The shifting landscape of college sports has its fingerprints all over the first College Football Playoff rankings of the expanded, 12-team era.

Conference realignment and the growth of NIL (name, image, and likeness) were huge factors in shaping the historic reveal and the debut projected Playoff bracket that was released on the same night as the presidential election.

While it’s not surprising to see Oregon, Ohio State, and Georgia as the top three ranked programs, Miami is ranked No. 4 as aggressive NIL spending has no doubt helped the Hurricanes to their 9–0 start. Should they win the ACC, they’ll be in line to nab one of the four first-round byes.

BYU’s early move from the Mountain West to the Big 12 in 2023 (which cost $18 million) has already paid off, as the Cougars are currently projected to also get a first-round bye as one of the four highest-ranked conference champions, despite being ranked No. 9 overall.

Musical Chairs

There is $116 million up for grabs to distribute to conferences, based on the teams that qualify for the CFP and advance to subsequent rounds. And while the CFP’s top two leaders said the selection committee doesn’t factor in which conferences teams play in, the initial projected bracket shows plenty of disparity:

• Big Ten (4): Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana
• SEC (4): Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama
• ACC (1): Miami
• Big 12 (1): BYU
• Mountain West (1): Boise State
• Independents (1): Notre Dame

The Big Ten and SEC are already set to receive a larger share of CFP revenue than other conferences under the new agreement that will take effect in 2026. It appears they will likely be cashing in earlier, too.

Another FSU Situation?

Last year, in the final season of the four-team CFP, Florida State became the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to be left out of the Playoff, leading to legal questions from the state’s lawmakers. 

The Seminoles had lost starting quarterback Jordan Travis to a broken leg on Nov. 18, which factored into Florida State’s CFP absence. Moving forward, injuries to key players will likely still play a part in who makes the Playoff.

“If there is a loss due to injury, the committee is going to look at the team’s performance without that player,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said Tuesday night. “Just like they did last year, they’re going to see how a team performs with the loss of a key player, and they’re going to evaluate them on that merit. And if they know that player is not coming back, they know that that’s the team moving forward that they’re going to rank for the future.”

The Braves posted yet another solid financial quarter and have reached the postseason for seven straight years, reaffirming their status as one of MLB’s top-performing clubs on and off the field. Team officials, however, warned Wednesday that turbulence in their local media situation could bring serious future impacts.

Atlanta Braves Holdings, Inc. reported third-quarter earnings that included a 7% increase in total revenue to $290.7 million, beating analyst expectations, and $6.4 million in operating income, down 59% from the comparable quarter in 2023. The figures continued a run of high-level performance since the franchise spun off from Liberty Media in July 2023. 

The Braves are just one of two MLB teams currently assured of staying with FanDuel Sports Network parent company Diamond Sports Group in 2025, with the other being the Marlins. The regional sports network operator is attempting to complete a reorganization process, and it has a confirmation hearing scheduled for Nov. 14. DSG, however, is looking to renegotiate many of its baseball rights deals. 

“While the pending bankruptcy proceeding of Diamond Sports Group has not previously had a material unfavorable impact on the company’s revenue, and the company has received scheduled payments to date, we cannot currently predict whether such bankruptcy proceedings are reasonably likely to have a material unfavorable impact on our revenue in the future,” said Braves president and CEO Derek Schiller in an earnings call with analysts.

At a bankruptcy court hearing last month to confirm a naming rights deal with FanDuel, MLB said it would be opposing DSG’s assumption of its Braves broadcast deal. While acknowledging the broader media industry uncertainty, Schiller said the club’s strong run of on-field success and its expansive market territory provide some insulating effects. 

“We’re not just waiting for bankruptcy to be defining what might happen, but we’re also studying the potential opportunities for us,” Schiller said. “No matter what happens, we think we are in a very enviable position. … We think we have an opportunity to capitalize further on that [market] territory should those rights come back to us.”

Inside the Numbers

The sharp drop in the Braves’ operating income owes in part to increased baseball costs, such as player payroll that rose in 2024 to $236.4 million and MLB revenue-sharing obligations. Team attendance in 2024 declined 6% to 3.01 million after setting a Truist Park record in 2023, but still ranked fifth in the league, trailing only the Dodgers, Phillies, Padres, and Yankees, in that order. 

Within the club’s overall revenue, the Braves generated $17.4 million in quarterly revenue from their mixed-use development, The Battery, up from 12% from last year’s third quarter. The Braves also are actively preparing to host MLB’s 2025 All-Star Game at Truist Park. 

The Braves are the only publicly traded MLB club, something that chairman Terry McGuirk said Thursday “we do not take lightly.” The club, meanwhile, also recently was ranked as the league’s top franchise in overall guest experience, concessions, and non-game entertainment. 

Efforts by the PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s financial backers at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia to reach a deal unifying the fractured men’s professional game could be aided by former President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office, one of the sport’s top players said.

“Given today’s news, with what’s happened in America, I think that clears the way a little bit,” No. 3–ranked Rory McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of the DP World Tour’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. “So we’ll see.”

He’s likely referring to a perception that the Department of Justice won’t be as strict on antitrust conflicts (which the PGA Tour and LIV have been dealing with) under a Republican administration as it would be under another Democratic president.

“From the outside looking in, it’s probably a little less complicated than it actually is,” McIlroy said. “But obviously Trump has a great relationship with Saudi Arabia. He’s got a great relationship with golf. He’s a lover of golf. So, maybe. Who knows? But I think as president of the United States again, he’s probably got bigger things to focus on than golf.”

Trump echoed those thoughts during a pre–Election Day appearance on the Let’s Go! podcast with Bill Belichick and Jim Gray. “I’m really going to work on other things, to be honest with you,” he said when asked about the PGA Tour and LIV on Monday. “I think we have much bigger problems than that. But I do think we should have one tour, and they should have the best players in that tour.”

Several Trump-owned golf courses have hosted LIV events since the tour launched in 2022, and Trump has appeared at multiple tournaments. Sources told Front Office Sports that rumors over the weekend from a British tabloid claiming the PGA Tour and LIV had reached a deal were premature. Talks are still underway and nothing has been finalized, McIlroy confirmed Wednesday.

But even if Trump doesn’t think helping the PGA Tour and LIV reach a deal is a top priority, McIlroy still may be onto something. “I could certainly help it,” Trump said. “I could probably get it done. I would say it would take me the better part of 15 minutes to get that deal done.”