On the eve of the 2025 Super Bowl, it was reported Travis Kelce was considering retirement and what happened in the big game could influence his decision.

The Kansas City Chiefs’ dreams of a three-peat vanished, and Kelce announced he would be returning for the 2025 season.

It goes without saying Kelce is approaching the end of his career. 

He posted career lows in yards and touchdowns and, for a second straight season, failed to make an All-Pro team after doing so in eight consecutive years.

He’s also had two consecutive seasons without eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark in receiving yardage.

“If it’s the last ride, you would never know,” Mahomes told reporters Thursday at Chiefs practice. “The way he’s talking about football, the way he’s talking about working and trying to be even better this year than he was last year, he doesn’t seem like a guy like it’s his last ride, like he’s tired of the job.”

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) and quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) wait to lead the team onto the field before a preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Aug. 10, 2024, in Jacksonville, Fla.  (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

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Kelce, 35, initially said he was “kicking every can I can down the road” regarding his decision to retire. But, ultimately, “I f—ing love playing the game of football.”

“I still feel like I can play at a high level and possibly at a higher level than I did last year. I don’t think it was my best outing. I think I let my guys down in a lot more moments than I helped them,” Kelce said on “New Heights” in March.

“Especially if you look at my track record and how I’ve been in years past. I want to give it a good run. I have a bad taste in my mouth in how I ended the year and how well I was playing and how accountable I was for the people around me. And I love so many people in Kansas City, both in that facility and in the community, and it’s home for me.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce walks off the field after losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans.  (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

“I don’t want to leave that life yet. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and put in a lot of focus into being the best that I can for KC. Last year, it didn’t end well for us, and I feel like there is a responsibility in me to play out the contract I initially signed to give Kansas City and the Chiefs organization everything I’ve got, and that’s what I’m gonna do, man.”

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Jacob McCombs had been arguably UC Irvine’s best hitter all season. The sophomore transfer from San Diego State transformed into an All-Big West selection with his .350 batting average and team-high 1.070 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

So when he came up to the plate in the bottom of the fifth, down one run against a taxed Arizona State southpaw in Ben Jacobs — McCombs provided a real chance to break open the game in favor of the second-seeded Anteaters with runners on first and second.

Coach Ben Orloff called for McCombs to bunt. A picture-perfect tap toward third base sent both runners into scoring position with one out — and the Irvine dugout into raucous cheers. When his team needed it, one of its stars stepped up.

It didn’t matter to Jacobs. Facing the pressure, the former UCLA Bruin — pitching back at Jackie Robinson Stadium, where he played in 2023 — shut down Chase Call with a strikeout and forced Blake Penso — his former battery mate at Huntington Beach High — to weakly fly out to right field on the 105th pitch of the lefty’s night.

McCombs’ small-ball heroics were for naught. When Irvine’s offense worked another opportunity to score in the bottom of the eighth after Penso placed down a sacrifice bunt, Alonso Reyes hit into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the rally. It was one of those nights for the Anteaters, at a time of year when it matters most, as UC Irvine fell 4-2 to third-seeded Arizona State in the Friday nightcap of the Los Angeles Regional.

UC Irvine moves to the losers bracket where it’ll face fourth-seed Fresno State at noon Saturday. To win the Los Angeles Regional, the Anteaters will have to win out — four games across Saturday, Sunday and Monday — if they want to reach the NCAA super regionals.

While UC Irvine’s offense could only produce two runs and mustered just five hits, Trevor Hansen — their ace — tried his best to put the Anteaters on his back. Despite giving up solo home runs in the second inning to Jacob Tobias and Isaiah Jackson, the right-hander settled down to toss 6⅓ innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs while striking out eight and walking two.

Hansen turned the ball over to Big West pitcher of the year Ricky Ojeda with runners on first and second in the seventh. Ojeda made quick work — inducing a groundout and a strikeout — to escape the inning. The lefty pitched through the ninth, giving up one run on 40 pitches overall, which could impact his availability in Saturday’s win-or-go-home contest against the Bulldogs.

Ojeda threw on back-to-back days just once in 2025, tossing 32 and 35 pitches against UC San Diego on May 3-4.

The University of Texas at Austin’s athletic department has long been heralded for its access to seemingly unmatched financial resources. 

The Texas Longhorns football program maintains arguably some of the best — if not the top — amenities in the nation.

Since the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL), there has been a noticeable uptick in the amount of financial resources programs across the U.S. have allocated to football, basketball and other sports. 

Ohio State reportedly built one of the country’s most expensive rosters en route to January’s national championship. 

Some have asserted Texas’ spending heading into the 2025 campaign was on par with or even surpassed the $20 million the Buckeyes spent.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian denied the $40 million price tag linked to the Longhorns. 

Sarkisian referenced a recent Houston Chronicle column that highlighted Texas’ roster payroll. The column accounted for revenue sharing and Texas NIL collective payouts. According to the outlet, revenue-sharing funds totaled $20.5 million. The total spent on the football team was reported to be between $35-$40 million.

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Sarkisian suggested $25 million was a more accurate figure for Texas’ investment. He also hinted the $40 million figure was a result of “irresponsible reporting.”

“There was one anonymous source that said that’s what our roster was. I wish I had $40 million on our roster. We’d probably be a little bit better team than we are,” the coach said during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s College Sports Radio.

Sarkisian then addressed the current landscape of college football. 

“The idea to think that a lot of other schools aren’t spending money to get players? It’s the state of college football right now. It is what it is,” he said. 

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian heads toward the locker room. (John Rivera/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Texas has advanced to the College Football Playoff the past two seasons. The Longhorns lost 37-31 to Washington in the 2023–24 playoff semifinal. 

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian watches a play during the Allstate Sugar Bowl playoff game between the Texas Longhorns and the Washington Huskies Jan. 1, 2024, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.  (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After defeating Clemson in the first round last season, Texas survived a double-overtime thriller against Arizona State in the quarterfinals. But the Longhorns could not get past Ohio State in the semifinals.

“It’s been a great run. I wish I had about another $15 million or so, though. We might have a better roster,” Sarkisian said.

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