Cowherd Buys Into NIL, Transfer Portal Impact After Michigan’s Championship Win

The No. 1-seeded Michigan Wolverines took home their first national title since 1989 after defeating the No. 2-seeded UConn Huskies 69-63. What made this Wolverines team merely unstoppable was their strategic use of the transfer portal and NIL.

In Dusty May’s second year leading the program, his starting lineup, composed entirely of first-year transfers, scored 90 points in five consecutive games leading up to the title game. In a world where NIL and the transfer portal may seem cruel to the future of college sports, May and the Wolverines showcased the power of utilizing both in their dominant win, while also pushing the standard for Big Ten dominance across various sports.

“The other advantage Michigan had is the Big Ten. Illinois was outstanding, Iowa beat Florida, Purdue is always exceptional. Michigan State and Tom Izzo. I mean for years and years, the SEC always had an advantage because they played harder schedules,” FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd said on Tuesday’s edition of “The Herd.”

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The Big Ten took home national titles in three different sports this year—Indiana in football, Michigan in men’s basketball, and UCLA in women’s basketball. The trio of titles makes the Big Ten the first Division I conference ever to win national championships in three sports in the same year.

The conference dominance is rapidly growing, with Indiana becoming the first undefeated team to win a national championship, as well as a quarterback Heisman Trophy winner since LSU in 2019. UCLA women’s basketball won its first national championship in just two seasons as a part of the conference, and Michigan took a men’s basketball title for the program’s first time since 1989, and the conference’s first since 2002.

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“So, I don’t know how the NIL and transfer portal are working for your conference, but they’re doing really well in the Big Ten,” Cowherd said. “The Big Ten has always been their alumni: smart, affluent and strategic. The Big Ten has always taken great pride in their academics. The new model in college is not just about ‘hey, we get a bunch of really good athletes in our geographic footprint,’ that’s not what it’s about.”

To put it in perspective, the Wolverines spent roughly 10 million on this season’s roster, with Yaxel Lendeborg receiving a $3 million NIL package to play for Michigan. The Hoosiers and Curt Cignetti constructed a team of former two-and three-star players into a $20 million NIL championship team, with Fernando Mendoza being the highest-paid player with $2.6 million NIL package. Even if NIL and the transfer portal have presented challenges, Cowherd emphasizes that this is the new norm in college sports. 

“But you can grumble about it, and convince yourself that the sports are broken. But I just watched the best national championship in college football I maybe ever saw. I saw unbelievable dedication, coaching passion last night,” Cowherd said. “How about UCLA women’s basketball? 71-4 in two years? So you can grumble about it, but the train is moving with or without you.”