Welcome back, degenerates, dreamers, and data-heads!

It's Thursday, June 26th, and the college football off-season has officially morphed from a gentle simmer into a full-blown legal and recruiting cage match. Forget summer vacations; the real action is happening in courtrooms, on Twitter (X), and wherever teenagers are making life-altering decisions.

This newsletter is for anyone who's tired of recycled takes, boring breakdowns, and the same 3 teams getting all the love. Whether you're deep into college fantasy, living for upsets, or just need smarter game-day picks, we've got you covered.

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Fourth & Long: Off-Season Oddities & Overreactions

The cash is flying, the commitments are flipping, and the playoff debate is as endless as a coach's "we're focused on us" mantra. Grab your beverage of choice, because this week's phantom football headlines are particularly juicy.

Wisconsin Sues Miami: The NIL Wild West Just Got a Lawyer-Filled Saloon Brawl

You know college football has officially gone full-blown Mad Max when schools start suing each other over players. This week, the delightful drama unfolded as Wisconsin and its collective reportedly filed a lawsuit against the University of Miami, alleging tampering and NIL inducements. The gist? Miami supposedly poached a Wisconsin player by having him break a lucrative NIL contract. Our take: "Amateurism" is officially a six-letter word for "fiction." We warned you the NIL era would be the Wild West, and now it's got actual lawyers in cowboy hats, exchanging subpoenas instead of gunshots. The only sure bet here is that the legal fees will probably outweigh whatever NIL deal was initially on the table. Welcome to the new college football, where the only winners are sometimes the attorneys.

Auburn's Recruiting Class: From "Boom" to "Bust" Faster Than a Coordinator Swap

Pour one out for the Auburn faithful this week. After a promising start, their 2026 recruiting class has seen its national ranking plummet faster than a rival's playoff hopes after a November upset. Several highly-touted 4-star and 5-star commits have unexpectedly flipped their pledges, jumping ship to rival SEC powerhouses like Georgia and even ACC spoiler Florida State. It's a brutal reminder of the fickle nature of recruiting, where a teenager's "commitment" can be as fleeting as a fair-weather fan's loyalty. Coaches preach "family" and "loyalty," but when another school rolls up with a bigger... ahem... "opportunity," suddenly that family reunion looks a lot less appealing. This off-season, Auburn is learning that commitments, much like promises of future greatness, are written in sand.

EA Sports College Football 26: The Virtual Gridiron Gets Real (Maybe)

Finally, something we can all agree to fight about: a video game! Early impressions and details are trickling out for the highly anticipated EA Sports College Football 26 game. We're getting glimpses of new gameplay features, updated rosters, and the perennial debate about the "Top 5 Toughest Places to Play" – in a virtual world. Is it really a tough stadium if the virtual crowd noise can be muted? Can a virtual mascot charge the virtual field? Our snarky question remains: will the game include a "Transfer Portal" feature where your star virtual QB can suddenly leave for a rival with better virtual NIL? Or a "Coach Hot Seat" meter that flashes ominously after three consecutive losses? The real chaos, as always, is still better than the digital version... for now.

CFP Expansion Debate: Still Squabbling Over Spots (And Billions)

Just when you thought the College Football Playoff committee had finally decided something (12 teams! Yay!), the endless debate over expansion is back on the menu. There are still persistent calls for the CFP to remain at 12 teams, with some arguing that further expansion to 16 teams is unnecessary and driven by impatient, profit-hungry leaders. Meanwhile, the conferences are still playing musical chairs with their schedules, trying to figure out if an 8-game or 9-game conference slate makes the most sense for the money-grubbing, excuse me, competitive landscape. It's a fascinating display of organizational gridlock, proving that getting a handful of athletic directors and commissioners to agree on anything is harder than covering a 20-point spread. The more things change, the more the arguments stay the same.

That's it for another dispatch from the gridiron's dark underbelly. We hope you enjoyed the ride, the snark, and perhaps even learned something. Stay tuned for our next issue, where we'll continue to expose the truths and absurdities of college football.

Until then, may your mascots be mighty and your bets be bold.

The Betting the Mascots Team

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