The offseason in college football – if such a thing still exists – is there.
In the new world of portal players, name, image and likeness payments, rumblings about revenue sharing between schools and athletes and an ever-changing system. College football Playoffs format, the news never really stops.
Before Kansas State And Iowa State When the 2025 season kicks off in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 23, college football’s biggest events could take place in a Northern California federal court and on Capitol Hill.
Here’s a guide to using the offseason, from draft season to discussion season, with important dates.
In progress: Conference realignment. I hate it, but aside from the fact that the Pac-12 needs to find at least one more football school to meet the minimum required to be recognized as a Football Bowl Subdivision conference, this could be a quiet year for realignment at the FBS level, with the Power 4 leagues all tied up in television deals that extend at least through the 2029-30 school year.
But what about the ACC, you say, where Clemson And State of Florida are both suing the conference (and is the conference suing the schools)? First, the parties have at least had some discussions about resolving these legal disputes with a new revenue-sharing structure that would reward schools for their television exposure. If these lawsuits aren’t settled, there’s a long way to go before they’re resolved in court, and no one is inviting ACC schools to join if they’re still embroiled in their current conference.
Today (January 24): Deadline for players Ohio State And Notre Dame to declare for the NFL Draft.
The deadline for everyone else has passed, and 70 students are locked upincluding the Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.
The number of youth declarers has declined in recent years, dropping steadily from around 100 (or more) to fewer than 150 over the past two seasons combined, now that NIL rules allow players to collect a paycheck while still in college.
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February 19: SEC and Big Ten athletic directors meet in New Orleans. Ideally, the conferences would align their positions as much as possible without running into antitrust issues on topics such as the future of the College Football Playoff format.
Starting in 2026, when the new Playoff contracts take effect, the Big Ten and SEC will be able to manage the CFP, with unanimity of the steering committee no longer required. Later in February, the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame AD, who make up the committee, are expected to hold an in-person meeting in Dallas. They will start digging into possible adjustments for next season (among the most urgent subjects: seedlings) with an eye on larger changes that would be implemented in 2026, such as expanding the field to 14 or 16 and possibly granting conferences multiple automatic bids.
Expect at least a few more in-person meetings in the spring.
February 24-28: The NCAA Football Rules Committee meets. The hottest topic is what to do about teams that fake injuries to slow down opposing attacks. The committee and conference commissioners who oversee officiating have been reluctant to implement rules that would force players who stop play because of apparent injuries to sit out several subsequent games or perhaps even the remainder of a series. But fake injuries have become such an epidemic that concerns about genuinely injured players trying to get through it because they don’t want to miss multiple games can’t prevent a rule change.
February 24-March 3: THE NFL Combine the surges of draft season, this time of year college football fans and the media are discovering that players they swore were good aren’t as good as some players they swore weren’t so great because: features!
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April 7: The scheduled date for a final approval hearing for the settlement agreement in House v. NCAA and two other antitrust suits. Formal objections are currently being filed and the filing deadline is January 31.
If Judge Claudia Wilken approves the settlement, NCAA schools will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million with their athletes during the 2025-2026 school year. Schools are already considering doing so, with most of the money going to football players.
If the deal is not approved by April 7, it could at least complicate the implementation of revenue sharing. At most, it could blow up the plan and cause the schools to fail. There’s a good chance Wilken signs.
If/when the settlement is approved, expect more activity in Washington, DC. With Republicans now in charge of the White House and both houses of Congress, the odds have increased that a bill could be passed and signed into law that would restore the ability to the NCAA and conferences to govern college sports while preempting state laws and providing some antitrust protection.
Rest assured, there will be more lawsuits.
April 16-25: The Spring Transfer Portal window opens. Last year, it emerged that a memo was sent to defensive tackles, advising them to jump into the portal during the spring window. There are always interesting moves around this time, although the number of incoming players could be unusually high for two reasons:
First, approval of the House rule would trigger new roster limits that could force teams to cut dozens of players. Obviously, these cuts will come primarily from the bottom of the roster, including passing players and little-used scholarship players.
Second, after the settlement, the NCAA could move quickly to pass legislation that would give Division I athletes in all sports five years of eligibility, eliminating waivers and redshirts. It could go into effect immediately, suddenly granting hundreds of college football players an extra year of eligibility.
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April 24-26: The NFL Draft. Officially say goodbye to your favorite players and get one final reminder of why Ohio State won the national title.
May 27-30: The SEC spring meetings traditionally begin the day after Memorial Day. Other conferences typically meet in May, but the SEC usually goes out of its way to show off its offseason gathering of coaches and administrators. Again, expect the conference to consider whether it should increase the conference football schedule from eight to nine games.
July 8-9: Football media days are beginning, with the Big 12 already announcing it will be held in Frisco, Texas, the week after a long Fourth of July weekend. The four-day SEC event is scheduled for July 14-17 in Atlanta.
August 11: Planned release of preseason AP Top 25.
(Photo: Adam Cairns / Columbus Dispatch / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
