Nick Saban has been an excellent addition to ESPN’s “College GameDay,” adding deep and digestible film analysis, well-prepared insight on teams around the country and a sense of humor that may surprise some — culminating in Saturday’s back and forth with the show’s “celebrity guest picker” from Tuscaloosa, his wife, Terry.

But he has a lot of work to do on what’s actually happening with the economics of college football, which is disappointing because he should be an important voice on player compensation and movement. On Saturday he was a disingenuous voice, painting a picture of the past that insults the intelligence of anyone who follows the sport and pining for a future that would amount to going backward.

The panel got into a discussion of the big story of the past week, UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka’s announcement that he’s done for the season because promised financial obligations weren’t met. Sluka’s agent told ESPN he was “verbally promised” at least $100,000 and Sluka’s father, Bob, told The Athletic’s David Ubben that the negotiation happened in February — and that the family didn’t ask for more during UNLV’s 3-0 start to become a College Football Playoff contender.

That’s been disputed, and absolute truth on this story is…

DESTIN, Fla. — There are two Greg Sankeys. The first one sometimes will say something that reminds you he was one of the people supporting the old ways and makes you wonder if someone who supported the old system can be trusted to build the new one.

The other Sankey, however, leaves hints that he does get it.

In his first public appearance since the historic NCAA vs. House settlement, on the eve of the SEC’s spring meetings, both sides of the SEC commissioner were on display. Which side wins out, and how quickly, will mean a lot.

The necessary background for those who need it: The NCAA has agreed to revenue sharing, directly paying its athletes, as part of last week’s settlement agreement. But it was merely one part of the larger whack-a-mole approach in dealing with college sports issues. The chaos of the transfer portal and NIL is left unresolved. And some stakeholders — media members, lawyers, advocates, coaches and administrators speaking privately — believe having a collective bargaining agreement with the athletes is the only way to do that.

But the first side of Sankey still sounded skeptical on Monday.

“To be in collective…

The Women’s College World Series field is set with softball’s final eight teams heading to Oklahoma City, Okla., to continue the chase for a national title.

The field is led by defending champion Oklahoma. The No. 2 Sooners will be joined by No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 UCLA, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Duke and No. 14 Alabama. Oklahoma has won the past three championships and five of the past seven.

The WCWS opens play on Thursday: UCLA versus Alabama (Noon); Oklahoma versus Duke (2:30 p.m.); Texas versus Stanford (7 p.m.); Florida versus Oklahoma State (9:30 p.m.). ESPN will broadcast all four games.

The OKC 8⃣ #WCWS pic.twitter.com/4iFnwB1EKb

— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) May 27, 2024

How did the teams get here?

Texas: The Longhorns pulled out Game 3 of their Super Regional series against rival Texas A&M on Sunday and did most of their work in that series late in games, scoring 16 of their 20 runs in the sixth inning or later. The teams combined for a Super Regional record of 39 runs.

Oklahoma: The Sooners’ dynasty continues as they punched their ticket to Oklahoma City with a 2-0 series win over No. 15 Florida State. This year marks Oklahoma’s 12th WCWS appearance since 2010.

Florida: It was a record-setting day in Gainesville, Fla.,…

DESTIN, Fla. — The SEC convenes Tuesday for its annual spring meetings, and the good news for those involved is the future football schedule is not the main topic.

The bad news is the future football schedule is not the main topic.

Whether to go to nine conference games or stay at eight seems quaint now compared with the heavy reality that SEC presidents, athletic directors, coaches and commissioner Greg Sankey must confront this week: revenue sharing, roster limits and other results of the settlement in the House v. NCAA case.

SEC presidents voted unanimously — at least in the final vote it was unanimous — to approve the settlement terms, which if approved will result in around 22 percent of annual revenue being paid to athletes, starting next year. It’s a landmark agreement, and the timing is good for SEC administrators, who can start to hash out what comes next in Destin.

There are, of course, other things going in the conference: A quarterback at Georgia is suing Florida. Oklahoma and Texas officially join the league in July, and their coaches will be present in Destin for the first time. Nick Saban is no longer coaching football….

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A constant reminder of the changing landscape in college athletics hangs from Greg Byrne’s office door. It’s subtle, and nine times out of 10, it’ll go unnoticed if you aren’t looking for it directly.

Yet it speaks volumes when recognized. It’s a suit jacket held up by a hanger. It’s not the suit, which is common attire for a college athletic director. It’s the accessory on it: a lapel pin in the shape of a flag that reads “Yea,” which is representative of Alabama’s Yea Alabama collective.

The pin has become a regular part of Byrne’s attire. He sported it at Kalen DeBoer’s introductory news conference on Jan. 13. Days later, he wore a Yea Alabama sweater on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on the SEC Network. He did so again April 18 during an interview with “Next Round Live.”

Essentially, the pin is with Byrne anytime he’s in the public eye.

“The stage that I’ve been on (in 2024) because of (Nick Saban’s) retirement has put me in a more visible situation than you’d probably see a year ago,” Byrne said. “As much as anything, we’re trying to have brand awareness and have let people know…

Now that Caitlin Clark is a member of the Indiana Fever, it’s time to turn the page on the 2024 WNBA Draft and look ahead to what could be an even more talented class in 2025. This is the last group of players to be eligible for a pandemic bonus year, so the WNBA will have a true double draft of fourth- and fifth-year seniors, which will simplify the process for general managers who no longer have to wonder who will declare.

The relevant exception to that is the medical redshirt. Players still have an additional year of eligibility if they sit out for a season due to injury, as is the case with the top prospect on the board. However, the number of players who fall into that category is relatively small.

Given that the draft order isn’t set until after the 2024 WNBA season, which has yet to commence, this isn’t a mock draft. Instead, it’s a list of the top players without regard to team fit. This exercise also only considers domestic prospects, though we should expect internationals to factor heavily on draft day in 2025. After all, three non-NCAA players were taken in the first round of Monday’s draft.

GO DEEPER

WNBA Draft grades: Fever earn A for picking Clark, Sky receive C+ even with Angel Reese

Much is expected to change between now and then, but probably not the…

Congrats to South Carolina, which was the No. 1 team in all but one edition of this season’s rankings. The Gamecocks proved they were the best team in college basketball for all of 2023-24, just like last year, only this time they were able to cap their remarkable regular season with a national championship. South Carolina’s success was the primary validation of these power rankings, though the last poll did feature 15 of the Sweet 16 teams in the top 18 (apologies to Duke).

In case you’re interested in how well my first power rankings of 2023-24 held up, take a gander! Oregon State really came out of nowhere.

As we look ahead to 2024-25, a reminder that this is an indicator of how teams stand right now, though WNBA Draft decisions and transfers — keep an eye on Oregon State and Washington State following the dissolution of the Pac-12 — could substantially change the makeup of rosters. I’ve priced in some player improvement, particularly for younger players with high pedigree, but otherwise tried to assess these squads based on how the players finished this season. Let me know in the comments if you think I’m overlooking anyone.

Almost famous: Kentucky, Michigan State, Vanderbilt

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Why South Carolina over UConn?

South Carolina is losing Kamilla Cardoso, but otherwise…

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In the roughly 30 seconds it takes to walk from the entrance to Alabama’s football headquarters to the office occupied by coach Kalen DeBoer, you will pass at least a dozen poster-board-sized pictures of the coach’s predecessor. In most of them, Nick Saban is hoisting a national championship trophy.

At lunch on this random early April afternoon, the restaurant’s TV shows “The Paul Finebaum Show.” The host is interviewing Alabama draft prospect Chris Braswell. A bright red graphic beneath him reads “Nick Saban retired after 28 seasons as FBS head coach.”

Saban is not physically present at Alabama’s spring practice that afternoon, but the man is still on people’s minds.

“I miss him,” one practice observer says to another.

DeBoer arrived in January, just days after leading Washington in the national championship game against Michigan. Saban and his wife, Terry, sat in the front row at his Jan. 13 introductory news conference. The seven-time national champ has largely stayed away since, spending most of his time at his home in Jupiter, Fla. But he’s also spent some time in his new office at Bryant-Denny Stadium — only a couple of blocks from DeBoer’s.

DeBoer might be following a legend, but the legend is also unwittingly following the…

It could be an elevator, a hallway or a corridor this weekend at one of the Final Fours, the men’s in Arizona or the women’s in Cleveland. Greg Sankey, commissioner of the SEC, has a team in each, so doubtless he will be at both. Len Perna, meanwhile, has an idea, and if he sees Sankey he may do everything in his power to get a minute.

At most, Sankey will smile politely, nod and keep the conversation short. For now, the chances of Sankey and his conference wanting any part of Perna’s idea are about as good as the SEC giving up football as a varsity sport.

Because that’s essentially what it would be doing here.

The notion of a college football “Super League” has been percolating for a while, and one idea finally went public on Wednesday, when The Athletic reported that a number of power brokers, including the presidents at Syracuse and West Virginia and Perna, the CEO of TurnkeyZRG, were pushing for a 70-team permanent group, employing athletes as players, making its own rules and leaving non-football sports to the existing conferences, as is.

Publicly, the reaction among SEC power brokers was crickets: Sankey and the presidents at…

Welcome to Part 3 — and the grand finale — of The Athletic’s party props competition for the men’s and women’s college basketball tournaments! This weekend, South Carolina (w), Iowa (w), Purdue (m), Alabama (m) and the men and women from UConn and NC State will vie for championships. And we at The Athletic will also hand out a championship title: The Party Prop Champion. Well, technically, there will be five party prop champions, and the prize is a one-year subscription for each winner!

Think you can get the most predictions correct for the semifinals and championship games?

We have 16 new questions plus a tiebreaker for the final weekend of the college basketball tournaments, which covers the semifinal and final games for both men and women. You’ll find seven questions from the men’s tournament, seven from the women’s tournament, two combining them and a final tiebreaker. The questions range from Caitlin Clark 3-pointers to picks for each game and more.

This is mostly intended for entertainment, but are running a contest, and the top five cumulative scores combined from our three contests during the tournaments will win a free one-year gift subscription to The Athletic (additional terms and conditions may apply).

You can fill out the form below to submit your…