Good morning!

It’s Thursday, June 12th, and we're back with your weekly playbook for college football chaos. Forget the boring summer lull; the off-season is where the real drama unfolds, behind closed doors, in courtrooms, and in the fevered imaginations of sports journalists.

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 grill marks are fading, but the college football gossip is just heating up. While the players are (supposedly) grinding in solitude, the big wigs are cutting checks and changing rules. Here’s what’s caught our critical eye in the land of phantom football this week:

The Payday Paradox: Welcome to the New Era (Hope You Brought Your Lawyers!)

Hold onto your wallets, folks, because the future of college football is officially here, and it smells like a fresh stack of legal bills. The House vs. NCAA settlement just got the green light, meaning schools are about to start directly paying athletes. Yep, your favorite amateur heroes are about to become salaried pros... or at least, a lot of them. This massive $2.8 billion antitrust lawsuit is officially wrapped, clearing the path for direct payments to athletes starting July 1st. But let's be real, a good chunk of that money isn't going to the players first – a cool $475 million (with potential to hit $725 million) is earmarked for the attorneys who made this happen. So, while we celebrate the athletes finally getting their due, let's also pour one out for the legal teams who just cashed in on the biggest transfer portal of all: money from the NCAA to their trust accounts.

Top Defenses of 2025: Texas at No. 1? Is This a Trap?

Oh, the glorious off-season tradition of ranking things that haven't happened yet! This week, the gurus at "Always College Football" dropped their Top 10 Defenses entering the 2025 season, and guess who snuck into the top spot? None other than the mighty Texas Longhorns. Now, before you start drawing horns on everything, let's remember that last year, Texas also had a defense that was supposedly "historically good" (or at least, that's what we heard). Can they really field their "best defense EVER" in 2025? Or is this just more preseason Kool-Aid designed to make us all forget about their occasional knack for collapsing under pressure? We're all for stout defense, but when Texas is ranked #1 in anything that requires consistency, our snark-senses start tingling. Proceed with caution, and maybe a few extra fantasy points for opposing QBs.

Coaching Hot Seat: Someone's Already Sweating in June (And It's Not Just the Summer Heat)

While most coaches are supposedly enjoying a brief respite, some are already feeling the early pressure cooker of the off-season. Reports are bubbling up about coaches who are squarely on the hot seat heading into 2025, with names like Billy Napier (Florida) and Sam Pittman (Arkansas) getting prominent mentions. Napier's 8-5 record last year might have bought him a little time, but the Gator faithful are restless, and the schedule isn't getting any easier. Pittman in Arkansas? Inconsistent results are a quick way to buy a one-way ticket to the unemployment line in the SEC. It's a reminder that even in June, the metaphorical axe is always hovering. Better start recruiting some 5-star lifelines, gentlemen, because the clock is already ticking.

NCAA's New Rules: The Fake Injury Crackdown (Finally, Some Sense?)

Remember last season, when every third down against a fast-paced offense would magically induce a cramp in a defensive lineman? Well, the NCAA has seemingly had enough. New rules for 2025 are targeting those notoriously obvious "fake injuries" aimed at slowing down opponents. Now, if a player goes down after the ball is spotted, their team gets charged a timeout. No timeouts left? Five-yard delay-of-game penalty. They've also tweaked the 12-men-on-the-field penalty (looking at you, Oregon's Dan Lanning!) and added rules against "disconcerting signals." While we applaud any effort to prevent tactical flopping, we'll believe players stop faking injuries when a mascot voluntarily gives up free food. It's a noble effort, but we're setting the over/under on how long it takes coaches to find the next loophole.

That's it for our second 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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