I had GROK put together a consensus top 25 post-spring college football, aggregating all the major media outlets and analysts. Needless to say as you'll see in this thread, this wasn't even close to what happened during the 2025 season.
NEW: Nebraska 4-star QB commit Trae Taylor is the overall Rivals MVP of the Elite 11 Finals🌽
(via @CharlesPower)
Top performers: https://t.co/gBw42NQgJD
No. 1 UCLA is out. The Bruins fell 6-5 to Saint Mary's in 10 innings. UCLA is the only No. 1 national seed to lose its tournament opener. A quarter of UCLA's losses this season came in the Westwood Regional. One of the most stunning collapses in college baseball history.
Another interesting $$ note from my Q&A with USC AD Jen Cohen:
Cohen said that the CSC/NIL GO model values brand deals at USC at “2.5 times more than the national average”
NEW: Indiana's Curt Cignetti says College Football is in danger if something doesn't change soon:
“The market is pretty expensive — it’s scary. It’s scary. I think players should get paid. But something’s going to have to be done in the next 12 to 24 months, or universities might not be able to handle this. College football won’t exist the way we’re going right now.”
(via @ColinMcMahon31)
https://t.co/RknjO1EPML
Here are your choices, because we’re not going back (as much as I’d like to) but that’s not how human nature works.
1) Expand access to playoff to create a middle class.
2) Create super league and leave lots of schools/kids behind.
Those are your only realistic outcomes here.
Because you don’t get to earn it on the field. The whole thing is subjective. The rules are subjective, and subjectively enforced. The scheduling is subjective. The selection process is subjective. Since it’s a subjective star chamber and not a meritocracy, access matters.
Sankey in a tough spot. His ESPN sugar daddy doesn’t want the Big Ten expansion plan, because it erases their hegemony over the sport, but the rest of the leagues do — as do most of the teams in his league.
SEC commish Greg Sankey on this week's spring meetings: "I do not anticipate any decisions on College Football Playoff."
SEC wants 16-team format, Big Ten, Big 12 & ACC want 24 teams
NEW: Majority of SEC athletic directors polled by On3 prefer more teams than Greg Sankey’s 16-team College Football Playoff model🏆
(via @Brett_McMurphy)
View: https://t.co/LlIzGKascM
SEC doesn’t hold any cards actually.
If it doesn’t approve of the expansion, the SEC will self-limit its own access in a 12-team field by going to 9 conference games. It has no choice but to agree to expansion, which is why after posturing for a while to the media it will.
The SEC holds all the cards to a 24-team College Football Playoff.
The commissioners of the Big Ten, ACC, and Big 12 have all recently expressed support for the 24-team model. Now, the decision rests with the SEC—which has to agree with the Big Ten for a format change to happen.
Northwestern’s Ryan Field will officially opens on October 2nd against Penn State. It will hold 35,000 fans and cost approximately $870 million to complete.
Delaying by the NCAA for another month or so is a pretty smart strategy on their part. If they anticipate that the class that just graduated last month gets an injunction and they get the extra year, then their move is to limit the potential damages they pay out in player salary. The best way to do that is to wait as long as possible so that all the roster spots are filled up. Those players who just gained that final year of eligibility back don't have as many, or in some cases any, spots that are more attractive than going into the workforce.
Total revenues for the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12
Big Ten $1.47 billion
SEC $1.11 billion
ACC $826.5 million
Big 12 $610.9 million
Distribution
Big Ten: $76 million
SEC: $70.3 million
ACC: $42.8 million
Big 12: $37.9 million
A nugget in here: The Big Ten discussed with its football coaches earlier this week the idea of playing 10 conference games, something that looms as the league and SEC explore self-governance models.
We’re officially 100 days from the start of the college football season, and Ohio State enters the year as the current favorite to win the CFP.
The Big Ten has won three straight national titles for the second time since the AP Poll debuted in 1936, and the books think a fourth straight could be coming 👀
According to @DKSports, Ohio State currently sits at +650 to hoist the trophy 🏆