FRISCO, Texas òòò½ÊÓÆµ” Rich Rodriguez has more gray around the temples than the last time he was at West Virginia, nearly 20 years ago when he bolted…
Deion Sanders is not discussing his health issues at Big 12 football media days. The Colorado coach, entering his third season, focused on his team instead. Sanders had been absent from football camps in Boulder since April, with no explanation from the school. He expressed gratitude for support from Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and fellow coaches who checked on him regularly. This season marks Sanders' first without his sons on the team, as both have moved to the NFL. Sanders, now the Big 12òòò½ÊÓÆµ™s highest-paid coach, has a $54 million contract through 2029.
There are no official Big 12 predictions going into this season. So there can be no last-to-first narrative like what Arizona State had in its league debut. Going into its 30th football season, the Big 12 didnòòò½ÊÓÆµ™t conduct a preseason media poll predicting the order of finish for the 16-team conference. Arizona State won the Big 12 championship game last season after being picked to finish at the bottom of the 16-team league, and made the College Football Playoff. Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark says thereòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s no value to such preseason football polls, especially with the ever-changing landscape in the game.
The NCAAòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s House settlement era has launched, with athletic programs across the country free to start paying millions to their athletes in the biggest change in the history of college athletics. Itòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s the death of the NCAAòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s longstanding amateur model, certain to cause headaches and disputes among powerhouse and small-time programs alike. Scattered among them, however, is a handful of schools that have decided to wait it out at least a year and see how things develop, including legal risks and Title IX concerns. Call them the opt-outs. The deadline for schools to opt out was Monday.
The NCAA is considering a proposal to allow athletes and staff to bet on professional sports while maintaining strict bans on college sports betting. The Division I Council introduced the idea, which requires approval from Divisions II and III. The NCAA says this shift reflects the rise of legalized gambling and aims to focus enforcement on college sports integrity. Current rules already ban betting on NCAA sports, with severe penalties for violations. Officials argue this approach could better address gambling issues among athletes.
The professionalization of college sports has prompted concern among team physicians that they will be exposed to a greater risk of medical liability lawsuits by injured athletes who claim a poor outcome caused them to lose future earnings. Schools set to share millions this year in direct payments to athletes. Some already make well into the millions. Though no malpractice lawsuits seeking lost future earnings at the college level are known to have been filed, Big Ten chief medical officer Dr. James Borchers says itòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s only a matter of time.
Several local high school seniors received scholarships from the Ohio High School Athletic òòò½ÊÓÆµsociation and Southeast District Athletic Board f…
The general manager position has steadily risen to become a key to success for college athletic departments. They are looking for experts from business schools to the NFL and the NBA to fill what has become one of the highest-demand jobs in college sports. Crafting a winning roster requires thoughtful strategy and painstaking diligence. Schools have come to realize that a celebrity presence doesnòòò½ÊÓÆµ™t hurt, either.
During its rise as a national power in the 1990s, LSU built its identity on prodigious home run numbers. The Tigers still have plenty of offense, but pitching is the name of the game in the bayou nowadays. LSUòòò½ÊÓÆµ™s pitching prowess was omnipresent in the College World Series as the Tigers won their second national championship in three years with a two-game sweep of Coastal Carolina in the finals. The Tigers posted a CWS-best 2.60 ERA over five games and opponents batted .205 and just .145 with runners in scoring position. Kade Anderson was selected Most Outstanding Player.
Following the lead of the NBA, the NASCAR Cup series is planning a five-race, bracket-style tournament that will begin with a night event this weekend in Atlanta. The tournament comes with a $1 million prize to the winner and is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT. The Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast each race in the tournament, starting off with a 400-miler in its home market on June 28, 2025. The tournament is patterned after in-season tournaments that are staged by soccer leagues around the world and were brought to the NBA this season. Denny Hamlin is the No. 1 seed.