NBA is investigating whether Clippers circumvented salary cap for Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard received a $28 million endorsement deal from a now-bankrupt company.
Penalties could be steep if the NBA finds wrongdoing in the Clippers case.

There’s a new wrinkle in the Kawhi Leonard “no-show” case.

New reporting from sports investigative reporter Pablo Torre, who broke the original story, uncovered that a December 2022 payment to Leonard that had been running late, was made just nine days after a company led by Clippers minority owner Dennis Wong invested in Aspiration.

The NBA is investigating whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap by facilitating a $28 million “no-show” endorsement deal to Leonard, through a now-bankrupt sustainability company called Aspiration.

According to bank statements Torre obtained and published during a Thursday, September 11 podcast episode, a $1.75 million payment from Aspiration was made on Thursday, December 15, 2022 to KL2 Aspire LLC, a company registered to Leonard. That payment, per the report, came as Aspiration was facing financial difficulties and having issues meeting payroll obligations.

In fact, a former high-ranking executive in Aspiration’s financial department told Torre that the company laid off 20% of its workforce the very same day that the $1.75 million payment was wired.

The complication for the Clippers, however, is that the wire to Leonard’s LLC came just nine days after receiving an investment from a company led by Wong, the Clippers’ minority owner.

On Tuesday, December 6, 2022, a company called DEA 88 Investments LP wired $1.99 million to Aspiration. The registered agent of that company, Torre uncovered, is Wong, the Clippers vice chairman and sole minority owner. Torre also reported that Wong was one of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer’s roommates at Harvard.

The Clippers issued a new statement to Torre once he raised the new reporting with them, deferring to the NBA investigation into the matter.

“The details of our relationship with Aspiration are under NBA investigation, but it is clear the company was a house of cards that defrauded Steve and many others,” the statement reads. “We look forward to sharing the facts with the league and providing them with all the information they need.”

The NBA has contracted New York-based law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz — which it has used in the past for other investigations – to lead the inquiry.

On Wednesday, September 10, NBA commissioner Adam Silver addressed the Leonard case upon the conclusion of a Board of Governors meeting held in Manhattan.

“In the case of the league, we and our investigators look at the totality of the evidence,” Silver said. “Whether mere appearance — just by the way the words read, as a matter of fundamental fairness — I would be reluctant to act if there was a mere appearance of impropriety. I think the goal of the investigation is to find out if there was impropriety. …

“I’ve been around the league long enough with different permutations of allegations and accusations that I’m a big believer in due process and fairness. We’ll let the investigation run its course.”

If the Clippers are found to have circumvented the salary cap, penalties could be massive and could include fines of up to $7.5 million, forfeiture of draft picks, voiding of player contracts and suspensions.

Week 2 will feature four prime-time games between Thursday and Monday, including an ‘MNF’ doubleheader.
The game of the week? Gotta be the Super Bowl 59 rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs in Kansas City.
Week 1 turned out to be highly unpredictable, but one of our experts went 11-5.

The NFL season largely returns to a more normal cadence in Week 2 after rolling out four prime-time games in five nights during kickoff weekend. OK, this weekend will also offer four prime-time games in five nights − but that’s due to a ‘Monday Night Football’ doubleheader, so you get to enjoy a football-free Friday … unless you’re miffed if you have to find something else to do on Friday night. (Sorry for you.)

Onward.

Speaking of prime time, Week 2 starts nicely with Prime Video’s first game of the season as the Washington Commanders visit the Green Bay Packers for their only scheduled matchup against former NFC East nemesis Micah Parsons.

Sunday night serves as a showcase for the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings and their sophomore quarterbacks, Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, respectively. Monday’s twinbill offers a matchup of 2024 division winners (Buccaneers-Texans) and an AFC West showdown as the Los Angeles Chargers visit the Las Vegas Raiders in the nightcap.

But Week 2’s  entrée is a Sunday afternoon Super Bowl 59 rematch − the Kansas City Chiefs trying to notch their first win of the season against a Philadelphia Eagles squad that not only ended K.C.’s three-peat bid but issued the Chiefs a Super Sunday beatdown. Who wins a contest between teams that have actually met in two of the past three Super Bowls? USA TODAY’s panel of NFL experts weighs in.

(Odds provided by BetMGM)

President Donald Trump was in attendance for the New York Yankees’ game against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, Sept. 11.

The Yankees held a pregame ceremony Thursday to ‘recognize the victims and heroes of 9/11’ on the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the terrorist attacks that happened on that day in 2001.

After the national anthem concluded in the stadium, members of the crowd started to chant “USA! USA!” with Trump seen joining in shortly after on the Fox News live stream on X.

Trump also met with the Yankees in the clubhouse before the game. The president was accompanied by Attorney General Pamela Bondi and William Pulte, the U.S. Director of Federal Housing, among others, at the game, according to CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs.

Trump stayed to watch the game, including Aaron Judge’s home run in the bottom of the first inning.

The New York players were wearing hats that read ‘NYPD’ and ‘FDNY’ to honor the emergency personnel who were on the scene in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Pitchers Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and manager Aaron Boone were among the Yankees’ representatives to lay a wreath at Monument Park, a museum located in Yankee Stadium, where a plaque is dedicated in tribute to the innocent victims and heroes lost on 9/11.

The president has made appearances at several sporting events in 2025, including the US Open men’s tennis final in New York on Sept. 7.

The Yankees encouraged anyone with a ticket to arrive early due to ‘enhanced security measures.’ The stadium gates were scheduled to open at 4 p.m. ET, three hours before the scheduled first pitch.

Donald Trump’s history with baseball

During his first term as president, he attended Game 5 of the 2019 World Series between the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington. Trump was greeted with boos when he was shown on the big screen.

In 2004, Trump’s helicopter landed in centerfield before he threw out the first pitch at a Somerset Patriots minor league game in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.

The Green Bay Packers held a moment of silence in tribute to Charlie Kirk ahead of their Week 2 game against the Washington Commanders on Thursday night.

Kirk – a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA – was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah on Wednesday. He was 31 years old.

Kirk was a known ally of President Donald Trump, who confirmed Kirk’s death on social media Wednesday. Trump later issued an address from the Oval Office expressing ‘grief and anger’ at Kirk’s assassination.

Trump also announced he would be posthumously awarding Kirk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Authorities are still searching for Kirk’s shooter. A suspect has not yet been identified, though the FBI released a photo of a person of interest in the case on Thursday.

The Packers weren’t the only professional sports franchise to hold a moment of silence for Kirk. The New York Yankees also held one for him ahead of their Wednesday night game against the Detroit Tigers.

Trump made an appearance at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, as the team held a pregame ceremony to recognize the heroes and victims of 9/11 on the 24th anniversary of the tragedy.

Many of college football’s top preseason quarterbacks have underperformed early in the season.
Miami’s Carson Beck and Oklahoma’s John Mateer have emerged as top performers after three weeks.
Several quarterbacks, including Oregon’s Dante Moore and Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, are making a case for Heisman consideration.

Things are not going as expected for many of college football’s top quarterbacks.

The top five names on the USA TODAY Sports preseason ranking of the best passers in the Bowl Subdivision failed to make the cut in our updated glance after the opening stretch of the regular season.

Clemson’s Cade Klubnik ranks near the bottom of the ACC in efficiency. Garrett Nussmeier led LSU to a big win against the Tigers but is averaging only 5.9 yards per attempt, second from the bottom in the SEC. Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt had two interceptions in the Sun Devils’ shocking loss to Mississippi State.

Most notably, Arch Manning misfired in his starting debut against Ohio State but did rebound with five total touchdowns against San Jose State. Penn State’s Drew Allar has been steady in blowout wins against Nevada and Florida International but was still bumped from our updated ranking, though four from the Big Ten did manage to crack the list.

These quarterbacks have been the best in the country through three weeks:

1. Carson Beck, Miami

Beck has been everything No. 6 Miami hoped he would be through two games. After leading the Hurricanes to a 27-24 win against No. 8 Notre Dame to open the year, Beck set a program record by completing his first 15 attempts in a blowout of Bethune Cookman.

2. John Mateer, Oklahoma

Beck replaced Cam Ward. Mateer replaced a pair of Oklahoma quarterbacks who combined to average 175.8 passing yards per game and 6.1 yards per attempt last season. While Beck has been superb, Mateer has been even more impactful in vaulting the No. 16 Sooners into the SEC mix. He had 344 yards of offense and three touchdowns in the big win against then-No. 13 Michigan.

3. Dante Moore, Oregon

Moore has made it look easy. (So has Oregon.) After learning the system last season behind Dillon Gabriel, the former UCLA transfer has 479 yards on 10.9 yards per throw and six scores without an interception through two games. He’s yet to attempt a pass in the fourth quarter.

4. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor

Robertson is bursting into the Heisman Trophy picture after throwing for 419 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Auburn and 440 yards and four more touchdowns to lead Baylor past rival SMU. The senior is even better than he was in 2024, when he had over 3,000 passing yards and 28 scores.

5. Dylan Raiola, Nebraska

Raiola took what he could get in the Cornhuskers’ 20-17 win against Cincinnati, completing 33 of 42 attempts for 243 yards against the Bearcats’ bend-but-don’t-break scheme. The sophomore looked even more at home in Dana Holgorsen’s offense with 364 yards and four touchdowns on 11.7 yards per attempt in a 68-0 romp over Akron.

6. Rocco Becht, Iowa State

Yes, Becht can be an adventure at times, and yes, a big chunk of his 595 yards and six touchdowns passing came in a 55-7 win against South Dakota. Sandwiched around that performance are wins against Kansas State and Iowa, which have moved No. 14 Iowa State to the front of the line in the Big 12.

7. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt

After making a statement in last year’s season-opening victory against Virginia Tech with 190 passing yards and 104 yards on the ground in a 34-27 win, Pavia had 193 passing yards on 10.7 yards per attempt with another 61 rushing yards in the Commodores’ 44-20 defeat of the Hokies in Week 2. Pavia might have the highest comfort level in his scheme of any quarterback in the Power Four.

8. Joey Aguilar, Tennessee

The offseason swap with UCLA has worked out wonderfully for No. 15 Tennessee and not so well for Nico Iamaleava and the Bruins. Aguilar has 569 yards of offense through two games while Iamaleava is averaging only 6.2 yards per throw for winless UCLA. A big test awaits in this Saturday’s home game against No. 3 Georgia.

9. Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Altmyer continues to fly under the national radar. So does No. 9 Illinois, coincidentally. He was the clear winner of last weekend’s highly anticipated quarterback duel with Duke’s Darian Mensah, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns as Illinois won 45-19. He’s not the biggest or fastest, but he’s very effective in running the Illini scheme.

10. Julian Sayin, Ohio State

In his first career start, Sayin outplayed Manning to lead No. 1 Ohio State to a 14-7 win against then-No. 2 Texas. In his second, the sophomore completed 18 of 19 throws for 306 yards and four touchdowns against overmatched Grambling. This résumé gives him the edge over three other contenders for the last spot in Allar, Southern California’s Jayden Maiava and Pittsburgh’s Eli Holsten.

It took several minutes for some soccer fans around the world. It took at least an hour, or even longer, for others. And some fans even ran into a “HTTP Status 400 — Bad Request” error message. Apparently, for good reason.

The first opportunity to register to buy 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets during the Visa Presale Draw saw more than 1.5 million fans from 210 countries sign up on Sept. 10, FIFA said in a press release on Sept. 11.

The countries with the highest demand were the three host nations – U.S., Mexico and Canada – followed by Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, England, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

Prospective World Cup ticket buyers can still register for the ticket draw for Visa cardholders through Sept. 19 at 11 a.m. ET.

FIFA insists fans who sign up at any time still receive the same chance to win during the draw as fans that have already signed up.

Another reminder: This is an opportunity to be selected to buy World Cup tickets, not actually buy them just yet.

“The large number of entries submitted is a testament to the huge amount of excitement sparked across the globe by the FIFA World Cup 26 and the extent to which it’s set to become a watershed in football history,” FIFA World Cup 26 Chief Operating Officer Heimo Schirgi said in the press release.

Still, the social media reaction in the hours following the 11 a.m. ET start time to the draw on Sept. 10 echoed frustration for many.

“Joined the HTTP Status 400 – Bad Request brigade for the FIFA presale. Brutal,” soccer commentator Chris Wittyngham said on X.

Journalist J.D. Capelouto plainly stated: “I want World Cup tickets so I’m currently in a waiting room to join a queue to enter a presale draw to determine my eligibility to maybe buy tickets at an unspecified later date. what are we doing here @FIFAcom[?]”

Danny Navarro, an informative social media creator known as travelfutbolfan, called the FIFA ticket draw process “shambolic” because the organization sent its users an email with a link to register hours after the initial start time. He signed up for the draw using the FIFA app instead of the website and reported fans said it took about 10 minutes for them to ultimately sign up.

World Cup ticket draw winners will be notified on Sept. 29, and receive a dedicated date and time slot from Oct. 1 to Oct. 21 to purchase tickets during the first phase of ticket sales.

FIFA says ticket buyers can buy up to four tickets per match for 10 total matches, 40 tickets in total. FIFA will also launch its own ticket resale platform to safeguard fans against invalid or unauthorized resale tickets.

2026 FIFA World Cup tickets: Types and prices

Ticket buyers can buy three types of tickets: Single-match tickets, team-specific tickets to follow their country, or venue-specific tickets to attend matches at the same stadium.

Tickets are also priced in categories: Category 1 is the most expensive in the lower bowl of the respective host stadiums. Category 2 is the second level, followed by Categories 3 and 4 in the upper levels.

FIFA says the lowest price ticket for a group stage match at the beginning of the tournament will be $60, while the most expensive ticket price for the World Cup final will be set at $6,730. However, variable or dynamic pricing could affect how much those prices could fluctuate based on demand.

FIFA will have approximately 1 million tickets for sale during the presale draw phase, while 6 million fans are expected to attend.

The next opportunity to register to buy World Cup tickets will occur later this year. There will also be two other opportunities to purchase tickets in 2026.

The World Cup begins June 11, 2026, in Mexico City and ends with the final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 19, 2026.

The NHL is clearing a path for the five players acquitted of sexual assault in the Hockey Canada case to return to the league in December.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote had been found not guilty in a London, Ontario, courthouse on July 24 of one count each of sexual assault. McLeod was also found not guilty of being a party to the offense.

The league said on Thursday, Sept. 11, that it viewed further discipline as necessary, and the players can’t return to play until Dec. 1. They’re eligible to sign with an NHL team no sooner than Oct. 15.

The players had been in London in June 2018 for a Hockey Canada gala honoring the gold medal-winning world junior championship team. Police, whose initial investigation led to no charges, reopened the case and charged the five in February 2024. They said the alleged assaults took place in a hotel room after the defendants had met the woman, then 20, at a downtown bar.

Justice Maria Carroccia, who handled the rest of the two-month trial after the jury was dismissed, said she didn’t find the accuser’s evidence ‘credible or reliable’ and that prosecutors didn’t meet their burden of proof. She found the five not guilty.

What the NHL said on Thursday

‘The events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario, prior to these players’ arrival in the NHL, were deeply troubling and unacceptable,’ the NHL said in its Sept. 11 statement. ‘The League expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity. And, in this case, while found not to have been criminal, the conduct of the players involved certainly did not meet that standard.’

The league added: ‘Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions. Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal League-imposed discipline.’

The NHL noted that the players will have been out of the league nearly two years by the time they are eligible to play.

‘The League expects and requires that, going forward, each of the players will uphold the standards required of NHL players both on and off the ice,’ the statement said.

What NHL Players’ Association said on Thursday

The NHL didn’t reinstate the players after the acquittals, saying it wanted to review the case. The NHL Players’ Association said at the time that it disagreed with the league’s decision.

The NHLPA put out the following statement after the league’s Sept. 11 ruling.

“We are pleased that Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod will have the opportunity to resume their NHL careers. The players cooperated with every investigation. Upon their full acquittal by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, we initiated discussions with the NHL regarding the players’ return to work. To avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced today. We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players’ return.’

Just when you thought you’d seen it all with the college sports money grab, we give you Ohio State University. 

The Roman Empire, everyone, needs more cash. 

Ohio State president Ted Carter told USA TODAY that revenue sharing in the Big Ten – more cash for elite television properties – is ‘going to be a conversation that will be had over time.”

To this I say, the team that spent $41 million in 2024 to buy a national championship, the athletic program that generates more money than any other with the exception of Texas, is apparently bleeding cash.

Pray for them. 

“There’s only a couple of schools that really represent the biggest brands in the Big Ten,” Carter said.

The two schools: Ohio State and Michigan. Who cares about the other 16 in the conference, they’re inconsequential.

Now before we go further with this nonsensical garbage, let’s run over last year’s win at all cost balance sheet at Ohio State, shall we?

Coach Ryan Day: $10 million.

Assistant coaching staff: $11.4 million.

Player NIL salaries: $20 million.

That $41.4 million investment included paying a nucleus of upperclassmen enough money to skip the NFL, and four impact starters from the transfer portal. 

Ohio State doesn’t win the national title last year without signing a conference championship quarterback (Will Howard), the best running back (Quinshon Judkins) and defensive player (Caleb Downs) in the best conference in college football, and an All-SEC offensive lineman (Seth McLaughlin).

That all-in moment set the foundation for the future of player procurement, and by proxy, finding revenue streams. There’s no greater, no more easily accessible revenue stream, than television money.

And now we see just how far Ohio State will go to get it, including joining hands with – hold on to your bucknuts – That School Up North.

But there’s a teeny-weeny problem with this we deserve the cash and they don’t philosophy at Ohio State: there’s no leverage. To take a stand and demand more, there must be leverage. 

What are Ohio State and Michigan going to do? Threaten to leave for the SEC? Go it alone as independents? Please.

Imagine the stones it takes to demand more money from a century-old conference of like minds and philosophies, of strict solidarity, with absolutely zero leverage. 

You want more money because you’re Ohio State (and Michigan), and they’re not.

It’s bad enough that the Big Ten made Maryland and Rutgers wait several years before receiving a full revenue share. Or that Washington and Oregon, who joined the Big Ten last year, won’t receive a full share until 2030. 

It’s worse that Ohio State (and Michigan) believes the rest of the Big Ten should supplement their athletic coffers — at the expense of their own ability to compete.

The value isn’t in specific teams, it’s in the conference. The Big Ten has shown some recognition of the need to help schools with smaller football stadiums through a ticket revenue sharing arrangement.

But you know why the SEC has been so popular, so successful over the last three decades?

Because it’s not every man for himself, it’s every man for all — and we’re going to compete like hell to see who wins. 

That’s why Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee have combined to win 16 national titles since 1995. Ohio State and Michigan – and no other Big Ten schools – have won four.

The Big 12 nearly imploded in the early 2000s when Texas and Oklahoma demanded revenue sharing, and eventually did when the Longhorns and Sooners left for the SEC. Now the Big 12 is a watered-down version of the American Conference.

The Pac-12 imploded after Southern California and UCLA demanded more money. Now the Pac-12 is the Mountain West. 

I’m not saying the Big Ten will eventually destabilize if it adopts revenue sharing that favors Ohio State and Michigan. I’m saying Ohio State and Michigan want the rest of the Big Ten to make sure the two largest television properties will have a guaranteed competitive advantage.

That’s dangerous. 

And then there’s the Roman Empire.

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

If Ohio State gets greedy and demands more in media rights, that could threaten to disrupt the Big Ten.
Hypothetical talks of a super league would gain steam if big brands like Ohio State get unhappy with conference structure.
Ohio State president points to Buckeyes’ television viewership as sign of its worth.

So, this is how Big Ten football withers. This is how college football’s super-conference power structure dies. With an act of Ohio State greed.

How appropriate, within an industry guided by a get-mine, forget-you philosophy.

The past few years have included blue-sky ideation about the possibility of an elitist College Football League emerging that uplifts the crème de la crème to a higher stratosphere.

Enacting such a change would require the sport’s biggest brands to untether themselves from the existing conference structure.

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Currently, a collection of 34 schools in the Big Ten and the SEC plus Notre Dame wield the power. But, what would happen if schools like Ohio State say, “Who needs the Big Ten? We’re bigger than the Big Ten.”

We might be only a few years from finding out.

Wildfires start with a spark, and a spark toward super-conference disruption came this week. Ohio State President Ted Carter alluded during an interview with USA TODAY that the Buckeyes could be deserving of a richer revenue distribution from the Big Ten.

The logic goes like this: A couple of Big Ten schools like Ohio State are much more valuable than the rest of the conference. These mega brands command the highest television ratings. So, why shouldn’t those schools get a greater percentage of the conference revenue distribution?

“There’s only a couple of schools that really represent the biggest brands in the Big Ten, and you can see that by the TV viewership,” Carter told USA TODAY during a wide-ranging interview.

Ohio State greed would be a spark for potential change

Carter gave no ultimatums, and we should note he said “we’re a proud member of the Big Ten, and that’s where we’re going to stay.”

But, let’s be real, the thinking that Ohio State deserves a larger Big Ten media-rights payout than most of its conference cohorts is the first step toward: Why does Ohio State need the Big Ten at all?

Carter drew attention to the whopper television ratings from Ohio State’s season opener against Texas on Fox.

“That’s what happens when you put the Ohio State brand out there,” Carter said.

That’s what happens when you put Texas and a Manning out there, too. No matter a quarterback’s surname, though, games featuring top brands like Ohio State and Texas offer ratings bonanzas.

So, you could see how Ohio State’s thinking might jump to: When Ohio State plays a smaller brand like Purdue, why shouldn’t the Buckeyes receive a higher media-rights payout from that game than Purdue?

If you’re wondering how unequal revenue sharing would be good for Purdue (or Minnesota, Rutgers, or any of the conference’s other smaller brands), well, it wouldn’t be.

But, do you think Ohio State cares about playing nice with the Big Ten’s underbelly? Not when there’s another dollar to be made and another championship to be bought.

Conference realignment coming in the 2030s, or a big-school breakaway?

Schools like Purdue wouldn’t have to agree to unequal revenue sharing, but if the Big Ten’s undercard takes a stand against Ohio State, what’s to stop the Buckeyes from ditching Purdue and its kind altogether?

Why bother with the Big Ten, when Ohio State could take a place at the vanguard of forming an elitist super league?

Get mine, forget you.

Get fellow mega-brand Michigan on board, and a spark becomes a flame.

Power Four conferences are locked into media rights deals that extend into the 2030s. Those deals help bind schools to conferences. Many have speculated the next major round of conference realignment will occur when those TV deals wind down.

But, perhaps that’s old-school thinking. New-school thinking is that the sport’s biggest brands will ditch their conferences, band together within an elitist super league, and strike a rich media deal to create games like Texas-Ohio State on the regular.  

Under the Big Ten’s current media rights deal, most members receive an equal revenue share. Oregon and Washington are exceptions. They accepted a smaller revenue share until July 1, 2030, in exchange for a Big Ten invite during the last round of realignment.

All SEC members receive equal distribution, too, meaning Vanderbilt and Mississippi State receive an equal share to Texas and Alabama.

If you’re a fan of Northwestern or Vanderbilt or any of the other smaller-branded schools in a super conference, the idea of a breakaway elitist league ought to terrify you.

The SEC affords Vanderbilt some notion of athletics relevance. And a nice paycheck, too. Same for the Big Ten and Northwestern. But, do you think the Buckeyes and their television partners give a rip about Northwestern and their kind being in a super league?

Not a chance, unless perhaps they’re willing to accept pennies on the dollar.

Equal revenue distribution is generally viewed as a positive for conference cohesion. The past iteration of the Big 12 catered to Texas, its richest brand, and how’d that work out? The conference came unglued, and the Longhorns eventually left anyway.

In this get mine, forget you, world of college football, leave it to a deep-pocketed, big-branded bully like Ohio State to demand even more cash.

Ohio State lacks the threat of leaving for another conference.

But, who needs conferences? That’s old thinking. A greedy wildfire could consume that structure. A spark came this week.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.