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We’ve reached the midpoint of the 2022 college football season, and some new faces — both teams and players — have navigated their way to the front of the line.

Tennessee is unbeaten and ranked No. 3, the Vols’ highest in-season AP ranking since 2001. Ole Miss also is unbeaten and the No. 7 Rebels have won 11 straight regular-season games dating back to last year. TCU and UCLA cracked the AP top 10 this week. It’s the highest ranking for the Horned Frogs (No. 8) since 2017 and the highest for the Bruins (No. 9) since 2015.

The fresh faces extend to ESPN’s midseason All-America team, which includes only five players who were on our preseason team. Alabama, Ohio State and Tennessee each placed two players on the team. Overall, the 26 players selected on offense, defense and special teams come from 23 teams:

Offense

QB: Hendon Hooker, Tennessee

Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud are special players, but Hooker gets the nod. The fifth-year senior has been the heart and soul of Tennessee’s resurgence. He’s third nationally among Power 5 quarterbacks in total offense (350.7 yards per game) and has accounted for 18 touchdowns with just one interception, and he’s done it without his most accomplished receiver (Cedric Tillman) for much of the season.

RB: Blake Corum, Michigan

The 5-foot-8, 210-pound Corum is a dynamo. Opposing defenses know he’s going to get the ball, and it doesn’t matter. He just keeps piling up the yardage. Corum has 666 of his 901 rushing yards in his past four games and has rushed for an FBS-leading 13 touchdowns. He leads all Power 5 running backs with 11 runs of 20 yards or longer and is averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

RB: Bijan Robinson, Texas

One of Robinson’s many specialties is making defenders miss. Pro Football Focus has him No. 1 among Power 5 backs when it comes to creating missed tackles. The 6-foot, 222-pound junior, who is a carryover from our preseason team, also catches the ball like a wide receiver. He’s the only FBS player to have more than 700 rushing yards (780) and 200 receiving yards (239). He has 11 total touchdowns, including 10 on the ground, and has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of his past five games.

WR: Marvin Harrison Jr., Ohio State

When has Ohio State not been loaded with talented receivers? Emeka Egbuka and Harrison have formed an explosive one-two punch with Jaxon Smith-Njigba slowed by a hamstring injury. Harrison, a 6-4, 205-pound sophomore, is tied for second among Power 5 players with nine touchdown catches and is averaging 17.3 yards per catch. He has the most targets (46) without a drop in the Power 5, according to Pro Football Focus.

WR: Jalin Hyatt, Tennessee

Hyatt has been one of college football’s most compelling stories and also one of the nation’s most improved players. He torched Alabama with a school-record five touchdown catches and has 10 touchdowns for the season. The 6-foot, 180-pound junior has elite speed and has been much more consistent in every area of his game. He had made just two career starts prior to this season and has stepped in for the injured Tillman as the Vols’ go-to receiver.

T: Paris Johnson Jr., Ohio State

Johnson’s move from guard to left tackle has been a big reason Ohio State’s offense has been as explosive as ever. The Buckeyes rank first nationally in scoring offense (48.8 points per game) and have given up just three sacks. The 6-6, 310-pound Johnson, one of the three offensive linemen who also made our preseason team, hasn’t allowed a sack since the 2020 season, and his tackle cohort on the right side, Dawand Jones, also is a top NFL prospect.

G: Nick Broeker, Ole Miss

This is Broeker’s third straight season as a starter, and he has blossomed as the Rebels’ starting left guard after playing left tackle as a sophomore and junior. Lane Kiffin’s offenses always run the ball effectively, and the 6-5, 315-pound Broeker has been a mauler. Ole Miss is third nationally in rushing (271.4 yards per game), and Quinshon Judkins and Zach Evans have made a living running behind Broeker.

C: John Michael Schmitz, Minnesota

One of college football’s most experienced and dominant interior offensive linemen, the 6-4, 320-pound Schmitz has 29 career starts. The sixth-year senior has helped clear the way for Mohamed Ibrahim, who is fourth nationally in rushing yards per game (138.8). Schmitz’s 91.2 run-block grade, according to Pro Football Focus, leads all other centers by a wide margin. Schmitz is a carryover from our preseason team.

G: Steve Avila, TCU

After starting 11 games at center a year ago, Avila shifted to left guard this season. He’s the unquestioned leader of the TCU offensive line and has played his way into being a top NFL prospect. A 6-4, 330-pound senior, Avila has made starts during his career at center, guard and tackle. His play in the interior of the TCU offensive line has helped the unbeaten Frogs move into the top 25 nationally in both rushing and passing offense.

T: Peter Skoronski, Northwestern

The Wildcats have struggled, but Skoronski continues to play his left tackle position as well as anybody in the country. The 6-4, 315-pound junior has been a fixture in the Northwestern lineup since his true freshman season in 2020, when he stepped in for Rashawn Slater. Skoronski, who also made our preseason team, has the footwork and strength to play anywhere on the offensive line, but he has excelled at tackle.

TE: Michael Mayer, Notre Dame

There are a lot of good tight ends to choose from. Utah’s Dalton Kincaid and Georgia’s Brock Bowers are both having big years, but Mayer has been the most complete tight end to this point. He leads Notre Dame in catches (33), receiving yards (351) and touchdown catches (five). The 6-4, 265-pound junior is a good runner after the catch and more than holds his own as a blocker.

All-purpose: Jahmyr Gibbs, Alabama

The transfer from Georgia Tech has been invaluable for an Alabama offense that has had to rely far too much on Young. Gibbs is the only FBS player with more than 600 rushing yards (635), 200 receiving yards (268) and 150 return yards (164). He has five rushing touchdowns and three receiving touchdowns and is one of those players who looks like he’s going to score every time he touches the ball.


Defense

DE: Tuli Tuipulotu, USC

Tuipulotu has been one of the most disruptive defenders in the Pac-12 after earning first-team all-conference honors as a sophomore. The 6-4, 290-pound Tuipulotu is athletic enough that he can do a little bit of everything. He leads all FBS defensive linemen with 12.5 tackles for loss and leads all Power 5 defensive linemen with seven sacks.

DT: Calijah Kancey, Pittsburgh

A dominant pass-rusher on the interior, Kancey had 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack against Georgia Tech and heads into the second half of the season with a total of 8.5 tackles for loss and three sacks while generating six quarterback hurries. The 6-foot, 280-pound Kancey has also freed up other teammates to make plays because he’s constantly facing double teams and crushing the pocket.

DE: Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Kansas State

Chris Klieman’s Wildcats (5-1) are contending in the Big 12 and their defense has led the way. They’re ranked 14th nationally in scoring defense (16.7 points per game), and the 6-4, 255-pound Anudike-Uzomah has picked up right where he left off a year ago. He has 6.5 sacks (11 last season) and two forced fumbles (six last season), and his constant pressure off the edge has fueled Kansas State’s stifling defense.

LB: Will Anderson Jr., Alabama

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Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. returns interception 25 yards to the house.

Alabama used Anderson a little differently in the loss to Tennessee, and he didn’t have big numbers, but he’s still one of the most feared defenders in college football and a player who must be accounted for on every play. The 6-4, 243-pound junior, the final carryover from our preseason team, is tied for sixth nationally with 10.5 tackles for loss, including five sacks. He has nine quarterback hurries, an interception return for a touchdown and blocked a field goal attempt in the 1-point win over Texas.

LB: Jack Campbell, Iowa

Campbell is a fierce leader and competitor and has been one of college football’s most productive defenders from his middle linebacker position the past two years. The 6-5, 246-pound senior has 63 tackles, including three for loss, and recorded a safety in Iowa’s 7-3 win over South Dakota State. Campbell’s presence in the middle is a big reason the Hawkeyes have held opponents to just two rushing TDs this season.

LB: Ivan Pace Jr., Cincinnati

Pace didn’t have to look far for his new home, and his transfer from Miami (Ohio) has paid dividends for both him and Cincinnati. After opening the season at outside linebacker, the 6-foot, 235-pound senior has created havoc from his middle linebacker position and is tied for the FBS lead with 12.5 tackles for loss, including five sacks. He’s been remarkably consistent with an average of 10.3 tackles per game.

LB: Drew Sanders, Arkansas

The Alabama transfer — and a player the Tide could use right now on defense — moved to inside linebacker at Arkansas and has been a force for the Hogs. His defensive coordinator, Barry Odom, says the 6-5, 233-pound junior is playing at an “elite” level, and Sanders’ numbers back up those words. He has 7.5 tackles for loss, including 6.5 sacks, and has forced three fumbles. He ranks fourth in the SEC with 63 total tackles.

CB: Clark Phillips III, Utah

Phillips has started every game since he came to Utah, including all five games during the 2020 shortened season when he was a freshman. During that time, Phillips has developed into one of the top corners in the country and is tied for the FBS lead with five interceptions this season. He had interception returns for touchdowns in back-to-back games earlier this season against Oregon State and UCLA.

CB: Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State

Wherever the ball is, you’ll find Forbes. He’s one of the best cover cornerbacks in the country and already has five interceptions this season to add to the three he had a year ago. The 6-foot, 180-pound junior has returned two of his interceptions for touchdowns this season against Texas A&M (33 yards) and Kentucky (59 yards) and has five pick-sixes in his Mississippi State career.

S: Christopher Smith, Georgia

It’s no secret how much talent the Dawgs lost on defense to the NFL last season, and they’ve also been hampered by injuries to some key players. But Smith’s consistency and experience have been vital to a Georgia defense that ranks second nationally in scoring defense (9.1 points per game) and third in total defense (247 yards per game). The 5-11, 195-pound senior has three tackles for loss, two interceptions and one fumble recovery.

S: Jartavius Martin, Illinois

Illinois and Bret Bielema have something special brewing in Champaign, and it starts with a defense ranked first nationally in scoring defense (8.9 points per game). The Fighting Illini (6-1) have been especially hard on opposing passing games. They’ve allowed just two touchdown passes and collected 12 interceptions. Martin is part of a safety tandem along with Kendall Smith that has been terrific. Martin is second on the team in tackles (33) and has also intercepted two passes.


Special teams

PK: Christopher Dunn, NC State

There’s perfect, and then there’s Christopher Dunn. He’s 14-of-14 on field-goal attempts and hasn’t missed an extra point this season. Eight of Dunn’s field goals have been from 40 yards or longer. The Wolfpack (5-2) would have a third loss had it not been for Dunn making all four of his field goals in the 19-17 win over Florida State. He kicked a 53-yarder in the fourth quarter of that game and the go-ahead 27-yarder with 6:33 to play.

P: Bryce Baringer, Michigan State

Baringer has been booming footballs seemingly forever in the Big Ten. He started his career at Illinois and is now in his sixth collegiate season. It’s been his best to this point, as he leads the country with a 51.4-yard average (the only FBS punter over 50 yards). He’s had seven of his 30 punts downed inside the 10-yard line and has a long of 70 yards, the best in the Big Ten this season.

KR: Eric Garror, Louisiana

Garror, a fifth-year senior cornerback, is the only FBS player with two punt returns for touchdowns. Garror had an 83-yard return for a score in the Ragin’ Cajuns’ opener against Southeastern Louisiana and took one back 69 yards for a touchdown against South Alabama. Garror is averaging 18.4 yards on 13 returns, and he also had a 34-yard return to set up a touchdown against Eastern Michigan.

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Padres’ Bogaerts leaves after diving for ball

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Padres' Bogaerts leaves after diving for ball

ATLANTA — San Diego Padres second baseman Xander Bogaerts apparently injured his left shoulder and was removed from Monday’s game against the Atlanta Braves.

Bogaerts landed on the shoulder while diving for a bases-loaded grounder hit by Ronald Acuña Jr. in the third inning. Bogaerts stopped the grounder but was unable to make a throw on Acuña’s run-scoring infield hit.

Bogaerts immediately signaled to the bench for assistance and a trainer examined the second baseman before escorting him off the field.

Tyler Wade replaced Bogaerts at second base. The run-scoring single by Acuña gave Atlanta a 5-0 lead over Dylan Cease and the Padres.

Bogaerts entered Monday’s first game of a doubleheader hitting .220 with four homers and 14 RBI.

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MLB opens investigation into ex-Angel Fletcher

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MLB opens investigation into ex-Angel Fletcher

MLB opened an investigation Monday into allegations that former Los Angeles Angels infielder David Fletcher gambled with an illegal bookie, an MLB source told ESPN, but investigators face a significant hurdle at the start — where they’re going to get evidence.

ESPN reported Friday that Fletcher, who is currently playing for the Atlanta Braves‘ Triple-A affiliate, bet on sports — but not baseball — with Mathew Bowyer, the Southern California bookmaker who took wagers from Shohei Ohtani‘s longtime interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara.

Fletcher’s close friend Colby Schultz, a former minor leaguer, also bet with Bowyer and wagered on baseball, including on Angels games that Fletcher played in while he was on the team, according to sources.

“Government cooperation will be crucial in a case like this where we don’t have evidence,” the MLB source said.

MLB investigators will request an interview with Fletcher at some point, but he has the right to refuse cooperation if he can claim he could be the subject of a criminal investigation.

Fletcher did not respond to multiple requests for comment Friday.

The source declined to say whether MLB has reached out to law enforcement for assistance yet, but investigators are expected to do so.

Fletcher might continue playing during the MLB investigation, according to the source. He went 0-3 with a walk Saturday for the Gwinnett Stripers, the day after ESPN’s report, and made a rare relief pitching appearance in Sunday’s game, giving up three runs in 1⅓ innings. Fletcher had never pitched professionally before this season, but has made three relief appearances for Gwinnett.

MLB sources have said that if a player bet illegally but not on baseball, it’s likely he would receive a fine rather than a suspension. Any player connected to any betting on baseball games could face up to a lifetime ban.

Fletcher told ESPN in March that he was present at the 2021 poker game in San Diego where Mizuhara first met Bowyer. Fletcher said he never placed a bet himself with Bowyer’s organization.

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What to know ahead of this week’s House v. NCAA settlement votes

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What to know ahead of this week's House v. NCAA settlement votes

The trajectory of major college sports is set to bend this week to give athletes a significantly larger portion of the billions of dollars they help generate for their schools.

The industry’s top leaders will gather in the next few days to vote on the proposed terms of a landmark settlement. The deal would create a new framework for schools to share millions of dollars with their athletes in the future and create a fund of more than $2.7 billion to pay former athletes for past damages.

The settlement would also mark the end of at least three major federal antitrust lawsuits looming as existential threats to the NCAA and its schools, and would resolve the most pressing — and arguably most formidable — legal challenges facing the college sports industry. The deal would not, however, solve all of the NCAA’s problems or even provide clear answers to many crucial questions about how a more professionalized version of major college sports might look in the near future.

Here are some of the details and unsolved questions shaping conversations during what could be a monumental week in the history of college sports.

Terms of the settlement

While several important details are not yet finalized, sources have confirmed the following general structure of an agreement to settle the House v. NCAA case:

The NCAA’s national office would foot the bill for a $2.7 billion payment for past damages over the course of the next 10 years. The NCAA would generate the majority of that money partly by cutting back on the funds that it distributes to Division I schools on an annual basis.

The power conferences would agree to a forward-looking revenue sharing structure that would give schools the ability to spend a maximum of roughly $20 million per year on direct payments to athletes. The $20 million figure could grow larger every few years if school revenue grows. Each school would be left to decide how to allocate that money while remaining compliant with Title IX laws.

The plaintiffs, which could include all current Division I athletes, would give up their right to file future antitrust claims against the NCAA’s rules. This would include dropping two pending antitrust cases (Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA) that also have been filed by plaintiff attorneys Steve Berman and Jeffrey Kessler.

The sides would also agree to renew the class on an annual basis to include new athletes. New athletes — mostly incoming freshmen — would have to declare that they are opting out of the class in order to challenge the NCAA’s restrictions on payments in the future.

This rolling new class of athletes would, in effect, retire the most impactful tool that has been used over the past decade to chip away at the NCAA’s amateurism rules. Previously, Berman and Kessler needed only one athlete to lend his or her name to a case that would aim to remove illegal restrictions for all college athletes. Moving forward, a lawyer pushing to provide more benefits for athletes will first have to organize and gain commitments from a large group of players who opted out of the settlement.

Athletic and university administrators have long argued that their athletes are generally happy with what the schools provide and that the last decade’s lawsuits are the product of agitating lawyers and advocates. A settlement would not close the door on bargaining with athletes in the future, but it would make it less appealing for attorneys to test the legality of the NCAA’s rules without an explicit demand from a large swath of athletes.

While individual athletes could still opt out and sue the NCAA, the damages for a single athlete or small group of athletes would be far smaller. So, in practice, the House case settlement would provide schools with protection from future suits by removing the financial incentives that make these cases — which often takes years to fight — worthwhile for a plaintiffs’ attorney.

Class action cases have been an important tool to date for plaintiff attorneys because organizing college athletes — a busy and transient group of young people — is extremely difficult. (Although there are a number of groups actively attempting to form college players’ associations.) Some sports antitrust experts, such as Baruch College law professor Marc Edelman, say that, by making future class action lawsuits more difficult, this settlement would give schools ample license to collude on restricting payment to players. Edelman said this conflict could give a judge pause when deciding to approve the terms of the settlement.

Who’s in?

Attorneys representing the plaintiff class of all Division I athletes proposed terms to all defendants involved in the lawsuit in late April. To settle the case fully, the NCAA and each of the five power conferences will have to agree to the terms. Leaders from each group are expected to hold votes by Thursday.

The NCAA’s Board of Governors is scheduled to meet Wednesday.

The Big Ten presidents are planning to meet in person and vote this week as part of the league’s regularly scheduled meetings. That league has long been considered the major conference with the least amount of pushback on the vote. ACC presidents, SEC leaders and Big 12 leaders will also vote this week. In an odd twist, the Pac-12’s membership from this past season will gather virtually to vote, as the 10 departing programs will not vote in the conferences they plan to join next year. Since the Pac-12 was part of the suit as a 12-team league, the 12 presidents and chancellors of those schools will vote as a 12-school unit.

While the NCAA and conferences have to opt in, any athletes involved in the class will have an opportunity to opt out once the attorneys hammer out the details of settlement terms. Any athletes who opt out would retain the right to sue the NCAA in the future, but they would miss out on their cut of the $2.7 billion in damages. On the flip side, it’s unlikely that a current athlete who opts out would give up the opportunity to receive the forward-looking revenue share money, according to legal sources.

Next steps

If all parties agree to the broader terms of a settlement of the House case this week, their attorneys will get to work drafting the fine print of an agreement. That process can take weeks, according to attorneys with experience settling complex antitrust cases.

The judge overseeing the case, Judge Claudia Wilken of California’s Northern District, would then hold a preliminary hearing to review the terms of the settlement. If the judge approves, notice would be sent to all athletes providing them with a chance to formally object or opt out. And finally, the agreement would go back to the courthouse where Wilken would consider any arguments presented in objection before deciding whether the settlement meets her approval.

The Fontenot Case

Alex Fontenot is a former Colorado football player who sued the NCAA in late November for restricting athletes from sharing in television rights revenue. He filed his case a few weeks before Berman and Kessler (the two attorneys representing athletes in the current settlement negotiations) filed a similar complaint called Carter v. NCAA.

Both Kessler and the NCAA have argued that the two complaints are similar and should be consolidated into a single case, which would likely lead to the Fontenot case being part of the pending settlement talks. Fontenot’s attorneys do not want to consolidate and will present their argument for why the cases should be separate in a Colorado courtroom this Thursday.

Garrett Broshuis, Fontenot’s attorney, said he has concerns about how the House settlement could make it harder for future athletes to fight for more rights. Broshuis, a former pitcher at Missouri, has spent most of the last decade successfully suing Major League Baseball to help minor leaguers negotiate better working conditions.

The judge in the Fontenot case has not yet made a ruling on whether it should qualify as a class action lawsuit. If the House settlement is finalized, any college athlete would have to opt out of the settlement in order to take part in the Fontenot case. Opt-outs or objections raised during the House settlement hearings could give Judge Wilken additional pause in approving its terms.

Would Fontenot and other athletes who are working with his attorneys on this case opt out of the House settlement in hopes of pursuing a better deal in their own case?

“To the extent we can, we’re monitoring the media reports surrounding the proposed settlement,” Broshuis told ESPN this weekend. “Once the actual terms are available, we’ll closely scrutinize them. We do have concerns about what’s being reported so far, especially when it comes to the ability for future generations of athletes to continue to fight for their rights.”

Scholarship and roster limits

In the sprint to settle, there’s a bevy of details that are going to be left to college sports leaders to work out in coming months.

The inclusion of roster caps could impact college sports on the field. Right now, college sports operate with scholarship limits. For example, Division I football is limited to 85 scholarships, baseball to 11.7, and softball to 12. Meanwhile, Division I football rosters run to nearly 140 players on the high end, while baseball rosters top out around 40 players, and softball averages about 25 players.

Leaders in college sports are considering uniform roster caps instead of scholarship limits, which could be viewed as another collusive restraint on spending. This would give schools the choice to give out 20 baseball scholarships, for example, if they wished.

If rosters are capped at a certain number, the ripple effect could be more scholarships and smaller roster sizes. The viability of walk-ons, especially for rosters with dozens of them, could be at risk.

Sources caution that this won’t be determined for months, as formalizing roster caps are not part of the settlement. Sources have told ESPN that football coaches in particular will be vocal about radical changes, as walk-ons are part of the fabric of the sport. Stetson Bennett (Georgia), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma) and Hunter Renfrow (Clemson) are all recent examples of transformative walk-ons.

The future of collectives

Multiple sources have told ESPN that some school leaders are hopeful the future revenue sharing model will eliminate or significantly decrease the role that NIL collectives play in the marketplace for athletes.

While an additional $20 million flowing directly from schools to athletes could theoretically satisfy the competitive market for talent and decrease the interest of major donors from contributing to collectives, experts say there is no clear legal mechanism that could be included in a settlement that would eliminate collectives. Those groups — which are independent from schools even if they often operate in a hand-in-glove fashion — could continue to use NIL opportunities to give their schools an edge in recruiting by adding money on top of the revenue share that an athlete might get from his or her school.

For the schools with the deepest pockets or most competitive donors, a $20 million estimated revenue share would be in reality more of a floor than a ceiling for athlete compensation. Most well-established collectives are planning to continue operating outside of their school’s control, according to Russell White, the president of TCA, a trade association of more than 30 different collectives associated with power conference schools.

“It just makes $20 million the new baseline,” White told ESPN. “Their hope is that this tamps down donor fatigue and boosters feel like they won’t have to contribute [to collectives]. But these groups like to win. There’s no chance this will turn off those competitive juices.”

How would the damages money be distributed?

Any athlete who played a Division I sport from 2016 through present day has a claim to some of the roughly $2.7 billion in settlement money. The plaintiffs’ attorneys will also receive a significant portion of the money. The damages represent money athletes might have made through NIL deals if the NCAA’s rules had not restricted them in the past.

It’s not clear if the plaintiffs will disburse the money equally among the whole class or assign different values based on an athlete’s probable earning power during his or her career. Some class action settlements hire specialists to determine each class member’s relative value and how much of the overall payment they should receive. That could be a painfully detailed process in this case, which includes tens of thousands of athletes in the class.

The NCAA also plans to pay that money over the course of the next 10 years, according to sources. It’s not clear if every athlete in the class would get an annual check for the next decade or if each athlete would be paid in one lump sum with some of them waiting years longer than others to receive their cut.

Are there any roadblocks to settlement expected?

In short, the NCAA’s schools and conferences will likely move forward with the agreement this week despite unhappiness in how the NCAA will withhold the revenue from schools to pay the $2.7 billion over the next decade.

There is significant pushback among leagues outside the power leagues on the proposed payment structure. According to a memo the NCAA sent to all 32 Division I conferences this week, the NCAA will use more than $1 billion from reserves, catastrophic insurance, new revenue and budget cuts to help pay the damages, sources told ESPN this week. The memo also states that an additional $1.6 billion would come from reductions in NCAA distributions, 60 percent of which would come from the 27 Division I conferences outside of the so-called power five football leagues. The other 40 percent would come from cuts the power conferences, which are the named defendants with the NCAA in the case.

The basketball-centric Big East is slated to sacrifice between $5.4 million and $6.6 million annually over the next decade, and the similarly basketball-centric West Coast Conference between $3.5 million and $4.3 million annually, according to a source familiar with the memo. The smallest leagues would lose out on just under $2 million annually, which is nearly 20% of what they receive annually from the NCAA.

(The NCAA would withhold money from six funds across Division I leagues — the basketball performance fund via the NCAA tournament, grants-in-aid, the academic enhancement fund, sports sponsorships, conference grants and the academic performance fund.)

In an e-mail obtained by ESPN from Big East commissioner Val Ackerman to her athletic directors and presidents on Saturday morning, she said the Big East has “strong objections” to the damages framework. She wrote that she’s relayed those to NCAA president Charlie Baker.

The 22 conferences that don’t have FBS football — known as the CCA22 — have also been engaged in conversations about their disappointment with the damages proposal, according to sources.

Per a source, some members of the CCA22 are planning on sending a letter to the NCAA requesting the responsibility be flipped — the power conferences contributing to 60 percent of the damages and the other 27 leagues contributing 40 percent. In her message, Ackerman wrote she expects former FBS football players will be “the primary beneficiaries of the NIL ‘back pay’ amounts” — suggesting that the damages may not be shared equally among athletes.

Ackerman’s letter does mention the widely held belief in the industry that it may be tough for any significant change: “At this stage, it is unclear how much time or leverage we will have to alter the plan the NCAA and [power conferences] have orchestrated.”

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