive winning seasons. Gundy secured his eighth 10-win season in 2023. But the program fell off a cliff over the past two years with a 4-20 record and zero conference wins. The winningest coach in school history was fired last fall three games into a hopeless 1-11 season.

The school brought in the 40-year-old Morris and trusted him to execute a complete shake-up this offseason. He’s practically leading an expansion team in 2026. Oklahoma State’s 105-man roster this season will feature 85 new players, including 60 acquired in the transfer portal. Even for these endlessly transactional times for college football, this is one of the most dramatic roster flips ever attempted.

The to-do list as soon as Morris accepted the job on Nov. 25: Convince Mestemaker to follow his coaches up to Stillwater. Get a dozen more North Texas starters committed to joining him. Restock every position group with the right mix of transfers and high school signees over a marathon month of nonstop recruiting, nearly 90 official visits and daily chaos. And, well, try your best to stay under budget.

The new Cowboys aren’t shy about saying they intend to win big right away. Nobody’s urging patience or calling this a four-year process. They have a plan, and they’re hoping it ends up looking an awful lot like the defending national champions.

“We’re trying to write the same script as Indiana,” wide receiver Wyatt Young said.

Morris admits he’d lay in bed thinking about potentially losing Mestemaker. “Everybody knew Oregon and Texas A&M and LSU wanted him,” Morris said. Mestemaker did seriously consider Oregon, but Dante Moore had yet to announce whether he was returning or going pro.

Mestemaker wasn’t interested in going on a tour of visits or embracing a bidding war. He wouldn’t do that to Morris.

“They took a chance on me,” Mestemaker said. “I’m not going to make them keep matching these other schools’ offers. I feel like that’s just out of bad faith.”

Oklahoma State named Morris as its new head coach in late November, but Mestemaker waited until after North Texas’ New Mexico Bowl victory to announce he was transferring. The initial offer from Oklahoma State required a bit more negotiating. It was eye-opening to Mestemaker to learn his reps could ask for a new truck, accommodations for his mom to travel to games and other perks.

Mestemaker officially announced his pledge to the Pokes on Jan. 3. He inked the richest deal in program history, a two-year agreement that sources told ESPN will pay around $7 million. As he drove around in his 2026 Ford F-150 Lariat with his girlfriend this spring, he couldn’t help but appreciate how much his life has changed in just 15 college starts.

“If you would’ve told me in three years I would’ve been here, I would’ve told you that you were crazy,” Mestemaker said. “It all happened so fast.”

Once Mestemaker was in, his North Texas teammates in the portal didn’t need too much convincing.

Young, his go-to receiver with 1,264 receiving yards in 2025, was planning to take official visits to Michigan, Louisville and Missouri after his visit to Stillwater. For a former three-star recruit who made around $7,000 last year, it was exciting to be in demand. Several schools offered significantly more money than Oklahoma State could. For Young, it came down to trust.

“I didn’t know these other coaches and they hardly knew me,” Young said. “They’re telling me I can come in and be the guy. ‘You’re my guy, you’re gonna be a 1,000-yard receiver here, we’re feeding you the ball.’ Is that really what’s going to happen? They have a week to get to know me. How do you make relationships with that time?

“Wherever Drew was going, that’s where I wanted to go. Why would I want to play with any other quarterback? I feel like he’s the best in the country.”

For freshman running back Caleb Hawkins, there was no beating his relationship with his position coach Patrick Cobbs. The AAC Rookie of the Year was following Cobbs no matter what. When the portal opened, Hawkins intentionally did not have an agent because he didn’t want anyone to convince him to go elsewhere.

“You didn’t have to convince Caleb,” Mestemaker said. “Caleb didn’t even know Texas and Oklahoma and all these schools wanted him.”

In high school, Hawkins was being recruited by Division II schools before North Texas found him. Young couldn’t get admitted to Rice and thought he’d end up at Blinn College. And Mestemaker was considering walking on at Sam Houston or trying the junior college route at Laney College until Morris gave him a roster spot. They bet on the coaches who had believed in them.

This offseason, Oklahoma State was one of 11 FBS programs with new head coaches who signed double-digit players from their previous school. Penn State led the way when it imported 24 players from Iowa State’s roster.

In all, 20 former North Texas players made the move to Stillwater. The new staff was off to a solid start. Now they just needed to go find 60 more.

… Continue reading story here …

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