Wolverine Digest

Former Michigan Football staffer Connor Stalions explains how NIL improved College Football parity

Jerred Johnson|
Nov 26, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline beside off-field analyst Connor Stalions, right, during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium.
Nov 26, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh watches from the sideline beside off-field analyst Connor Stalions, right, during the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Renowned football analyst and former Michigan Football staffer Connor Stalions believes that NIL has brought parity to college football. Parity between the SEC and northern schools that execute well in the NIL space, that is. He recently tweeted about NIL changing the landscape based on the wealth that resides in the northern schools, particularly with schools like Michigan and Ohio State.

Certainly there are some southern schools such as Texas and Texas A&M who do quite well in the NIL landscape, and Stalions concedes that. But overall, his stance is the northern schools are benefitting the most from the NIL era. For instance, a school like Michigan is able to tap into one of the largest and most wealthy alumni bases in the entire nation. Those alumni, as we saw firsthand in the Bryce Underwood recruitment, have plenty of money and are dedicated to ensuring the Wolverines trot out a championship caliber team every Saturday. Ohio State famously bragged about spending over $20-million dollars to fund their 2024 team that will be playing for the national championship on the Jan. 20.

Stalions points to the Big Ten going 5-1 against the 'mighty' SEC this year as evidence that NIL has changed the playing field, a playing field which had been titled towards the SEC for decades. With last year's championship game featuring northern schools, and this year's championship game following suit, it looks like a theory that may have solid legs.

While northern schools are certainly making some noise in the new era of NIL, the SEC is not going away. A quick glance at the recruiting rankings shows that SEC schools still have seven of the top ten 2025 recruiting classes, proving that the south will remain strong in the world of college football. But that longstanding dominance of the SEC appears over, and there's no question that NIL had plenty to do with it.

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Jerred Johnson
JERRED JOHNSON

Jerred Johnson has served in the United States military for over 23 years. He has a Bachelors in Marketing, a Masters in Management and is in the final phases of completing his Doctorate in Business Administration.

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