NCAA faces crucial week, plus previewing the SEC (2024)

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Surprise! Until Saturday will be coming to you on Mondays and Thursdays in the summer. Today, we’re previewing the SEC with an Until Saturday exclusive interview and a big NCAA vote that could happen this week (and yes, we have more details for College Football 25).

House v. NCAA

What’s at stake this week in CFB?

The NCAA and four remaining power conferences are expected to vote on whether to settle a federal class-action lawsuit that could cause another monumental shift to the college sports landscape. The lawsuit is House v. NCAA, which seeks back pay for Division I athletes who were barred from earning name, image and likeness compensation before the summer of 2021 and pursues a cut of future broadcast revenues for athletes at power-conference schools.

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach and Justin Williams broke down the case and its impact today. Here are a few key points.

💵 The cost: It starts with $2.7 billion in NIL back-pay damages. Then, multiple people briefed on the negotiations confirmed to The Athletic that a settlement would include a system in which roughly $20 million per year can be distributed directly from a power-conference school to its athletes.

🎉 Fan impact: The power-conference teams you root for could start paying athletes with the money they make off TV contracts and ticket sales.

🔮 The future: A settlement would widen the gap between high-major revenue sports (hmm, power-conference football) and the rest of college athletics. That could mean this is another step toward a breakaway in which the biggest programs separate from the rest of the NCAA in some version of a super conference or super league.

Read more about what’s at stake and what’s next here.

What’s New in the SEC?

Big coaching changes

There were some big shifts in the SEC this offseason. Let’s start with the new head coaches:

• Kalen DeBoer at Alabama: The biggest coaching change of the offseason (or ever?) happened in Tuscaloosa, where legendary coach Nick Saban retired and was replaced by former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer. The 49-year-old DeBoer just took the Huskies to the national championship, and he won three NAIA national championships at Sioux Falls early in his career. I’m not sure Alabama could have made a better hire, but DeBoer and his 37 total FBS career wins will be under a microscope given the massive undertaking that comes with being the head coach at Alabama.
• Mike Elko at Texas A&M: If Alabama faced the biggest coaching change of the offseason, Texas A&M endured the most expensive one ever. The Aggies fired Jimbo Fisher in November despite owing him a $77.6 million buyout, the largest in college football history. In need of a head coach its fans could get behind, Texas A&M landed on Elko, who spent four seasons as Fisher’s DC before taking over as Duke’s head coach for two seasons.
• Jeff Lebby at Mississippi State: The 40-year-old Lebby is an offensive-minded coach who has power-conference coordinator experience at UCF, Ole Miss and Oklahoma. He’ll replace Zach Arnett, who spent one season leading the Bulldogs after taking over in the wake of former coach Mike Leach’s death.

Two teams — Oklahoma and Texas — join the SEC this summer. Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione recently spoke with me about the move:

What final steps are you taking before joining the SEC this summer?

Castiglione: We started with an SEC readiness committee not too long after we announced our move to the SEC, so, in essence, the preparation has been underway for a bit of time. That said, the excitement has continued to build and the closer we get to the eventual day, we’ve said this pretty consistently, that we’ve had all of our focus on trying to have the best possible experience for our teams as we move through the competitive seasons of the Big 12. We wanted to be a really good member — a positive and contributing member — of the Big 12 while we continue to be part of it. We have done that in trying to make the move as professional and classy as it could be under the circ*mstances.

It took a lot of planning on our campuses, a lot of evaluation. We’ve done a lot of assessment of how various aspects of our programs would compare, where we needed to make improvements to where we are comparable. And then you get into the logistical aspects.

We’re putting final touches on team schedules, as you’ve seen more of the SEC conference schedules are getting released. We’re working through our own nonconference schedules for the rest of our sports. We’ve signed for and are making the changes as we get closer to the official date that relate to branding the facilities for the SEC … (and) the uniform changes that might need to take place. Our travel sites are going to be different, so we’ve been finalizing plans along those lines as we learn the schedules.

It’s been a comprehensive approach to make as seamless of a transition as possible, but it certainly comes along with a lot of excitement and anticipation for getting to know our new members, getting to travel to their campuses, as well as, looking forward to welcoming those universities and their teams and their fans to our campus as the schedule dictates.

Do you have conversations with Texas about logistics?

Castiglione: Yes, we do. In fact, we’ve met on a couple of occasions with key members of our staff, sharing ideas, exchanging information that we’ve all learned. While we want to compete successfully against each other, there are certain elements of this transition we’re both going to face. It just seems to be a lot more efficient if we can sit down and exchange thoughts and ideas of making the transition for our teams.

What’s in store for the SEC “launch party” this summer?

Castiglione: We’re really excited for this historic moment, becoming official members of the SEC on July 1. We wanted to look for ways that we could share or celebrate or engage our fans in the first official day as we made the transition.

Let me just say that it will be relatable to the Oklahoma experience and we’re trying to appeal to a wide range of our stakeholders, and trying as best as we can to get something of a presence, if you will, in various parts of our state. So it wouldn’t all be here on campus. We’re trying to involve a few other areas of our state to bring everybody in.

Question of the Day

An SEC dark horse?

Per BetMGM odds, the favorites to win the SEC in 2024 are Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss, Alabama and LSU. But which team might jump into the mix once the season begins?

It’s time for today’s Question of the Day: Which team is this year’s SEC dark horse? Submit your answer here or send your response via email to UntilSaturday@TheAthletic.com.

Other dark horse polls: ACC (newsletter, podcast), Big 12 (newsletter, podcast).

Quick Snaps

How much is player retention prioritized in college football today? The Athletic polled players, coaches and collective heads to learn the inside perspective.

EA Sports revealed the game modes, gameplay details and other features of its College Football 25 game on Friday. Chris Vannini has more.

You can buy tickets to every college football game here.

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(Top photo: Andy Lyons /Getty Images)

Jayna Bardahl is a college football staff editor for The Athletic. She has worked as an editor and reporter covering Big Ten football and men's basketball, and was an intern at The Boston Globe, where she covered the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Follow Jayna on Twitter @Jaynabardahl