51ºÚÁÏ

Excitement is building. But let’s hope this campaign is as intriguing as the sport’s offseason, which was fascinating.

There was the House v. NCAA litigation settlement, which may settle nothing with its guidelines for revenue sharing and name, image likeness contracts. We’re just a few days into players getting NIL contracts for 2026, so let’s see how long it takes for all hell to break out again.

The College Football Playoff wisely adjusted with its 12-team format, eliminating automatic first-round byes for conference champions. Now the Big Ten is creating a stir with its proposed changes for a 16-team playoff.

A flurry of coaching changes altered the landscape, including former Missouri coach Barry Odom bravely tackling the Purdue challenge after the Boilermakers’ 1-11 implosion.

There were the usual transfer portal shenanigans and tampering allegations.

“Virginia Tech was actually on my sideline recruiting our running back,� North Carolina Central coach Trei Oliver claimed last month. “That was pretty bold. I couldn’t believe it.�

During the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten media days events, we heard some chirping between these two industry superpowers. The Big Ten plays nine conference games while the SEC plays eight, giving its schools a greater nonconference cushion.

Then there was breathless coverage of North Carolina coach Bill Belichick and his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who could blend seamlessly into Chapel Hill beer pong competitions.

The most pressing story remains pay-for-play, with the new College Sports Commission supposedly governing the commerce.

“If we are committed to it and give it a chance, then that’s a starting place,� Missouri athletics director Laird Veatch said earlier this summer. “Will there be lawsuits, will there be continued outside pressures? Absolutely, right? And that’s why it is a step, but it’s not the last or final step.�

The CSC made an immediate concession by allowing NIL collectives to continue doing business.

“The CSC is scared right now, right?� Oklahoma State coach Mike “I’m a Man!� Gundy said. “I mean, what power do they have? They’re already being sued.�

We don’t believe that’s true just yet, but to Veatch’s point more litigation is inevitable. Boosters need to boost, and nothing can stop them.

“You got to get one person in charge, and then they got to get the four power (conference) people in room, and they all got to start talking about equality and how can we revenue-share across the country,� Gundy said.

Penn State coach James Franklin has trumpeted Nick Saban as a logical college football commissioner, but would he really leave his easy media and product endorsement work for that aggravation?

Veatch would love to see Congress step in. President Donald Trump weighed in with an executive order, but it remains unclear what impact that will have.

Big Ten coaches gripe about playing nine league games for the good of the conference while SEC schools only play eight. In return, SEC schools suggest their eight-game schedules are tougher due to their league’s competitive depth.

(Also, SEC administrators want the extra home game revenue while beleaguered coaches want extra W’s to buy some grace.)

Last season, the Big Ten’s Cinderella, Indiana, finished 11-2 while playing just two ranked teams. The Hoosiers lost those games by a combined 38 points.

Indiana caught a soft league schedule, which happens in an 18-team conference. Going forward, the Hoosiers want to play the softest possible nonconference schedules too.

That’s why they dumped games against perennial Atlantic Coast Conference also-ran Virginia to schedule even easier foes.

“We figured we would just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy,� sniffed Indiana coach Frank Cignetti.

Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti wants to create more television inventory. His 16-team CFP playoff pitch would guarantee four spots each to the Big Ten and SEC, two spots each to the Big 12 and ACC, one spot for the top non-power conference team, and three spots for at-large picks.

And how would the Big Ten pick its four teams? Play-in games!

The league’s top two teams would play for the title as usual, but the No. 3 seed would host the No. 6 seed and No. 4 would host No. 5 in made-for-TV events. The three winners plus the title game loser would advance to the CFP bracket.

“It allows us to play more meaningful football games with more schools deep into November,� Illinois athletics director Josh Whitman said approvingly.

Of course, SEC folks aren’t so sure about guaranteeing the Big Ten four spots. In a down year, that league might only deserve two or three. Outside of the Big Ten, the consensus favors a format with five conference champions and 11 at-large berths in a 16-team format.

This debate will rage on into the season. So will the NIL chaos. So will tampering. Hopefully the action on the field will give us as much to discuss as all of this off-the-field drama.