Sports
Northern Illinois over Notre Dame is what makes college football more than NFL Lite
Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock’s cheeks were soaked with some of the happiest tears of his life. He was drenched in the overwhelming joy of leading his alma mater to the biggest win in school history.
His nose was running as the pride overcame him. It wasn’t pretty, but it was beautiful.
It was college football.
“All these guys that have been with our program, been through the ups and downs and to continue to fight. It’s like they my kids. I’m happy for the adversity. The push through no matter the situation,” he said. “I just couldn’t be more proud.”
“THEY BELIEVED.”
Northern Illinois HC Thomas Hammock spoke from the heart after an incredible upset over Notre Dame. @NIU_Football pic.twitter.com/pFrS5ok5U7
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) September 7, 2024
When the 28.5-point underdogs finished their 2 1/2-hour bus ride home to DeKalb, Ill., after beating No. 5 Notre Dame, a swarm of fans waited in the dark to welcome them.
The HUSKIE FAITHFUL gave the dawgs a warm welcome home last night!! Thank you to all of the fans‼️#SOAR | #TheHardWay 🦴🏴☠️ pic.twitter.com/HBWVctBovO
— NIU Football (@NIU_Football) September 8, 2024
As I watched the aftermath of the weekend’s most impactful result, it reminded me why this has been my favorite sport for decades. I enjoy the NFL, America’s most popular sport. But I love college football. I grew up on it.
To me, the difference in the two was crystallized by Hammock’s Huskies and everything they experienced: Every single weekend, some team is playing a game the players will remember for the rest of their lives.
GO DEEPER
Thomas Hammock and Northern Illinois believed — and that was enough to shock Notre Dame
Also on Saturday, a freshman kicker named Kyle Konrardy — who had never attempted a college kick — flipped the fortunes of the entire state of Iowa by drilling a 54-yard field goal that put Iowa State on top of Iowa for just the second time in a decade.
In Week 1, oft-downtrodden Vanderbilt snapped a 10-game losing streak by bullying trendy College Football Playoff contender Virginia Tech and surviving a furious comeback with an overtime win. It set off a flood of chest bumps, hugs and “I love you” as the sideline spilled onto the field.
This moment 🥹 pic.twitter.com/wCH8nyNDvZ
— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) September 1, 2024
And in Week 0, Georgia Tech flew to Ireland and beat its conference’s proudest program, Florida State, which went 13-0 a season ago on the way to an ACC title. It might mean more to the players competing, but it all means a ton to the fans and alums watching around the nation and world, too.
Northern Illinois signed up to play what’s commonly known in college football as a “paycheck game,” earning $1.4 million for the experience of playing on one of sports’ most hallowed grounds and, presumably, to lose. Sometimes, though, games like these don’t play out like the architects of the contract intend.
No matter what happens this season or for the rest of Hammock’s run at NIU, reality is this: Decades from now, people will still be talking about the time their beloved Huskies walked into Notre Dame Stadium, kicked a 35-yard field goal to win it and blocked a 62-yard prayer to seal it.
In the past five years, college football has rapidly evolved (some would argue devolved) into something different than what those of us who grew up on the sport fell in love with.
Conference makeups are unnatural, the tectonic plates shifted by nonsensical moves prodded by checks from television companies at the cost of tradition, athlete experience and regional identity, once the sport’s signature.
Athletes finally have long-deserved freedom to earn money on their name, image and likeness, but because the sport had to be dragged into a more equitable landscape by the courts, that newfound freedom has also meant roster management is more difficult than ever, and for now, players’ connection with their campus is more tenuous than ever.
The NCAA is ensnared in an endless string of antitrust lawsuits that stand to continue to reshape college sports.
Northern Illinois’ entire athletic revenue last year was just over $22 million. The nation’s leaders in that particular race — Ohio State and Texas — brought in revenues more than 10 times that.
The Huskies have a collective called Boneyard Victor E., and though exact numbers are hard to come by, it’s safe to assume no Northern Illinois roster will be suiting up for $20 million like Ohio State or even $12 million like Florida State.
Schools like NIU, where Huskie Stadium seats 28,211 compared to the 77,622 seats in Notre Dame Stadium, are often helpless when bigger schools see standout players on film in leagues like NIU’s Mid-American Conference and offer a check that those schools can’t match to join a bluer blood’s roster.
Hammock’s roster wasn’t immune. Florida swiped NIU edge rusher George Gumbs. Louisville grabbed center Pete Nygra.
NIU beat Notre Dame on the scoreboard and the line of scrimmage anyway.
These are new realities that programs in lower-level conferences have to deal with. The mostly static ecosystem of the sport of the past century has quickly morphed into a merciless food chain, and those on the bottom half are left to grapple with the consequences. It’s not just players: Good head coaches at small programs leave for coordinator jobs at more well-funded programs, often seeing a clearer path to their own dreams.
Maybe moments like the ones we’ve seen the first couple of weeks will be rarer as it becomes harder for schools outside of the four power conferences to keep their best players and hire great coaches.
I suspect not. I hope not.
One secret of college football is the players at the bottom of the standings generally work just as hard as those at the top. They might be less gifted in size or skill, less well-coached or have fewer resources to maximize what ability they do have.
But they work hard. And they do it with zero promise that it will pay off with a moment like the one the Huskies got to enjoy Saturday.
So when that work pays off for everyone to see? When a moment like the one we saw Saturday arrives with no warning? It moves me. I suspect it moves you, too.
It’s why everyone in America with a microphone wants to talk to Hammock, the 43-year-old coaching in his sixth season at NIU, in the aftermath of Saturday’s shocker. He earned just over $677,000 last season to work just as hard as Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who earned over $6.5 million in 2022.
Hammock’s tears resonated with anyone who saw them. How could they not? There’s so much of our day-to-day lives that’s ordinary. Plenty that is artificial.
What Northern Illinois did was extraordinary. It was authentic.
It was beautiful.
It was college football.
(Photo of Northern Illinois defensive end Jalonnie Williams: Brian Spurlock / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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When will Team USA lose in the 2026 FIFA World Cup? Or, will it not lose at all?
Let’s check out the odds for the Americans’ stage of elimination at FanDuel Sportsbook, as of June 11.
Team USA — Stage of elimination odds
Last 32: +170 (bet $10 to win $27 total)
Last 16: +220 (bet $10 to win $32 total)
Group stage: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Quarterfinals: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
Semifinals: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Runner-up: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Outright winner: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
The outlook appears to be … ho-hum?
If the odds ring true, the Americans are expected to make it out of the group stage but fall in the first knockout stage game.
How would that result stack up against previous results? Well, at the 2022 World Cup, Team USA made it to the Round of 16, which was viewed as a stellar accomplishment.
The U.S. men’s national team currently has 60-1 odds to lift the 2026 FIFA World Cup trophy this summer (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
In 2018, the USA did not qualify for the World Cup, and in 2014 and 2010, the Americans also made it to the Round of 16. Their best result this century occurred in 2002, when the Americans made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.
In 1998, Team USA lost in the group stage, in 1994, it fell in the Round of 16, and in 1990, it also fell in the group stage.
With the expanded World Cup format, 32 teams will advance to the knockout stage (out of 48), giving teams a much better chance of getting out of the group stage than in previous tournaments. In past years, only 50% of the field advanced to the knockout round, but now 66.6% of teams will move on.
With that being said, anything less than a knockout round appearance on home soil would be viewed as a major failure this summer for Team USA.
The second result on the oddsboard is the “Last 16,” meaning the USA would make it out of the group stage and win one knockout stage game, before falling in the second knockout stage game. The third result is that the Americans failed to make it out of the group stage, and the fourth is that they made it to the quarterfinals, meaning they won two knockout stage games.
Making the semis, losing in the championship game and winning the championship are the three results with the longest odds.
The U.S. begins its World Cup journey on Friday as the Stars and Stripes face Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium. Getting off to a fast start in the group is crucial for the team’s World Cup dreams of making a deep run this summer.
PITTSBURGH — The Dodgers couldn’t have asked for better timing, as Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot came back around.
They were clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning against the Pirates on Thursday. With one out and runners on first and second, the Dodgers superstar, who had already reached base four times, was due up.
Instead, Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Ohtani left the game with inflammation in his left knee, the Dodgers announced. They did not immediately offer an explanation for the injury.
Before leaving, Ohtani hit a solo home run — his second homer in as many games — a single and drew two walks.
It was an impressive performance, coming a day after he took on two-way duties. On the mound Wednesday, he allowed three earned runs in 6⅔ innings.
Earlier in the game Thursday, Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited with a bruised right hamstring, the team said.
The fifth inning had already begun to spiral on him. After throwing four scoreless innings, he surrendered two solo home runs to Rafael Flores Jr. (the first of his major-league career) and Brandon Lowe.
Then Bryan Reynolds hit a line-drive comebacker off Wrobleski’s leg. The ball ricocheted to the edge of the infield grass, where first baseman Freddie Freeman picked it up.
Wrobleski was already racing toward first base. But after turning to catch the throw, he missed the base and stumbled backward into Reynolds, who tripped over Wrobleski’s extended left foot.
Wrobleski limped away, and an athletic trainer followed him, circling back to the mound. But as he was setting up to throw a warm-up pitch, manager Dave Roberts came out to make a pitching change.
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Seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry has some simple advice for Caitlin Clark: Fight back.
Horry, 55, was asked about the criticism the Indiana Fever star has gotten for complaining to the referees, and Horry said Clark needs to protect herself.
“You think about when you when you’re the best, everybody want to knock you out. And I think a lot of people are going after her and for me, just play the game,” Horry told Fox News Digital at The World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party Blue Carpet at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark waits for play to resume during the fourth quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on May 28, 2026. (David Gonzales/Imagn Images)
“Some other players around the league didn’t protect themselves, and the (harassment) went on, so my best advice (for) her is protect yourself. Don’t let nobody try to punk you.”
Horry played with Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and cited him as an example of a player who fought back.
“I think I (played) with one of the greatest players (in) Shaquille O’Neal, he got hammered. I know he’s bigger and stronger than Caitlin, but he got to a point where he just started fighting back. You know, someone (elbowed him), you elbow him back.”
Clark has taken some hard fouls during her three seasons in the WNBA, with many fans wondering if the treatment from her competitors is intentional. The 24-year-old frequently pleads her case to the referees after contact, which has drawn the ire of fans who say she complains too much.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever reacts after a foul was called during the first half against the Portland Fire at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, on May 30, 2026. (Ali Gradischer/Getty Images)
Fever fans at least weren’t complaining when Clark buried a game-winning 3-pointer to help secure a 78-76 win over the Washington Mystics on Monday. Clark had 19 points, five assists and three rebounds in the win.
The Fever have had a tumultuous start to the season, but are over .500 at 6-5. In 10 games, Clark has averaged 18.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.
Horry played in the NBA for 16 seasons. He began his career with the Houston Rockets, spending four and a half seasons with them and being a key part of their championship-winning teams in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The Alabama native was then traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent half a season before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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Robert Horry and Candice Horry pose on the blue carpet for the World Cup 2026 Kickoff Party at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 9, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Horry was a key contributor during the Lakers’ three-peat from 1999-2001 and earned his third, fourth and fifth career NBA titles. After spending seven seasons with the Lakers, Horry joined the Spurs, where he won two more championships in 2004-05 and 2006-07.
In 16 seasons, Horry averaged 7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
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