Until Saturday: A show about college football The Athletic

Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell joins Ari Wasserman to discuss the Seminoles' approach to team building. Does Norvell believe his team's portal to high school recruiting ratio is a recipe for success? Is it sustainable? Manny Navarro, The Athletic's AuFlority, then hops on the mic to breakdown Norvell's roster construction from a analytical angle. Were FSU's portal hits more luck based, or are they the new standard for how to build a team? Later, the guys answer a voicemail from the Until Saturday phone line (316-462-9852) about who belongs in the NCAA 25 game's All-99 club. Plus, what is the lowest ranking a team can recruit at each position to win a national title?

Read Pt. 1 of our NIL confidential:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5484900/2024/05/13/college-football-transfer-portal-nil-deals/

Read Pt. 2 of our NIL confidential:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5499474/2024/05/20/college-football-transfer-portal-nil-collectives-movement/

Listen to last week's show:
https://pod.fo/e/23ce9b

Who's the SEC dark horse? Sign up for our FREE newsletter and vote: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Rundown:
- Portal reliance; "transactional program" a functional model? (:30)
- Mike Norvell joins the show (5:00)
- Opinions on FSU's approach + advanced recruiting (20:00)
- Is FSU's portal success sustainable? (26:15)
- Other "transactional programs" & how certains teams use the portal (34:00)
- NCAA 25 All-99 club (45:45)
- Lowest rated position but still win a title? (49:30)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852
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Ari, Chris and Max share their instant reactions to the first EA Sports NCAA 25 trailer! Chris also shares what features fans can expect in the game. You may think you know how the transfer portal and NIL works, but Manny Navarro, Chris Vannini, and Ari Wasserman tells you how it REALLY works. Manny, Chris, and several other The Athletic reporters interviewed players, coaches, and agents about how two of the most prevelant yet perplexing topics in college sports. How do programs recruit players? Where do agents fit into all of this,are players only after a bag, and which programs spend the most? WE HAVE A RELEASE DATE FOR NCAA 25. An array of news came out of Florida at the ACC Spring Meetings. Dabo dropped another transfer portal comment, Florida St. vs ACC still rages on, even with both parties at the same hotel, and does the conference have a perception problem?

Read about how the transfer portal works:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5484900/2024/05/13/college-football-transfer-portal-nil-deals/

Read about how NIL agents fit into the picture:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5490748/2024/05/15/college-football-nil-agents-transfer-portal/

Read Nicole Auerbach's stories from ACC Spring Meetings:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5494186/2024/05/14/acc-college-football-playoff-perception/

Who's the Big 12 dark horse? Sign up and answer future Until Saturday newsletter's Question of the Day here: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Rundown:
- EA Sports NCAA 25 trailer + features (:30)
- How does NIL/portal work? What we learned (15:00)
- So...tampering (24:00)
- Are players only after a paycheck? (28:30)
- Transactional programs (29:45)
- How do deals get done? (41:00)
- Biggest spenders (48:30)
- NCAA 25 release date (1:00:30)
- ACC Spring Meetings: Dabo, league perception, FSU + House vs NCAA deadline (1:08:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852
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One of Until Saturday's most dedicated listeners, Sad Husker Nate, did it again. He left another gem of a question for Ari Wasserman, Sam Khan Jr., and Mitch Light on the Until Saturday Phone Line (316-462-9852): Who's on our Mount Rushmore of CFB Villains? The trio go meta with some of their choices (like the Pac-12's cognoscenti that destroyed the conference), but weren't bashful about naming some names (like Michigan's Jim Harbaugh). Baylor is gambling on Dave Aranda after consecutive losing seasons. Why did AD Mack Rhodes decide to retain Aranda? Sam takes us inside his excellent story before the group delves into a bigger picture conversation: What's a fair timeline for a coach? Lastly, EA Sports NCAA 25 dropped a bombshell on us last Friday.

Read Sam's Dave Aranda story: https://theathletic.com/5467548/2024/05/06/dave-aranda-baylor-football/

Who's the Big 12 dark horse? Sign up and answer the Until Saturday newsletter's Question of the Day here: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Rundown:
- Mount Rushmore of CFB Villains via Sad Husker Nate (4:00)
- Honorable mention villains (38:00)
- Baylor's big bet on Dave Aranda + fair timelines (44:45)
- NCAA 25 cover athletes (1:00:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852
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We asked you, Until Saturday and college football fans alike, to weigh in on Ari Wasserman's Post-Spring Top-25 rankings. Ari takes fan feedback on his list as well as input from Chris Vannini, who joins him on today's show. Why was Utah ranked so low? Was a Group of 5 team considered, and a fan thinks Ari's story was DISGUSTINGLY...rational? Plus, Brian Kelly, Spencer Danielson, and more coaches spoke openly about certain aspects of their school's NIL approach. Some of what was said wasn't well received, but are outspoken parties simply overreacting? Unlimited coaches, Iowa's new QB, the ACC's dark horse and more!

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter & join in answering the Question of the Day!: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Rundown:
- NIL consternation + Boise St. HC Spencer Danielson on Freshman/NIL comments (2:00)
- Post-Spring Top-25 postmortem + Chris weighs in (13:30)
- Changes + G5 regrets and contenders (21:15)
- Until Saturday phone line opens: Ari, why do you hate Carson Beck? (26:45)
- How are early-season marquee matchups contextualized? (31:30)
- Someone liked Ari's rankings? (38:00)
- Text via Jason from Austin: Why is Utah ranked so low? (41:00)
- Text via David G San Antonio.: Post-spring hypothetical 12-team playoff (44:00)
- Text via Ben from Louisville: Kudos for ranking the Cardinals (51:00)
- Until Saturday newsletter QOTD: Which team is the ACC dark horse? (53:00)
- Iowa's new QB + unlimited coaches (56:00)

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852
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Ari Wasserman is joined by Max Olson and Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports sports writer extraordinaire and 1/3 of the 'College Football Enquirer' podcast, to discuss his post-spring top-25 rankings. Which teams are ranked too high, too low, not at all? We want to hear your thoughts about Ari's rankings, so call the Until Saturday phone line and leave a voicemail (or text): 316-462-9852. Plus, Dan attempts to explain new emerging details about the NCAA's compensation model.

Rundown:
- Compensation model new info (2:00)
- Post-spring Top-25 rankings: Nos. 1-3 (12:30)
- Nos. 4-7 (27:00)
- Nos. 8-10 (38:00)
- Nos. 11-13 (45:00)
- Nos. 14 & 15 (53:00)
- Nos. 16-18 (1:00:00)
- Nos. 19-22 (1:09:00)
- Nos. 23-25 + Dumping USC (1:14:30)

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question: (316) 462-9852
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A vortex of social media activity ensued after Tuesday's podcast with Max Olson (which can be found in your feed). Multiple ex-Colorado players spoke with Max about their experience being cut from the program when Deion Sanders took over, and those thoughts were shared on this show. Since then, Deion and Shedeur Sanders have responded to some of those former players who aired their thoughts on social media. Ari Wasserman and Sam Khan Jr. weigh in on what has been said by Prime and others. But, before then, Ari and Sam explain why House vs. NCAA is important to you as a CFB fan. They also acquaint you with draft-eligible players that you need to know.

Rundown:
- House vs NCAA & how it could completely change CFB (2:00)
- Top offensive draft-eligible players (10:00)
- Top defensive draft-eligible players (24:00)
- Who's going to pop-off this season? (34:00)
- Tin Hat Ari (46:00)
- "Bush League" Deion Sanders (48:15)

Read Max's Colorado story:
https://theathletic.com/5449961/2024/04/29/deion-sanders-colorado-transfer-portal-2023/

Read Dane's 2025 mock draft:
https://theathletic.com/5458526/2024/04/30/nfl-mock-draft-2025-prediction-shedeur-sanders-will-johnson/

Read Justin's House vs. NCAA explainer:
https://theathletic.com/5174023/2024/01/03/ncaa-proposal-subdivision-lawsuits/

Read Ari's story about Sam Salz:
https://theathletic.com/5457913/2024/05/02/sam-salz-texas-am-football-shabbat/

Subscribe to the Until Saturday newletter: https://theathletic.com/newsletters/until-saturday

Call/text the Until Saturday phone and leave us a question for a future mailbag and/or Sunday Sound-Off podcast: (316) 462-9852
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices