OXFORD – The rapidly changing world of college athletics will be the focus of a Sept. 17 program at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the University of Mississippi.
Sports Columnist Rick Cleveland during a Mississippi Today event at Crescent City Grill in Hattiesburg on Monday, May 18, 2026. Credit: Eric Shelton/Mississippi Today“College Athletics: It’s a Whole New Ballgame,” will be co-sponsored by Mississippi Today, the state’s Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit news organization.
Rick Cleveland, sports columnist for Mississippi Today, will moderate the program. Joining Cleveland on the program will be Ross Dellenger, senior writer covering college football for Yahoo Sports, and Keith Carter, vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics at the University of Mississippi. Likely topics will include issues with name, image and likeness deals; the transfer portal; athletic budgets and competitiveness among universities; and the recruiting of athletes and coaches.
Oxford and the University of Mississippi will draw national attention that week because LSU and Ole Miss will play at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Sept. 19. The two schools were the focus of a national story last year when Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss to become the head football coach at LSU. Kiffin was recruited during the season and left Ole Miss after a successful six years. Ole Miss finished the 2025 regular season with an 11-1 record and qualified for the College Football Playoff for the first time. Kiffin, who had agreed to a seven-year, $91 million contract with LSU, asked to coach the team during the playoffs but his request was denied by Ole Miss officials.
Ross Dellenger is senior writer covering college football for Yahoo Sports. Credit: Courtesy photoDellenger is one of the nation’s top reporters on off-the-field issues in college sports, including NCAA governance, College Football Playoff changes, NIL and the compensation model for athletes. He has embraced coverage of the business of college sports as the industry itself evolves from an amateurism product to a professional entity. Dellenger was born in Louisiana and grew up in Biloxi. He’s a graduate of Mississippi State University and worked at several newspapers in his 20-year career, including The Clarion-Ledger. Dellenger was named the 2025 National Sports Writer of the Year by his peers. He was a national writer for Sports Illustrated before leaving for Yahoo Sports. He lives in Washington.
Cleveland joined Mississippi Today in 2016 as sports columnist. He and his son, sportswriter Tyler Cleveland, host the Mississippi Today podcast “Crooked Letter Sports.” Rick Cleveland previously worked as a sports editor and columnist at The Clarion-Ledger, the Jackson Daily News, the Monroe (Louisiana) News Star/Morning World and the Hattiesburg American. He is a member of the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. Cleveland has been named Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year 15 times. Cleveland is a native of Hattiesburg and a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. He lives in Jackson.
Keith Carter is vice chancellor for intercollegiate athletics at Ole Miss. Credit: Courtesy photo“Rick and Ross are two of the best journalists covering college sports today, and I know their conversation with Keith Carter will be sharp, insightful and a heck of a lot of fun,” said Mississippi Today Editor in Chief Emily Wagster Pettus.
Carter was named vice chancellor of intercollegiate athletics at Ole Miss in 2019. He played guard on the Ole Miss basketball team and was a four-year starter, graduating in 1999 and earning All-SEC honors his last two years. He played professionally for nine seasons, primarily in Italy. He joined the Athletic Department at Ole Miss in 2009. Carter’s administrative career at Ole Miss has been marked by record fundraising, NIL initiatives including national recognition of the university’s Grove Collective, and competition successes including two team national championships. Ole Miss athletes have achieved graduation rates exceeding national averages for three consecutive years. Carter has recently been named to a five-year term on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.
The program will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Overby Center auditorium, 555 Grove Loop on the Ole Miss campus. There is no charge and free parking is available near the center. A reception will follow the program.
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