Ashton Jeanty‘s run with the Broncos has been nothing but historic. You know the funny thing? We would’ve never seen a star like him in CFB if Boise State hadn’t stepped in. Going from Naples to Lone Star, Jeanty had just one dream: make it big. However, despite going over 1800 yards and 40 touchdowns, that golden ticket never arrived. But then Boise stepped in, and Ashton Jeanty knew it was do or die. The rest is history. Not only did this guy manage to become a Heisman runner-up, but he has broken multiple records when it comes down to running back stats. Dude is just 130+ yards away from breaking Barry Sanders’ record.

But then, all of this does make you wonder: If Ashton Jeanty is this good, why didn’t he ever go for any SEC school offer? The answer is simple: “Just everything, like, it just wasn’t a better opportunity. The only thing that was better was more money. And money ain’t everything to me,” Jeanty pointed out back on the Get Got Podcast. This comes days after Heisman winner Travis Hunter put his money where his mouth is. Following the same ‘money ain’t everything’ philosophy as Jeanty, Hunter also opted out of receiving funds from Buffs’ donors. Not only that. Hunter also gives away some amount from his NIL earnings to the NIL collective. This pays the salary of more than 10 players.

However, the entire NIL scene has been a big area of debate in college football. While some support the idea as it allows players to use their name and likeness to secure deals, it has created some big problems as well. Remember that entire Billy Napier and Jadan Rashada lawsuit? Yeah, it was because of alleged false NIL promises.

And there is an even bigger picture connected to all of this. With the implementation of the 12-team bracket, many contenders other than the SEC top teams finally got their chance to crack the playoff. On one side, it was a massive movement and allowed good teams like Notre Dame or even Ohio State to crack the rankings.

But then, on the flip side, there is some scrutiny regarding the extension. $116 million is up for grabs for any conference that makes it into the 12-team bracket. But there is the problem: the players will probably never see this money. “Well, $116 million, and we’re not touching. The players are not getting none of that. Like, we don’t work this whole time,” Hunter pointed out on his podcast.

The millions up there are solely for the conferences to enjoy and the payout will be dependent on how many schools crack it in. For each school that makes the playoff, the conference will receive around $4 million.

Then, an additional $8 million for any conference champ that cracks it into the bye week. Extending the bracket from 4 teams to 12 wasn’t only done to allow other champs to make it into the playoffs but also to make more money. When you circle back to what Jeanty said on the podcast, it does make you wonder if money is all it takes to build a good team. And if it is, then what could be the trade-off?

NIL is ruining college football?

Remember the entire Bryce Underwood scene? LSU had the No.1 QB for 2025 locked in. So what does Michigan do? Throw more than $10 million NIL on the table and take Underwood away. Even Nick Saban pointed out, “Well, I’m not sure if the system is great for development of players.” You can call Saban a hypocrite for takes or something, but up to a certain extent, he makes sense.

With the regular season ending, we all knew that there would be some transfer portal chaos, but boy, oh boy, has this year managed to top our expectations. Let’s talk Alabama. 14 different players from the Tide have hit the portal for a “better offer”. The recent loss was Jaylen Mbakwe leaving for an alleged 7 figure offer.

Yeah, money is good, and all, but is putting money over sports good? The entire UNLV QB Matthew Sluka and RB Michael Allen scene should be good reminders of how the entire NIL can backfire. Both the players left their teams mid-season because of “commitment” issues. When we dug a bit deeper, we found NIL problems to be the root cause. Sluka was promised $100k but never got it. For Allen, it is still unknown.

While we all know that NIL has become the new norm, there should be some form of moderation implemented on this system to put a stop to the unnecessary exploitation of players and teams.