To be blunt, college sports is in a much different spot than it was ten years ago.
NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) has swept college football since its inception on June 30th, 2021. It means that players can make money through brand deals and their image. It has turned into 20-year-olds making millions of dollars as college students.
It has also made it so teams like Vanderbilt can be the 17th ranked team in the nation.
NIL has pros and cons.
The money made can impact a player for the rest of their lives in a very positive manner. But to look at it as a fan, a smaller school can use the NIL money they have to find and recruit loyal players to help build a team. It can also give the smaller teams in bigger conferences the chance to make a splash in the transfer portal and build a team.
Three teams currently in the AP Top 25 stand out as surprises: Indiana, Georgia Tech, and Vanderbilt.
To be fair, Indiana was a surprise last year with a berth in the CFP, but this year they have asserted themselves as a powerhouse under coach Curt Cignetti. The impact Cignetti has had on this program is exceptional. He took over in 2024 after an abysmal 2023 campaign, with the team finishing 3-9. He turned that into an 11-2 berth into the playoff which was cut short by the eventual national runner-up Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Led by QB Francisco Mendoza, this team has used its NIL money for the good.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have come out of nowhere this year, thanks to Heisman candidate QB Haynes King and head coach Brent Key. Expected to be a middle of the pack ACC team, they started the season 8-0. The portal brought in key players on their lines and in the receiver room thanks to NIL. They look to continue their success through the ACC.
Vanderbilt had not finished with a winning record or bowl win since a haired James Franklin led them to nine wins and a bowl victory until last year. That was when Clark Lea stepped into Nashville and made it a football town again. Lea’s first three years were rough, but he has lifted this program out of the grave with transfer QB Diego Pavia and RB Sedric Alexander. They currently sit 8-2 and have used the NIL money to spark life in a dead Nashville.
However, while NIL can do good, several thorny questions arise. Is putting millions of dollars in the hands of college students a good idea? Is the transfer portal good for the sport or does it seem more like NFL Free Agency?
Other than the teams mentioned above, smaller programs continue to struggle, creating a wide gap of talent.
Let’s analyze a conference that shows a wide variety of schools that spend much different amounts of NIL money: the ACC.
The Big Spenders
These are teams like Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina, Miami, SMU, and Louisville. These teams throw money at players to get them to commit. So far, Clemson, Miami, and SMU are the only teams to make the playoff and Miami was the only team to sniff success. So success can come from it, but it is stagnant. Florida State went 2-10 last year and other than the Alabama win, have not looked awesome. Bill Belichick has not looked like he belongs in college football (except maybe for his dating life). His Tarheels sit 3-5 and 1-3 in the ACC. Louisville is a good team that has yet to put it all together and make a run. They have given promising but failed QBs a second chance the last two years.
Middle of the Pack
Teams like NC State, Pittsburgh (now ranked 24th in the AP Poll), Cal, Virginia, and Georgia Tech fall here. Virginia and Georgia Tech have found big success this year. Pitt and Cal are very up and down but lack the full roster to make a run.
Bottom Feeders
The Bottom Feeders consist of Stanford, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College, Duke, and Virginia Tech. None of these teams have much to show record-wise, but all of these teams have potential in the future. They spend more on recruiting players rather than on the portal.
Ultimately, college sports should not be the same as professional sports with free agency. A young athlete commits to a school and should intend to spend four years there. Not two years, get more money to go somewhere else, and then go there.
It creates the wrong culture. The ultimate goal of a college athlete should be to win the championship, not to make as much money as possible. The profit motive should be reserved for the professional world.
NIL has also buried the love of rivalries. They aren’t what they used to be, in my opinion. Players are playing for the NIL deals, not to want to beat their rivals. Also, dynasties are being created through money, not smart recruiting. Coaches see a five-star and essentially hand them a blank check.
My solution is to create something similar to a salary cap. Schools can only spend a certain amount of money. Conference can play a factor in that amount, but keep it to brand deals and scholarship money, not this tax-funded arms race that has already done too much damage.
