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Hey there,

And with that, it’s over. Congratulations to UConn and Florida, this year’s national champions for women’s and men’s basketball respectively. For UConn, we witnessed utter dominance from Paige Bueckers, who just cemented herself as one of the sport’s best players ever. On the men’s side, it was heartbreak for the Houston Cougars in an absolute nail-biter that came down to the last possession. If you missed it, well here it is:

And thus ends the most exciting time of the year for college sports… at least in my opinion. What a season it was.

But in today’s edition we’re not focusing on the past – today’s all about the future. First, Cal is at a standstill with their own donors – who are pushing for GM Ron Rivera to have complete control over the football program. Then, sitting on a pile of NIL cash, Sacramento State is officially trying to make the jump to FBS. Lastly, yesterday was the final hearing on House v. NCAA, which could be approved as soon as this week. We’re giving you updates on all of this and more – let’s get into the news!

— Cole and Collin

The Big 3

Cal Football Donors Give an Ultimatum

Cal’s largest athletic donors are threatening to pull funding from the school unless they give recently hired GM Ron Rivera complete control over the program. The ultimatum comes seemingly in response to Andrew Luck’s overhaul at Stanford, Cal’s gridiron rival.

At Stanford, Luck has been given tons of power, and he’s been wielding it accordingly. He’s revamped the culture of the program in the months he’s been in charge – even going so far as to fire Stanford’s sitting head coach. Ron Rivera could do no such thing within Cal’s structure though. In fact, Head Coach Justin Wilcox reports to the school’s Athletic Director, not Rivera. 

“You don't hire Mario Andretti and ask him to sit in the passenger seat, right?” said Kennedy, one of the donors who’s issuing the ultimatum, “There’s a reason that you bring someone like that on staff: In order to give him control.” (More)

Sacramento State Wants a Bigger Pond

It’s finally happening – Sacramento State has officially filed to transition their football team from the FCS to the FBS. If the NCAA accepts their bid, they’re expected to push aggressively for inclusion in the new-and-not-necessarily-improved PAC-12 conference.

This effort has been a long time in the making. Last fall, the school announced fundraising efforts for a new stadium, which was accompanied by a goal of $35 million in NIL funds – which they got. That eventually increased to $50 million in NIL funds, which they also got… so long as they’re able to get into an FBS conference.

This story has been one of our favorites to cover. Some people, myself included at first, simply didn’t believe that this school was able to raise that much money in NIL commitments. But it really seems legit, and if they’re able to make the jump, I don’t know a soul who isn’t rooting for them. (More)

Major Updates on House v. NCAA case

Yesterday was a very important day in college sports history – it was the last hearing for the House Settlement, where Judge Claudia Wilken listened to objections to the agreement at length. I watched the whole thing so you don’t have to, but here are some quick hitters:

Let’s talk about that second point – collective bargaining. During the hearing, some of the lawyers were justifying the rev-share cap via the rule of reason – a legal doctrine that defines restraint of trade as illegal based on its reasonability. It was used in past cases, like Alston, but Wilken isn’t sure that it’s her job to decide that part of the equation right now.  

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey “just wants answers” to the future of college sports. Well, after yesterday’s hearing, we’re closer to ever to a solution. All we can do now is sit back and wait for Judge Wilken to make the final decision, which will put into motion the changes we’ve been talking about for over a year now – rev-share, roster limits, and much more. (More)

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NIL BLITZ

♦️ Coastal Carolina is going to give away free food at their football games now

♦️ Would LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson make more by simply not entering the WNBA draft?

♦️ Here’s how NIL revenues are affecting the NBA talent pipeline

♦️ RJ Davis and JuJu Watkins led all athletes in total NIL deals last year

♦️ Grambling State’s Mickey Joseph thinks coaches should be financially compensated when their players get poached by other schools

♦️ Has NIL turned college sports into a “cold-hearted business”?

♦️ Mike Gundy questions the NCAA’s authority in denying joint practices

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Will the SEC get more than 10 March Madness bids again next season?

• Yes, they’re that good - 56%

• No, it was a one-off thing - 44%