Tessera

2026 BREAKTHROUGHS AND BOUNCEBACKS. My annual look at the teams most likely to sustain last year's gains (Washington! Houston! LOBOS!) and most likely to rebound from a faceplant (Pokes! Hokies! Sumralls!). I just can't shake how much I like Colorado's transfer class... www.espn.com/college-foot...

Which college football teams could break through and bounce back in 2026?

Which teams and players are poised for the next step? Which are ready to put a down 2025 behind them?

espn.com

Pardeep Cattry@pcattry.bsky.social · 6d ago

It appears Gianni's Worst Idea Yet is going to fail, but ... Infantino is still up for re-election and doesn't yet have a serious opponent to go against. If that doesn't change, he's only going to come up with even worse Worst Ideas...

NEW: Concacaf joins UEFA in rejecting FFE, instead imploring FIFA to find ways to increase funding for FIFA Forward through its current means and asking that "any matter follows the proper governance processes" in future full statement: www.concacaf.com/competitions...

Concacaf statement: For these reasons, Concacaf and its 41 Member Associations have:

Rejected the proposal;
Tasked their FIFA Council Members with engaging FIFA to determine how existing vast FIFA reserves could be used to increase FIFA Forward funding for football development across our region; and
Tasked their FIFA Council Members with instructing the FIFA President to ensure that any matter follows the proper governance processes via staff and FIFA Council, in accordance with the FIFA Statutes.
Through these actions, Concacaf reaffirms that football's future—and its greatest asset—must remain in the hands of our football family.

Matt Brown@mattbrown.bsky.social · 6d ago

The Office Im In

ALT: The Office Im In

static.klipy.com

BERLIN WALL BOWL eurekareddevils.com/sports/fball...

Chris Vannini@chrisvannini.com · 6d ago

Watching the two sports I follow most closely become grosser than ever in completely opposite ways -- Gianni Infantino is single-handedly wrecking any argument for why a commish would help CFB -- has basically left me in a general "Human folly ruins everything 🙃🙃🙃🙃" state. It's great. Love it.

FIFA and the NCAA are sort of in a reverse position. FIFA uses the support from the weaker confederations to try to squeeze more powerful Europe, while the Big Ten/SEC use their power to squeeze the NCAA and everyone else.

Which college football teams could break through and bounce back in 2026?

Which teams and players are poised for the next step? Which are ready to put a down 2025 behind them?

espn.com

Bill Connelly @espnbillc.bsky.social · 7d ago

Waiting on a few more preseason polls (godsends for smaller-school projections), but I think we're looking at an FCS preseason SP+ top 10 like this: 1 Montana St 2 SDSU 3 Montana 4 Illinois St 5 Villanova 6 UC Davis 7 Rhode Island 8 Tarleton 9 Youngstown St 10 North Dakota Gonna be fun.

This is genuinely one of the sillier sequences I've ever seen.

SickosFC@sickosfc.bsky.social · 7d ago

GREENVILLE TRIUMPHHHHHHHHHHH WITH A BICYCLE KICK

Ryan Nanni @celebrityhottub.bsky.social · last wk.

Today on Phantom Island: @espnbillc.bsky.social joined me to talk about his ideas on the CFP learning from the 2026 World Cup, and I added one of my trademark Bad Ideas at the end of the discussion: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...

Can college football learn from the 2026 World Cup?

Podcast Episode · Phantom Island · July 29 · 55m

podcasts.apple.com

Ryan Nanni@celebrityhottub.bsky.social · last wk.

this is technically more on topic but just prep with both www.espn.com/college-foot...

SEC and Big Ten coaches want this legislation as much as anyone, and it's going to be the SEC's and Big Ten's fault when if/when it doesn't come to fruition.

On3 (Unofficial)@on3-mirror.bsky.social · last wk.

Mila Stauffer's Whatever Eye Roll

ALT: Mila Stauffer's Whatever Eye Roll

static.klipy.com

NEW: The NCAA has suspended Tennessee LB Arion Carter two games for a $427 flight to an NFL pre-draft training facility, @AdamSparks reports. https://www.on3.com/news/ncaa-hands-tennessee-arion-carter-two-game-suspension-over-flight/

The Onion@theonion.com · last wk.

Okay, but listen, this is actually a great idea...

Ryan Gosling Joins MCU To Take On Role Of Stan Lee Cameos https://theonion.com/ryan-gosling-joins-mcu-to-take-on-role-of-stan-lee-cameos/

* Lucky in 1994 and 2002 * Unlucky in 1998, 2010 ... and 2002 * SUPER unlucky (and bad at the wrong times) in 2018 * Bad in 1990 and 2006 * Great and then terrible in 2026 I looked back at the advanced stats for each #USMNT World Cup performance going back to 1990. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

What advanced stats say about every USMNT World Cup game since 1990

The U.S. men's latest World Cup exit was the latest in a long string of disappointments ... or was it? Let's look at the numbers behind all their tournament appearances since 1990 to get the real story.

espn.com

I wrote about 100 games that brought college football to its current state, from Grantland Rice's poetry, to offensive innovations, to postseason controversies, to all-time upsets, to television spectacles, to realignment, to the epic endings that keep us coming back. www.espn.com/college-foot...

100 games that explain college football in 2026

TV, realignment, stars and legends, postseason quarrels. Those themes have set up epic games and made the current sport.

espn.com

100 games that explain college football in 2026

TV, realignment, stars and legends, postseason quarrels. Those themes have set up epic games and made the current sport.

espn.com

Man … this book doesn’t miss. Best one we’ve bought in a while.

James Tyler@jamestylerespn.bsky.social · last wk.

During the round of 16, I thought we might be watching the best World Cup ever. Didn't quite stick the landing, but a solid top-6 performance all the same.

In 2022, @espnbillc.bsky.social ranked every World Cup and published our highly scientific rankings. Today, we’re running it back: credit to Bill for the reworked analytics and the 2026 write up, and for my money one of our World Cup MVPs this summer www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Expansion in general: A+ Expansion to 48: B Ticket prices: D- Hydration breaks: C- (but A+ for Argentina) H2H tiebreaker: C- Quick subs and whatnot: A Mouth-covering reds: B I graded the major changes FIFA made for the 2026 World Cup. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Grading FIFA's changes to the World Cup, from expansion to hydration breaks

Now that the World Cup is over, let's evaluate all the things that FIFA did differently. Which new features earned A's, and which ones were utter flops?

espn.com

Douglas Reyes-Ceron@dreyesceron.bsky.social · 2w ago

MLS is MLSing a little too much tonight.

alternate angles of this unreal miss by Pierre

If Ohio State's new pass D holds up... If the Irish still make big plays... If Muschamp can still get it done... If Hoover = 90% Fernando... If Oregon's OL holds up... If [insert another UGA big play reference here]... If Texas Tech has a QB... THE 8TH ANNUAL IFS LIST: www.espn.com/college-foot...

College football 'ifs' list: How title contenders can come together

How many big questions have to fall into place for the CFP contenders? Let these tiers be the guide.

espn.com

The World Cup is over, and SEC Media Days (Weeks? Months?) are upon us. Time to revisit the 2026 SEC preview!! Can Arch throw on the run? Can Mike and Gunner accept that big plays are good? Hey there, Lane! Can the SEC finally win a "national title" (whatever that is)? www.espn.com/college-foot...

2026 SEC college football preview, predictions, top transfers, more

Three seasons have passed without a championship from the SEC, but as always, there are plenty of contenders.

espn.com

poolmwv@poolmwv.bsky.social · 2w ago

Whatever works!

At first, I thought it was great to see former @rockmnation.bsky.social great @espnbillc.bsky.social have his name displayed. Except the phrasing gave them plausible deniability.

2026 SEC college football preview, predictions, top transfers, more

Three seasons have passed without a championship from the SEC, but as always, there are plenty of contenders.

espn.com

Mike Goodman@themlg.bsky.social · 2w ago

One goal in 8 games, lol. First in shots allowed per possession by quite a bit, first in xG allowed per shot by quite a bit.

Spain just set the record for fewest goals allowed by a World Cup champion while playing the most World Cup games of any World Cup champion.