- NIL Wire
- Posts
- College football is entering its golden era
College football is entering its golden era
Traditions have changed, innovation has arrived and the gap between the blue bloods and everyone else has never been smaller — or easier to close.
Kyle Rowland
January 06, 2026
Welcome back!
Recharging is nice. But there’s something about a daily routine, so I’m happy to be back to the normal posting schedule. I hope everyone had a great couple of weeks around the holidays.
In today’s newsletter, we’ve got updates on another eligibility case, plus thoughts about why the current era of college football is the best. Read up on the latest news from around the NIL world.
Do you follow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook? You should! Click the link to stay updated on all your social channels. We’d also love to hear feedback on anything and everything about our newsletter. Hit reply or send us an email at [email protected].
— Kyle
Teach them money habits that last
Helping your teen learn to manage money is a big step, and Cash App Card makes it easy for both of you. They get a secure debit card and easy ways to save and send money, while you stay in the loop every step of the way.
All with no monthly or hidden fees for you or your teen.
Instant discounts on everyday spending
Add offers and save on groceries, restaurants, rides, and more.
No monthly or hidden fees
Shop in-store and online where Visa is accepted with no monthly or hidden fees.
24/7 fraud monitoring
Avoid scams before they can happen with proactive security features.
Oversight and control
Review your teen’s spending, control who can send them requests, and lock their card if it’s ever lost or stolen.
Disclaimer: Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See Terms & Conditions. Eligibility restrictions apply to some benefits. See Terms and Conditions for more information.
KICKOFF
The tonsillectomy that may be the key to another year of eligibility
As if the College Football Playoff semifinals needed another wrinkle to the Trinidad Chambliss story, and as if the NCAA needed another eligibility headline, here it is nonetheless: Will the quarterback get a sixth year?
That’s one of the questions looming over this week’s Fiesta Bowl matchup between Ole Miss and Miami. And it’s not as big of a long shot as you might think.
Eligibility lawsuits are en vogue; nearly 50 have been filed in the past year. Athletes have won more than half. Chambliss hasn’t reached that point yet, but he has petitioned the NCAA to grant him a retroactive medical redshirt.
Chambliss missed his entire sophomore season at Ferris State in 2022 with a respiratory illness. Doctors eventually removed his tonsils to alleviate the issue. Noted college sports attorney Tom Mars represents Chambliss and filed a 91-page document outlining his case with the NCAA.
The NCAA Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement will make the decision on the quarterback’s eligibility, and there is no timetable for when that will happen.
What is the correct course of action? I’m not in favor of endless eligibility, but if there’s ever a legitimate case to extend someone’s playing time, I’m for it. There is no harm in an athlete getting a sixth or even seventh year of eligibility if they lost an entire season because of an injury or illness. Chambliss’s case fits that window.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Extra mayo
The Duke’s Mayo Bowl never gets old. I love the ridiculousness of bowl games. Why not have fun? And there’s nothing that brings a bigger smile to my face than seeing a coach and his family get caked with 4.5 gallons of mayonnaise (or witnessing the sacrifice a live Pop-Tart). It’s hard for any bowl to stand out in the CFP-or-bust era, but a few have found their niche.
DOWN TO BUSINESS
College football is entering its golden era
The 2025 college football season is starting to feel eerily familiar … in the best possible way.
It has the unmistakable vibes of 2007, the most chaotic season in the sport’s history, a remarkable year of unpredictable results and unlikely protagonists that ended with an unprecedented two-loss national champion.
Miami might stumble its way to a two-loss title. Or Indiana, Oregon or Ole Miss could become the first new member of the national championship fraternity since Florida crashed the party in 1996. And if the Hoosiers pull it off, it would cap one of the most stunning turnarounds the sport has ever seen.
That’s exactly why we’re entering the golden era of college football.
Yes, some traditions are being sacrificed. No one disputes that. And yes, plenty of viewers still bristle at the realities of player compensation. But here’s the inconvenient truth: viewership is up, interest is booming, and the sport has never been more popular.
Tradition hasn’t disappeared. Instead, it’s fused with innovation. College football is still loud, emotional and weird. But it’s also more inclusive and wildly unpredictable. The gap between blue bloods and everyone else has never been smaller or easier to close. Fans are benefiting most, forced to broaden their college football worldview by investing in teams they once couldn’t locate on a map and used to scroll past on TV.
During the Bowl Championship Series, the sport became too regional. With only two national championship spots, dozens of teams were eliminated from contention by early October, draining interest across large swaths of the country. The expanded playoff has flipped that script entirely.
Now, deep into November (and December), playoff contenders emerge from every corner of the country, including the Group of 5 conferences. Meaningful games in Provo, Utah; Lubbock, Texas; Oxford, Mississippi; and Charlottesville, Virginia, don’t just create drama, they shape a healthier sport.
And it’s not just the playoff driving this shift. The transfer portal has fundamentally altered the balance of power. A roster can flip in a single offseason. Indiana, Texas Tech and Ole Miss were among the final eight teams standing. The Hoosiers beat Ohio State and Alabama in back-to-back games, and they are barreling toward a title run that defies explanation.
The hysteria around the portal has cooled, especially among coaches, who have shifted their ire to the calendar. Fans do most of the complaining now. Doomsday predictions, after all, are a permanent feature of college sports, as ingrained as the Final Four and the Ohio State–Michigan rivalry.
Remember when the most popular opinion was that the portal would destroy college football? That panic has aged poorly. It belongs on the same scrap heap as every other forecast predicting the sport’s demise.
“We won’t have college football,” former TCU coach Gary Patterson said in 2019.
“What happens when a position group has three less guys left in it? I don’t think we can manage our rosters the way we used to be able to,” NC State’s Dave Doeren warned that same year.
But college football didn’t just survive. It’s thriving.
Is the portal a free-agency free-for-all? Absolutely. And it’s not ideal for players to bounce between three or four schools. Most will never play in the NFL, and earning a degree still matters. Constant movement probably isn’t the best academic path.
But from a purely competitive standpoint, the portal has injected legitimate hope into 90 percent of programs every spring. And let’s be honest, only a single-digit percentage of fans are truly invested in the academic outcomes.
This is entertainment. This is fanaticism. John from Madras, Oregon, doesn’t care whether the Ducks’ transfer quarterback graduates with honors. He wants the football team to win games.
The on-field product has never been better. NFL teams are now borrowing concepts from college football, not the other way around. Players are bigger, faster, stronger, healthier and better conditioned. Offenses are more sophisticated. Defenses are adapting in real time. The result is a relentless, 60-minute adrenaline rush.
A 16-team playoff will only amplify that chaos. Every game will feel like a coin flip. And the familiar ruling class — Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, Michigan — won’t be able to lord over the sport anymore.
For decades, college football was defined by tradition, pageantry and exclusivity. In this emerging golden age, it will be defined by parity.
More news and links
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman outlined the SEC’s declining success in the NIL/transfer portal era.
Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star had a good piece on the transformation of college sports administration and significant changes in the job during the past decade.
New Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo discussed elevating the game-day experience in Boulder.
And here’s an interesting chat with East Carolina AD Jon Gilbert, who opines on tampering.
ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT
Brendan Sorsby cashes in 🛢️💰️
College football has been injected with a little bit of the NBA, where the offseason is a thrill ride of speculation, signings and instant gratification. Oh, and there’s the money. Former Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby was the No. 1 player in the transfer portal (unless you think it’s former Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt), and he’s being compensated like it. Texas Tech’s glaring QB weakness was on display in the Orange Bowl, so apologies to the purists, but this was $5 million well spent.