College Sports Roundup: UCF offensive lineman donates NIL money to Hawaii’s wildfires

UCF’s Lokahi Pauole is donating a portion of his NIL money to the Hawaii’s wildfire relief, 12 players who will impact the CFP, and more from the College Sports Wires.

Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in sports and lose some of the reality of what is important in life. It also sometimes takes tragedies like the wildfires affecting Maui, Hawaii, to get us back to reality and remember what is important.

On Tuesday, during a UCF post-practice availability, UCF offensive lineman Lokahi Pauole, a native of Kapolei, noted that has donated a portion of NIL money to the wildfire relief.

“My initial thoughts when I first saw the whole thing going around, it’s just a really sad day for the Hawaiian Island, a sad day for the country. It’s a tourist destination, a spot where everyone loves to visit,” he said during the post-practice media availability. “I donated back to help out Maui’s community. I took some of my NIL money and donated it back to them. I just feel like in Hawaii, we’re all a family. Ohana is a real thing. Even though I’m from O’ahu, I don’t have any immediate family over there in Maui, you’re connected somehow. Prayers out to them. Praying for them every day.”

Pauole is one of two players on UCF’s roster who calls Hawaii home. Fellow offensive lineman Bula Schmidt is a native of Wahiawa, Hawaii, which is located on the island of Oahu.

The wildfires on Maui have caused an indescribable catastrophe, which has now included 106 losses of life, a number that is expected to continue to rise in the upcoming days, with many unaccounted for. The entire historic town of Lahaina was also completely destroyed in the process. Notably, when it comes to college athletics, Lahaina is the home of the Maui Invitational college basketball tournament. The wildfire is also now the deadliest natural disaster in modern Hawaiian history and forever changed the island of Maui.

On the gridiron, Pauole will be an integral part of UCF’s offensive line this upcoming season. Over the last three years, the 6-foot-4, 305-pound Hawaiin has played in all 37 games for the Knights, including making 35 starts. Last season, he was an All-AAC selection by the league coaches while earning All-AAC honors from Phil Steele, Pro Football Focus, and the Pro Football Network. Now, with UCF in the Big 12, he’ll look to prove himself to be a Power Five offensive lineman.

College Sports Roundup: AP Preseason top 25 released and Peyton Manning returns to Tennessee

The AP Top 25 preseason poll has been relleaseed, Peyton Manning is returning to Knoxville as a professor and more from the College Wires.

The Associated Press preseason top 25 was released on Monday afternoon.

Leading the charge in the first poll of the season is the Georgia Bulldogs. Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back national championships and will look to be the first college football program to win three straight this fall. Despite losing an immense amount of talent this offseason, the Bulldogs earned 60 of 63 first-place votes.

It is the second time in program history that Georgia is ranked first to start the season, joining the 2008 Georgia Bulldogs, who put together a strong 10-3 season but still fell short of expectations. It also marks the sixth consecutive season that the Bulldogs will start in the top five in the country. They have finished in the top 10 in the five previous seasons, finishing no lower than seventh.

Also in the top five of the poll include the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, Alabama Crimson Tide, and LSU Tigers. Penn State, Florida State, Clemson, and Washington filled out the top 10.

The SEC has the most programs in the top 25, with six, including three top-five programs. The Big Ten and Pac-12 are right behind the SEC, with five programs each, while the Big 12 and ACC have four and three teams, respectively, ranked inside the top 25.

The 2023 college football season begins on August 26 at 2:30 p.m. ET as the No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish take on the Navy Midshipmen in Dublin, Ireland.

College Sports Roundup: Jim Harbaugh likely to avoid suspension, Syracuse picks up big transfer

Jim Harbaugh will avoid a suspension in 2023, Syracuse picked up a big last-minute transfer, and more from the College Sports Wires.

After it appeared that Jim Harbaugh and the NCAA were working towards an agreement that would see the Michigan head coach suspended for the first four games of the season, it now looks like Harbaugh will be safe, at least for 2023.

Over the weekend, it was reported by multiple sources that the NCAA Committee of Infractions denied the deal that the NCAA and Harbaugh agreed upon this weekend. Dan Wetzel of Yahoo was the first to report the development.

Had the deal been accepted, Harbaugh would not have been available to coach in the Wolverine’s first four games this season against East Carolina, UNLV, Bowling Green, and Rutgers. With the additions of Oregon and Washington, Michigan’s entire 2024 schedule is still unknown. However, it is known that, at the very least, they will have to face the Texas Longhorns in week two in 2024. Their non-conference schedule next season also includes Fresno State and Arkansas State.

With the additions of Oregon and Washington, the Big Ten will have to redo their 2024 schedules, so if Harbaugh were to face a suspension in 2024, it is entirely unclear what the Wolverines’ schedule would look like outside their non-conference schedule.

Michigan is coming off a perfect 13-0 regular season with a Big Ten championship for the second straight year. The Wolverines would also make the College Football Playoff for the second straight season before falling to the TCU Horned Frogs in the Fiest Bowl 51-45. They’ll kick off their pursuit of a national championship on September 2 against the East Carolina Pirates.

College Sports Roundup: ‘Johnny Football’ review and more from the College Wires

It was a quieter day across the country when it comes to college sports but there’s still pelnty to talk about including a review of “Johnny Football”, whose to blame for conference realingment and more from the College Wires.

After a busy last few weeks in college athletics, Thursday offered a bit of a break from that with a relatively quiet news cycle. Perhaps it’s the calm before the storm; after all, the college football season is just 15 days away.

With that, on Thursday, College Sports Wire released our review of Netflix’s “UNTOLD: Johnny Football” documentary, which looked at the ups and downs of 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M legendary quarterback Johnny Manziel.

It is a fantastic documentary that we encourage all college football fans to watch, but it’s also a movie that can provide multiple lessons. Here’s an excerpt from our introduction to the review.

The documentary could serve as a cautionary tale for all aspiring collegiate and professional athletes about the fame and fortune that can come with success and how that fame and success can quickly spiral into chaos. It could also potentially serve as a case study of mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, which Johnny was revealed to be diagnosed with towards the end of the film.

While checking out College Sports Wire’s documentary review, check out Aggie Wire’s piece on social media’s reaction to “Johnny Football.”

‘I knew he was in a very dark place; I didn’t know about that.’ former Texas A&M star WR Mike Evans is proud of Johnny Manziel’s openness in new documentary

College Sports Roundup: Ohio State AD Gene Smith set to retire, ACC’s potential expansion and more from the College Wires

One of the country’s most powerful athletic directors is retiring, the latest on the ACC’s conversations regarding expansion, and more from the College Wires.

One of the most powerful athletic directors in college athletics will soon be retiring from their post.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith announced Wednesday that he will retire on June 30, 2024. For the university, it will represent another significant change in leadership. Earlier this year, Ohio State saw President Kristina Johnson resign from her position at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year after the Ohio State’s board of trustees requested she do so.

The university is currently still searching for Johnson’s successor. After they find their next president, the university will quickly begin looking for Gene Smith’s successor.

Smith has been the athletic director at Ohio State since taking over the position in 2005. He was also the athletic director in his career at Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, and Arizona State. During his time with Ohio State, Smith became one of the most influential people in college athletics, having a heavy influence in the Big Ten and nationally.

During his tenure in Columbus, he has seen his athletic department win 32 team national championships and 117 individual national championships.

While Ohio State will likely continue to be a national power across the college sports landscape no matter who they hire as their next athletic director, the loss of Smith for Ohio State and Big Ten could not be overstated.

The relationship between a president, athletic director, and head coaches of athletics teams is also significant for overall success. In the future, It will be intriguing to see how Ohio State’s head coaches, especially head football coach Ryan Day, ultimately align with the university’s next president and athletic director.

College Sports Roundup: NCAA denies waivers, overrated programs, and more from the College Wires

The NCAA denied waivers for a pair of transfer waivers, five teams overrated in the coaches poll, and more from the College Wires.

On Tuesday, it came to light that the NCAA has denied waivers for a pair of ACC transfers.

North Carolina wide receiver Devontez Walker, who transferred to Chapel Hill after spending time at NC Central and Kent State, was denied his waiver. The reason Walker transferred to North Carolina over other programs that recruited him out of the transfer portal was due to his ailing grandmother. Walker is a Charlotte, North Carolina native, cutting his once seven-and-a-half-hour drive from Kent State to Charlotte down to just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Chapel Hill.

Also worth noting is that while beginning his career at NC Central, Walker could not play in his true freshman season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unfortunately for Walker and the Tar Heels, the NCAA, despite his reasons for transferring a second time before being a graduate transfer, was not a good enough reason. North Carolina is planning on appealing the NCAA’s decision. Before being ruled ineligible, numerous outlets named Walker a preseason All-ACC selection, and was selected to the Biletnikoff Award watch list.

In a similar situation, Florida State defensive tackle Darrell Jackson, who transferred into the program from Miami this offseason, was also denied eligibility on a hardship waiver. Before transferring to Florida State, Jackson began his career at Maryland before moving over to Miami in 2021.

However, due to his mother’s medical condition, Jackson transferred a second time this offseason, choosing Florida State to be closer to home. Jackson is a native of Havana, Florida, just a 30-minute drive to Tallahassee. Florida State will also try to appeal the denied waiver.

College Sports Roundup: The latest on the Pac-12, USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, and more from the College Sports Wires

The options for the Pac-12’s remaining teams come to light, the 2023 preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll was released, and more from the College Wires.

The potential options for the Pac-12’s four remaining teams, aptly nicknamed the “Pac-4,” continue to form.

On Monday afternoon, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported on one of those potential options. In his report, Thamel said on X, (formerly known as Twitter, ) “In the next 24 hours, there are two calls for the ACC to vet and have early exploratory discussions on the potential addition of Cal and Stanford. One is for ACC athletic directors and the other for the league’s presidents and chancellors.” He also noted that it is a “fluid landscape for the four leftover Pac-12 schools” and that many options are being discussed.

247Sports’ Brandon Marcello had a similar report on X on Monday evening but added an important note that the ACC is primarily looking at Cal and Stanford.

If Cal and Stanford were to join the ACC, there would have to be quite a few issues to work out for both universities, similar to those that the Big Ten had to consider when first adding USC and UCLA last year, such as travel expenses, especially for non-revenue sports. Cal and Stanford would also likely need to be willing to take a reduced share of the ACC’s revenue sharing, according to Pete Thamel’s full report on ESPN.

As Thamel also noted, while the additions of Cal and Stanford would not offer any significant financial gain for the ACC, it would supply the conference with two more highly prestigious academic institutions. Both schools would fit well with institutions like Boston College, Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest.

If Cal and Stanford did join the ACC, it would leave just Oregon State and Washington State in the Pac-12. There were no further reports regarding the future of either university and its conference affiliation. The Mountain West, however, appears to be the most likely option for both universities following a report from The Athletic’s Max Olson on Sunday, which stated the Big 12 was “not discussing adding Oregon State or San Diego State at this time.”

College Sports Roundup: Cal and Stanford’s futures, Johnny Manziel documentary, and more from the College Wires

Cal and Stanford’s futures remain uncertain after the Pac-12’s collapse, a Johnny Manziel documentary is being released this week, and more from the College Wires.

After an eventful Friday that changed the college sports landscape forever, only four schools remain in the Pac-12 Conference.

With Oregon and Washington leaving for the Big Ten while the trio Arizona, Arizona State, and Utah leaving for the Big 12, California, Stanford, Oregon State, and Washington State remain in the Pac-12.

The future of those four institutions and their athletic departments are much different than they were just a few days ago.

What does the future hold for these four universities and their athletic departments? That’s one of the major questions coming out of the recent conference realignment.

Oregon State and Washington State perhaps have the most straightforward answers.

Joining the Mountain West Conference, while not ideal, could make plenty of sense. While it would still mean a sizeable cut in television revenue and other sources of revenue sharing, both universities would have a chance for immediate success, especially in football. There’s also a possibility that they could receive an invite from the Big 12, albeit likely while having to take a smaller cut of the conference’s revenue sharing.

Cal and Stanford, however, are in much more complex situations. Beyond an athletics standpoint, both schools are highly proud academic institutions. Joining the Mountain West from an academic perspective may not appeal to either university. Additionally, for both schools, football, despite being a revenue sport, is not a priority; their priorities beyond education are often Olympic sports.

For example, the Stanford athletic department has historically been one of the best athletic departments in the country for most of the last 30 years. Since the first Directors’ Cup was awarded in 1993, Stanford, thanks to the success of Cardinal Olympic sports, has won 26 Directors’ Cups. For Stanford, Cardinal football is simply a tool to generate the financial capital to fund their successful Olympic sports programs.

Cal faces many of the same challenges that Stanford does. Their revenue sports have had little recent success, while their non-revenue sports tend to have greater success on the field. Of course, the ability to field other successful programs is limited without football.

With the Pac-12’s collapse, both schools likely would’ve preferred to be invited to the Big Ten as well. Right now, that does not appear likely, though it shouldn’t be ruled out in future realignment. Moving to the Mountain West would probably be the easiest. Still, it would require both institutions to be willing to “associate” with universities that are very different academically.

Could they go independent? The answer is certainly not for Cal, but it would be much more financially feasible for Stanford. The final option would be to limit the expenses that football would cost the universities by either dropping the football programs to the FCS level or completely shutting the programs down. However, that would also mean losing a great deal of athletic department revenue in the process.

Overall, Cal and Stanford find themselves as two of the few true losers in this wave of college football realignment and will have extremely tough decisions to make going forward.

College Sports Roundup: Arizona’s departure from Pac-12 imminent and more realignment chaos

The University of Arizona’s departure from the Pac-12 is imminent, could Florida State leave the ACC, and more from the College Wires.

The University of Arizona’s departure from the Pac-12 appears to be imminent.

It became increasingly evident throughout Thursday evening that Arizona will be leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12. On Thursday night, ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report that Arizona was “in deep discussions with the Big 12 about joining the league.”

A little while after Thamel’s initial report, Ross Dellenger of Yahoo reported that the Big 12 met Thursday “to approve the application of Arizona as a 14th member.” After that, the only step that would need to be taken is a vote of approval by Arizona’s Board of Regents. That Board of Regents met on Thursday evening, which included discussions on “possible legal advice and discussion regarding university athletics.”

While it is currently unclear what the ultimate decision will be, Pete Thamel reported earlier this week that if Arizona were to leave the conference, Arizona State and Utah would likely leave the Pac-12 as well.

The three schools were expected to stick together through the decision-making process. In his most recent report on Thursday night, Thamel reports that “Arizona State and Utah have been more conservative in their approach, but sources said the tenor on that has changed recently with the flurry of events.”

Once Arizona officially departs from the Pac-12 for the Big 12, it will become the second conference member to do so in just over a week. Colorado previously announced its decision to move to the Big 12 on July 27. The Pac-12 also saw Southern California and UCLA decide to move to the Big Ten, starting in July of 2024.

Arizona’s departure is also likely to set off the final wave of conference realignment, which includes current Pac-12 member institutions in what will likely also effectively end the conference, at least as college football fans have come to know it.

With Arizona State’s and Utah’s potential departures close behind Arizona’s, the Big Ten is also exploring the possibilities of adding the University of Oregon and the University of Washington. However, there is not expected to be any imminent movement with either university or within the Big Ten.

While trying to manage its realignment woes, the Pac-12 and its commissioner, George Kliavkoff, are also trying to put the finishing touches on a new media rights deal in hopes of saving the conference. Unfortunately for the Pac-12 and Kliavkoff, time may not be on their side.

College Sports Roundup: Big Ten expansion, the Pac-12 approached NBC

The Big Ten is exploring potential expansion while the Pac-12 reportedly approached NBC multiple times about the conference’s next potential media deal and more from the College Wires.

While the Pac-12 looks to finish its next media deal and the Big 12 looks to finish its conference expansion. The Big Ten has been exploring its own options.

According to a report from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo, four Big Ten presidents have had “exploratory” conversations regarding potential conference expansion. College Sports Wire went further in-depth on the reports regarding the Big Ten’s possible expansion.

In his report, Dan Wetzel notes that the Big Ten is exploring the potential options of expanding to 18 or 20-member institutions. The conference currently holds 14 member institutions and will have 16 members next July following the additions of Southern California and UCLA.

The programs being evaluated in these exploratory conversations include the University of Oregon, the University of Washington, the University of California-Berkeley, and Stanford University. Notably, Oregon and Washington would be the two institutions first targeted, while Cal and Stanford would be potential options for expansion to 20 member institutions.

The Big Ten, however, is not in a rush to make any decisions as the conference does not want to be responsible for delivering “the final destructive blow” to the Pac-12, as Wetzel put it in his report. Though the conference’s poaching of Southern California and UCLA certainly has played a significant role in the Pac-12’s potential collapse.

Beyond the Pac-12, Brett McMurphy of Action Network has reported that the Big Ten is also closely monitoring the ACC and its universities.

Beyond the Big Ten looking to expand potentially, notable other headlines include the Pac-12 approaching NBC multiple times over the last year regarding the conference’s media deal, an experienced Big Ten safety entering the transfer portal, and more from the College Wires.