While miraculously guiding Indiana to a spot in the College Football Playoff last season, Curt Cignetti established himself as one of the more colorful characters in the sport, a swaggering Yinzer who was never shy to share his feelings or hide his bravado.

This week at Big Ten media days in Las Vegas, he directed that unfiltered gaze at the SEC.

While addressing why the Hoosiers had canceled a home-and-home series with Virginia, Cignetti took a shot at the non-conference scheduling model many SEC teams employ and noted that his program was simply following that example.

“12 of the 16 SEC teams play three G5 (Group of Five) or an FCS game,” Cignetti said. “Twelve of those teams play 36 games – 29 G5 games and seven FCS games, and have one less conference game. We figured we’d just adopt SEC scheduling philosophy. Some people don’t like it. I’m more focused in on those nine conference games.”

The Hoosiers had been set to play against Louisville, which went 9-4 in 2024, but the final two games of a three-game series against the Cardinals were canceled in 2023, before Cignetti arrived at Indiana. Then-coach Tom Allen cited Big Ten expansion as a reason for the move. The game against Louisville in 2024 was replaced with a matchup against Western Illinois, an FCS program that Indiana thumped 77-3. 

The home-and-home series with Virginia had been signed and announced in 2021 before being canceled earlier this month.

This season, the Hoosiers will play Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Old Dominion went 5-7 last season, Kennesaw State went 2-10 in its first season at the FCS level and Indiana State, an FCS program, went 4-8.

Indiana’s scheduling approach has drawn criticism, including from Barry Odom, the first-year head coach at archrival Purdue.

Unlike the Big Ten, which employs a nine-game conference schedule, the SEC has just eight conference games, giving its members more flexibility to beef up their non-conference schedules or use them to pad their records.

This season, three of the SEC’s 16 teams — Alabama, Florida and South Carolina — have two non-conference games against Power Four programs while 15 teams have one game against an FCS foe (Texas is the only one that doesn’t.). The most common non-conference scheduling format in the league is the one Cignetti referenced, with 11 of the 16 programs having two games against FBS opponents outside the Power Four, one game against a Power Four foe and one game against an FCS team.

The Bills are adding some Buffalo sauce and blue cheese (or is it ranch?) to their uniform closet in 2025, which will be the team’s final one at Highmark Stadium.

The team will bring back the red helmets it wore from 1984 to 2010 − and specifically the version used from 1987 to 2001, with white facemasks and blue and white stripes running down the crown’s centerline − for the regular-season finale in Orchard Park, New York, against the Jets on January 4. They’re the same helmets the Bills featured during their unprecedented four consecutive Super Bowl losses between the 1990 and ’93 seasons.

‘There’s no better way to celebrate our fans and honor our team’s history by bringing back the red helmets. The Bills provided this region with some of the most incredible moments in franchise history in the 1990s wearing these helmets and we feel this is a great way to commemorate the closing of Highmark Stadium in our regular season finale,’ the club’s chief operating officer, Pete Guelli, said in a statement.

The Bills are scheduled to move into their new building for the 2026 season.

In addition, Buffalo is bringing back the red ‘Standing Buffalo’ logo that served as the franchise’s primary emblem from its AFL days in the 1960s until 1973, Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson becoming the first player to break the 2,000-yard rushing barrier in that insignia’s final game as the Bills’ main one.

It was last used as a throwback during the 2021 season. The grazing buff will return at Atlanta for a Monday night game against the Falcons on October 13. The Bills will also use it at home on November 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

One of the best of his generation is calling it a career.

Three-time All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu announced in a post on his Instagram page that he is retiring from the NFL. The 33-year-old defensive back was entering his fourth season with the New Orleans Saints but won’t step onto the field this year.

‘As I hang up my cleats, I’m filled with gratitude as I close this chapter of my life and officially retire from the game that’s shaped me in every way,’ Mathieu wrote in his announcement. ‘From my first snap in college to my final play in the NFL, this journey has been nothing short of a blessing. Football gave me purpose, discipline, and memories that will stay with me forever. But more than anything, it gave me a community.’

Mathieu was drafted in the third round, 69th overall by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2013 NFL Draft. A Heisman finalist at LSU in 2011, he slid to the third round due to off-field concerns following his dismissal from LSU in 2012.

He ended up a steal for the Cardinals and finished fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2013. In 2015, he made his first All-Pro team as the Cardinals made the NFC championship game.

He spent five seasons with the Cardinals and played well alongside standout cornerback Patrick Peterson. Arizona released him in 2018 and he signed with the Houston Texans for one season before signing a multi-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.

Mathieu was part of the Chiefs Super Bowl-winning team in 2019 and made his second All-Pro team that season. He made his third a year later with the Chiefs in 2020.

Kansas City did not retain him after 2021 and he made his way back to Louisiana to play for his hometown Saints. He started every game for New Orleans from 2022 through 2024.

‘To every coach who believed in me, every teammate who battled beside me, and every fan who showed up, cheered, and rode with me through the highs and lows, thank you,’ Mathieu wrote in his announcement. ‘You gave me strength when I needed it most, and your love carried me farther than I ever imagined.’

He did tease that he’s not done with football yet, writing ‘this isn’t goodbye – it’s just the next chapter.’

Is Tyrann Mathieu a Hall of Famer?

Mathieu has a list of accolades. Three-time first-team All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decades Team of the 2010s. He certainly has a case to be a Hall of Fame player.

Mathieu entered the league three years after Earl Thomas, widely considered one of the best safeties of the 2010s and almost certainly a Hall of Fame player. They’re equal on first-team All-Pro honors with three but Thomas holds an edge with seven Pro Bowls.

Pro Football Reference provides an index of Hall of Fame players using statistics and awards to calculate a Hall of Fame Monitor score (HOFm). It’s not the definitive way of deciding who should make the Hall of Fame or not but is a useful tool for this exercise.

All defensive backs (cornerbacks and safeties) are grouped together in this metric. Mathieu’s HOFm score is 65.20 which is far below the defensive back average HOFm of 97. But Thomas only measures in at 79.03 and Mathieu’s HOFm ranks ahead of Hall of Fame safeties John Lynch (64.28) and Eric Allen (58.95).

Mathieu wasn’t the best player on a title-winning defense but he was one of the best safeties in the league for most of a decade. That will get him serious consideration for induction.

Attorneys general from 28 states sent a letter to the NCAA, urging the organization to wipe out records, awards, titles and any other recognitions transgender athletes received in women’s sports.

The letter, spearheaded by Mississippi attorney general Lynn Fitch, was sent on Tuesday, July 22, co-signed by other Republican attorneys general. Fitch said in a statement the letter urges the NCAA to ‘restore to female athletes the records, titles, awards, and recognitions they earned but were denied because of policies that allowed biological males to compete in female categories.’

‘Since taking office in January, President Trump has made restoring fairness to women athletes a priority. While we appreciate the steps the NCAA has taken since then, there is far more the NCAA can do for the women athletes that have competed and continue to compete in your events,’ the letter reads.

The letter comes as the Trump Administration has targeted removing transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, and threatening schools that resist. On Feb. 5, less than a month into his presidency, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that barred transgender women and girls from playing in school sports, and schools that don’t comply would be cut off of federal funding.

The NCAA altered its policy on transgender athletes as a result. Previously, the policy used a sport-by-sport approach that ‘preserves opportunity for transgender student-athletes while balancing fairness, inclusion and safety for all who compete.’ At the time, it aligned with decisions by United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, as well as International Olympic Committee.

But one day after Trump’s executive order, the NCAA changed course. Now, only student-athletes assigned female at birth can compete in women’s sports. The policy was ‘effective immediately and applies to all student-athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews under the NCAA’s prior transgender participation policy.’

Since the executive order, there have been several legal threats against states for allowing transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, notably in Maine and in California.

It also led to a notable Title IX investigation into the University of Pennsylvania surrounding former swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I title. In March, the federal government suspended roughly $175 million in contracts to Penn for allowing Thomas to compete.

On July 1, the university reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and strip Thomas’ records.

While Thomas’ records were removed at Penn, it didn’t impact her NCAA championship records. Thomas won the women’s 500-yard freestyle event in 2022, and she tied for fifth in the women’s 200-yard freestyle and eighth in the 100-yard freestyle.

‘The University of Pennsylvania took an important public step recently, affirming that it will comply with Title IX and President Trump’s executive orders,’ the letter states. ‘All colleges and universities should follow suit, as should the NCAA.’

In a statement to USA TODAY Sports, the NCAA did not address whether it would erase transgender athlete records.

“The NCAA’s transgender participation policy aligns with the Trump Administration’s order and male practice players have been common practice in women’s college athletics for decades,’ the NCAA said.

NCAA President Charlie Baker told a Senate panel in December there are less than 10 transgender athletes in the NCAA, making up a small percentage of the roughly 510,000 men and women who compete in the organization. 

The New Orleans Saints continue to march out new fits for the 2025 NFL season.

After unveiling alternate white helmets that resemble vanilla ice cream earlier this month to spruce up their Color Rush look, the team went down more of a (muted) caramel path Tuesday while releasing its new ‘Gameday Golds’ alternate uniform. It effectively marks the return of the gold jersey with black numbers along with black pants that the team wore once during the 2002 season, a game New Orleans lost 32-31 to the Minnesota Vikings.

The major difference with the 2025 version is that the new ‘Gameday Golds’ will utilize the alternate black helmet the team began occasionally wearing in 2022.

Shop Saints ‘Gameday Golds’ jersey

The Saints, along with every other team, will be permitted to wear alternate and/or throwback uniforms a combined total of four times this season.

Between their throwbacks, Color Rush and classic sets, the Saints wore eight different uniform combinations during the 2024 season.

New Orleans, which hasn’t reached postseason since quarterback Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season, opens at home against the Arizona Cardinals on September 7.

At 12-11, the Indiana Fever are smack dab in the center of the WNBA playoff race. However, star guard Caitlin Clark has missed considerable time this season, making it much more difficult for the Fever to stay afloat. Clark was even forced to miss All-Star festivities nursing a groin injury.

Given the Fever’s record this year is a subpar 4-6 without Clark in the lineup, an extended absence could spell the end of Indiana’s playoff hopes. The Fever’s schedule is brutal coming up. Three of their next four games are against teams currently in playoff position in the New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces, and Phoenix Mercury. If Clark misses substantial time, she might not return to a playoff contender.

Here is the latest news regarding Clark’s availability for the Fever’s first game since the All-Star break:

Caitlin Clark injury updates

Caitlin Clark has been ruled out for Tuesday night’s game against the Liberty.

Fever coach Stephanie White had previously stated that she did not expect Clark to be available for Tuesday’s game. White did not offer a timetable for Clark’s return.

‘We’re just going to continue to take it one day at a time and let her get her evaluations early this week. And once we have that, hopefully, we’ll have a clear mind on what that looks like,’ White said Monday afternoon.

Clark will still travel with the team to New York for the game.

How did Caitlin Clark get injured?

Clark suffered a groin injury late during the Fever’s 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun on July 15. Clark recorded an assist to Kelsey Mitchell but was seen grabbing her groin as she headed back up court. She was promptly subbed out and has not returned to action since.

After Tuesday’s game, Clark will have missed 11 of the Fever’s 24 games this season. She did not miss any time her rookie season or throughout her collegiate career at Iowa.

The Fever are 4-6 without Clark in the lineup, while boasting an 8-5 record with Clark playing.

The SEC is generally recognized as the preeminent conference in college football, the home of the overwhelming majority of national champions from the past 20 years and some of the most fervently fan bases in the sport.

At least one coach sees some holes in the league’s resume.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee took aim at the SEC’s depth at ACC media days on July 22, describing the league as “top-heavy” while noting that only six SEC teams have won the conference since 1964.

The six schools Lashlee referenced are Alabama (24 championships), Georgia (11), LSU (eight), Florida (eight), Tennessee (seven) and Auburn (seven). The number Lashlee cited, though, doesn’t include Kentucky, which the SEC credits as a co-conference champion alongside Georgia in 1976.

A team from the SEC has won the national championship 13 times since the 2006 season, with five different schools achieving the feat. That figure does not include Texas’ 2005 national championship, which came when it was a member of the Big 12 and happened nearly 20 years before it joined the SEC.

Conference superiority has emerged as a persistent subject of arguments in college football this century. It has only intensified with the advent of the 12-team College Football Playoff, in which the number of at-large bids a league receives can depend largely on the perception of its strength and competitiveness.

Lashlee’s team was at the center of the first major debate of the 12-team playoff era, with the Mustangs earning an at-large berth to the event after losing to Clemson in the ACC championship game. SMU got in over several SEC teams — Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina — that were just below it in the playoff selection committee rankings.

During the news conference portion of his appearance at ACC media days, Lashlee touted the ACC, saying it’s one of three conferences that has had a current member win a national championship since 1990, with the SEC and Big Ten being the others. Current ACC programs have won seven national championships during that 35-year stretch, though Miami’s two titles came while it was competing in the Big East.

“I don’t know why that’s not talked about more,” Lashlee said. “We have national brands. We’ve won championships. The revenue is almost double who’s fourth. We have our own network, the competition, the investment. I just think it speaks for itself. Most people want to see things decided on the field, so let’s let it happen that way. 

“I don’t think there’s any question that if (the playoff) stayed at 12 (teams), we’re every year a multi-bid league. Miami should have been last year at 10-2. There’s no question they were one of the top 12 teams in America. But it does get tough, especially when you have a human committee making decisions.”

Before we can attempt to predict the next Indiana, we must first appreciate the absurdity, the utter improbability, of the 2024 Hoosiers making the College Football Playoff.

The Indianapolis Star took “a pretty big leap” while predicting an 8-4 regular season for the Hoosiers. Another Big Ten newspaper of record, the Omaha World-Herald, surmised a “bowl bid is not out of the question,” while projecting 6-6.

Indiana’s accommodating schedule aided its thrill ride, but even knowing that schedule, who foresaw the Hoosiers smashing Nebraska, handling a Michigan team that later beat Alabama, and securing playoff viability at 11-1?

So, when trying to pinpoint the next Indiana, it becomes an injustice to the 2024 Hoosiers to include any preseason Top 25 team.

How to find next Indiana for College Football Playoff

Like Illinois, Texas Tech could pursue the program’s first playoff appearance, but the Red Raiders don’t emulate 2024 Indiana. The Hoosiers assembled their playoff squad from the transfer portal’s bargain rack. Texas Tech launched an expensive player-buying campaign fueled by billionaire booster Cody Campbell. Hardly comparable.

After putting aside playoff hopefuls like Illinois and Texas Tech, what’s left? Teams like UCLA, California and West Virginia are ultimate longshots, built from the portal’s fires.

Hear me, I’m not suggesting those teams as likely playoff contenders, but, that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? The ultimate dark horse, Indiana stunningly crafted a warp-speed turnabout with the help of 31 transfers, a cocksure coach in Cignetti, and a favorable schedule, of which they took full advantage.

UCLA, Cal and West Virginia each brought in more than 30 transfers apiece. Each has an over/under of 5½ victories. That’s Indiana territory.

The Bruins made one of the offseason’s biggest acquisitions by plundering a quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, who’s a former five-star recruit. He started a playoff game last season for Tennessee.

UCLA, fresh off a 5-7 finish in its Big Ten debut, will endure a schedule that includes Big Ten front-runners Ohio State and Penn State, plus a non-conference tilt against Utah. Iamaleava’s arrival provides hope for improvement, but it’s hard to see that schedule as a recipe toward being the next Indiana.

What, then, about California? The Bears nabbed former Ohio State backup Devin Brown as a transfer quarterback. Cal, which hasn’t won more than eight games since 2008, will avoid Clemson and Miami, two ACC favorites. The schedule, though, includes six road games and a matchup with SMU, a playoff qualifier from last year. That’s enough to prevent Cal from becoming the next Indiana.

West Virginia overhauled its roster with 52 transfers after hiring Rich Rodriguez for a homecoming. It would be more appropriate to view the Mountaineers, though, through the lens of 2024 Arizona State. The Sun Devils won the Big 12 championship after the media picked them to finish last in the conference. In the unpredictable Big 12, any number of teams could ascend and claim the auto-bid entry to the playoff.

Missouri profiles as a playoff sleeper, after the media picked it to finish 12th in the SEC. The Tigers secured a fine collection of portal prizes, including former Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula. Missouri’s accommodating schedule positions it to exceed its Vegas over/under of 7½ wins. But, the Tigers won 21 games the past two seasons. They’ve been too good recently to aptly compare to Indiana.

Would next Indiana come from Big Ten?

As I search for the next Indiana, I circle back to the Big Ten. The conference is so big that teams only play half the membership, and there’s no requirement to play a Power Four non-conference opponent. That’s a breeding ground for a fortunate schedule draw.

Consider Maryland. The Terrapins won’t play a non-conference Power Four foe, and they avoid Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon. Expectations remain low. Vegas sets the over/under at 4½ wins. Maryland likely will start several transfers after finishing 4-8 last season, and four-star freshman Malik Washington projects as the starting quarterback.

Maryland cashing in on a favorable schedule to the extent it could make the playoff sounds highly improbable. When trying to unearth an Indiana sequel, that’s the assignment. If the idea doesn’t sound absurd, then that team doesn’t count as the next Indiana.

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

Do not fall for Donald Trump’s latest con.

Do you really think he cares one bit about what the NFL team in Washington calls itself? Or whether Cleveland’s baseball team goes by the Guardians or something else? In fact, I’d venture to guess Trump couldn’t even have told you what Cleveland’s current nickname was a few days ago.

But pretending he is outraged! just outraged! that Washington and Cleveland ditched their problematic nicknames creates a distraction from the growing questions about Trump’s close friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and everything that entailed. There’s no scandal Trump hasn’t been able to outrun by injecting “anti-wokeness” into the conversation, and this is more of the same.

He’s like the Wizard of Oz, only with more racism and a dog whistle instead of a curtain. Which should be obvious to all but his most-diehard supporters.

It was, after all, only two weeks ago that Trump expressed what was essentially indifference for Washington’s current nickname.

“I wouldn’t have changed the name. It just doesn’t have the same, it doesn’t have the same ring to me,” he said July 7. “But, you know, winning can make everything sound good. So if they win, all of a sudden the Commanders sounds good.”

Contrast that to his screed Sunday on Truth Social, where Trump attacked Washington and Cleveland for changing their names and even threatened the Commanders’ new stadium because of it. Never mind that it’s likely too late for that, given the federal government has already transferred the land to the District of Colombia.

“If they don’t change the name back to the original ‘Washington Redskins,’ and get rid of the ridiculous moniker, ‘Washington Commanders,’ I won’t make a deal for them to build a Stadium in Washington,” Trump wrote.

So what could possibly have changed in the last two weeks? The unrelenting furor over Epstein and scrutiny of Trump’s connections to him.

One of the few things this country can agree on is that Epstein was a garbage human being. He sexually abused girls and underage young women himself, and trafficked them to his rich and powerful friends for similar purposes. He effectively avoided accountability for his crimes, accepting a sweetheart deal on state charges in 2008 and dying by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for sex.

While there has been a want for more answers in Epstein’s case — did he really die by suicide? who were his clients? — it has become a particular obsession among the right wing and Trump supporters. Trump leaned into this, saying during the 2024 campaign that he would declassify the Epstein files if elected.

In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Epstein’s client list was “sitting on my desk right now” and suggested it would be released.

But earlier this month, the DOJ released a statement saying, “Oops. Never mind.” Epstein had killed himself and there was no client list, according to the DOJ. No proof Epstein had tried to blackmail anyone, either.

It was a curious about-face from folks who have spent years promoting conspiracy theories about Epstein and demanding answers about who else was involved, and it’s infuriated many in MAGA world.

And unlike previous scandals involving Trump, which have had all the staying power of Jell-O, this one won’t go away. The angrier about that Trump gets, the more questions it raises.

Epstein and Trump’s friendship is well-documented. There are multiple photos of the two of them, Trump’s name is on flight logs for Epstein’s private jet and Trump told New York Magazine in 2002 that Epstein was a “terrific guy” who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Now, however, even some of Trump’s supporters are wondering if there was more to it than that. Media outlets are probing their friendship. Lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, are demanding the Trump administration release all the information they have on Epstein.

Used to directing the narrative, Trump has lost control of it, and he’s pulling out all the stops to change that. He’s tried downplaying it. He’s tried his old favorite of blaming Democrats. He’s even tried insulting the people who’ve been his steadfast supporters since the day he came down that escalator.

Now he’s using the Commanders, Guardians and their decisions to drop offensive nicknames to create a smokescreen, the modern-day equivalent of, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.” But just like Dorothy and her friends, the American people can recognize desperation when they see it.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Players will compete in shooting, touch, cross & volley, passing, and crossbar challenges – plus the fan-favorite Goalie Wars, pitting goalkeepers against each other as they try to both score defend their nets.

It’s the second year in a row that the MLS All-Stars will face All-Stars from Mexico’s top league, continuing a format that also ran in 2021-2022. From 2005-2019, the All-Star festivities featured MLS players facing a club from Europe.

The MLS All-Star Game itself is Wednesday, July 23, a day after the skills challenge.

Here’s what you need to know:

When is the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge?

When: Tuesday, July 22
Where: Q2 Stadium (Austin, Texas)
Time: 9 p.m. ET
Channel/streaming: Apple TV (Watch here)

Watch 2025 MLS All-Star

MLS All-Stars vs. LIGA MX All-Star Skills Challenge rosters

(Italics indicate goalkeeper)

MLS All-Stars

Jordi Alba – Inter Miami CF
Sebastian Berhalter – Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Denis Bouanga – LAFC
Anders Dreyer – San Diego FC
Evander – FC Cincinnati
Alex Freeman – Orlando City
Diego Luna – Real Salt Lake
Sam Surridge – Nashville SC
Brad Stuver – Austin FC
Yohei Takoaka – Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Clint Dempsey – MLS great
Lindsey Heaps – USWNT Star

LIGA MX All-Stars

Juan Brunetta – Tigres UANL
Sergio Canales – CF Monterrey
Rodrigo Dourado – Atlético San Luis
Luis Malagón – Club América
Kevin Mier – Cruz Azul
Paulinho – Toluca
Brian Rodríguez – Club América
James Rodríguez – Club León
Alexis Vega – Toluca
Alejandro Zendejas – Club América
Nicki Hernández – LIGA MX Femenil
Oribe Peralta – LIGA MX Great

MLS All-Star Skills Challenge events

Shooting Challenge
Touch Challenge
Cross & Volley Challenge
Crossbar Challenge
Passing Challenge
Goalie Wars

IShowSpeed will rep MLS in Skills Challenge

MLS announced that the YouTube personality and social media influencer will participate in the All-Star Skills Challenge.