Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

Michigan State Not Holding Spring Game in 2025

Head Coach Jonathan Smith shared recently that Michigan State can be added to the growing list of teams to decide not to have a spring game this year.

Coach Smith shared, “there [were] multiple factors in not having a spring game, but we really want to take advantage of all 15 of the spring practices. And I think this is the best way we can do it.”

This adds Michigan State with the list of Ohio State, Texas, Nebraska, USC, Florida State, Missouri, and NC State (among others) as examples of schools that have outright canceled the game, with programs like Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Ole Miss announcing plans for modified events or open practices.

Virginia Tech’s Brent Pray Would Entertain Playing Colorado in Spring Game Scrimmage

A couple days ago, Colorado’s Deion Sanders shared that he wants to play a spring scrimmage against another program after a few days of joint practices to get a better gauge on the strengths or potential holes in his roster. Syracuse’s Fran Brown replied on Twitter that Syracuse had an interest in partaking in an experience like that.

Now we can add Virginia Tech to the list that is open to Coach Sanders’ challenge.

In a press conference yesterday, Coach Pry shared, “we would entertain that. Again, I like the traditional model right now. But as things continue to evolve, if it’s good for Virginia Tech, if it’s good for us, then I’d be open to it.”

EA Sports More Than Doubling Player Payments for 2026

Chris Vannini of The Athletic shared that EA Sports is planning to more than double the payments to players to appear in College Football 26.

In College Football 25, every player in the game received $600 and a copy of the game. However, Vannini is reporting that every player is going to receive $1,500 for their inclusion in the game.

“They will also receive a Deluxe Edition of the game, a carryover from the compensation for College Football 25. As was also the case last year, some athletes will receive additional compensation to serve as brand ambassadors to promote the game,” Vannini also shared.

EA Sports’ VP of Business Development, Sean O’Brien, released a statement:

“From the beginning, we’ve designed our NIL program to be accessible, direct, voluntary and equitable for all, offering the same base-level compensation to every FBS athlete that opts-in using the OneTeam platform and COMPASS NIL app. This approach empowers each athlete to make their own decision. College sports are growing and changing, and our focus at EA Sports is on continuing to put athletes first as we bring them in the game in College Football 26 and beyond.”

Vannini also pointed out that this means players will be bringing in over $16.5M, collectively, before accounting for additional payments to ambassadors, the $100 value of the game, or additional compensation for cover athletes.

Colorado’s Deion Sanders on the Trait He Is Seeking in QB Competition

For the first time at Colorado with Deion Sanders as the coach, there is a true QB competition between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and Blue Chip recruit JuJu Lewis.

As for what Coach Sander is looking for, he shared that first and foremost it comes down to who can lead the team:

“Leadership. Leadership. Being able to see the field. Being able to rally those guys around. Because you got to understand, you got to have a bona fide leader. Why are you asking me that? I’m glad you asked. Because you don’t huddle. You rarely huddle in college football. So, those guys have to get the look of the quarterback’s eyes and see what he consists of. Is he still composed? They really do that. You would see Shedeur sitting there, going on the sideline, talking to those guys. And I always used to tell him to look them in your eyes so they can see where you are and see how passionate you are about the next possession. You want to see that type of leadership, because I know what they have seen. The standard is the standard, and we’re not going to vacillate from the standard.”

Oklahoma Hiring Taylor Redd as Assistant GM

Oklahoma is set to hire Taylor Redd as the program’s Assistant GM, who will be working alongside former Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy as Nagy’s #2 in command.

Redd was working with The Athlete Group and Jake Rosenberg, but now will be with the Sooners and will be involved with all aspects of roster management, scouting, player acquisition, and recruiting.

While with The Athlete Group, he was part of the process of hiring General Managers at both Florida and Oklahoma to help both programs get settled into the revenue-sharing era of college football that is due to start soon. He also worked closely with Coach Brent Venables during the winter transfer portal cycle, helping with negotiations and contracts.

Redd was one of the youngest Director of Player Personnels in the country back in 2017 and 2018, when he was with Wake Forest. He went on to go work in the pros for awhile, following that experience with the Demon Deacons.

Consensus 4-Star WR Gordon Sellars Sets Commitment Date

Consensus 4-star WR Gordon Sellars shared with On3’s Hayes Fawcett that he has locked in a commitment date of April 18th.

Sellars is down between Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, South Carolina, and NC A&T.

He has set official visits to 4 of those programs: Clemson (May 30th), South Carolina (June 6th), Georgia (June 13th), and Michigan (June 20th).

Sellers ranks as high as 134th nationally and 23rd at the WR position (ESPN), with the On3 industry composite ranking him 211th nationally and 34th at the WR position.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine currently has his top 5 most likely programs at South Carolina (39.3%), Michigan (23.1%), Clemson (15.5), Georgia (12.5%), and Ohio State (4.4%).

4-Star RB Favour Akih Down to 3 Programs

4-star RB Favour Akih shared with On3’s Hayes Fawcett yesterday that he is down to 3 programs: Miami, Ohio State, and USC.

Akih visited Ohio State this week and finally got the offer from his in-state program, which almost immediately jumped them to the top of his list. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine now gives Ohio State an 84.0% chance to land Akih’s commitment, with Miami (3.3%) and USC (2.1%) well down there.

Akih ranks as high as 147th nationally and 13th at the RB position (On3), but the On3 industry composite places him down at 214th nationally and 18th at the RB position.

4-Star RB Kaydin Jones Sets Commitment Date

4-star RB Kaydin Jones shared on his Twitter account yesterday that he’s planning to commit on March 26th.

The 5 programs left on Jones’ list are Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Jones is from Oklahoma, where the On3 industry composite ranks him as the 3rd best prospect from the state.

Despite the March commitment plans, he has (for now) plans to officially visit Vanderbilt (May 30th), Kansas (June 6th), Louisville (June 13th), and Oklahoma (June 20th).

Jones ranks 321st nationally and 23rd at the RB position, and is currently being heavily forecasted to go to Oklahoma, where he would be a Sooner legacy. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine currently gives Oklahoma an 87.8% chance to land Jones.

3-Star QB Harrison Faulkner Commits to Georgia Southern

3-star QB Harrison Faulkner committed to Georgia Southern yesterday, according to his Twitter account.

Faulkner committed to the Eagles over Cincinnati, Liberty, Marshall, Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, and others.

An in-state kid, Faulkner ranks 1,031st nationally and 82nd at the QB position according to the On3 industry composite.

This is Georgia Southern’s first commitment for the 2026 class.