Pac-12 Football

Reggie Bush believes USC's 2004 national championship is headed back on the record books.

Bush told TMZ Sports he "absolutely" thinks the Trojans' title will be reinstated after the former USC running back had his Heisman Trophy reinstated earlier this year. The NCAA stripped USC of its national title in 2011 amid a probe into impermissible benefits given to Bush during his time at the program.

Those benefits would be considered permissible under current rules, which allow players to make money off their name, image and likeness. The Heisman Trophy Trust returned Bush's Heisman earlier this year amid the allowance of NIL rules.

Bush was one of the most dynamic running backs in college football history, compiling 3,169 rushing yards and 1,301 receiving yards in three seasons with the Trojans. He compiled 1,740 rushing yards and 478 receiving yards in his 2005 Heisman-winning campaign.

"I'm thinking about my time at USC and just how much of the work we put in produced the results that you saw on the football field, including this Heisman Trophy right here," Bush said in April. "You can't get to this—or a national championship—by cheating, I promise you."

The NCAA has not given any indication that they are considering reinstatement of championships that were vacated by violations of past rules.

It's a day ending in Y, so Baby Gronk—or, more accurately, his father—has announced another flip-flop in his recruitment.

The 11-year-old social media star, whose real name is Madden San Miguel, posted his commitment to USC on Tuesday, a day after committing to both Auburn and Alabama within a three-hour span.

Of course, none of these commitments are binding because none of these schools can even offer Baby Gronk an official scholarship. Schools are not allowed to render official offers until a player's junior year of high school, which is roughly six years from now for Baby Gronk.

This is merely another ploy for social media attention, likely coming from San Miguel's father, Jake, who runs his son's social presence. Jake San Miguel is known for making aggressive and relentless pitches to influencers in the sports world hoping to land his son coverage and collaborations.

The constant flipping of Baby Gronk's commitment seems to be the latest strategy to keep the 11-year-old, who shot to fame in 2023, in the national spotlight. Baby Gronk has now committed to around a dozen schools in the last month, already making it one of the oddest recruitment stories in college football history before his actual recruitment can begin.

Baby Gronk currently has 319,000 subscribers on YouTube and 520,000 followers on Instagram.

Deion Sanders dominated the NFL as a player and is taking the college football world by storm as a coach.

That said, people forget that Sanders once tried to take over the rap game with his 1994 album Prime Time.

The Colorado coach and his son, Bucky, recently spent time in the Death Row Records studio reminiscing on old times and playing tracks from the old album.

The Sanders duo seemed to love their time in the studio made famous by the 1990s label that housed Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Tupac during the height of their careers.

It appears Sanders and Snoop are also laying down tracks together, as the Doggfather has vocals on the remix to Sanders' song "Must be the Money." Yella Beezy also appears on the remix.

It's unclear if Deion ever plans on releasing the track on streaming platforms, but don't be surprised if the song becomes the anthem of the 2024 Colorado football season.

As Emma Hayes gains her bearings as the head coach of the U.S. women's national team, she made time to meet with a coaching legend—but not one who coaches soccer.

Hayes, who was named head coach in November, met with Colorado football coach Deion Sanders this week as the team was in Colorado for an international friendly against South Korea. Per The Athletic's Melanie Anzidei, Hayes took it upon herself to set up the meeting.

"The girls (on the USWNT team) asked me afterward, 'Did you know who he who he was?' And I said, 'I was the one who set it up,'" Hayes said. "He is someone I really admire."

Hayes said she spoke to Sanders about caring for others and doing the things they love. She also admitted that she was "fangirling" meeting the Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Hayes led the USWNT in their first match of her tenure on Saturday against South Korea. She spent the last 12 years leading Chelsea in Women in the Women's Super League. Under her direction, Chelsea finished at the top of the Champions League eight times, including five consecutive seasons from 2019 to 2024.

Now, she takes on a new task of coaching the U.S. Women's National Team. After her initial match against South Korea on Saturday, Hayes and the USWNT will have a handful of international friendly matches before competing in Copa América starting in June. In July, they will compete in the Paris Olympics.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders had some notes for EA Sports after coming across an image from College Football 25.

The still shows a Buffaloes player wearing a one-sleeved hoodie underneath a cropped jersey, which led to Colorado safety Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig replying that look wouldn't make it out of the locker room before Sanders chimed in.

It is certainly a unique look, though definitely not one you are likely to see much of on a football field.

A one-sleeve hoodie seems to defeat the purpose of that specific piece of clothing, but fashion trends are all over the place that you can never predict what the hot styles are going to be.

Given how fashion-conscious Sanders has been throughout his career, dating back to his playing days, it's not a surprise to see, even in jest, that he would take a stand on something like this.

EA Sports is still working its way back into the world of college football, so they could be rusty with some things. College Football 25 will be the first college game released by the developer since 2013.

Based on the recently unveiled gameplay deep dive, it certainly seems like EA Sports has a handle on what the games need to feel like the animated simulations are true to life.

The world will get the opportunity to see what EA Sports has been cooking up when College Football 25 drops for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on July 19.

As Deion Sanders prepares for his second year at Colorado, he is making sure the team is physically and mentally prepared for the grind of the college football season.

Deion Sanders Jr.'s Well Off Media posted a video showing Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and the rest of the Buffaloes team going through Navy SEAL training, including water training activities (water training starts at 10:00 mark).

Among the activities shown include players holding their breath under water, swimming across the pool while keeping hold of their backpack and swimming the length of the pool as fast as you can.

This is a condensed version of what Navy SEALs go through as part of their training. The Navy's official website states the second phase of training is combat diving and it takes seven weeks:

"This phase introduces underwater skills that are unique to Navy SEALs. During this phase, candidates become basic combat swimmers and learn open and closed-circuit diving. Successful Second Phase candidates demonstrate a high level of comfort in the water and the ability to perform in stressful and often uncomfortable environments. candidates who are not completely comfortable in the water often struggle to succeed."

Coach Prime is apparently using the offseason to put his team his way through every branch of United States Armed Forces training. He brought in a group of U.S. Marines for a training session in January.

Sanders only has a couple of months left to bring in someone from the Army, Air Force and Space Force to see how many of his players can make it through those training regimens.

Coach Prime will be hoping the unique training for his team leads to better results on the field in 2024. He led the Buffaloes to a 4-8 record in his first season, but they lost eight of their final nine games after a 3-0 start.

The 2024 season will mark Colorado's return to the Big 12 after spending the past 13 seasons in the Pac-12. It will open the season on Aug. 29 against North Dakota State at Folsom Field.

Check out Vivid Seats for tickets to see the Buffaloes and for all NCAA Football games.

Before Goldberg was a prolific WWE star, he spent a pair of seasons in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.

In his short tenure in the NFL, he played alongside legendary player and now coach Deion Sanders. Speaking on Well Off Media, Sanders recalled wrestling matches that went on inside the Falcons' locker room on Fridays. The Colorado head coach said he always made a point to call Goldberg into the ring.

Goldberg then credited Sanders for kicking off his wrestling career.

"I guess I have to give him 100 percent credit for me being a professional wrestler," Goldberg said (8:00 mark). "Cause I never would have done it."

It's safe to say Sanders rooting the idea of wrestling in Goldberg paid off. Three years after he retired from the NFL, Goldberg began his professional wrestling career, joining the WCW in 1997.

He quickly rose to prominence thanks in large part to his 173-0 undefeated streak, and he defeated Hulk Hogan in 1998 to claim the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

The former defensive tackle joined the WWE in 2003 after a short stint with All Japan Pro Wrestling. While competing in the WWE, he won another World Heavyweight Championship after beating Triple H.

While Goldberg might have found his way into wrestling regardless, it seems Sanders planted the idea early on. Now, Goldberg has returned the favor. Goldberg's son, Gage, committed to Colorado in January and will join Sanders and the Buffaloes this fall.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode below.

Losing eight of nine games to finish last season did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm Colorado fans have going into the second year with Deion Sanders as head football coach.

The University of Colorado announced on Wednesday it sold out its season-ticket allotment for the football team.

"Selling out of season tickets for the second year in a row shows how strong our fan base is and the continued impact of and trust in Coach Prime," Colorado athletic director Rick George said. "We are ready for an exciting 2024 season and expect a full house for every game for the second straight season."

Sanders' hiring as head coach in December 2022 brought a renewed sense of optimism to the program that had been missing with just two bowl appearances between 2008-22.

When the Buffaloes sold out their season-ticket packages last year, it was the first time that had happened since 1996. It also marked the program's first time ever selling out prior to August of the upcoming season.

The early results from 2023 were extremely promising, as Colorado won each of its first three games and was in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in three years.

Things turned quickly from there with a 1-8 stretch to close the season, but optimism is high looking ahead to the 2024 campaign. Colorado brought in an FBS-high 40 transfers and has the No. 8 transfer class in the country, per 247Sports.com.

When you combine the incoming talent with returning stars like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, it's not hard to envision the Buffaloes at least competing for a bowl game this season.

Colorado star Travis Hunter, who plays a unique role as both wide receiver and cornerback for the Buffaloes, received an equally rare gift for his 21st birthday.

Hunter received a "1-of-1" Dodge Ram TRX with custom modifications from his fiancée Leanna Lenee, TMZ reported.

The car was customized by North Carolina-based Dreamworks Motorsports.

Company founder Adam Wolfe told TMZ that Hunter's car includes a custom exhaust system, 24-inch wheels within 35-inch tires, and LED lighting on both the inside and outside the car.

The vehicle also includes a custom logo on the headrests, floor mats and in the center of each wheel, Wolfe told TMZ.

According to a post on the Dreamworks Motorsports Instagram, the customizations also included a new audio system, "smoothed and color-matched exterior trim," and "off-road wheel and tire package with leveling kit."

Hunter will now return in style for a second season at Colorado. He will continue serving as a two-way stalwart for the Buffaloes after making 57 catches for five touchdowns, while also recording 30 tackles and three interceptions, during the 2023-24 season.

The UC Board of Regents voted that UCLA will pay Cal $10 million annually for the next three seasons, rather than six years as was originally recommended, as a fee for leaving the Pac-12, The Athletic's Stewart Mandel reported.

The board will check in again when the deal ends after the 2026-27 season, Mandel noted.

The vote was 7-1 in favor, per Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times.

The board first voted in December 2022 to allow UCLA to join the Big Ten in exchange for an annual "Berkeley Tax" of between $2 and $10 million, Bolch, Thuc Nhi Nguyen and Steve Henson reported for the Times.

UCLA will make its Big 10 debut this fall, while Cal is headed to the ACC.

The board's decision follows a recommendation by UC president Michael Drake that UCLA pay Cal an annual fee on the upper end of the initial spectrum "given the disparity in forecasted revenues" between the two schools' media rights deals.

UCLA is expected to receive about $60 million per year in media revenue from the Big Ten thanks to the conference's historic media deal worth more than $7 billion, per Drake.

Meanwhile, the president stated that UC Berkeley is expected to receive $11 million in annual media revenue from the ACC.

To address this gap, the president's office initially recommended UCLA pay $10 million per year through the 2029-30 season, the term of the school's contract with Big Ten.

The board of regents' decision to run the deal through 2026-27 instead will come as a relative relief for the UCLA athletic department, which Bolch reported in January finished the 2023 fiscal year with a deficit of $36.6 million.

That marked the fifth straight year the department has recorded a deficit of at least $18 million, per Bolch.

Prior to this span, the Bruins had been in the black for 14 straight seasons stretching back to 2004, Bolch reported.

UCLA's move to the Big 10 was meant to address the state of the athletic department's finances, which at the time of the regents' initial vote regarding their conference exit stood more than $100 million in debt.

For at least the first few seasons of the school's tenure in their new conference, the Bruins' financial recovery will be hampered by the Cal payments as well as the estimated $10 million cost of moving conferences.