Times are changing in college sports as we continue to evolve and change through the NIL and transfer portal era.
In a display of that change, Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide are going to participate in a first of its kind, NIL-based Thanksgiving tournament in Las Vegas.
Oats usually has the team play in some sort of non-conference tournament during that time of year, but the NIL wrinkle is completely new.
According to CBS Sports, all eight teams participating in the event will be awarded $1 million each to their NIL collective, with the winner of the tournament even potentially able to make more than that.
Among the other schools in the field are Houston, Notre Dame, Oregon, Rutgers, San Diego State and Texas A&M with an eighth team to be determined eventually.
The goal of the event is to double the field from 8 to 16 with 2025 seen as a target for expansion.
CBS said many of the schools in the event have signed up for multi-year contracts, meaning the 16-team field would feature some of the schools from the 8-team field, although it is not clear which teams that would be.
Michael Brauner is a Senior Sports Analyst and Contributing Writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @MBraunerWNSP
