It’s Monday, December 29th, and Norm is just wondering when college athletics quietly turned into an arms race for billionaires.

With championship games approaching, the sport looks less like tradition and more like open-market chaos. Players are transferring for the third and fourth time, skipping bowl games without a second thought, coaches are being fired at record speed, and the NCAA appears to be standing off to the side whistling nervously.

But the real concern arrives in Lubbock.

Norm walks through how a massive, perfectly legal cash infusion turned Texas Tech into an overnight powerhouse—and why that should make every college sports fan uneasy. When one billionaire can spend $20+ million on transfers alone, what happens when ten of them decide to compete? And what happens to parity, recruiting, and the very idea of college athletics when championships can simply be purchased?

Then, some genuinely good news: the 25th annual Normathon delivers once again, raising more than half a million dollars for the Austin Street Center for the Homeless—proof that money can still be used the right way.

One part warning, one part gratitude, and entirely on brand.

Chapters

00:00:00 - A New Alarm Bell for College Sports

00:00:22 - A Word From Our Title Sponsor

00:01:26 - College Football Has Officially Gone Off the Rails

00:02:08 - The Transfer Portal: Musical Chairs With Scholarships

00:03:13 - Playoff Confusion and the Toothless NCAA

00:03:39 - Who’s Actually in Charge Here?

00:04:21 - Texas Tech’s Sudden Rise (And Why It Matters)

00:05:07 - $20 Million, 21 Transfers, and Instant Contender Status

00:06:35 - Cody Campbell’s Vision — and His Checkbook

00:07:22 - Congressional Influence and the Bigger Picture

00:08:27 - When Billionaires Start Buying Championships

00:09:08 - This Isn’t New… It’s Just Getting Bigger

00:09:33 - The New Recruiting War: Cash vs. Cash

00:10:20 - A Quick Break for the Sponsors

00:11:01 - Senile Purpura (Still Not a Great Name)

00:12:16 - The Good News: Normathon 25

00:12:49 - Auctions, Guests, and Community Support

00:13:30 - $545,192 Raised in One Day

00:14:00 - 25 Years, $10.65 Million, and Countless Lives Changed

00:14:36 - Thank You, Truly

00:14:58 - Closing Thoughts and See You Wednesday

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Just Wondering is a long-form sports commentary podcast hosted by longtime broadcaster Norm Hitzges, offering thoughtful, numbers-driven analysis of the NFL, college sports, the NBA, and the business and culture surrounding them. Each episode blends experience, history, and curiosity to explore why things happen — not just what happened.

New episodes feature clear-eyed perspective, context you don’t hear elsewhere, and questions worth sitting with a little longer.

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Sports podcast · NFL analysis · College football · Dallas sports · NBA commentary · Salary cap · NIL · Sports media · Long-form sports talk