How an NIL opt-out could change college football, plus Napheesa Collier's explosion

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Good morning! The White Sox refuse to make history .

In many sports, certain dates during the season become an off-field spectacle all their own.

MLB pioneered the trade deadline and has the Sept.

1 call-up bonanza, too.

The NBA nearly perfected its own trade deadline.

College football never had one of those, really until this year.

Welcome to Opt-out Week, presented by your local NIL sponsor.

Or not presented? Either way, this is around the point in the season when coaches begin applying redshirts to players whove appeared in four games, the max that can be played in a redshirt year.

Except these days, its not just coaches making that call.

And the poster child of Opt-out Week is a quarterback from ...

UNLV.

Quick backstory: Sluka is not the only one to step back this week.

News broke yesterday that USC defensive lineman Bear Alexander , a former five-star recruit, will take a redshirt year too .

Players redshirting themselves isnt exactly new Antonio Morales wrote a good explainer on it two years ago but it was mostly players like Alexander, who werent seeing much playing time and didnt want to waste a season of eligibility while riding the bench.

Bailing because of an NIL dispute also isnt new, but NIL as the reason for leaving during a potential Playoff run? Thats new , and could become the start of a new trend within the trend.

Imagine a college player holding out over missed payments, or even for some newfound value through four games, dangling the transfer portal over a programs head.

Its all very messy, and screams for some sort of regulation.

Maybe these players gasp should become salaried employees.

I asked Antonio for more help: Do you think theres any chance for reconciliation between Sluka and UNLV? Antonio: You always try to avoid saying never, especially with how fluid NIL and transfer portal situations are, but after seeing how public this has become, its difficult to envision some sort of reconciliation here.

UNLV leaked its version of events.

Slukas NIL representation came out with their side of the story, as did UNLVs collective, which wished him well with future endeavors.

The fact both sides are questioning each others word very publicly makes me believe both are truly ready to move on.

Do you think were going to see more of this in the, er, unregulated NIL era? Yes.

The reality is this has probably been going on more often than we see, but programs have managed to keep it behind the scenes.

I think back to Oregon receiver Gary Bryant Jr., who essentially got the ball rolling on the redshirt-and-then-transfer move when he played for USC two years ago.

He was one of the first to take advantage of it, then we saw more and more do the same.

Its pretty easy to believe there will be a player who isnt happy with their NIL situation who is better than Sluka, has more leverage than Sluka, whose program really doesnt want to lose them, who will have the ability to stage a college version of a holdout.

Opt-out Week, baby.

Go ahead and circle next years calendar.

Around Ohtani, business booms Its a great time to be Shohei Ohtani, which means its also a great time to be a Shohei Ohtani collector: Just this week, an Ohtani card sold for $336,000 , the highest number yet for a card of him.

And yesterday, a baseball he hit last week the one that cemented the first 50-50 season in MLB history went up for auction with a starting bid of $500,000 .

The final number is sure to make our eyes bulge.

Advertisement A drama-packed reschedule Due to weather, the Braves and Mets postponed their series yesterday and will play a doubleheader Monday, MLB announced, which proves difficult for the playoff picture .

The regular season officially ends the day prior, and both teams are locked in a heated battle for an NL wild-card spot (as of last night, Atlanta is a half-game out of the final slot).

That means both teams will play 18 innings the day before one or both! play an actual playoff game .

Brittany Ghiroli says its a mess of everyones making .

More news Another night, two more sweeps.

And as Caitlin Clarks magical rookie season ended, another player Minnesotas Napheesa Collier snatched all that spotlight away in an extremely fun way: Lurking behind both of these stories is Mercury legend Diana Taurasi, who may have played her final WNBA game last night.

Shes heavily hinted at the notion already .

Stay tuned.

MLB: Rangers at Athletics 3:30 p.m.

ET on MLB Network This has no bearing on any playoff seeding, but it is the final As game at Oakland Coliseum , and I suspect the atmosphere will be electric in the saddest/weirdest way.

The team is not leaving on good terms, of course.

This should be a spectacle, if anything.

NFL : Cowboys at Giants 8:15 p.m.

ET on Prime Video The pressure is squarely on Dallas in this battle of 1-2 teams.

A supposed contender whose defense looks porous at best needs a win badly, to avoid an early-season morass.

The Giants have nothing to lose and should be frisky.

This is pure NFC East fun.

Stream games like these here and get tickets here .

The Windup properly memorialized the Oakland As with Marc Carig, whose life has been shaped in many ways by the team.

Its worth a listen .

Will Guillory spent time with Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson , whose NBA career has turned into sort of a conundrum.

An outrageously talented player with lingering injury problems and, before last year, an iffy relationship with his own front office.

Now? Hes out for vengeance and to be a better teammate .

As the MLB season wanes, Jim Bowden ranked the top 20 breakout players of 2024 .

I bet the Tigers are happy they didnt trade Tarik Skubal .

The Presidents Cup tees off today in Montreal.

Brody Miller and Gabby Herzig noodled on who could play best on a tough course , while Justin Ray has 10 intriguing notes about why this could be really competitive .

Things are dire for the 0-3 Bengals .

But, as Paul Dehner Jr.

writes, there is a glimmer of hope .

According to our Chris Johnston, Amazons new NHL docuseries is the goods .

Vegas has spoken: Josh Allen is your new NFL MVP favorite .

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday : Our update on the latest Jordan Chiles appeal .

Most-read on the website yesterday : Jake Cielys fantasy football rankings for Week 4 .

Always valuable Sign up for our other newsletters: The Bounce | The Windup | Full Time | The Athletic FC | Prime Tire | Until Saturday | Scoop City (Top photo: Jay Biggerstaff / Imagn Images).

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