College Football Offseason Buzz: 16 SEC Schools Getting Over $1B

This is college football. At some point, the games pause, but the news and drama never does.

Here's an offseason tracker for buzz across the college football landscape.

SEC cuts massive checks to its members

The SEC is distributing more than $1 billion to its 16 universities for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which ended last August. The total distribution jumped more than $200 million from the previous year. The current total includes $37.4 million retained by universities that participated in the College Football Playoff and bowl games. 

The amount distributed from the conference office, including bowl revenue retained by participants, averaged $72.4 million for schools with full year financial participation. Oklahoma and Texas, which joined the conference in July 2024, received distributions of $2.6 million and $12.1 million, respectively, related to CFP and bowl participation and designated NCAA funds. The $72.4 million average per school is approximately $18.6 million above the 2023-24 average of $53.8 million for full members. 

The payout for the 14 schools receiving a full share consists of revenue generated from television agreements, postseason bowls, the CFP, the SEC title game, the SEC men's basketball tournament and NCAA championships.

Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss denied waiver appeal for 6th year

The NCAA denied Chambliss a waiver appeal for a sixth year of eligibility on Wednesday. Chambliss transferred to Ole Miss after four years at Ferris State, a Division II institution. He began the year as the Rebels' backup, but after an injury to starter Austin Simmons, Chambliss stepped up and led Ole Miss all the way to the CFP semifinals. 

Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar gets restraining order

Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has been granted a temporary restraining order in his lawsuit against the NCAA as he seeks an extra year of eligibility enabling him to continue playing for the Volunteers this fall. The ruling was granted Wednesday after Aguilar filed suit last week in Knox County Chancery Court in Tennessee, arguing that he should be allowed a fourth year of playing D-I football rather than having the years he spent in junior college count against his eligibility. This restraining order remains in effect for 15 days as Aguilar awaits an injunction hearing on his case. Chancellor Christopher D. Heagerty’s ruling stated that Aguilar "has demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of his claim." The ruling applies only to Aguilar.

Aguilar removed himself from the list of plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed by Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia. Pavia’s suit challenged an NCAA rule that counts seasons spent at junior colleges against players’ eligibility for D-I football.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.