Category: College Football

LAS VEGAS — In times of financial strife, the NCAA and its schools have always found a way to navigate murky waters. 

In 1978, schools voted to split Division I into I-A and I-AA, consolidating power into the hands of legacy programs with the most brand value and TV juice. We know the two divisions today as FBS and FCS, respectively. 

Around that same time, the College Football Association formed. The CFA represented what essentially was the modern-day Power Five in TV negotiations. Value in individual conferences was found, which led to TV executives falling over themselves to secure broadcasting rights.

When money became scarce in 2006, schools voted to add a 12th regular-season game, basically another windfall of revenue for an extra home tilt. 

The BCS created a lucrative entity upon its inception in 1998 that carries through to today’s College Football Playoff system: an on-field championship for which networks are happy to pay top dollar. 

The enterprise now faces what may be the biggest financial crisis in its history, however. Division I is on the hook for the House vs. NCAA settlement that tip toes right up to the edge of the cliff as it pertains to athletes becoming employees. Players have enjoyed name, image and likeness income for the past few years, but the House settlement allows revenue sharing for the first time. 

Only a handful of athletic departments make money, and now the Power Four is about to be hit with approximately $22 million in revenue annually to be shared with athletes. 

“We’ve lost our voice of what college athletics is about,” Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said recently. “No one wants to hear that, but only 2% of our student-athletes are going to go pro. The rest of them are going…

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It was mentioned last month that USC head football coach Lincoln Riley was trying to get out of the Trojans 2024 season-opener against LSU this fall.  Although he wasn’t able to do that, he and USC were able to get out of a home-and-home they were set to play in 2025-26.

USC and Ole Miss will no longer meet for that home-and-home as cancelling the two games was something both programs mutually agreed on doing.

Although the decision isn’t overly difficult to understand it still stinks for college football fans.  lane kiffin returning to USC where he called plays for years and was their one-time head coach (who ended their winning streak against Notre Dame in 2010).

The news here doesn’t directly impact Notre Dame as the Irish and USC remain on each other’s schedules for the foreseeable future, but it does make us wonder at least a little bit how interested Lincoln Riley would be in trying to end that tradition.

Or if other SEC teams may follow the lead of Ole Miss and get out of their already scheduled dates with Notre Dame.

Story originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire

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247Sports

Ohio State coach Ryan Day may be looking for even more ways to get transfer portal prize Caleb Downs involved in 2024. While meeting with reporters, Day didn’t rule out putting the star safety onto the field as a running back in 2024, with Downs participating in some meetings with the position group leading up to the start of fall camp.

“It was part of the recruiting process (him) possibly doing a little bit of running back as well,” Day said. “It’s something he wanted to do. We’ve been having him in some of the meetings and some of the individual drills as a possibility there if needed down the road as we continue to build depth at that position. 

Downs isn’t a stranger to the running back position, 247Sports’ No. 1 ranked transfer in the 2024 class played the position at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton, Georgia.

“He could probably be a full-time running back at the Power [Four] level if he wanted to as he’s difficult to bring down with the pigskin in his hands and knows how to find green grass,” said 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins in Downs’ high school scouting report.

According to his MaxPreps profile, Downs rushed for 389 yards and 20 touchdowns on 57 attempts during his senior season and finished with 648 yards and 27 total touchdowns during his three-year varsity career.

“Where it goes, I don’t really know right now,” Day said. “But I know he has the athleticism to do it.”

While it would be fun to see a player with Downs’ talent get a chance to shine on offense, the Buckeyes aren’t exactly hurting for backfield talent. CBS Sports ranked Ohio…

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FAMU wide receiver Jacquay Nunnally lit up defenses as a member of the RAC Boys in 1998. He was voted to the 50th anniversary All-MEAC team.

Rattler Rewind is a weekly summertime series authored by the Tallahassee Democrat’s FAMU Beat Reporter, Gerald Thomas. If you have suggestions for future Rattler Rewind guests, contact Thomas at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com.

Hearing the name ‘Jacquay Nunnally’ gives Florida A&M football fans nostalgic memories of one of the most explosive athletes in the Orange and Green.

Nunnally played wide receiver for the Rattlers from 1997-2000, where he garnered four All-American and All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference honors during his tenure. He also was named the Black College Player of the Year twice, in 1998 and 2000. Nunnally was inducted into the FAMU Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and the MEAC Hall of Fame in 2010.

However, Nunnally didn’t arrive on The Highest of Seven Hills destined for stardom. Endless work accompanied by a bit of luck landed the record-shattering Nunnally as one of FAMU football’s most revered football players.

“We had a really good receiving corps ― John Rutledge, Marvin Taylor, Undre Williams ― we had so many receivers,” Nunnally said in a phone interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. “So coming into that redshirt freshman year, I was like third or fourth string. It was to the point where, in the first game of the year, Demetris Bendross (former FAMU receiver) and I were on the sidelines squirting water on each other to make it look like we were sweating when we took pictures.

“That’s how I ended up with number 85. I was nothing.”

Early in the 1997 season, injuries piled up on FAMU’s receivers.

An abbreviated position group and a matter of opportunity provided Nunnally a fast track to show he was capable of quality playing time. And Nunnally…

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Former college football coach Les Miles filed a lawsuit against LSU claiming that the school’s decision to vacate 37 of his wins from 2012-15 eliminated him from consideration for the College Football Hall of Fame. According to the suit, filed in the Middle District of Louisiana, Miles is seeking “appropriate remedy for the blot placed on his good name and reputation” by LSU’s decision. 

The NCAA and the National Football Foundation, which oversees the College Football Hall of Fame, are also listed as defendants. At issue is the fact that the 37 vacated wins dropped Miles’ career winning percentage below .600, which is the automatic cutoff for a coach to be considered. 

According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, Miles would have been eligible for the hall of fame in Nov. 2023 when he turned 70. Dodd notes that neither of the three Division I schools at which he coached — Oklahoma State, LSU and Kansas — are believed to have nominated him. 

Boasting a career record of 108-73 without the vacated wins, Miles’ winning percentage sits at around .597. LSU was forced to vacate the wins and was placed on probation when an NCAA investigation uncovered a Level I recruiting violation committed during Miles’ tenure. 

According to the NCAA’s release, the Level I violation dates back to 2012 when a representative of LSU’s athletics interests paid the father of a prospective athlete a total of $180,150 over a five-year span as part of an embezzlement scheme. The athlete enrolled at LSU and competed from 2012-16. The representative has been disassociated from the program for 10…

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It seems like Ohio State football is on another one of its fantastic recruiting runs.

Over the last 12 days the Buckeyes have seen the 2025 class grow as running back Bo Jackson, safety Faheem Delane, and wide receiver Quincy Porter all joined the fold. You can add a fourth with running back Isaiah West pulling the trigger for Ohio State on Father’s Day.

The Philadelphia native stands 5-foot, 11-inches and weighs 208-pounds. West is the nation’s No. 527 overall prospect and 44th running back according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

West was previously commited to Kentucky, but an impending Buckeye offer changed his mind and reopened the process. This weekend’s official visit sealed the deal.

With West joining the class, Ohio State now has 16 commitments in a class that keeps its No. 1 ranking. With two running backs in the group, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they added a third, with Jordon Davison at the top of the list.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X. 

Story originally appeared on Buckeye Wire

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Your weekly serving of college football roster acquisition thoughts — recruiting, transfer portal, you name it — from 247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins. 

Will Ohio State sign a WR class up to its standards?

Ohio State has never signed the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class, but as we cross the halfway point of June, the Buckeyes are one of the few programs that have a legitimate path to a No. 1 finish. Indeed, that’s where their Class of 2025 commitment haul sits entering Father’s Day weekend. 

What’s a bit ironic, however, is that if Ryan Day and his staff are going to make history, they need to close strong with a few wide receivers. Easy, right? Not so fast, my friend. While few have recruited — and developed — the wide receiver position like all-star assistant Brian Hartline has in recent years, it still remains unclear which wide receivers the Buckeyes are actually going to land in addition to De’Zie Jones, who ranks on the low end of four-star status with a 90 rating, and top-100 prospect Quincy Porter, who committed to Ohio State on June 14, around the time of this article’s publication. Porter, the No. 12 WR in the class, was a huge addition for the Ohio State haul, but the Buckeyes are going to of course want to add more to the mix and have higher-ranked players still on their board. 

Over the past few weeks, Ohio State has hosted five-stars Dakorien Moore and Jamie Ffrench, who rank Nos. 1 and 4 at their position, respectively. The Buckeyes have also entertained Top247 pass catchers like…

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LSU already holds a commitment from the top quarterback and No. 1 overall player in the 2025 class, Bryce Underwood.

While anything can happen in recruiting, Underwood’s commitment to the Tigers seems to be solid, and that has opened up co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Sloan to turn his focus to the 2026 class.

The Tigers hosted a pair of blue chip quarterback prospects this week in four-star Brady Hart and five-star Dia Bell, the latter of which participated in LSU’s Elite Camp on Thursday. Now, the staff is set to host another 2026 five-star.

Faizon Brandon, the No. 9 overall player in the cycle, will be in town, according to On3’s Shea Dixon. The Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) prospect has previously spoken highly of Sloan, per On3’s Chad Simmons.

“I’ve built a pretty good relationship with him. Seeing what he does with quarterbacks is one of the reasons why LSU is on my radar,” Brandon said. “I like how he develops quarterbacks. I like how he works with the quarterbacks.”

It’s going to be a busy June for Brandon, who has visits set with Alabama and Penn State and will also potentially visit North Carolina and NC State. The rising junior said he’s hoping to trim his list down to six by the end of the summer.

Tennessee currently leads the way for Brandon on the On3 recruiting prediction machine, but LSU will hope this staff’s quarterback success convinces Brandon to come to the Bayou.

Contact/Follow us @LSUTigersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Louisiana State news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Tyler to continue the conversation on Twitter: @TylerNettuno

Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire

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