The race to court top prospects is more cutthroat than a Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue, and a program’s very future can hinge on its incoming freshman class.

About 14K athletes compete at the NCAA’s 313 DII schools, with top stars making the big leagues (particularly the NBA and NFL) — though that’s becoming rarer: With the transfer portal, it’s easier than ever for DII’s best to jump to a DI school.

On Tuesday, the sports media giant announced a deal with Penn Entertainment to officially enter the betting game.

Group of Five, mid-majors…whatever you call them, these smaller DI schools are rapidly catching up to their Power Five (er, Four?) competitors.

There are 438 DIII schools nationwide, and although it’s rare for DIII athletes to go pro, it’s certainly not unheard of, with recent grads doing so from fútbol to football.

In general, the most elite competition and the deepest pockets can be found at DI schools, scaling down through DII and DIII. But the biggest difference lies in the DII and DIII divide: Unlike in DI and DII, DIII athletes aren’t eligible for athletic scholarships. That means they’re playing purely out of love of the game (and possibly NIL money, of course).

The Power Five conference has been looking for a new media rights deal for over a year now and in the meantime, schools are dropping out of its ranks like flies.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before — a new study published yesterday exposes the pay and investment gaps in women’s sports and shines a light on the need for more sponsors in the industry.

Welcome to another edition of summer school Q&A!

But it’s not just the head coach (HC) leading these squads — for many teams, there’s a whole crew supporting the skipper, and graduate assistants do most of the grunt work.