The more that college football changes, the more some things remain the same. In this case, SEC coaches complaining about schedules.As we rapidly approach the start of the 2026 season, the landscape of the sport has changed significantly. In the pre-NIL era, the SEC, led by Nick Saban’s Alabama dynasty, dominated college football. In 10 years, from 2013-2022, SEC teams won six National Championships, three for the Crimson Tide, two for Georgia, and the Joe Burrow-led 2019 LSU Tigers.But NIL almost immediately upended roster construction, creating more parity within the sport as former, say, Alabama backups, took bigger paydays to start elsewhere. As a result, there’s a much more level playing field across college football, other teams in other conferences have improved their rosters, and the top of the SEC is no longer heads and shoulders above the competition.JOEL KLATT ROASTS SEC: NICK SABAN ISN’T THERE ‘WITH HIS BIG OLD COATTAILS FOR YOU TO RIDE AS A CONFERENCE’ Unsurprisingly then, the SEC has failed to even reach the National Championship game in three straight seasons. And even worse, teams from the Big Ten Conference have not only reached the final, but won it in each of those years. Based on…

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Qatari-donated jet that serves as an Air Force One plane will soon be sent away for upgrades, following questions about the plane’s security features.Trump started flying aboard the jumbo jet on July 1 after accepting the plane as a gift last year, when an accelerated effort to renovate the Boeing 747 for presidential use began. But Trump unexpectedly ditched the plane on a flight from Turkey to the United Kingdom amid rising hostility with Iran on July 8. He flew aboard an older Air Force One to London in what he described as a move “for old time’s sake”, but later boarded the new plane to return to the U.S.Trump was asked about whether the newly renovated airplane lacked missile-defense capabilities as he returned home from a trip to the FIFA World Cup final in New Jersey on Sunday.“It has a lot of capability,” Trump said of the plane. “But as I understand it, in about a month or so, they’re gonna send it to have it be maxed out … It’ll take about a month.”The U.S. Air Force did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The new plane, with…

Believe it or not, the fight against the creep of fall into summer has already begun. The disrespect is at an all-time high. It really hit home for me last July when a Halloween display was out at a grocery store at the beach.The beach? They’re making their money off of summer vacations in July. What are they doing? Our very own Senior Editor of Content Development has already started receiving reports of Halloween decorations in the wild. My own wife has fallen victim to it. This weekend, while her parents were in town and the temperature was well into the 90s, she came home with a Halloween-themed bag. But all hope is not lost.POPULAR GOLF INFLUENCER REVEALS WILD STORY OF FAN WHO GOT HER AUTOGRAPH TATTOOED ON HIS ARMThat’s where golf influencer Hailey Ostrom comes in. I know she was in Sunday Screencaps taking on Lake Powell, but she stepped up again for summer on Monday, still out at the lake. Her message over the weekend on Twitter was slightly different from the one she delivered on Instagram. This message was straight to the point, “Just here to remind you it’s summertime.”How do you do that? You do that…

A U.S. airman died Thursday after heavy equipment he was operating rolled down an embankment at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.The Space Force identified the airman Friday as 1st Class Cedric Eneluna, 23, a member of the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Pavements and Equipment Flight.No other personnel were injured in the incident, according to a Space Force release. A Safety Board Investigation was launched, and details will not be released until the completion of the investigation.The Santa Barbara Coroner’s office had not determined the official cause of death as of Friday.Eneluna joined the military in 2024, and he arrived to his first duty assignment at Vandenberg in August of that year, the release reads.“Eneluna served with professionalism, humility, and an unwavering commitment to his teammates and the mission,” the release says. “During his assignment at Vandenberg, he earned the respect and admiration of those around him through his positive attitude, tireless work ethic, and willingness to help others.”Eneluna spent his childhood in the Philippines and referred to Fayetteville, North Carolina, as his hometown.The 30th Pavements and Equipment Flight unit are known as the “Dirt Boyz” and are tasked with maintaining the base’s roads, airfield and infrastructure in support of…

Days after the FIFA World Cup Tournament left some of its American NFL venues with the pristine grass fields it installed, the change back to synthetic turf normalcy has already begun. And that’s unwelcome news for NFL players.That is why the NFL Players Association will consider whether to make a requirement for grass fields across the NFL a top-tier demand in future collective bargaining negotiations with the league, according to a union source.A final decision on that approach is not imminent, the source said. FORMER NFL TIGHT END GREG OLSEN WEIGHS IN ON LEAGUE’S TWO BIGGEST CONTROVERSIES HEADING INTO 2026The reason this is an issue now is that NFL players watched World Cup matches on grass fields played in six NFL stadiums that normally house artificial turf. The last of those happened Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where the Final between Argentina and Spain was decided on a field sodded with North Carolina Bermuda grass.And that made the NFL players long for the grass fields they believe are easier on their bodies and perhaps mitigate some injuries.But MetLife will be converted back to turf in the coming weeks in preparation for the New York Giants and New York Jets to play…

The U.S. Coast Guard began tracking a Chinese research vessel last week near the Arctic to ensure compliance with international law, the service announced.The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro observed the Chinese ship Xue Long as it transited through the U.S. exclusive economic zone and over the U.S. extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea toward the Arctic. “Alongside the Department of War, the Department of State, and our international partners, we are actively responding to competitor activities across an increasingly contested Arctic,” said Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District.The U.S. Coast Guard completed the surveillance in service of Operation Frontier Sentinel, which tracks U.S. adversaries in and around U.S. waters in order to protect U.S. national security interests.It was the first time in 2026 that Chinese vessels were recorded transiting the area, the Coast Guard said.The thawing of ice sparked by climate change has opened up opportunities to traverse previously inaccessible shipping lanes and extract rare earth minerals.Nations that seek to conduct marine scientific research inside the U.S. EEZ and or in the U.S. extended continental shelf must request permission from the United States before doing so.In Sept. 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard responded to…

The United States’ air defenses are struggling to defend against attacks from Iran. The Pentagon reported that Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on a military base in Jordan killed two American service members, as air defenses failed to keep up. The US is becoming increasingly concerned that the Iranian military is improving its efficacy at penetrating its air defenses in the Middle East. Several media outlets have reported, citing anonymous officials, that air defenses appear to be struggling to keep up. This comes on the heels of a deadly missile and drone strike on a military base in Jordan on Friday, which left two American service members dead and another one missing, according to the Pentagon. In an article on Saturday, the New York Times quoted its sources as saying that the latest Iranian retaliatory strikes are a “sign that Iranian forces not only still have ample missile stocks but have also become more adept at evading US air defense systems.” The Wall Street Journal, while also citing anonymous officials, reports that the Iranian military “has adapted to US defenses, firing missiles that travel at extremely high speeds and can maneuver as they streak toward the Earth.” Iran is said to have…

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TAMPA – Just as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took to the podium inside the Marriott hotel to kick off the 2026 media days, he was already battling for headlines from the Big Ten, as Michigan announced the findings of their internal investigation that is leading to AD Warde Manuel stepping down.Did you expect the competition between conferences to stop on a random Monday morning in July?While this was already going to be a week of pure chaos, wrapped up between the ongoing ‘Protect College Sports Act’, CFP expansion and the battle to stay out of courtrooms, it almost felt as though the third Monday of July was going to be a doozy.CLOCK IS TICKING AS SENATORS TED CRUZ, MARIA CANTWELL PUSH FOR SEC, BIG TEN BUY-IN ON COLLEGE SPORTS BILLCome on, what did you expect? We are currently in the midst of one of the most important times in college athletics, as conferences like the SEC and Big Ten negotiate with senators over issues pertaining to the future of the industry. The latest negotiations center around a potential agreement that conferences would not be allowed to expand to over 20 teams, which is just the latest installment of this ongoing…

The U.S. Air Force began piloted flights and autonomy tests for modified F-16s that allows artificial intelligence agents to fly the aircraft.The agents are able to fly the F-16s in the Viper Experimentation and Next-gen Operations Model, or VENOM, program through the aircraft’s additional hardware, software and instrumentation installed, according to a release.A F-16 Fighting Falcon equipped with the technology completed a sortie recently at the Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, for the 96th Test Wing, per the announcement.The modified aircraft began flights in June to verify that the aircraft worked properly with all the technology involved. A month later, the unit began in-air-testing using an agent to autonomously control the flight.The pilots, located in the cockpit during the flights, monitored the AI agents to ensure the flight and mission systems tests objectives were met, the release reads.“Getting the aircraft into the air is always a monumental milestone for a complex test program,” Tim Stevens, a VENOM test pilot with the 40th Flight Test Squadron, said in the release.“It represents years of design, modification and test planning poured into this project by a dedicated team of hundreds,” he continued.VENOM, which is a joint effort between the Defense Advanced Research Projects…