Tag: College Sports Roundup

College Sports Roundup: Northwestern sees more fallout, Venables takes a shot at Deion, and more from the College Wires

Northwestern continues to see fallout from their hazing scandal, Brent Venables took a shot at Deion Sanders, and more from the College Wires.

The repercussions of the recent hazing scandal regarding the Northwestern football program continue to flow in for the university and the program.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired last week, and the university has tabbed defensive coordinator Dave Braun to lead the program until further notice. That being said, on Tuesday, a former Northwestern football player who has chosen to keep his anonymity has filed a lawsuit against Pat Fitzgerald and the school’s leadership, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Here’s an excerpt from the report from the Associated Press.

“The player, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, alleged Tuesday in the Cook County Court in Chicago that Fitzgerald, Northwestern University President Michael Schill, the board of trustees and athletic director Derrick Gragg enabled and concealed sexual misconduct and racial discrimination.”

The only details regarding the player are that they were a member of the Wildcats football program from 2018 through 2022.

Additionally, the Associated Press has recently reported that eight former Northwestern football players have retained attorneys following the scandal. 

On top of the lawsuit, the program saw its first departure following the scandal as freshman linebacker Nigel Glover, a member of the program’s 2023 recruiting class, entered the transfer portal. Glover was regarded as a four-star recruit by On3, 247Sports, and ESPN.

Glover originally chose Northwestern over Boston College, Duke, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Washington, and West Virginia.

Now, here is more from around college athletics and the College Wires.

College Sports Roundup: SEC Media Days, Tennessee wins vacated, and more from the College Wires

The SEC Media Days get underway on Monday, Tennessee was forced to vacate wins from the Jeremy Pruitt era and more from the College Wires.

After the Big 12 got the college football media day started last week and this week, with the SEC’s media days from Monday through Thursday.

The SEC will feature three programs on Monday and Thursday, while Tuesday and Wednesday will feature four programs each.

On Monday, LSU, Missouri, and Texas A&M will take to the podium before Auburn, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt are in the spotlight on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Kentucky will get opportunities to talk and answer questions, while Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Tennessee will wrap up the week.

Notably, this year’s SEC Media Days will be held in Nashville after spending the last few years in Atlanta at the College Football Hall of Fame. The media days are being held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Nashville. ESPN’s SEC Network will cover the entirety of the SEC Media Days.

Hot topics that surely will be asked this week include;

  • How Jimbo Fisher’s Texas A&M program can get the ball moving in the right direction this fall?
  • Can Georgia repeat as the national championships for a third-straight year? How will Kirby answer questions regarding the program’s off-the-field issues?
  • How does Nick Saban feel about his offense heading into this fall with offensive coordinator Tommy Rees replacing Bill O’Brien?
  • Does Bill Napier feel his program is ready to take the next step on the field this fall after a strong offseason on the recruiting trail?

Finally, there will surely be questions for Josh Hueppel regarding the penalties that the NCAA handed down to Tennessee, including a scholarship reduction.

Here are the rest of the major stories from this past weekend and more from the College Wires.

College Sports Roundup: Tennessee receives penalties, Northwestern names interim head coach, and more from the College Wires

Tennessee Football has received its punishment, Northwestern has named an interim head coach and more from the College Wires.

Another week is through, and the countdown to college football returning is down to 43 days. After a relatively quiet week, there has been a considerable amount of news coming out over the last 24 hours regarding multiple major stories in college athletics.

The biggest story is the penalties the University of Tennessee’s football program has received for what the NCAA has called “hundreds of violations” over a three-year stretch. The NCAA released its findings and penalties on Friday morning.

During the NCAA’s investigation of the Volunteers’ football program, they found that the program committed 17 Level I violations “encompassing more than 200 individual infractions – most of which involve recruiting rule violations and direct payments to prospects, current student-athletes, and their families.”

Here are some of the notable penalties that the Volunteers received from the NCAA;

  • Five-years of probation
  • $8 million fine
  • A reduction in scholarships by a total of 28 during the term of probation (at least two per year)
  • Tennessee will not be allowed to purchase advertising for postseason football telecasts “in which it is a participant.

Additionally, former head coach Jeremy Pruitt, in which all the violations occurred under has a six-year show-cause order. If a school hires him within those six years, he will be suspended for one year. Pruitt is currently an assistant coach in the NFL for the New York Giants.

Check out the rest of our top college stories, including Northwestern naming an interim head football coach, the Bobby Dodd Preseason Watchlist, and more from the College Wires.

College Sports Roundup: Big 12 Media Days begin, D.J. Uiagalelei selected in MLB Draft, and more from the College Wires

Big 12 Media Days begin Wednesday, a Power Five starting quarterback drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers and more from the College Wires.

College football season is nearing closer, and Wednesday marks a big day in the offseason. Media days every year are a sign of the impending fall camps getting underway, and the Big 12 has the honor of kicking off the festivities. On Wednesday afternoon, the Big 12 will host each of the conference’s 14  programs and media at AT&T Stadium in Dallas for the first of a two-day session.

Over the last week, College Sports Wire has taken an extensive look at the Big 12, including BYU, UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston’s biggest challenges and expectations entering the conference, and offering up one question for each of the conference’s 14 teams entering Wednesday.

Additionally, the Big 12 media voted on the conference’s preseason All-Big 12 team and the projected order of finish in the conference this fall.

The first media session on Wednesday will start at noon central time, with Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark beginning the proceedings. He’ll talk extensively with the media before the defending Big 12 champions, the TCU Horned Frogs, take the podium at 1:15 p.m. CT. The schedule for Wednesday is as follows – all times are central time, and each program will finish taking questions approximately 10 minutes before the next program is scheduled to take the podium.

12:00 p.m. – Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark

1:15 p.m. – TCU

1:45 p.m. – Houston

2:10 p.m. – Kansas

2:35 p.m. – Baylor

3:00 p.m. – Oklahoma State

3:25 p.m. – Texas

3:50 p.m. – BYU

The proceedings will continue early on Thursday morning with the National Football Foundation COO Matthew Sign, beginning at 9:00 a.m. CT; the full schedule for day two is the following;

9:00 a.m. – National Football Foundation COO Matthew Sign

9:15 a.m. – Kansas State

9:45 a.m. – UCF

10:10 a.m. – Texas Tech

10:35 a.m. – Cicninnati

11:00 a.m. – West Virginia

11:25 a.m. – Iowa State

11:50 a.m. – Oklahoma

Check out the rest of our top college stories, including a starting quarterback drafted in the MLB Draft and more from the College Wires.

College Sports Roundup: Texas’s major NIL success, Northwestern’s next steps, and more from the College Wires

Texas athletes have earned over $15m in NIL, Northwestern’s next steps, and more from the College Wires.

It was an eventful Monday in college sports, especially regarding coaches, as Northwestern fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald and the ongoing saga between West Virginia and former men’s basketball head coach Bob Huggins continues. That being said,  we start off our College Sports Roundup in the Lonestar State. A report from the Austin Business Journal shows that student-athletes from the University of Texas have earned at least $15.5 million in NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals over the last two years.

According to the report, nearly 87% of that money, a little over $13.5 million, was NIL deals for football and men’s basketball student-athletes. On3’s NIL database and player evaluation currently has three Texas athletes with NIL valuations of over $1 million, with freshman quarterback Arch Manning leading the way at $2.8 million.

Of Texas’s top 20 NIL valuations, 18 are football players, with track and field star Sam Hurley ($991K) and basketball star Marcus Carr (173) being the only non-football athletes in the top 20.

It shouldn’t be shocking that the University of Texas has found great success regarding NIL. The sports-centric school has a rich athletic history and has frequently been near the top regarding athletic department revenue. According to the most recent numbers available in the USA Today “NCAA Finances: Revneue and Expenses by School” database, the University of Texas had the second highest athletic department revenue last year, bringing in $239.2 million. Only Ohio State had more revenue from its athletic department.

Check out the rest of our top college stories, which include Meta announcing a NIL incubator, Northwestern’s next steps, Wisconsin reinstating one of their top defenders from last season, and more from the College Wires.

College Sports Roundup: Bob Huggins says he didn’t retire, Marco Wilson discusses his shoe throw, and more from the College Wires

Rounding up the top news stories from this weekend in college athletics from Bob Huggins’ claiming he didn’t resign, Marco Wilson showing no regret about his shoe throw, and more

Another weekend without college sports is complete, leaving just 46 days until the beginning of the college football season on August 26. It was a quieter weekend around college athletics, but there were still some notable stories to make their way across the interwebs.

Below, we look at a few of the biggest stories from the weekend and more from the College Wires.

One of the biggest news stories from the weekend is the next part in the saga of Bob Huggins. Over the weekend, Huggins and his lawyer David. A Campbell claimed that he never resigned from the University of West Virginia after announcing his resignation from the program following a DUI arrest in Pittsburgh.

According to a letter obtained from the Associated Press and West Virginia Metro News, “There is no signed writing or proper note setting forth Coach Huggins’ resignation from employment with West Virginia.

Huggins is also threatening to sue the university if he is not reinstated though the letter sent to West Virginia from Huggins’ counsel states that “Coach Huggins does not desire litigation. Rather he is simply looking for the correction of a clear breach of his employment agreement with WVU.”.

In response to Huggins and Campbell, West Virginia called the allegations confusing, stating, “We are frankly confused by the allegations within the letter.” They would later state within the same letter that “Huggins met with members of the men’s basketball staff and student-athletes to announce that he would no longer be coaching the team.” The letter states this occurred on June 17, 2023. Additionally, West Virginia claims the same evening, “Mr. Huggins clearly communicated his resignation and retirement to the University in writing via email,”

Before proceeding, West Virginia is looking for clarity on who is representing Huggins in the manner going forward, as the letter claimed he submitted his resignation alongside a “long-standing lawyer who has historically presented him,” James “Rocky” Gianola.

With this just beginning, it marks another step in what has been a sad downfall for a hall-of-fame head coach.

Josh Eilert is currently West Virginia’s interim head coach after serving 16 seasons on the Mountaineers staff.

Check out the rest of our top college stories:

College Sports Roundup: Four-conferences unite to form officiating alliance and more

Four conferences have agreed to a football officiating alliance, San Diego State’s murky future in the Mountain West and more from across the college sports landscape.

College Sports Wire is checking in on all the latest news from around the world of college athletics on Friday. We begin with four conferences uniting to form an officiating alliance.

On Thursday, the Big 12, alongside the American Athletic Conference, Mountainwest Conference, and Southland Conference, announced a “football officiating alliance.”

According to the brief press release from the Big 12,

“Over 300 officials will be under the alliance’s umbrella, ensuring consistent training, evaluation and grading processes across the conferences. The alliance conferences will use this pipeline to develop a “bench” of officials that have been trained and evaluated under consistent philosophies and mechanics.

Each conference will have its own coordinator of officials to manage their respective officiating programs, with the alliance overseen by Big 12 Coordinator of Officials, Greg Burks.”

The alliance comes at a time when finding officials has become difficult for some college football programs. The Big 12 faced several issues regarding officials over the last several years, while the Pac-12 is also facing its own challenges after seeing multiple officials leave the conference this offseason. 

Beyond the announcement of the officiating alliance, today’s ‘College Sports Roundup’ looks at the still murky future of San Diego State’s conference allegiance, a suspension of a prominent Power Five head, and more.

College Sports Roundup: Big 12 team launches streaming service and more

College Sports Wire checks in with the top stories on Thursday.

College Sports Wire is checking in on the collegiate landscape with the top stories on Thursday. We begin on the South Plains of Texas.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders became the latest school to launch a streaming service. TexasTech+ will be a one-stop shop for Red Raider fans looking to get an inside look at their team across a plethora of sports according to KCBD in Lubbock, Texas.

“These new digital platforms are another step in our continued effort to deliver the best fan experiences and resources to our passionate Red Raider fans,” said Robert Giovannetti, Senior Associate Athletics Director at Texas Tech. “We are excited to work alongside our partners at SIDEARM and LEARFIELD to ensure we continuously evolve our offerings to meet the needs of our fans and provide platforms to tell the stories of our teams and athletes.”

Our top stories in this edition of the ‘College Sports Roundup’ include the teams most likely to repeat as conference champions and which head coach is close to their first national championship.

College Sports Roundup: Conference realignment, San Diego State’s future, and more from the College Wires

The Big 12 and AAC officially welcomed new member institutions on Saturday, an update to San Diego State’s future, and more from the College Wires.

Oct 18, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, US; Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark interviewed during the womens Big 12 Basketball Tipoff event at the T-Mobile Center. William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the calendar has flipped to July, the Big 12 Conference and American Athletic Conferences have officially welcomed new member institutions.

The Big 12 welcomed four new full-time members in BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston. They will join Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and West Virginia as members of the conference. Oklahoma and Texas are also members of the conference for the 2023-2024 academic year but will depart on July 1, 2024, for the SEC.

BYU comes to the Big 12 after being independent from 2011 through this past academic year. The university was most recently a member of the Mountain West Conference from 1999 through 2021.

Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston all come to the conference after being part of the American Athletic Conference since its beginning in 2013.

On Friday, AAC commissioner Mike Aresco released a statement on the departure of Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston.

“As we witness renewal as well as change in welcoming six new schools on July 1, I want to take a moment to thank and congratulate our three departing schools, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF for all the contributions they have made to our conference and to wish them much success in their new conference.”

Aresco also commented on the achievements that the three schools had while as part of The American will “always be a lasting legacy for The American” and that the conference “will be rooting for them in the new home,” with the exception of whenever they may see them again in a competition setting.

While the AAC says goodbye to those institutions, they also welcome six new universities into the fold in; Charlotte, FAU, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA. They will join the conference’s nine remaining members in East Carolina, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa, and Wichita State.

Notably Navy is only part of the conference for football only while Wichita State only competes in the AAC for basketball and Olympic sports.

Beyond the Big 12 and AAC welcoming their new institutions, there is an update on the future of San Diego State, and more from the College Wires discussed in today’s roundup.

College Sports Roundup: DI Council proposes multiple changes, college sports viewership is up, and more from the College Wires.

The D1 Council made several significant poroposals on Wednesday, college sprots viewership is up, and more.

Nov 5, 2022; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; James Madison Dukes running back Percy Agyei-Obese (31) celebrates a touchdown with wide receiver Kris Thornton (8) and offensive lineman Cole Potts (66) during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at Cardinal Stadium. Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday, the DI Council proposed a quite significant change when it comes to membership requirements for FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision)  schools. While this won’t affect any schools currently in the FBS, it could become quite a barrier for FCS (Football Championship Subdivision)  programs looking to move into the FBS.

Part of the requirement changes would include; “90% of the total number of allowable scholarships over a two-year rolling period across at least 16 sports, including football”. The total amount of scholarships that a school offers each year would have to be at least 210 and equate to at least $6 million of aid.

The biggest change however would be to increase the transition fee for each school from $5,000 to $5 Million. This is a significant monetary investment for any university to take.

The union also proposed removing football attendance requirements as well.

Notably, while these requirements have been proposed and could be approved in the near future, the new requirements would not go into effect prior to August 1, 2027.

Since 2010, 14 schools have made the jump from FCS to FBS with James Madison, Sam Houston, and Jacksonville State being the last three programs to do so.

Last December, it was reported by ESPN that 10 FCS schools, Stephen F. Austin, Abilene Christian, Utah Tech, Southern Utah, Tarleton State, Austin Peay, Eastern Kentucky, Central Arkansas, and North Alabama were looking to create a new football-only conference, and move up to the FBS level for the 2025 season. UT Rio Grande Valley would also be a member of that conference as they expect to launch a football program in 2025.