What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, House vs. NCAA is approved. What does it mean to the Big 12?
HOUSE IS FINALLY, MERCIFULLY, APRROVED
What better way to celebrate after covering a Rangers-Nationals game in the nation’s capital than to burn through your X feed for two hours about the House vs. NCAA settlement finally being approved, am I right?
That’s what I did in preparation for this piece. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken finally approved the settlement and dumped it on us on Friday night. Thanks.
We now live in an era when athletic directors are openly joyous about sharing money with student-athletes.
It’s a brand-new world. So, how should Big 12 fans get ready for this? After spending the evening doom-scrolling, here’s a primer on what to expect next, in the near future and in the distant future, and how it all might impact the Big 12. Because this is a Big 12 site after all, right?
MY SCHOOL CAN PAY ATHLETES. NOW WHAT?
Here’s a really good primer thread by Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, who has been all over this for more than a year and has probably done the best reporting out there on this topic.
He also posted a story post-approval that you can read here.
But you just want the highlights? Of course. Here you go:
Big 12 schools can pay up to $20.5 million to student-athletes in 2025-26, starting on July 1, assuming they opt-into the settlement (I don’t know a single one that isn’t). That money will primarily go to football and men’s basketball. NIL is still a thing, but any deals of $600 or more must be approved by NIL Go (more on that in a bit).
We also have roster limits for all sports, the chance to fund full scholarships for all sports and those athletes that were dropped due to roster limits can now be grandfathered in, though it’s optional to the school. I don’t know of a Big 12 schools that has declared it will do that yet.
Confused yet? Not yet? Good. That’s coming. Buckle up.
CALENDAR TIME
ESPN’s Pete Thamel posted this handy calendar on what happens next:
NIL Go launches Wednesday. Schools must opt-in by next Sunday for rev-share. Lots of work the next couple of weeks before checks start being cut on July 1.
REGARDING NIL GO
There is a LOT of confusion about that. Even before the settlement was finalized, the belief was that NIL deals could be struck before July 1 and NOT head for the clearinghouse.
Well, Kristi Dosh, who writes about sports business for Forbes and has been in this space for years, had some thoughts after the College Sports Commission — which has partnered with Deloitte on NIL Go — published this.
There was a ton of info out there on Friday night. It took until Saturday for everyone to get a bit more clarity.
It gets even more nuanced. On Friday, Texas Tech’s NiJaree Canady reportedly agreed to a $1 million NIL deal to return to Tech. So, does that have to go through NIL Go? Will that count against the rev share on July 1?
Softball isn’t D1Baseball.com’s Kendall Rogers’ area, but I’ll trust his reporting.
One of the biggest parts of this is how revenue sharing is going to mix with NIL, what will count against the $20.5 million cap and what won’t. I’m not sure everyone has a firm understanding of that. I sure don’t. The Matador Club at Texas Tech better figure it out.
But, then again, maybe The Athletic’s Dan Wetzel has it figured out. He reported this on Saturday, complete with this salient paragraph after an athletic director told him that the best college football teams were going to cost “$40-50 million per year.”
“That projected “budget” includes additional NIL (name, image and likeness) payments from collectives and outside organizations to athletes on top of the capped revenue sharing from the school,” Wetzel wrote.
Wetzel’s sources say that figure will continue well beyond the first year as some schools have front-loaded NIL deals and others believe the under-the-table deals will become more of a thing.
But, wasn’t revenue sharing supposed to eliminate that? One personnel director answered that question for Wetzel.
“No chance.”
I’m betting that personnel director is right. I’m also betting that personnel director is OK with that.
NIL GO CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING NIL DEALS
We’re getting there!
This also may help frame that conversation.
Still gonna be lawsuits.
THE VAGARIES OF THE CALENDAR
Will college football teams try to … tank? The Athletic’s Chris Vannini offered this interesting take that it could lead to that, since the athletic years and the fiscal years for schools don’t exactly align.
THE PAC-12 IS A POWER CONFERENCE
In the eyes of the House settlement, the Pac-12 is being considered a power conference. So, that means that any expansion candidates are likely going to have to opt-into revenue sharing. That should be really interesting since the Pac-12 needs one more football school to survive past this year. A new member would be on the hook for a higher settlement payment for the back pay being paid to former student-athletes.
Lots to think about there.
IS THE BIG 12 READY?
I think so. Or, at least as ready as any league can be. I believe the following will happen:
Every Big 12 school will opt in;
Most will share at the $20.5 million figure:
Someone will get sued within six months.
You really didn’t think the lawyers were going away, did you?
Nope. This is the beginning of the middle of the end.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
