Author: nfltalk

DESTIN, Fla. — In a college world increasingly filled with empty suits, flapping gums and celebrity lawyers, Greg Sankey carved out some space Thursday to declare he is not a member of those distinct clubs.

The 59-year-old SEC commissioner, in his ninth year, did more than that at the conclusion of the SEC spring meetings. It was both about time and about his time.

In his own low-key way, Sankey simmered, declaring his frustration at a system he is both part of and increasingly despises. His comments came after a question at a final press conference regarding the SEC’s recent partnership with the Big Ten.

To backtrack: After January’s College Football Playoff Championship Game, Sankey flew to Phoenix for a series of NCAA meetings “where we accomplished little.” It was then he decided to call Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.

“Afterwards traveling home, [I thought], ‘You know, we have some really big problems. It didn’t seem to me that we were working to solve some of the medium problems,’” Sankey said Thursday. “I have thought for a long period of time that if the two conferences could agree, you could fulfill a leadership responsibility. That was the genesis of the phone call.”

The two commissioners have since stressed they are not uniting to take over the world. They have decided agendas have to be set nationwide. The NCAA’s inattentiveness to, well, everything, sent the association into a legal spiral where it is currently trying to figure out the ramifications of the House settlement.

In the end, the SEC and Big Ten schools can pretty much afford the damage. But that’s not the point. The leadership void in the system is massive.

It just happened to be Sankey’s turn to fill it on Thursday.

“We need to have more…

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In the summer of 2021, Red River Rivals Oklahoma and Texas made a landscape-shaping announcement. The Sooners and the Longhorns would be moving to the SEC. Nearly three years later, that move is just over a month away from being official. But with Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte in Destin, Florida this week for SEC meetings, it feels like the move has already happened.

The league has already shared the new logo featuring OU and Texas.

During their time in Destin, Castiglione and Del Conte sat down with Paul Finebaum of ESPN and discussed the move. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when the two athletic directors really began to rethink their institutions’ standing.

Reflecting on the state of college football, including name, image, and likeness, attendance, the Alston vs. NCAA case, two of the most powerful administrators in college football came to the conclusion that it was time to make the move.

“We had great respect for the Big 12,” Castiglione told Finebaum. “We also had to see where the world was going and what was best for our two universities. So there was no animosity, but you still have to lead. This was something, between us and our presidents, that we had to do for the best interest of our universities in the long run.”

There’s no doubt that the sport has changed dramatically since 2020. From the introduction of name, image, and likeness, the transfer portal, and the escalating television contracts, it was wise for Castiglione and Del Conte to be proactive.

Oklahoma and Texas have more in common with the SEC. From stadium capacity to branding and historical success, it was a move that made a ton of sense from a variety of angles. And it’s a move that’s been well received by the SEC’s other 14 programs.

“It wasn’t initially,”…

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The hype and anticipation around the release of EA Sports’ “College Football 25” is building ahead of the July 19 release date. Information about the game has been trickling out since the company officially confirmed the franchise’s return this summer after an 11-year hiatus.

Earlier this month, EA Sports announced Michigan’s Donovan Edwards, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, and Texas’ Quinn Ewers would serve as the cover athletes. Fans also got their first real look at the game when the company released an official trailer hours after the cover announcement. 

All the footage and rumors of newfeatures have only stoked excitement for the return of the franchise. Fans have been lighting up message boards and social media asking about gameplay, Dynasty mode, Road to Glory, stadium models, how NIL will factor in and more. 

Luckily, we have a few answers for you. 

CBS Sports’ Bud Elliott was one of a few select reporters invited to play the game early and was kind enough to answer the most pressing questions ahead of the official release in less than two months.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Cameron Salerno: What were your initial thoughts after playing the game?

Bud Elliott: As someone who last played the last iteration and kept playing it for a while, the gameplay is just so much smoother. It feels like it was gone for about a decade and is now back. Yet it does feel different than how Madden plays. It’s a little bit faster. In the old game, you could wait until the last possible second to pass and the guy would usually get it off. That is noticeably different.  They [also] put a ton of time and energy into really trying to make each playbook distinct. 

The No. 1 thing that you get from this is that these guys who make…

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MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. — The good news for college football coaches, athletics directors and university presidents, among others? The topic of scheduling − whether to play eight or nine conference games each year − has finally taken a backseat at SEC spring meetings.

The bad news? A new and perhaps even more polarizing issue has arisen.

The NCAA, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and Pac-12 all recently voted in favor of a settlement in the House v. NCAA case. In abbreviated terms, the settlement is set to result in the NCAA paying former athletes about $2.8 billion in back damages, according to the USA TODAY Network. It also sets the groundwork for schools to directly pay athletes moving forward as a term of the settlement stipulates that schools will share with them in revenue.

“I think that’s what we’re here for, right? To try to figure that out,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday at the first day of the 2024 SEC Spring Meetings. “There’s a lot of speculation and a lot of narratives out there that are loose, that may not be true. We’re here to figure that out.”

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Added Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer: “I think it’s just getting all the information. We hear things, you read things. I know that it’s still in process right now, so trying to understand where it’s really at and having that communication where we’re all in a room together and really hearing the facts. Trying to separate what is real and what isn’t real, I think that’s where it starts.”

With athletes set to get a slice of the revenue − at least $20 million to start, per the USA TODAY Network − athletic departments are expected to take cost-cutting measurements to afford the new expense. An idea…

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