While We’re Young (Ideas) | On College Football’s Future

By TERRY LYONS, Editor in Chief, Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – This week, the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) struck a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that looks more like the English Premier League model than the NFL, NBA or NHL. For the women, there will be more pay but the annual Draft will get tossed. A growing cadre of talented collegiate players or incoming internationals will be free agents able to sign with the team of their choice.

That might sound strange to North American sports fans, but it can be said that the system mimics NCAA talent in all sports who are recruited to play by collegiate coaches and their bagmen, who are now able too offer full scholarships and unprecedented amounts of NIL money, as long as the college boosters stay with the program.

While writing on college programs, please note that the University of Connecticut is – once again – on the block for a possible move to the Big 12, a college conference aggressively seeking to out-position the other Power (is it four?) Conferences, while destroying anything in its path, like the Pac 12.

UConn is near and dear to the Digital Sports Desk legacy, as it was here that you first read that UConn had agreed to return to the BIG EAST in 2020, leaving the American Athletic Conference which was an off-shoot of the original BIG EAST but with a preference for the sport of football rather than hoops.

Now, big time college football is luring UConn back to the negotiating table (for the third time, no less) and the decision could have serious ramifications for the little old BIG EAST, which would return to 10 teams of yore.

The bottom line is that NCAA football is beginning to look like European futbol as much or more that the NWSL could ever hope for in the near future.

It’s not a stretch to think of UConn as Manchester United, Alabama as Arsenal, and Georgia as Liverpool. That might make Manchester City a bit like Penn State, Tottenham Hotspurs a version of Michigan, and Spain’s Real Madrid and FC Barcelona take on characteristics of USC and UCLA.

Playing the comparison out, the short term goal is to win the EPL/Conference championship, whether it be the ACC, SEC, BIG 12 or Big Ten, but the longer term strategy is to join and win in the Champions League.

The mirror of the Champions League for College Football will be the 12-Team CFB Playoff coming in 2025. That is where a national champion will be crowned and with it the cash and prestige to keep the coffers filled and alum happy for at least one more year before some other conference gets gobbled up or sees its longtime anchors disappear.

Do you hear that UNC, Clemson, and Florida State? Where might you be headed in 2025-26?

Florida State, by the way, dropped its opener on Saturday, bowing to an upstart Georgia Tech squad, 24-21, in Dublin, Ireland. Georgia Tech and SMU have been tabbed as the “sleepers” of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The hometown favorites, Boston College, might be more of a snoozer than sleeper as the Eagles are likely to be 1-3 after an opener vs a very angry Florida State Seminole team at Tallahassee, a home breather vs Duquesne, a road jaunt to Mizzou and another home game – the annual Red Bandana Game – against Michigan State (winnable).

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Once upon a time, the Boston Red Sox were tagged as the second hottest team in the American League, but, as of August 24, the Sox are back to their inconsistent ways, dropping the second of a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Fenway. The Sox are 5-6 in their last 11, 10-11 in 21 games during August, and 14-19 in 33 games since the MLB All-Star break. Going into the series finale against the D-Backs, Boston is four games out of the Wild Card slot. … Boston starters, such as Cutter Crawford (loser on Saturday, and (8-11) on the season, are reason for much of the inconsistency. Sunday will mark Game 129 of the 2024 season for the Sox, also home game 64 of 82.

The Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and catcher Danny Jansen will be making history this Monday when Jansen will become the first major leaguer to appear in a game for both teams if he plays catcher for the Boston in the resumption of a suspended game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“He’s catching. Let’s make history,” Boston manager Alex Cora said Friday before the Red Sox dropped the opener of a three-game series against Arizona 12-2.

Jansen was about to bat for Toronto when the June 26 game against Boston was suspended in the second inning because of heavy rain. It was rescheduled for this Monday as part of a doubleheader.

He was traded from Toronto to Boston on July 27.

“I don’t know if it’s set in for me. It’s definitely a cool thing,” Jansen said. “Honestly, when I heard about it, I didn’t think I would be the first. The game has been around for so long. It’s one of those oddities that happen in this sport. It’s extremely rare and cool.”

AT BAT: Major League Baseball recently announced the tournament format, pool play opponents and sites for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. There are four pools of five teams each, with one slot open for a qualifier in each pool. The United States will face a formidable challenge from Mexico, then hope to outplay Italy, Great Britain and the qualifier TBA. As in past years, San Juan and Tokyo will host first round match-ups with tough North American (Canada), Americas (Panama) and Caribbean (Cuba) world teams heading to Puerto Rico while Japan plays host to Australia, Korea, Czechia and a qualifier.

The semifinals and finals will be played in Miami.

SPEED RACERS: On August 2, 2025, Major League Baseball will again expands its horizons within the United States when they stage a game at the famed Bristol Motor Speedway in northeastern Tennessee. The Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves will rev-it-up for the special occasion as Baseball tries to one-up their highly successful “Field of Dreams“ effort. … The one-off game will be part of a three-game series as the Reds are the home team.

GOLDEN NUGGETS & TIDBITS: The Boston Bruins dealt goalkeeper Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators back on June 24. In doing so, the Bruins made a longterm commitment to their ‘24 starter Jeremy Swayman but Swagman and the Bruins have yet to come to terms on a new contract. For that matter, the Senators have yet to sign Ullmark to an extension that was planned when the deal went down. Stay tuned as camp opens in about one month. … The PGA Tour is down to its penultimate week of play. This week, the best 50 players on the season-log FedEx Cup point listing are competing in Castle Rock, Colorado with the Top 30 to qualify for the TOUR Championship next week in Atlanta. The BMW Championship is the oldest non-major on the PGA TOUR schedule, dating back to 1899. It was known as the Western Open for most of the time. The tournament is being played at its 11th different venue since 2007 and the first in Colorado since 2014 . Why the break? Altitude is a bitch! … The Castle Pines GC is playing as a Par 72 at 8,130 yards, the longest in PGA Tour history. Through 54 holes, Keegan Bradley (Vermont and Hopkinton, Mass) – (-12), Adam Scott (Australia), along with Sweden’s Alex Soren and Ludvig Åberg are ripping up the course, finishing Saturday’s round at (-12), (-11) and (-10). Xander Schauffele and Denver’s Wyndham Clark are four back of the leaders. … With a $75 million prize pool, the winner of the TOUR Championship will bank $18 million. … While St. John’s grad Keegan Bradley was leading at the BMW, another St. John’s guy, Mike Repole (think Vitamin Water) was cleaning up at Saturday’s Travers Stakes in Saratoga (Sponsored by Draft Kings). Repole’s bay colt, Fierceness, took the $1,250,000 purse Travers with John R. Velazquez riding to the $787,500 prize, nipping Torpedo Anna at the wire. … Meanwhile, on the St. John’s campus, coach Rick Pitino’s office was robbed of memorabilia he was scheduled to sign. The perp was nabbed, a Long Island City man was arrested in connection with the robbery. Emanuel Yakubov was nabbed by the 107th Precinct at 9 p.m. Friday, according to the NYPD. He faces multiple charges, including third-degree burglary, petit larceny, third-degree criminal trespassing, and fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property. Security footage tipped off the NYPD sleuths.

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NEWARK – Seton Hall knocked off seventh-ranked Texas and St. John’s held off Monmouth to maintain its unblemished mark at home on Thursday. At the 100-game mark, BIG EAST teams are collectively 79-21 (.790).

Seton Hall (8-1) held Texas scoreless for a stretch of 7:40 in the second half and won a 64-60 decision. Bryce Aiken scored the Pirates’ final five points, including a clutch 3-pointer after he missed his first seven tries from beyond the arc. Jared Rhoden had 18 points and Alexis Yetna stepped up with 12 points and 10 rebounds after Ike Obiagu left the game in the first half with an ankle injury.

St. John’s (7-2) built a double-digit lead against Monmouth before some crucial plays by Posh Alexander preserved an 88-83 victory at Carnesecca Arena. Alexander made three late free throws and a steal in the final minute. He led the Johnnies with 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor and was 7-of-8 from the foul line. Monmouth had won seven in a row, including five road victories. St. John’s is 7-0 at Carnesecca.

Before a seven-game Saturday that includes plenty of intriguing matchups, DePaul starts the weekend with a game at Louisville at 8 p.m. on ACC Network. The Blue Demons are 7-1 after Tuesday’s 87-67 win over Duquesne. The game will be DePaul’s first on the road this season. Javon Freeman-Liberty has been excelling across the board. He leads the BIG EAST in scoring with a 21.8 mark, ranks second in rebounding (8.8) and seventh in assists (4.3).

Saturday’s schedule:

Creighton vs. BYU

Syracuse at Georgetown

Central Connecticut St. at Providence

UCLA at Marquette

UConn vs. St. Bonaventure

Eastern Illinois at Butler

Cincinnati at Xavier.

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – In the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, Butler overcame a 13-point deficit in the second half and won at Oklahoma in overtime. Villanova knocked off Syracuse in the Jimmy V Classic at MSG. DePaul and Providence picked up non-conference home victories.

The 4-0 mark on Tuesday improved the composite BIG EAST record to 74-20 (.787).

No. 6 Villanova trailed Syracuse 29-26 at halftime before putting together a 41-24 second half that produced a 67-53 victory. The Wildcats (7-2) pounded the glass, grabbing 27 offensive rebounds to 11 for Syracuse. Justin Moore scored 18 points and Collin Gillespie added 14. Villanova took 50 3-pointers and made 13.

Butler (6-3) gained its 66-62 OT victory at Oklahoma after Chuck Harris nailed a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left in the extra period which gave the Bulldogs a 63-62 lead. Harris scored a season-high 26 points. The Sooners forced the overtime making a contested 3-pointer with two seconds left in regulation.

DePaul ended its eight-game home stand to start the season with an 87-67 win against Duquesne. Like Villanova, the Blue Demons (7-1) also used a strong second half, which included a 16-2 run midway through the period, to post the win. Javon Freeman-Liberty filled his stat line with 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Brandon Johnson and Nick Ongenda each added 13 points.

Providence used a strong first half to be the difference in its 68-58 win over Vermont. The Friars (9-1) led 30-20 by halftime.  A.J. Reeves and Nate Watson each scored 24 points. Reeves connected on six 3-pointers. The game was the 500^th for coach Ed Cooley. His record is 295-205 (.590).

Today’s schedule also includes four games.

The BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle has a doubleheader on ESPN2. At 7 p.m. ET, No. 15 UConn (8-1) travels to West Virginia. At 9 p.m., Kansas State hosts Marquette (7-2). Road teams have won four of the five BIG EAST-Big 12 Battles. FS1 also has a doubleheader. Xavier (7-1) aims for its fourth win a row when it hosts Ball State at 6:30 p.m. followed by UMBC at Georgetown (3-4) at 8:30 p.m.

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PHILADELPHIA – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Big East Conference’s 4-3 record on Saturday included victories by Villanova, Providence, UConn and Seton Hall while Midwest conference members Marquette, DePaul and Creighton were beaten.

No. 6 Villanova (6-2) finished a 3-0 week against Philadelphia Big Five opponents with an 81-52 home win against Saint Joseph’s. All five starters reached double figures led by Collin Gillespie’s 23 points. The Wildcats held the Hawks to 36.2 percent from the field and limited the three local foes to 51.3 points per game for the week.

Providence used some strong physical play to win its annual in-state battle with Rhode Island 66-52. Ed Croswell came off the bench to post 13 points and 15 rebounds, while forward Noah Horchler added 16 points and seven boards. PC won the rebounding battle 45-30. Al Durham added some offense with 14 points and six assists.

In another in-state battle, Marquette could not stop No. 23 Wisconsin in the second half, allowing 55 points in an 89-76 road defeat. The Badgers made 70.4 percent from the floor after halftime. Justin Lewis led the Golden Eagles (7-2) with 14 points.

UConn played Grambling State without injured starters Adama Sanogo and Tyrese Martin. The Huskies (8-1) responded with a balanced team effort in an 88-59 victory at Gampel Pavilion. R.J. Cole led five players in double figures with 18 points and dished seven assists. The Huskies are off to their best start since 2013-14 when they were 9-0 and won the national championship.

After a sluggish first few minutes, No. 25 Seton Hall (7-1) rolled to a 113-67 victory against D-II Nyack College at Walsh Gymnasium. Three bench players each scored more than 20 points: Jamir Harris (23 points), Tyrese Samuel (22) and Tray Jackson (21).

DePaul suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a 68-64 decision to Loyola Chicago at Wintrust Arena. The visitors took a 49-47 lead with 11 minutes left and held off numerous Blue Demon rally attempts. David Jones led all scorers with 19 points. Javon Freeman-Liberty fouled out with four minutes to play and was limited to seven points and six rebounds.

In a BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, Creighton (7-2) had its 22-game home winning streak against non-conference foes end with a 64-58 loss to No. 19 Iowa State at a sold-out CHI Health Center. The Cyclones used an 11-4 run in the second half to take a 39-31 lead and control of the game. Ryan Hawkins scored 25 points for the Bluejays.

BIG EAST teams are 68-19 (.782) going into Sunday. The schedule shows three games. Georgetown plays at South Carolina at 2 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Xavier plays at Oklahoma State in a BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle at 5 p.m. on ESPN2 and St. John’s hosts Fordham at Carnesecca Arena at 7 p.m. on FS1.

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NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Providence topped Texas Tech in the first game of this season’s BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle on a night when all four league teams in action posted a victory. Overall, BIG EAST teams have won their last 16 games and have a composite record of 64-15 (.810).

The Friars (7-1) won despite the Red Raiders being able to limit Nate Watson to five points. Al Durham helped pick up the scoring slack with 23 points that included 12-of-13 from the foul line. A.J. Reeves added 14 points and eight rebounds.

No. 6 Villanova (5-2) played its second straight game in the Palestra and defeated Penn 71-56. Collin Gillespie and Brandon Slater combined for 42 points on 16-of-23 shooting from the field and 6-of-11 from 3-point range. Gillespie finished with a game-high 26 points.

No. 25 Seton Hall (6-1) pulled away in the second half in an 85-63 win over Wagner. Jared Rhoden and Tyrese Samuel each had 15 points. Rhoden added 11 rebounds. Kadary Richmond made all-around contributions with 10 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Xavier faced the least resistance, handling Central Michigan 78-45. The Musketeers (6-1) enjoyed a 12-0 start and then pushed their advantage to 25-4. Nate Johnson made 8-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-8 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 24 points.

Thursday is dark on the BIG EAST schedule and Friday has only one contest. St. John’s hosts No. 8 Kansas in the second game of the BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle, which will be the first basketball game played at the new UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.

Julian Champagnie leads the Johnnies with a 21.3 scoring average, which ranks second in the BIG EAST. His rebound average is 6.8. Posh Alexander is averaging 14.6 points and leads the league in assists (6.6) and steals (2.4).

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NEW YORK – The Big East and Big 12 Conferences recently announced the dates and matchups for the third year of the BIG EAST-vs-Big 12-Battle.

The contests, which will be played in December, were jointly determined by the two conferences. The home school has the right to determine the venue of its game. Broadcast arrangements for the games will be determined by the national television rights holder of the home team, which is FOX Sports for the BIG EAST and ESPN for the Big 12.

The four-year agreement between the two conferences will continue through the 2022-23 season with an equal number of games played in each conference’s home market each year. Television designations and game times will be announced when available.

2021 BIG EAST-Big 12 Battle Schedule
Dec. 1 Texas Tech at Providence
Dec. 2 Kansas at St. John’s
Dec. 4 Iowa State at Creighton
Dec. 5 Xavier at Oklahoma State
Dec. 7 Butler at Oklahoma
Dec. 8 Marquette at Kansas State
Dec. 8 Connecticut at West Virginia
Dec. 9 Texas at Seton Hall
Dec. 12 Villanova at Baylor

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