The Athletic had a good article on this. Talked about how teams like Nebraska and Michigan have one approach to NIL, and that is to spread it around and keep deep rosters well over 85 players. The other approach, shared by UGA and OSU, is to limit NIL mainly to the 85 scholarship players and concentrate it in star players. Nevermind that the NCAA has said you can't use NIL to skirt the scholarship limits, but seems like everyone is doing it so its letting it go.
Here's what I found particularly interesting:
"The Wolverines had 18 players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine and have a chance to break Georgia’s record of 15 players selected in a single draft. Of the 143 players listed on their roster, 96 either signed with Michigan on scholarship out of high school or transferred from programs where they were on scholarship.
Michigan didn’t have as many five-star recruits as Georgia, Alabama or Ohio State, but the Wolverines had draft picks at almost every position and the depth to rotate heavily without a major drop-off. Thanks in part to a “One More Year” NIL campaign sponsored by the Champions Circle collective, Michigan brought back a large group of seniors, including a handful who used their extra years of eligibility from the COVID-19 pandemic. Michigan also added nine players from the transfer portal, all of whom contributed to the Wolverines’ run to the national championship."
So they had 143 (!) players listed on their roster, 96 of whom were getting at least their tuition paid in NIL. So they are not broke or poor in NIL as is the public perception, they just choose to spread it around. It is hypocritical of their fanbase to spread this narrative that OSU is "just a team of NIL mercenaries" when they probably spend very close to what OSU is spending in NIL. I read another article I think it was on On3 that said OSU spent an estimated $14M and UM $12M.
