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There was hope that college football might finally be in a stable place after the legal dispute over player salaries was finally resolved last summer. Or at least find a footing within a few months.
That’s too much to ask, at least for now.
Headlines over the past few months include: lawsuits over eligibility, squabbles over the transfer portal, stalled congressional legislation, debates over outside investment from the conference, the future of the College Football Playoff and, of course, the decades-long dilemma surrounding coaches leaving programs with huge sums of money that players will never see.
In this crazy season, both on and off the field, the sport’s questions come up nearly every week, ending Monday Indiana meet Miamiwhich itself harnesses chaos to create the most unlikely title game.
“It’s confusing to a certain extent because there’s a lot going on and it’s happening very quickly and people are trying to find clarity in it,” National Collegiate Athletic Association president Charlie Baker explain.
At the center of the mess is a lawsuit settlement approved by a federal judge that allows schools to pay players up to $20.5 million. Additionally, schools have attempted to address the salary cap by offering deals to third parties closely affiliated with their athletic programs.
All that money can cut into even the largest schools’ athletic budgets and affect where donors’ money goes. Figuring out how to fill the void has been at the heart of most of the questions upending college sports this season.
The knock-on effects of external investment in schools
Part of the discussion is an effort to get private investors involved in college athletics.
The situation was most dramatic in the Big Ten Conference, where Michigan and Southern California opposed a plan to create a new business that would centralize the league’s media rights through 2036. The agreement calls for bringing in a $2.4 billion investment from a unit of the University of California Pension Fund.
Michigan claimed the conference was trying to force the school to agree — something the conference denies — and the agreement is currently on hold.
Meanwhile, the Big 12 is considering similar arrangements and the University of Utah is making waves with a deal that could inject up to $500 million from private equity firms into its athletic department.
Transfer portal looks more like a free-for-all
The NCAA eliminated one of two windows for football players to enter the transfer portal, but any notion that that would change anything was quickly dismissed.
The portal opened on January 2, midway through the playoffs, and approximately 3,000 top gamers flocked to the site. Baker said he was encouraged that the number was down 23% from the previous year. Still, some of the headlines are encouraging.
Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. initially said he was seeking a transfer and turned down a reported $4 million deal for zero. After Washington objected, Williams changed his mind and said he would stay with the Huskies.
Quarterback Brendan Sorsby wins Max NIL award, Texas Tech offers higher bid Louisiana State UniversityIt then purchased digital billboard space in Times Square to announce the transfer, reportedly worth $5 million to $6 million.
Of course, some of these issues trouble the new regulator, the College Athletic Commission, which issued a warning to athletic directors that the money they spend on NIL needs to be earmarked for specific advertising efforts — not just “stored” for future use — and needs to be accounted for by them before it goes into effect.
Congress hopes to leave mark, but legislation stalls
The lawsuit settlement comes in hopes that Congress will include some of those provisions and others into a new sweeping law.
House sponsors of the so-called SCORE Act thought they had momentum, but their latest attempt to pass the bill stalled in December when members of both parties discovered flaws.
One piece of the puzzle: The NCAA is pushing for limited antitrust immunity to protect it from litigation over eligibility rules — an area not covered by the lawsuit.
At last count, the NCAA said it had filed 49 eligibility lawsuits. Baker estimates each case that goes to trial costs the organization $5 million to $10 million in legal fees.
Skeptics like Cody Campbell, the billionaire regent and supporter of Texas Tech University, say they can understand why some lawmakers are reluctant.
“I think a lot of people who have followed sports for a long time don’t think the NCAA is the right entity to give it this tremendous amount of additional power. Historically, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Coach moves cost millions
One of the core arguments in favor of paying players wages and easing transfer restrictions is that their coaches have made millions of dollars over decades by coming and going as they pleased.
If 2025 has proven anything, it’s that this part of the equation hasn’t changed.
There have been 32 coaching changes in top flight football this season, 17 of which have come from the four major leagues. Some of the financial costs involved are astronomical.
Penn State could be on the hook for as much as $45 million after firing James Franklin (that number dropped to $9 million after Franklin came to Virginia Tech). LSU owes Brian Kelly $54 million after firing him in October.
The Knight Commission, a college regulator, calculated the cost of buyouts for this season alone to be $225 million.
That’s not even mentioning the most embarrassing coaching change of the season, with Lane Kiffin leaving Mississippi State to take Kelly’s old job at LSU.
Postseason future still up in the air
The College Football Playoff sparked controversy when Miami, which had been ranked behind Notre Dame all season, suddenly leapfrogged the Fighting Irish for the final spot in the 12-team field.
Miami made it all the way to Monday night’s finale, but there was more off-court drama to follow. ESPN, which broadcasts the games, gave conference commissioners and presidents until Friday to decide whether to keep the tournament at 12 teams or expand to 16 or more.
The two key decision-makers — the Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference — have been at odds on the issue — an unsurprising development in an industry struggling to get everyone on the same page.
“It was a lot of long meetings and long conversations,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Every year we come up with these solutions, and then next year we have to make three more adjustments.”
Moore’s firing, gambling and CSC contract
Other headlines: Michigan State coach Sherron Moore was fired and arrested after school officials learned of his extramarital affair with a staff member. … Some Power Four schools are refusing to sign a “participation agreement” issued by the CSC after some state attorneys general criticized the inclusion of a no-suit clause in the contract. … Gambling scandals and arrests, mostly involving basketball, have prompted the NCAA to step up its calls to eliminate proprietary gambling. …the deaths of Roy Kramer and Chuck Niners, two trailblazing managers who in many ways set the framework for what the game is today.
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