BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — While John Calipari has watched his peers — such as Jay Wright, Tony Bennett and more recently Bruce Pearl — surprisingly exit the game amid major changes to the sport, the 66-year-old coach said he’s not considering a similar early departure.

But he also said he will leave college basketball when he can no longer do the job the way he wants to do the job.

“I want to help 25 to 30 more families,” Calipari said during SEC media day on Tuesday. “The only way you do that is to be transformational as a coach. If you’re not, you’re transactional. If I become transactional — ‘I’m going to pay you this to do this and that’ — then I won’t do this anymore. I don’t need to.”

Although Arkansas added key players — like five-star recruit Darius Acuff — the program also lost standout talents to the portal, including Boogie Fland (Florida) and Zvonimir Ivisic (Illinois). In his attempt to avoid the turnover many teams have experienced, Calipari has warned his players that entering the portal means their time with the Razorbacks is over, even if they have second thoughts.

“That’s why if someone puts their name in the portal, I say, ‘You’re not coming back,’ because it’s not going to be transactional.”

Calipari said he still has the same passion to coach and any observer of his practices at Arkansas would see that he is still “connected” to his players. He also said he plans to stay in college basketball because he wants to make positive changes for the next generation of coaches, which includes his son, Arkansas assistant Brad Calipari.

“Kelvin Sampson and I just talked,” said Calipari about the Houston coach whose son, Kellen, is his top assistant. “I said, ‘We’ve got to fix some of this stuff before we’re out for our own children.'”

Despite the issues, Calipari said he’ll know it’s time for him to retire if he can no longer build genuine relationships with players. The current era has made that ambition more difficult. The portal may offer immediate benefits to those who enter it, Calipari said, but he worries about what comes next for some of those who’ve bounced around to multiple schools and failed to establish those connections.

“I don’t mind kids transferring,” he said. “You just can’t transfer four times, because it’s not good for you. Four schools in four years, you’ll never have a college degree. But that last place you’ll be at, they’ll really be loyal to you? No, you’re a mercenary.”

Week 7 gets underway with a matchup of AFC North rivals, as the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the Cincinnati Bengals on “Thursday Night Football.”

Sunday’s slate begins with the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars meeting at Wembley Stadium in London, and the Indianapolis Colts visiting the Los Angeles Chargers highlights the late afternoon window of games.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Detroit Lions get together in a battle of offensive juggernauts to kick off a “Monday Night Football” doubleheader, and the night wraps up with the Houston Texans visiting the Seattle Seahawks.

Eric Karabell, Pamela Maldonado, Matt Bowen, Eric Moody, Joe Fortenbaugh and Seth Walder looked at the early Week 7 odds and identified which ones are worth jumping on now before potential shifts later in the week.

Note: Odds at time of publication, courtesy of ESPN BET Sportsbook

Miami Dolphins–Cleveland Browns total points UNDER 40.5 (-115)

Bowen: Cleveland is averaging only 13.7 PPG this season, the second fewest in the league. And when you watch the Browns on tape, with Dillon Gabriel at quarterback, they aren’t built to create explosive plays at a high rate. This feels like a game (based on the matchup) where rookie running back Quinshon Judkins is featured. Control tempo while leaning on your defense to limit Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami pass game. The game is in Cleveland, too. Take the under.
Last week: Buccaneers -2.5 vs. 49ers (Buccaneers won, 30-19)

Detroit Lions to cover -4.5 (-110) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Fortenbaugh: This luckbox Buccaneers run is coming to a screeching halt at some point in the near future, so we might as well lean into the projected regression with a Lions team playing at home off a loss. Tampa Bay is now 5-1 on the season with a point differential of +14. To put that into perspective, the Seahawks are 4-2 with a point differential of +49 and the Texans are 2-3 with a point differential of +47. Throw in the myriad injuries to the Tampa receiving unit and you’ve got Detroit covering the 4.5 and restoring order to the NFC.
Last week: Steelers -4.5 vs. Browns (Steelers won, 23-9)

Cincinnati Bengals to cover +5.5 (-105) vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Karabell: Let’s stop a bit short of expecting Joe Flacco and the Bengals to win the game, but it is a home game against a heated rival on a short week, and the addition of Flacco does change things. It’s not like Pittsburgh’s QB is some young fellow. Flacco should keep this game close in the fourth quarter, at the least. I would not take the Steelers in pools. This is a field goal game at the end.
Last week: Ravens-Rams over 45.5 (Rams won, 17-3)

New York Giants to cover +7 (Even) at Denver Broncos

Maldonado: The Giants are quietly figuring it out with Jaxson Dart. You can feel the shift. They finally have an identity. Run the ball, control the clock, make the other team uncomfortable. Dart isn’t putting up video game numbers, but he’s doing exactly what this offense needs: extending plays. The defense is starting to look nasty too, especially up front with Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux collapsing pockets. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective. Going into Denver, this feels like another one of those ugly, grind-it-out games. The Giants are now built for that.
Last week: Eagles-Giants under 42 (Giants won, 34-17)

Carolina Panthers to cover -1.5 (+105) at New York Jets

Moody: The Panthers have won two straight and scored 27 or more points in three of their last four games. Rico Dowdle erupted for 234 total yards two weeks ago and piled on 239 more in a Week 6 win over Dallas, and Carolina’s defense shut down Javonte Williams and Cowboys’ running game. The Jets, meanwhile, managed just 82 total yards against the Broncos in London, the third-lowest single-game total in franchise history. With momentum on their side and New York reeling, this is a great spot to back Carolina. The Panthers are 4-1 against the spread in their last five games.
Last week: 49ers +2.5 at Buccaneers (Buccaneers won, 30-19)

Baltimore Ravens to MISS the playoffs (Even)

Walder: I’ll be the first one to say throw out any historical stats about how often 1-5 teams make the playoffs when it comes to the 2025 Ravens. Most 1-5 teams are simply bad, and despite whatever we have seen from Baltimore thus far, I don’t think anyone expects that this is a bad team going forward. And almost none of those teams have a perennial MVP candidate like Lamar Jackson, either. And rarely have those teams faced the hardest schedule in the NFL (as the Ravens have) and will face the 27th-hardest schedule going forward (as the Ravens will). It’s because all of that that I was perfectly prepared to argue for Baltimore’s chances to make the playoffs — and then I saw the odds. The 1-5 Ravens are even money to miss the playoffs? They certainly could come back, but 50/50? That surprised me, and it certainly would shock FPI. The model, which assumes Jackson returns after the team’s Week 7 bye, gives the Ravens only a 25% chance to make the playoffs. The Ravens will need a lot to go their way to play playoff football again.
Last week: Steelers -4.5 vs. Browns (Steelers won, 23-9)

ATLANTA — Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson broke off an 81-yard touchdown run on “Monday Night Football” during his team’s eventual 24-14 win over the Buffalo Bills at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

It was the longest rushing play anyone has had this season in the NFL. And it prompted a reaction from NBA great LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

James posted a compliment on X, stating that Robinson is “so cold.”

Robinson said in his postgame news conference that his connection with James goes beyond just the social media shoutout. Robinson is represented by Nicole Lynn of Klutch Sports Group, an agency founded by James’ longtime friend and agent Rich Paul, who is also Klutch’s CEO.

“That’s my dude,” Robinson said of James after the victory. “He gives me so much advice and just me being in the Klutch agency and seeing him and getting to talk to him and just enjoy the moments with him, man, it’s always a blessing.”

Bijan so COLD!!!!!!!!! 🥶

— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 14, 2025

Robinson said the interactions he’s had with James have been extra special, because the Lakers star is his “favorite athlete.”

James’ last piece of advice to Robinson: “To try [to] be the best in the league.” He’s working on it. Robinson currently leads the NFL with 822 yards from scrimmage, despite him having played one fewer game than most other players due to the Falcons’ early, Week 5 bye. On Monday, Robinson had a career-high 238 yards from scrimmage, including 170 yards rushing in a performance that made him an MVP candidate.

“I was like, ‘Man, I’m going to keep trying every single time,'” Robinson said of how he responded to James. “And he was just saying, ‘When you run the football like that, you make it enjoyable for me as a fan, as a spectator to watch.'”

Hoops was definitely on Robinson’s mind Monday, as it normally is. Robinson takes inspiration from basketball players known for their ballhandling skills, like Allen Iverson and Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving. After the Bills game, Robinson compared his offensive line to when Stephen Curry gets hot — the basket looks wide and the Golden State Warriors guard “can’t miss.”

“And when I find those creases, you got to take advantage of it and you got to make those guys miss tackles and make them not want to be there anymore,” Robinson said. “So that’s what we did tonight.”

The last time Robinson and James saw each other, Robinson said, was at the college football national championship game earlier this year when the two were playfully “bickering.” Robinson played at Texas, and James is an Ohio State fan. The Buckeyes beat the Longhorns to make it to the title game.

“When I do get to see him and get to communicate with him, I am obviously like, ‘Dang, that’s LeBron James,'” Robinson said. “But it’s all love at the end of the day.”