The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Does NIL Make This Championship Feel Less Significant?

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

Does NIL Make This Championship Feel Less Significant?

May I be hypocritical for a handful of minutes here? Okay. And I'm going to tell you all something, and I don't think I'm in a minority on this. Or I shouldn't say I shouldn't have a minority. I'm not the only one that thinks this. And it comes to college football. And it's to last night's championship game, which I tried to watch. I didn't have any interest in either school.

I had it on. So it was a casual watch for me at best last time. It's a pretty good game. Pretty good game. But, again, I wasn't on the edge of my seat where the play. Playoff games in the NFL, even though I have a dog in that fight, I was on the edge of my seat for that Buffalo game with Denver. The Rams game with Chicago was awesome as I got in the car after the Rockets game. So I can be captivated by an NFL game that I don't care about the two teams.

College is a little more work for me. So here comes all the hypocrisy. So we're watching this brand new football team. And not Indiana isn't brand new, but brand new to the landscape of being good. They were good last year. They were great this year. They were superior. They didn't suffer a single loss.

They were college football's best team. And it's an interesting storyline that you don't have Alabama and you don't have LSU and you don't have Michigan and you don't have Ohio State. You've got this brand new school. And the reality is this, I spent a lot of time last night looking at the salaries of not necessarily every Indiana player, but I looked at their people. payroll and how much Mendoza was going to be getting this year. And again, everything is approximate, but they're saying approximately he made $2.7 million. And if there's been anything that I have done since you and I am doing this show together, is I have changed my opinion in large part about compensation for players because the money that is being produced at the

collegiate level is absurd. And now these athletes should get it. But here comes the hypocrisy part. I didn't take great, great joy in Indiana doing it because they spent a lot of money to do it. They, if not for the money, Indiana is not where they are. And you could say that for a lot of schools. You could say that for everyone. You can say that for the university. There's no school not spending and winning. I know.

Stay with me on this. I really, really, really want a salary cap in football. And I don't think we're going to get it. Yeah, in college football. Because here's the reason why. Because if you just can outspend everybody that's going to give you a, a significant chance of getting there. I guarantee, but it's going to give you a good chance. If you manage your money right and you have a salary cap, that's where I go, man, good job by

you, Indiana. You got the right players at the right amount and you did it the right way. Where all now everybody is doing is they're going to their boosters and saying, hey, I need, like Michigan took the Underwood kid from LSU because somebody stepped in at the very last second and just said, let's just throw as much cash as we can in them. So that's the hypocrisy part. And I don't expect you to say, Matt, I understand or Matt, you're crazy. I don't know what you want to say in return. But I watched Indiana.

And when I watch Indiana, I go, okay, you just got a cash infusion. If not for the cash infusion, you're back to what you normally are. They're in IL spending, though, isn't it up to what tech and some of a bunch of other people? They have a lot of developed players. They have, they hit the portal well, and they. selected well, Kurt Signetti does his own scouting. He does not have a general manager. Right. He does his own scouting and finds

his players. I would think if you're upset with the current state of college football, you should be fully on board with this. I'm not upset with Indiana per se. I'm upset about the fact that like next year, Texas Tech wins a national championship. Mrs. Thomas will be very happy. My oldest will be

extremely happy. But there's no if-ans or buts, what's going on? Our guy, Clay Campbell, all he wants to, Cody, whatever, his brother, Clay, all Cody wants to do is just flood the market with this money. I do believe that there should be some sort of science to it where every school gets an NIL max of $40 million. Now, it doesn't mean you got to spend it, but it means you can't go over that 40 million threshold. That's all I'm saying is the hypocrisy of this is that I would like to see some sort of small regulation to it.

And I guess I don't think you can do it that way, but I'm just saying I just, if you're going to try to level the playing field a little bit because if it's not for Indiana, it could be Rutgers in three years. It could be, I don't know, University of California, just throwing money at them seems to be,

it hollows it for me a little bit in terms of enjoying the national championship experience. I didn't think about that at all. And also, I will say, like, with the NIL, what we've wanted for years and years and years is the word parity. So Kurt Signetti is a great coach.

They didn't wallet whip everybody. They didn't overspend. And you're, in Texas Tech and Cody Campbell's, the perfect example that just spending money doesn't lead directly to winning. How about Phil Knight in Oregon as well? I mean, we can point to any, Texas spent a ton of money this year and didn't do anything. So, I mean, this should be the perfect example, the golden example that you can still do it in the NIL era. That it's not only that they won, they didn't fall bass backwards into this and get a bunch of turnovers and get lucky. They went 16 in freaking oh. They went 16 and 0 and beat down Alabama. They destroyed Oregon and they won a close game against a very good Miami team. And this is what we were looking for. What we were worried about when NIL happened. Oh, the haves are going to say the haves and the have-nots have no chance. Indiana, Indiana Hoosiers football.

But here's my question now. Is the national champion going to be on the top of the ladder or near it for a long time? Or are they going to go to Miami Mornings Rock when their championship and then the money drops? You're not going to sell a bunch of pieces. No, I don't think they're going to sell off a bunch of their team. I think we'll see what happens and what the staying power is. But the bottom line is you can do it. I told you it was hypocritical.

I just did. I told you. And I come to you and say, I don't know what the spending is of the Indiana Hoosiers. Nobody's making it this far without doing any spending. Indiana is not probably even in the top 10, to be honest with you. But I'm thinking more of a macro view of this. And they went 16 and 0.

This is great. This is a parody. They've never won a football championship, correct? Unless they did in like 1899 or something. No. So, I mean, this is great for the overall health of college football. And I bet you the ratings are going to be pretty good because they built themselves. They have a great, a huge alumni base.

And I found them compelling to watch and follow because of the way that they were destroying the blue bloods. What was it, 38 to 3 with Alabama? Alabama, yeah. 38 to 3. What was the NIL money for Alabama relative to the Indiana Hoosiers? I don't know if, I think Alabama's a lot. a little under the norm of the other schools. That's why part of the problem

of Alabama. Well, all right. Get your weight up, son. Let's go. So as I'm saying, if you're going to get your weight up, that's good. But shouldn't, I guess my question, my thought is, I feel like knowing the trends coming up, I'd like to see a cap. And look, there's no one even talking about a cap.

It would probably not pass any sort of legislation. Why should Texas and A&M spend the same amount as Baylor? Like, how do you their athletic departments generate way more revenue. Because I like level playing fields because in the NBA, I have Sacramento and San Antonio can win just as much as New York and L.A. can. Absolutely can.

Look at San Antonio. You get the NBA, you get the soft cap and guys go way over. That's how the Golden State kept. That's why you came in these aprons. Then I'll give you a better example. Carolina and Green Bay can win as much of the Giants and Jets. That's a hard cap. That's a hard cap from a collective team where they're sharing TV revenues.

They're sharing Jersey revenues. and college football is not doing that. No, they're not. And there's no reason. Why would I, why would I, as Chris Delcante, athletic director of Texas, come to the negotiating table and say, you know what, yes, I want to be able to spend the same amount as Bailey.

No, no, no, no, no. There's no way in the world the SEC or Big Time wants this, because they're the ones that are carrying it. I'm just telling you, that's just me, as I was watching the game last night, going, okay, I'm supposed to embrace this story, but I can't fully do it. And again, I'm just coming to you open and honest.

I got you. Yeah, it's your opinion. It's an opinion. I think it's a great story. It might change. But I'll say this. For the underdog world, yesterday was a great day for college football because it wasn't littered with SEC and Big Ten.

Well, Big Ten, I'm in Indiana, obviously. As far as Power 4 programs, Indiana Hoosiers have been as inept as it's gotten. I mean, Vanderbilt has been getting in the game. I think it's great. But it's like they were calling the game. game last night. Their last conference championship was 1967. Yeah. Was Lee Corsel

the coach of that team? I don't think he was. I think she was like in the 70s, I think. Yeah, a little before his time. I don't know. It doesn't make sense, but I'm just coming to you open and honest. I just am. I was like, you know what? I mean, if it's next year, if it's Texas Tech, nobody's going to say, wow,

thank you very much for all the great coaching. It was because Cody Camper went in there and boarded the check. They were 151 to win the college football championship in the preseason. I saw this earlier. Indiana was? Even after making the playoff last year? Really? That seems way too high.

That was the same odds as the Marlins to win the World Series, as the sons to win the NBA finals, and for Utah State College basketball to win it all in March Madness. This is from a Bleacher Report betting posted last night. All right. So it's the same odds of the Marlins win the World Series. I mean, this is an insane story. Okay.

I know it feels kind of like it was going to happen because of how dominant they were. Right. So maybe that takes some of the sting out of how crazy this is. But it's still crazy, I think. Yeah, so I'll throw it out. Wonderful story or a byproduct of a school that got money thrown into it. Like, again, here's a better question. And we're going to get to a break here.

Let me ask you if there was no NIL. Indiana is not Indiana, right? I don't know. I mean, Signetti's a great coach. I think he's a bad human being, but he's a great coach. I mean, they're generating these millions of revenues. I'm glad the players are getting their slice. I guess we wouldn't even be able to know.

Because if that was the case, we already know the issues. Five years ago when there was no NIL, Indiana wasn't on the radar. Kurt Signetti's looking like the truth. Now we'll see. time will tell all, but he looks like the real deal right. There's no reason to doubt him after the 16-0 with the Indiana freaking Hoosiers.

Yeah, and beat up everybody, basically. And even beating Miami in their home field.