No one was complaining about NIL when when the the O State beat reporters and insiders said O State had substantially upped their NIL game w/ the accompanying rumors that boosters/collectives were willing to overpay for premium defense recruits. No one was complaining about NIL when when Jeremy Birmingham said O State will not be outgunned on NIL for Bolden. Suddenly, after a perceived NIL recruiting loss, it's "pay for play is unsustainable, the feds need to get involved to regulate NIL." Firstly, as long as they are mega media deals driving the formation of super leagues, inflationary NIL pay to play is absolutely sustainable. Secondly, you do not want the feds involved in regulating NIL. It's not coincidence that has soon as Sankey and Saban started poking their noses into the lobbying efforts that these bills started appearing. Do you really want Tommy Tuberville writing federal NIL legislation? Manchin and Tuberville horse trading w/ Texas politicians? "It just means more" absolutely applies to the politicians, too. Any federal NIL legislation will absolutely favor the SEC. Indeed, the Pass act nukes the Transfer Portal. The SEC powers do not like the TP. They've never liked the prospect of their rosters being raided by other SEC teams. Lastly, it has been a bit befuddling to me why any BIG fan would want a highly regulated NIL. The SEC has the recruits. The BIG has the money and the top media markets. NL is the great equalizer. I know why the SEC wants federal regulation in place. I'm not sure why the BIG does.
Further point. Based on reporting, O State finished out of the top 3 for Bolden. NIL may have been why FSU beat out Georgia. But NIL is not why O State lost. Bolden simply continues a disappointing trend where any June OV recruiting momentum for top out of state recruits dissipates into the latter part of the summer. I know "Ohio State doesn't pay for unofficial visits," but they probably should start. That way they can actually get a much better read on these recruitments as they head down the stretch. If history is a guide, I'm guessing they will start doing that. The "drive 65 in a 55 mile zone w/ no cops" approach is reactive, not proactive. It takes getting lapped or bitch slapped across the face before they decide to step on the pedal. But unlike, say. Michigan or Notre Dame, O State will eventually step on the pedal.
ohiostate.rivals.com
