Weekend of CFB Upsets Demonstrates Parity in Rev-Share Era

The era of “unrestricted free agency”—the combination of unlimited transfer opportunities and NIL (name image and likeness) and rev-share earnings—continues to bring parity to college football.

This past weekend, the sport saw a slew of major upsets from marquee matchups from the Big Ten to the SEC featuring late-game field goals, battles stretching into double overtime, and more.

• No. 6 Oregon pulled off a thrilling double overtime win against No. 3 Penn State (30-24)
• No. 13 Ole Miss secured a narrow but decisive win over No. 4 LSU (24-19)
• Unranked Arizona State beat No. 24 TCU courtesy of a late-game field goal (27-24)
• Unranked Virginia took down No. 8 Florida State after a double-overtime battle (46-38)
• No. 23 Illinois pulled off a narrow win against No. 21 USC (34-32)
• No. 17 Alabama toppled No. 5 Georgia (24-21)

The shook up the AP Top 25 rankings, potentially upending the race to secure a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. 

Of course, there are a couple blue-bloods finding their footing, like Alabama. But the examples of how NIL and the transfer portal have brought on these upsets—and have ledcontributed to increasing parity in college football—-are seemingly endless. 

To name a few: Oregon has built itself into a powerhouse in the NIL era thanks to Division Street, its well-heeled collective bankrolled by Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Ole Miss has now won three straight games with backup quarterback Trinidad Chambliss under center—a transfer from Division II program Ferris State. 

And that’s not to mention other programs that have risen to prominence over the past couple seasons. The Vanderbilt Commodores, now 5-0, have enjoyed major donor investment and a veteran transfer quarterback.

The question is whether one of these newcomers can make a splash in the College Football Playoff. After all, Ohio State is still sitting pretty at No. 1—though even their success has also been a result of a heavy NIL investment.