Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishIt had been a quiet offseason in college football. And then, out of nowhere, Tennessee’s starting quarterback pulled the first known holdout of the name, image and likeness era, and now he’s no longer Tennessee’s starting quarterback.Fire away, guys.Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.Is Nico Iamaleava worth the trouble? — Darren L.Probably not if your program is in fairly good shape at quarterback going into this season. But if it’s looking bleak and you worry you might go 4-8 with the guy you have, it would be worth the trouble to land an established SEC starter who went to the College Football Playoff last year.I went through the 52 power conference schools outside the SEC to see how many fell into that camp. You didn’t have to be Clemson with Cade Klubnik or Penn State with Drew Allar to fall into my “no thanks” category. Schools that feel confident in their guy or dipped into the portal for a QB and probably can’t afford to double-dip will also pass.The results: 36 “no thanks,” leaving 16 potential suitors. Except that number then gets divided further. How many have the resources to pay the guy the $3 million to $4 million his camp is reportedly seeking? Probably not ACC schools like Boston College, Wake Forest or Cal.That whittles down the remaining pool to USC, UCLA, North Carolina, Texas Tech, Syracuse, Oklahoma State and UCF. We know based on our reporting that the Bruins are interested, but the Trojans, Red Raiders and Tar Heels are not. (UNC is reportedly pivoting to South Alabama’s Gio Lopez.)That leaves four. If Iamaleava’s camp can get at least two suitors on board, they’ll probably be able to drive up the price. If not, better hope a wild card emerges.With the Iamaleava situation, it seems we’ve finally found a breaking point in the public support of athletes over institutions. Did the NCAA miss out on making minor changes in the past regarding the “amateur” model to stave off the many court cases that followed? — Tony G.Yes, absolutely, but before I get to that, I’m curious about your assumption that most of the public has been pro-athlete over schools. That’s not my sense. Most people seem fine with the players getting endorsement deals, but a high percentage aren’t comfortable with the seven-figure deals, the brazen pay-for-play and the unregulated portal. Especially when it negatively affects their school.I have no idea where the split is, but whatever it is, it’s a lot closer to majority pro-athlete than it was 15 years ago, when the vast majority of the public still strongly supported amateurism. At the 2014 Ed O’Bannon trial, an NCAA expert witness shared a survey that said 69 percent of the public opposed paying college athletes. The plaintiffs argued, and the judge agreed, that the survey was misleading because it didn’t distinguish between paying the athletes a salary versus paying them for their NIL rights.Regardless, public sentiment has flipped. In 2023, a Sportico/Harris Poll survey found that 67 percent of the public believed athletes should receive direct compensation from their schools.The NCAA’s biggest mistake was not settling with O’Bannon sometime after he brought the case in 2009, when public sentiment was still in its favor. Had it proactively permitted NIL payments on a restricted basis rather than punting until it was forced on it, we might have a more orderly model today. That’s not to say someone wouldn’t have eventually challenged that decision in court, but these things don’t happen in a vacuum. The NCAA might have found the courts more sympathetic if its argument wasn’t, “College sports will be destroyed if these kids make even $1,” but rather, “We need these restrictions to ensure fairness in our competitions.”Instead, once it lost O’Bannon, which was followed closely by Shawne Alston, the sharks smelled blood in the water and billable hours remained undefeated.Per The Athletic’s Pete Sampson, Notre Dame redshirt freshman CJ Carr might have separated himself in the Irish quarterback competition. Given the experience of the OL and the stability of the running back room, who do you think Marcus Freeman will go with in the challenging opener at Miami? — Phil A.Freeman will start whoever gives Notre Dame the chance to win, and Sampson — who would know — believes Carr is the guy to beat. This is impressive given Steve Angeli, a third-year sophomore, has performed admirably in two big spots: his start in the 2023 Sun Bowl win over Oregon State and his emergency scoring drive before halftime in last year’s CFP semifinal win over Penn State. But it was always believed that Carr, a top-40 prospect in the class of 2024, had a higher upside.
Will CJ Carr’s spring performance be enough to earn the first start of the season versus Miami? (Cal Sport Media via AP Images)If all that is the case, the question becomes: Will Angeli still be there in the fall? The spring portal window opens this week. If Angeli feels like he’s falling behind Carr, will he take a chance at heading somewhere else in need of a starter? On the one hand, options may be limited this late in the cycle. On the other hand, he’d likely be more desirable now with two seasons of eligibility left than if he gets limited experience again this season and is down to one season left come December.If he stays, perhaps he still makes a case for the job in August. But in situations like this, when the younger, more touted guy is already winning over the fan base, it’s hard to imagine he’d spend another year on the bench.I’m looking at NFL Draft predictions, and we might see just one Buckeye taken in the first round. That seems unusual, given the team’s success. — Josh, ChicagoI’m surprised as well, given how loaded we all perceived that team to be. However, that’s not much different from Michigan’s national championship team the year before.The 2024 Wolverines had 13 players selected, two shy of Georgia’s record in 2022, but only one, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, was taken in the first round.Based on Dane Brugler’s rankings in The Beast, the bible of draft coverage, Ohio State has only one surefire first-rounder (tackle Josh Simmons) and another right on the bubble (receiver Emeka Egbuka). But he has eight Buckeyes among his top 100, which is impressive. (The others are DT Tyleik Williams, DE JT Tuimoloau, RB TreVeyon Henderson, G Donovan Jackson, DE Jack Sawyer and RB Quinshon Judkins.) Similarly, Michigan had eight players in the top 100 last year.Brugler has seven more Buckeyes with third- through seventh-round grades: DT Ty Hamilton, S Lathan Ransom, QB Will Howard, C Seth McLaughlin, LB Cody Simon and CBs Denzel Burke and Jordan Hancock. History says a couple toward the bottom will go undrafted, but if not, Ohio State would break Georgia’s record.One more parallel to Michigan’s title team: Most of the Wolverines’ top players weren’t in last year’s draft. They could produce as many as four first-rounders next week: DT Mason Graham, TE Colston Loveland, CB Will Johnson and DT Kenneth Grant. Last year’s Ohio State team had at least two surefire future first-rounders: S Caleb Downs and WR Jeremiah Smith, with the latter not eligible until 2027.The SEC rule that prohibits spring transfers from playing on another SEC team that year seems to be one of the only speed bumps with portal mobility. Could the Big Ten unite with its new frenemies in the SEC and make this same rule and apply it across both conferences so that any spring portal players are essentially banished to the ACC or Big 12? — Mark L.I’m no lawyer, but that sounds like collusion.Popular opinion is that if a collective bargaining agreement can be reached, the sport can get back to normal with transfers and NIL. But why would the players agree to this? There is free movement and no salary cap. What could the schools possibly give the players to agree to join a union? — Matthew C.It’s all theoretical at this point. We don’t know if/when it will happen, and even if it did, who would be representing the players? A few nascent organizations are already trying to jostle for the lead role, like the College Football Players Association, but none holds any influence at this point.Next question: How do you organize hundreds of thousands of athletes who come and go every three or four years?America’s favorite draft is right around the corner. What is your mock draft for the top 10 game picks for the Big Ten’s TV networks draft? *Yes, the networks technically draft by week and pick priority for that week, but for this question, it is easier to go by specific games. — Reggie C., San DiegoI agree that, at least among this column’s audience, interest in the TV draft may be higher than the one in Green Bay, Wis., next week. The commonality: Both will be overflowing with Ohio State Buckeyes.My list:• Ohio State-Michigan (Week 14)• Texas-Ohio State (Week 1)• Penn State-Ohio State (Week 10)Fox has the top three picks on the season, and it’s a no-brainer that it will use them to put those three games at “Big Noon,” much to the chagrin of Buckeyes fans. I don’t know the network order from there, but …• Oregon-Penn State (Week 5)• Michigan-USC (Week 7)• Ohio State-Illinois (Week 7)• Ohio State-Washington (Week 5)• Indiana-Penn State (Week 11)• Oregon-Washington (Week 14)• Michigan-Nebraska (Week 4)You might be surprised to see Nebraska included, but the Cornhuskers remain a big TV brand, at least early in the season, before they lose half their games.Let’s say Rece Davis leaves for “Big Noon.” Who replaces him? Does his replacement also do basketball’s “GameDay?” — Karl T., MinneapolisFirst of all, good for Rece, who, according to Andrew Marchand, got a seven-year deal for “tens of millions of dollars.” Even Nico’s folks are impressed.Second of all, shame on Fox for doing my man Rob Stone dirty like that. “Big Noon” has its flaws, but he’s not one of them.But, good question.In terms of familiarity in the college football space, Laura Rutledge would make the most sense. Though more associated with the NFL, she still flies out on Fridays to host “SEC Nation” every week during the season. And a lot more people watch “GameDay” on ESPN — 2 million-plus — than that show on the SEC Network.And, of course, she could certainly handle basketball. Heck, after watching her spend Jan. 1 and the first part of Jan. 2 reporting on the New Orleans terrorism incident on ABC News, then immediately pivoting to Sugar Bowl sideline reporting that night, I’m pretty sure she could do anything in broadcasting.But this being ESPN, it would probably go to Pat McAfee, Paul Finebaum or Stephen A. Smith. Assuming they’re all still working there in seven years.Who is less popular: QB Nico in Tennessee or GM Nico in Dallas? — Kevin J.Only if Tennessee’s Nico Iamaleava could go back in time and trade Peyton Manning to USC would he be less popular than Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison.What keeps an athlete from leaving School A and enrolling at School B anytime during the offseason, other than an NCAA rule saying it isn’t allowed? A non-athlete student can switch between schools at the end of each semester if desired. — Brandon, Charlotte, N.C.Technically, they already can. Grad transfers, for one, can go in the portal at any time. And, to the surprise of many, former Wisconsin cornerback Xavier Lucas managed to transfer to Miami in January despite his former school refusing to enter his name in the portal because of tampering concerns. Apparently, the portal is optional.The portal was initially established to end the practice of coaches refusing to give transfers their release or blocking them from transferring to specific schools (rivals, future opponents, etc.). When a player entered the portal, it became the official signal to all schools that they were free to contact him. That now seems quaint, given tampering is part and parcel of the transfer world.And those portal windows were established to try to give coaches some semblance of roster control by not having guys leave the roster at any moment. In theory, they’d be consolidated into two short windows. That, too, seems quaint, given so many guys “announce their intention to enter the portal” beforehand. Including in the middle of the season.Mind you, athletes can’t enroll at a new school at any time, as it needs to align with the start of a new quarter or semester. That’s why December/January is such an active period. But if an athlete decided in late May he wanted to transfer and start at a new school for the summer term, I suppose he could do the same thing Lucas did.Rory McIlroy winning the Masters was the biggest “monkey off his back” moment for golf, and even sports, in a long time. Which coach (active or inactive) in college football would have a similar cathartic moment if he won it all? — Connor, PhiladelphiaJames Franklin, James Franklin, James Franklin.
No coach needs a championship win more than Penn State’s James Franklin. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)Is there any further intel on which school will (might) be the Pac-12’s next football member? Doesn’t it have to have eight football schools to meet the NCAA requirement? — Charles C., Powell, OhioIt has been radio silence since last fall, though that’s often the case with realignment. The schools most commonly mentioned: UNLV (which turned it down the first time), Nevada, North Texas and Texas State.You would think it needs to decide soon for a school to join in the fall of 2026, but one thing I’ve been told: It doesn’t particularly matter who comes. None of these schools will meaningfully impact the value of what will likely be a modest TV deal.In what world should a school retire the number of a player with so few accomplishments, as Colorado has done with Shedeur Sanders? Is this just to appeal to Deion? — Brad G.I’ve seen this reaction going around, and it seems a bit harsh to say Shedeur had few accomplishments. He was the Big 12 offensive player of the year last season and a top-10 Heisman finisher who broke pretty much every school passing record: completion percentage (74.0), yards (4,134), touchdowns (37) and passer rating (165.9).Having said that, he’ll be joining a select list of just six former CU players with retired jerseys. They include two Heisman winners (Rashaan Salaam and Travis Hunter), a College Football Hall of Famer and Supreme Court justice (Byron “Whizzer” White) and two consensus first team All-Americans (Joe Romig and Bobby Anderson). Among the former Buffs greats who have not yet received the same honor: Alfred Williams, Kordell Stewart, Michael Westbrook, Eric Bieniemy, Mason Crosby and Daniel Graham.So, to answer the question: Yes, it’s for Deion.(Top photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
