College Football news: Most hated teams, a new NIL push for Texas A&M, and more

In our latest college football news roundup, Texas A&M football announces a new NIL push, a look back at the sport’s most-hated teams, and more. 

When it comes to college football, there is no shortage of teams people love to hate and in a recent list by 247 sports, the most-hated college football teams of all time are listed.

It’s not just programs but individual seasons and the top of the list might surprise, since the top two teams on the list didn’t even win the college football national championship.

UCF from 2017 was 10th on the list and that’s probably just because college football fans are annoyed about the Knights claiming to be national champions because of an undefeated season.

However, the two most-hated college football teams are USC from 2005 — the Trojans team that was going for a third straight title but lost to Vince Young in the Rose Bowl — and the Miami football team from 1986.

Miami was undefeated but lost in the Fiesta Bowl to Penn State. Still, when college football fans look back on those teams, which were dominant in their era, there was a good reason to hate them both, mostly because they were so good.

Texas A&M football with a new NIL announcement

The Texas A&M football program has never been shy about using NIL as a recruiting tool. The Aggies used it as a tool to sign the No. 1 overall class in the 2022 recruiting class.

Texas A&M football didn’t sign a similar class in 2023 but the Aggies are determined to be a leader in the NIL field and announced the 12th Man+ on Friday, something the school said it gave advance notice of to the NCAA and the SEC.

Essentially, it’s a fundraising arm of the athletic department to raise funds specifically for NIL. Here’s more from On3.com:

"“Texas A&M representatives provided advance notice to both the NCAA and SEC that there would be a potentially landscape-shifting name, image, and likeness-related announcement last week, when the school’s official booster organization, the 12th Man Foundation, unveiled the creation of the 12th Man+ Fund. But an NCAA spokeswoman told On3 the association didn’t review or approve any plans before the announcement.”"

After getting accused of cheating on their way to the top recruiting class in 2022, it’s a bold move for a Texas A&M football program, which has never been shy about throwing money around. Here’s more from On3 about what it will do:

"“Just one offseason removed from when message board rumors and aggregators turned A&M boosters into alleged deep-pocketed boogeymen, the 12th Man Foundation became the first independent fundraising arm of an athletic department to announce it will directly fundraise for and facilitate NIL deals for athletes.”"

It will be interesting to see if other college football teams follow. Regardless, the NCAA needs to get a handle on what’s going on or just walk away because pay-for-play is here and in the open.

More college football news: Blake Corum update

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke with the media on Thursday and offered an upgrade about Blake Corum. The one-time Heisman frontrunner won’t be taking part in spring practices for the Wolverines, the two-time defending Big Ten champs, but he’ll be ready by June.

That’s good news for Michigan but bad news for the Big Ten as the Wolverines are the favorite to 3-peat heading into 2023. Michigan has even opened as a one-point favorite against Ohio State for the 2023 game according to Fan Duel.

That’s the first time in a long time and there’s no doubt it’s a good time to be a fan of the Michigan Wolverines.