Now in its second year with an expanded bracket, 12 teams will make the College Football Playoff to close out the 2025-26 season. Five of those slots will go to conference champions. The rest — at-large bids to be handed out by the 13-person committee. The AP looks at those that should be making plans for the playoffs. They include Georgia, Texas, defending champion Ohio State and, yes, Alabama after barely missing the field last season.… Continue Reading
Texas is No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25 for the first time. The Longhorns narrowly edged out Penn State in the closest preseason vote since 1998. Texas received 25 first-place votes, while Penn State received 23. The Nittany Lions have their highest preseason ranking since they were No. 1 to open 1997. The Southeastern Conference leads with 10 teams in the Top 25. The Big Ten has two of the top three teams for the third straight year. The Big 12 has four ranked teams and the ACC has three.… Continue Reading
College coaches are racing to master retention as revenue sharing and NIL opportunities steer athletes toward the transfer portal. Arkansas coach Sam Pittman, who lost most of his 2023 recruits, says the transfer rate isn’t about treatment or development but possibly playing time or finances. At SEC Media Days, he emphasized loyalty, with players like Cam Ball staying committed. Florida coach Billy Napier highlights the importance of pitching the right message during recruiting. Coaches like SMU’s Rhett Lashlee and NC State’s Dave Doeren stress rewarding loyalty over enticing new players with higher offers.… Continue Reading
The wave of lawsuits from college athletes seeking another season of eligibility seems to be slowing down. With fall football practice starting this week, players hoping for a judge’s approval to play may be left waiting. Legal expert Sam Ehrlich says it’s likely too late for athletes to file cases and get relief. Judges have provided inconsistent rulings, and the issue might end up in a higher court. Some athletes, like Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, have won their cases. Others remain in limbo. The NCAA wants limited liability protection from Congress to address these eligibility lawsuits.… Continue Reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The University of Pennsylvania says it will update records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The college says it also will apologize to female athletes it says were “disadvantaged” by Thomas’ participation on the women’s swimming team. The moves were part of a resolution of a federal civil rights case that found the school violated the rights of female athletes. Thomas, a transgender swimmer who last competed for the Ivy League school in Philadelphia in 2022, was the first openly transgender athlete to win a Division I title.… Continue Reading
Louisiana soon could raise taxes on sports betting to help finance the athletic departments at many of its public universities. Legislation pending before Gov. Jeff Landry would make Louisiana the first state to raise taxes for college sports since a judge approved a landmark settlement allowing schools to directly pay athletes for use of their name, image and likeness. Earlier this year, Arkansas became the first state to exempt school NIL payments to athletes from state income taxes. Some sports business analysts expect more states to follow with laws aimed at giving an edge to their college athletes.… Continue Reading
Eight female athletes have filed an appeal of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement. They argue that women would not receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes who were barred from making money off their name, image and likeness. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week. The athletes who appealed the settlement Wednesday competed in soccer, volleyball and track. An attorney representing the women says the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. The attorney says female athletes are being deprived of $1.1 billion.… Continue Reading
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The College World Series opens Friday with two games at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Nebraska. The first game pits Coastal Carolina against Arizona in the afternoon and Louisville and Oregon State at night. Saturday’s opener matches Murray State and UCLA in the afternoon and LSU and Arkansas at night.… Continue Reading
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge has opened the final hearing for a landmark $2.8 billion settlement that will impact every corner of college athletics by saying she will not be granting formal approval on Monday. The settlement calls for paying more than $2.7 billion in damages to athletes who say the NCAA and five biggest conferences prevented them from earning money off their celebrity status. It also would clear the way for each schools to begin sharing up to $20.5 million with their athletes.… Continue Reading
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Seth Trimble and North Carolina face Jaemyn Brakefield and Mississippi in the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Milwaukee. It’s a matchup of two motivated teams. North Carolina was a controversial selection when it received an at-large bid on Sunday. But the 11th-seeded Tar Heels posted a dominant 95-68 victory against San Diego State in the First Four on Tuesday night. No. 6 seed Ole Miss also has faced criticism. Despite going 22-11, including a 10-8 record in the rugged SEC, a veteran college basketball analyst labeled Mississippi a “fraud” while predicting a first-round loss.… Continue Reading