Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.
Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.
If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.
Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.
The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.
"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."
Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.
Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.
"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.
How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action
With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.
Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.
The 2025 NCAA volleyball season is heating up, with a pair of Top 10 matchups headlining the first annual ACC-SEC "Showdown at the Net" event on Wednesday.
Recent conference realignment has seen the SEC and ACC emerge as volleyball strongholds alongside the Big Ten, with the two Power Four rivals laying claim to seven of the current Top 10 teams.
Putting their reputations to the test, the conferences launched the two-day "Showdown at the Net" series this season, with 14 SEC vs. ACC games taking place at campuses nationwide while the four top contenders face off in the event's two-game spotlight showcase in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Wednesday doubleheader will first pair the SEC's No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats against the ACC's No. 7 Pitt Panthers before their respective conference standouts take the court as the No. 2 Texas Longhorns face the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals.
The battle between the Longhorns and Cardinals — a rematch of the 2022 national championship game — will be particularly tense, as both squads enter the match without a single loss on the young 2025 season.
How to watch "Showdown at the Net" NCAA volleyball tournament
No. 3 Kentucky and No. 7 Pitt will kick off Wednesday's top-tier college volleyball clashes at 6:30 PM ET before No. 2 Texas and No. 4 Louisville square off at 9 PM ET.
Both games will air live on ESPN.
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd, Olympic gymnast Suni Lee, and more college talents struck a pose this week, teaming up with Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and newly minted fiancé — Travis Kelce to launch his new "Tru Kolors" American Eagle collection on Wednesday.
The Tru Kolors campaign highlights rising, current, and former NCAA athletes, with Fudd and Lee joined by UNC tennis commit Anna Frey as well as a trio of standouts in men's basketball and football.
"I'm inspired by where I come from and the people around me. That's why we chose six incredible athletes — Anna, Azzi, Drew, Kiyan, Suni, and Jeremiah — who stay true to themselves while changing the game," Kelce said in Wednesday's press release.
"Each athlete shares Travis's beliefs of staying true and living life beyond boundaries," the statement continues, describing reigning national champion Fudd as one of "college basketball's most resilient and dynamic players."
Lee is the only former collegiate icon featured in the campaign, with the Auburn alum departing NCAA competition to add three more medals to her six Olympic hardware total at the 2024 Paris Games.
College phenoms like Fudd and Lee have been able to funnel their athletic success into increasingly high-profile NIL deals.
Fudd has had a particularly lucrative year off the court, with this latest venture closely following a collab with Meta earlier this month.
How to buy the Travis Kelce American Eagle collection
Items from the initial Tru Kolors run hit shelves on Wednesday, with the rest of the 90-piece collection dropping on September 24th.
All pieces will be available to buy online at American Eagle.
The UNC Tar Heels are having a rough start to the 2025 NCAA soccer season, logging two upset losses in the first two weeks of competition to plummet from their No. 1 spot in the preseason rankings.
North Carolina stumbled right out of the gate, becoming the first reigning national champs to drop their season opener in 23 years with their 2-0 fall to Tennessee, before the Tar Heels added a second 2-0 loss to Georgia last Thursday.
As a result, a precipitous poll drop have the once top-ranked Tar Heels now sitting at No. 22 in the nation, with Stanford rising behind four straight wins to take the UNC-vacated No. 1 spot.
Meanwhile, North Carolina's SEC conquerers earned big boosts: Georgia made their season rankings debut at No. 13 this week, and a four-match opening winning streak saw Tennessee skyrocket to No. 2.
Tennessee's early-season success also includes a second massive win, as the preseason-unranked Vols defeated 2022 champion and then-No. 4 UCLA 1-0 last Wednesday to prove that their shocking opening upset was far from a fluke.
Redshirt junior forward Shae O'Rourke is leading Tennessee's charge, netting five goals across their four games — including scoring all three against the two recent NCAA champs.
As for UNC, the Tar Heels have time to right the ship under newly permanent head coach Damon Nahas, with the team looking to log some wins over lopsided opponents before their next ranked matchup against fellow ACC foe No. 24 Virginia Tech on September 11th.
College volleyball is back on the scene and the top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers kicked off the 2025 NCAA season in style last weekend, defeating both the No. 3 Pitt Panthers and No. 6 Stanford Cardinal with respective 3-1 and 3-0 results in the annual AVCA First Serve event.
The weekend wins mark a hot start for incoming Nebraska head coach and former Husker Dani Busboom Kelly, as the ex-Louisville Cardinals leader aims to push her alma mater to their first NCAA title since 2017 — following in the footsteps of Nebraska's four-time national champion coach John Cook, who stepped away last January.
"Dani's an awesome coach, and we've had so much fun with her, especially in this off-season," said Nebraska junior middle blocker Andi Jackson. "It's been just really fun getting to know her as a person and as a coach, and we've done a lot of really, really cool things."
"That intro was pretty unbelievable to start off college volleyball. For them to set the stage and set the tone that this sport is big-time was awesome," Busboom Kelly added after the Huskers' season-opening win on Friday.
Hot on No. 1 Nebraska's heels in the 2025 NCAA volleyball preseason rankings is reigning champion Penn State, with the pair leading the Big Ten's charge as the conference battles battles the also-stacked ACC for domination this season.
The No. 2 Nittany Lions also started their 2025 campaign with a big weekend win, sweeping the No. 12 Creighton Bluejays on Saturday's AVCA First Serve court.
How to watch top NCAA volleyball on Monday
The AVCA First Serve season kick-off wraps with two top-ranked matchups on Monday, when No. 2 Penn State will face the No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks at 6:30 PM ET before the No. 11 Minnesota Golden Gophers take on the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies at 8:30 PM ET.
Both matches will air live on the Big Ten Network.
UConn basketball star and reigning NCAA champion Azzi Fudd added another stop to her whirlwind offseason this week, landing in Chongqing, China, to team up with NBA icon Steph Curry on his Curry Brand World Tour.
Fudd said just last week that she considered Curry her favorite NBA player, with the 22-year-old UConn grad student going on to beat the 16-year league veteran in a three-point contest while in China.
Kicking off its ninth US edition in San Francisco earlier this month, this year's Curry World Tour brings Curry Camp — a high school basketball clinic where the Golden State Warriors star provides "one-on-one coaching, advice, and exposure to his habits, routines, and mindset" — overseas for the first time.
Fudd's history with Curry runs deeper than her assist at this week's Curry Camp, with the 2025 NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player attending one of the two-time NBA MVP's first elite girls basketball camps as a rising high school sophomore in 2018.
She then became the first-ever college player to sign an NIL deal with Under Armour's Curry Brand back in 2021 — just 17 days after Fudd made her collegiate basketball debut.
"Steph has been such an amazing resource," Fudd said back in March. "It kind of just goes to show the kind of person he is."
UConn guard Azzi Fudd wears many hats.
She’s a sharp-shooter on the court and a rising superstar off the court. She's an NCAA national champion and a top WNBA prospect. She's a graduate student at one of college basketball’s preeminent programs. And she's already one of the most famous athletes in the women’s game.
But this week she adds a new title to her growing resume: co-host of Instagram’s latest episode of Close Friends Only along with Dallas Wings rookie Paige Bueckers.
The podcast features Fudd chopping it up with Bueckers. The former UConn teammates chat about their immediate connection on and off the court, swapped style influences (Fudd is apparently a chronic clothes-stealer and listens to all of Bueckers’s Spotify playlists), who’s got the prettiest jump shot, and their favorite WNBA player. (“Probably Paige Bueckers,” Fudd answers readily.)
The two also discuss Meta Quest’s newest WNBA collaboration, a technology which gives fans a courtside view without having to leave the house.
“I was honestly shocked by how real it felt,” Fudd told Just Women’s Sports earlier this week. “Sometimes getting to a game is just unrealistic, so being able to have that as an option is incredible, and can open the game up to so many more people and fans.”
Azzi Fudd steps into the social media spotlight
Emerging from a college career previously defined by injury, Fudd and her UConn teammates finally reached their peak last April, winning the program’s 12th national championship — and its first since 2016. And while the victory checked a longtime bucket list item for the guard, she’s most grateful for her health.
“This has been my first offseason in a little while where I've been completely healthy,” she continued. “So that's been a fun change, getting to be healthy, work on some stuff, travel, relax with family — it's been great.”
Through it all, she’s certainly kept busy. If you’ve been following women’s basketball at all this summer, Fudd has been hard to miss. After the NCAA season ended, she made a high profile appearance accompanying No. 1 pick Bueckers to the 2025 WNBA Draft, going on to become a sidelines mainstay at Dallas games. She also made a splash at All-Star Weekend, and even started her own podcast, Fudd Around and Find Out.
The life of a burgeoning celebrity can be isolating, but Fudd represents a new generation of players ready to utilize social media to their advantage, both professionally and personally. There’s a light, lived-in touch to Fudd and her peers’ ability to connect with friends and family via social media channels while also maneuvering the booming cult of personality forming around the WNBA.
Fudd and Bueckers compare social media habits on 'Close Friends Only'
On Close Friends Only, Fudd and Bueckers banter about the benefits (and necessary etiquette) of labeling an Instagram story “close friends,” as well as their own social media habits.
“You post 10 times in the time it takes me to get one post up,” Fudd tells Bueckers, with her co-host copping to being the heavier Instagram user of the pair.
But beyond sharing with close friends, today’s women’s sports athletes are navigating an industry where follower counts can open sponsorship doors. And that’s clear whether players are promoting multi-million dollar brand deals or partying on a 72-hour All-Star Weekend livestream.
“I’m not the best poster,” Fudd admitted. “I do want to make my Instagram a little more casual. [There are] some great pictures in my camera roll that aren’t professional photographer-taken, done up like some Instagrams look.”
“I want it to be very much who Azzi Fudd is, and not just the great side,” she said of her online presence, describing herself as a lowkey person who wants to intuitively let people in on the real highs and lows of life.
But for someone who also calls herself a bad texter, Fudd’s grounded approach to social media does help her keep up with connections despite her packed calendar.
“I love talking on the phone, but who does that these days?” she laughed. “Being able to keep in touch, whether it's a teammate you played with a year ago or from middle school, just getting to get those updates through Instagram is amazing.”
From hard-launching Pazzi to special shared moments
Social media can be a powerful career builder, but young stars also have to figure out how to protect their peace amidst a firestorm of commentary, access, and speculation.
Fudd is no stranger to the dynamics of keeping private moments private while still finding ways to live their public lives authentically. She and Bueckers have threaded that needle with precision, with Bueckers only recently calling Fudd her girlfriend during July’s WNBA All-Star Weekend after months of soft-launch hints.
“I'm definitely someone who tends to keep more private,” Fudd said, noting that the impulse to document everything on social media can take away from staying present. “I don't mind sharing, but just naturally I'm more of a ‘share less’ person.”
Despite her inclinations, the duo has remained a remarkably open book. Fudd and Bueckers are easygoing about the fandom they’ve inspired, from laughing about watching their own fan edits on TikTok to sharing selfies containing clues about their relationship. As Fudd told JWS, she doesn’t think so much about the public’s response — she just enjoys capturing the little things.
“There’s so many special moments, whether you're sharing for other people or just for yourself,” she explained. “Your favorite meal, or your favorite sunset — things that make me happy and I get excited about.”
Azzi locks in ahead of final UConn season
Fudd is approaching her final college season, preparing to step up as UConn pushes for a repeat title. But if the 22-year-old is feeling pressure to stretch herself too thin these days, she isn’t letting it show.
She’s been in the gym, staying healthy and gearing up to take on an even larger role at UConn now that former on-court centerpiece Bueckers has flown the college coop.
She’s focusing on a routine social media followers don’t often get to see: rehab and recovery, eating and sleeping right, getting shots up, and hitting the weight room.
“I'm keeping the main thing basketball,” she said. “Without basketball, without putting in the time in the gym, making sure I’m getting my stuff done, I wouldn’t have all these opportunities.”
“I’m always taking care of [basketball] first,” she continued. “And then getting to enjoy all those things that come with it.”
And she won’t be alone when she heads back to Storrs this fall. The Huskies are returning a number of key national title run contributors, this time taking the court with Fudd leading the way from day one.
“Embracing that vocal leadership role is something I'm working on,” she said “Doing anything and everything I can to make sure that I'm helping my team, putting them in the best position to win and have a great season.”
As for social media, fans can be sure that wherever the season takes Fudd, they’ll be along for the ride.
The 2025 NCAA soccer season kicks off with a full slate on Thursday, as longstanding powerhouses look to repeat last year's successes amid a continually shifting landscape.
Following a strong 2024 showing, the ACC is once again poised to house college soccer's upper echelon, with all eight of their preseason ranked teams cracking the Top 15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
Even more, the conference boasts all of Division I's top four programs, with No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Florida State, and No. 4 Duke trailing reigning national champions UNC, who enter the 2025 season as the NCAA's No. 1 team behind senior scoring leader and 2024 MAC Hermann winner Kate Faasse.
While the ACC leads the charge, the rest of the Power Four will attempt to make their own waves with a roster of their own ranked teams.
Matching the ACC with eight preseason nods, the Big Ten is again ruled by Southern California's No. 5 USC and No. 8 UCLA for the second straight season.
As for the five SEC and three Big 12 teams on the list, only two cracked the poll's Top 15, with No. 6 Arkansas leading the SEC charge while No. 9 TCU is the Big 12's best prospect.
Perennial contender Santa Clara scored the only non-Power Four spot in the ranks, with the West Coast Conference titan siding in at No. 16.
How to watch Thursday's ranked NCAA soccer matches
The NCAA is wasting no time in putting top-tier soccer matches on the pitch, with Thursday's 2025 season opener set to feature two ranked matchups.
No. 11 Penn State will visit No. 4 Duke, with the Blue Devils hunting their first win over the Nittany Lions in 26 years. The 7 PM ET match will air live on ACCNX.
Elsewhere, No. 6 Arkansas will host No. 13 Iowa in the pair's first-ever meeting, as the Hawkeyes hope to hand the Razorbacks just their second home loss since 2021. The clash will kick off at 7:30 PM ET on SECN+.
The 2025 NCAA soccer preseason rankings
1. North Carolina (ACC)
2. Notre Dame (ACC)
3. Florida State (ACC)
4. Duke (ACC)
5. USC (Big Ten)
6. Arkansas (SEC)
7. Stanford (ACC)
8. UCLA (Big Ten)
9. TCU (Big 12)
10. Wake Forest (ACC)
11. Penn State (Big Ten)
12. Michigan State (Big Ten)
13. Iowa (Big Ten)
14. Virginia Tech (ACC)
15. Virginia (ACC)
16. Santa Clara (WCC)
17. Vanderbilt (SEC)
18. Ohio State (Big Ten)
19. Texas (SEC)
20. Mississippi State (SEC)
21. South Carolina (SEC)
22. Oklahoma State (Big 12)
23. Wisconsin (Big Ten)
24. Minnesota (Big Ten)
25. Texas Tech (Big 12)
USC women's basketball is stocking up, bringing on their third No. 1 high school prospect in four years with top-ranked Saniyah Hall committing to the Trojans on Friday.
Set to join the team for the 2026/27 season, Hall follows in the footsteps of 2023 top recruit JuJu Watkins and Class of 2025 No. 1 prospect Jazzy Davidson.
USC reportedly beat out both North Carolina and UCLA in the race to secure a commitment from Hall.
The Northeast Ohio product will close out her high school career at SPIRE Academy, returning to her home state following a junior-year campaign with Montverde Academy in Florida.
The 6-foot-2 guard, who turned 17 years old on Wednesday, has also seen significant international success, first helping Team USA earn gold in the 2024 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup.
Hall added a 5x5 gold medal to her collection earlier this month, when the then-16-year-old set records en route to securing Team USA the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup title.
Her US U19-record 19.9 points per game — plus team-leading averages of 6.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.9 steals across the competition's seven games — saw the starter named tournament MVP following the July 20th championship victory.
Shortly after returning Stateside, Hall visited USC, announcing her NCAA basketball commitment almost immediately after leaving campus.
"I would say it felt like home. I loved all of my teammates," Hall told ESPN's NBA Today on Friday. "The girls there are so fun to be around."
The greatest dynasty in NCAA women's basketball is back in the spotlight, with Apple TV+ announcing a new three-part docuseries focused on the UConn Huskies on Wednesday.
According to the streamer, the series "reveals the epic narrative of UConn's roller coaster path to becoming the greatest dynasty in women's sports history, with each episode featuring a blend of unique archival footage, incisive interviews, and intimate access with UConn's 2024/25 championship squad."
The sports documentary industry has boomed in recent years, with the Huskies now finding their place at the table alongside critically acclaimed productions like HBO's ACFC-focused Angel City and Netflix's USWNT series, Under Pressure.
To tell the story of the 12-time NCAA championship basketball program, Apple TV+ tapped two top directors, handing the UConn narrative's reins to Emmy Award nominee Erica Sashin as well as Emmy Award-winning sports documentarian Matthew Hamachek, whose credits include The Dynasty: New England Patriots and Tiger.
"This series offers fans an exclusive view into 40 seasons of UConn women's basketball, and I'm really excited for audiences to be able to see all the hard work that has built this program," said coach Geno Auriemma, who's led the Huskies since 1985.
While the series is currently in production, Apple TV+ will announce the official premiere at a future date.