They need contracts rather that LOI's for players. Then at least you know the players you have for a certain amount of time and at what cost.
There must be some way around that. Tennis players have been entering into contracts at 14,15 and 16 for years and if they can accept NIL then they must have a contract.
Gipper and Bobda are the attorneys, but I'm guessing that documentation for minors requires the parents' signatures.
HS baseball players who are drafted and op to forego college for MLB all sign contracts. Granted most are probably 18, but not likely all of them.
I believe that NIL and baseball contracts also have to be signed by parents or a guardian besides the minor.
Lot's of talk about the CFP at the SEC meetings this week. Also more talk of a 9 game conference schedule for the SEC. Texas AD Chrs Del Conte is for the 9 game schedule. Also talk of a Big10/SEC scheduling agreement. DESTIN, Fla. -- LSU's Brian Kelly on Wednesday said SEC coaches favor adding one nonconference game against a Big Ten opponent in a scheduling agreement, but they "need a partner" to do it. "We want to compete against the Big Ten," Kelly said, following the last day of coaches meetings at the annual SEC spring meetings. "Look, the Big Ten right now holds it on the SEC. They won the last two national championships. That's the reality of it. We want to get challenged in that regard, and we'd like to be able to get that done. "That is up to our commissioner and the ADs to see if that can happen or not, but that's the wish of the room."
I like the thought of moving away from bowl's for the CFP, 1st round at home last year were great. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte, who is the only athletic director at the league's meetings this week from a school that hosted a first-round CFP game, said that as far as being a proponent of more home games in future rounds, "I'm all-in on that action." "I'm holding on that," Del Conte said. "The wear and tear on your fans, and the price of tickets and airlines at that time of year, it's really an expense. In the NFL, the higher-ranked team gets the home advantage. Having a home game and playing Clemson at home was unbelievable. Yet we're still married to that old bowl system for a moment. So you've got to give a little bit of grace as we go through this. But having a home game was great."
Both of these moves would normally be a good idea, but as I've been saying, anything that increases the strength of schedule could have a detrimental impact on making the playoffs. The only thing that the committee appears to be considering is how many wins you have or participation in a conference championship. Both of these proposals would have a negative effect on these two factors.
If they expand to 16 teams as many think will happen, then 3 and maybe even 4 loss teams will make the playoffs. In the end I don't think either the SEC or Big10 will ever get fewer than 4 teams into the playoffs in a 16 team setupl
Longhorns block move of Ohio State/Texas to Sunday. Understanding the implications of the matchup, Ohio State reportedly tried to move the game to Sunday − with no NFL − for a primetime kickoff. However, Fox Sports president of insights and analytics Mike Mulvihill said Texas blocked the move. “There was a deal in place between Fox and Ohio State to move the game to Sunday night,” Mulvihill told The Athletic. “We felt like Week 1 prior to NFL kickoff gave us an opportunity to look at sort of an alternate scenario, and then Texas exercised their contractual right to keep the game on Saturday, which is completely their right. I can understand why they would take that position, but we did work with the school to try to come up with a different scenario and get the game to Sunday."
I like Kiffins plan, top 16 teams no auto bids. MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – The man with the tan came with a plan. Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin, his skin so bronzed he looked as if he just came off the sunny beach here, entered his session with reporters on Tuesday ready to pitch his idea for a 16-team College Football Playoff. Kiffin's playoff plan looks like this: Sixteen teams. Four rounds. No automatic bids. Every team must earn at-large selection. The selection process would involve analytics, combined with a human element Lane Kiffin's College Football Playoff plan sounds tempting
His idea seems to undercut the reason for conferences. My thought is that each Big 4 conference champion deserves to be in the playoffs but not receive an automatic high seeding.
Probably will never be a plan that satisfies everybody. It seems likely that the 5 conf champions will be autobids but not auto seeded. into a bye like last year. They call it the 5+11 I still think though that if we're going to continue the Group of 5 that they should have to be in the top 16, I'd personally be for that for all the conference champions. It's highly unlikely that the Power 4 conference will have a champion not in the top 16 ((Clemson was #16) and going to 16 would have had 5 SEC teams last year and 4 Big 10 teams. Boise State still would have made it easily. I don't know about the rest of you but for me the 2024 regular season was one of the most exciting seasons we've had in a long time, with very meaningful games all through out Nov.
Ultimately the SEC should do it and every conference should have to do it. How can strength of schedule be judged when teams aren’t trying to be equitable with their scheduling? It’s also why it would be a good thing for the SEC and Big Ten to have a scheduling agreement to play each other in the regular season every year. And why there should be incentive to keep having games like Notre Dame against USC because those games should be happening every week. All of this should be seen as an opportunity to finally create real scheduling reform in college football. Ole Miss shouldn’t be playing The Citadel, Georgia State, and Tulane as three of their non-conference games. They should play games that their fans and casual football fans would actually want to watch. Decisions in college football are rarely about what is actually best for the game or what can make the game better. The game would be better with more games that matter and less weeks when football fans look at the upcoming slate and leave thinking that there is nothing worth watching during the 3:30 EST window. The above is the opinion of a ND wrier.
Ryan Day on the CFP. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After winning the first 12-team College Football Playoff and a national title as an at-large selection in 2024, Ohio State coach Ryan Day would like to see future models include at least four automatic qualifying spots for the expanded Big Ten.
Buying championships...one man's opinion. Steve Sarkisian took me to task about my story that reported Texas could spend as much as $35 million and approaching $40 million on his current football roster. The Chronicle source, who is very knowledgeable about the Longhorns’ NIL budget, promises the story is true and said Texas is extra sensitive about the story because no coaching staff wants it implied that a program has tried to buy a championship. Guess what. Every school is trying to buy a championship because it’s legal. Ohio State had last year’s biggest payroll at $20 mil and won it all. Texas falsely thinks it gives the wrong perception, but the source, who loves the Longhorns, argues that it motivates future players to consider Texas because the deep pockets show how serious the Longhorns are about winning. We all remember when Nick Saban accused Jimbo Fisher of trying to buy a title when the former Crimson Tide coach was simply trying to shake down Alabama alums to fork over more to remain financially competitive. Are the Los Angeles Dodgers upset because they have the highest payroll in the majors at $400 million or are they just excited about their most recent World Series title?
Article on Colorado freshman QB Julian Lewis...never heard of Fanstake. ∎ How did you get involved with Fanstake and what appealed to you about it? "When I heard about Fanstake, I was immediately interested because it allows players to help each other and their potential programs. At the end of the day we all want to win, and that’s not possible without great teammates around you. The thought of fans being able to support their team and future players during the recruiting process is what made it a 'no brainer' for me." Lewis also said he looks forward to “using them next portal season to bring in players to join us at CU.” One way he could do this is by encouraging CU fans to contribute money toward luring a player on Fanstake. The company started in November and already has more than 20,000 users, according to Greg Glass, the company’s co-founder. One example shows how Fanstake works. Five-star basketball prospect Nate Ament was wooed by Louisville fans who crowdfunded a combined $88,000 on Fanstake for him if he signed with the Cardinals. He instead decided to sign with Tennessee, whose fans had pledged only about $13,000. The Louisville fans who put money down for Ament got their money returned since Ament signed with a different team. The $13,000 from Tennessee fans instead goes toward Ament’s sponsorship deal with Fanstake. “It helps democratize this landscape a little bit because even if you can’t write a half-million-dollar check, you can get 100,000 fans to write $10 checks, or whatever it might be,” Glass told USA TODAY Sports. Fanstake partnered with Lewis after he made his decision to commit to the Buffaloes. The deal appealed to him, Glass said, because it was a way to bring in more talent to Boulder. “He wanted to make sure it wasn’t just his NIL, but that he had a squad around him that was going to be secure,” Glass said. Deion Sanders' freshman QB at CU has business plan for future