The NCAA’s Division I Council made major moves to reduce restrictions on name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal this week, changes the org’s implementing to try and keep up with the ever-changing college sports world.

The NAIA unanimously voted to ban transgender athletes from nearly all women’s sports competitions beginning this August, limiting their participation to practices under the guise of protecting “competitive fairness.”

On Monday, a NLRB regional director ruled that under U.S. labor law, Dartmouth’s men’s basketball team members are considered the school’s employees, the first nail in the coffin for the NCAA’s beleaguered amateurism model.

Now that it’s officially winter and fall sports (except football) are in the rearview mirror, we compared preseason rankings to final polls to see which teams exceeded expectations…and which were overhyped.

Yesterday, NCAA president Charlie Baker tried a new strategy: He asked Congress to affirm that student-athletes (SAs) are not school employees, a move that would help keep regulation under the NCAA’s umbrella, instead of the judicial system’s.

The massive 2024–25 conference realignment experiment is creeping closer, but the Big 12’s already in the lab with four new members — former AACers UCF, Houston, and Cincinnati, plus BYU (who was independent in football, Mountain West in everything else) — this year.

That leaves the last-standing pair, Washington State and Oregon State, working together on creative solutions to save the 108-year-old conference.

Ohio State’s and Oregon’s statement wins weren’t the only blockbusters on Saturday.

One more conference realignment domino fell Friday morning, as the presidents of ACC schools voted 12-3 to add Stanford and Cal from the Pac-12 and SMU from the AAC beginning in August 2024.

The NCAA cross country season hits its starting line today, so run through our primer, then let’s, ahem, meet the women and men racing toward national glory.

From hoops to soccer to baseball to golf, older athletes have been defying expectations for years, proving it’s never too late to pursue collegiate sports dreams.

Recruitment can be a delicate dance, especially with NIL busting a move on the floor.