What will change college sports first: lawsuits, the NLRB, or Congress?

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

Whew, have I got a bunch of stuff to share with all of you!

First, it's been a really busy week over at Collegiate Sports Connect. Earlier this week, I spoke to multiple hockey coaches and administrators over at RIT to better understand how the transfer portal has shaped college hockey roster management, and what new D-III legislation means for their program. RIT is unique in college sports in that they are a rare D-III school that competes at the D-I level in one sport...but until just a few weeks ago, they were prohibited from offering scholarships. That rule just changed.

I also talked to an old friend and one-time Extra Points contributor, Sam Ehrlich of Boise State. Sam is a law professor and an expert on the legal issues surrounding college athletics. I asked him about the specific legal questions that are being raised in the latest NLRB complaint, how long that process might take, and what is more likely to change the definition of amateurism first....the Johnson case working its way through the federal court system, complaints to the NLRB, or congressional action.

THEN, I also caught up with Bryan for the latest episode of Going For Two, presented by Homefield Apparel. Bryan and I tried to unpack a few of the other huge stories in college athletics that we haven't had a chance to write about yet. You can download the podcast on Apple or Spotify or watch the video from this playlist:

Voordat je verdergaat naar YouTube

Topics from this podcast include:

• Auburn?!?

• Southern Indiana's decision to reclassify to D-I and join the OVC\

• The Horizon League's decision to keep UIC from competing for conference championships

• No seriously...Auburn!?

• What we can learn, and what we can't learn, from the FY 21 college athletic budget reports

• How you can save 15% off your first order at Homefield Apparel by using discount code EXTRAPOINTS

• How you can find all of the FY 21 FRS reports that we've sourced so far HERE, in our FOIA Directory:

Going For Two is the free podcast of Extra Points, which drops every Wednesday. You can find it via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts.

If you enjoy the show, liking, subscribing, and sharing with your friends is very much appreciated.

In other news, I'm hitting the road next week

I'm planning on flying out to Phoenix late next week. My plan is to write a few stories about Grand Canyon University (the current plan is to be at the season-opening baseball game against Nevada, and also the GCU Men's basketball game against New Mexico State), but will be poking around a few other stories as well. If you're in the Phoenix area and want to say hi, drop me a line at [email protected].

There will be Serious Professional Journalism and all from this trip....but also, it's nice to get some In N Out and maybe a little Vitamin D for the first time in like, three months.

Content from this trip will likely appear in some fashion on Collegiate Sports Connect, the free Extra Points listserv, and behind the paywall.

Your subscriptions allow me to go on road trips, write as much as I do, and more:

I'm able to do stuff like go to the NCAA Convention, go to other industry gatherings, visit campuses, and pay for the copious amount of Mountain Dew Rise that it takes to keep this operation going, because of your support. While I love love love our advertising partners (which can include you, if you email [email protected]), the majority of our revenue comes from reader subscriptions.

I've got stories coming about the EA Sports Video Game, NIL regulation, FOIA research and more over the next few days. This week, we had stories about new women's college basketball schedule models and how Troy University packed the house for their basketball teams thanks to Luther Burgers. You can make sure you get access to everything Extra Points offers by upgrading to a paid subscription. You'll get FIVE newsletters a week:

Thanks for sticking with us this week. I'll see you on the internet.

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To sponsor a future Extra Points newsletter, please email [email protected].  For article ideas, newsletter feedback, FOIA tips, athlete NIL sponsorships and more, I'm at [email protected], or @MattBrownEP on Twitter. Andy can be reached at @AndyWittry on Twitter or at [email protected]. Extra Points can be found on Reddit at /r/extrapointsmb