Rachel Bachman, senior sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal, joins Steven Godfrey to talk about the comparative economics of March Madness for men's and women's basketball. Did the NCAA shortchange the women by continuing to bundle their rights with other sports? Why does the current setup force fans to choose between one tournament or the other? And could/should we host both Final Fours in one location? Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

Steven Godfrey takes questions from the Phantom Island audience and turns them into this, the Single Wing, where he discusses Coach Transition Etiquette, the theoretical rise of G6 super scheduling, whether NIL will change professional rookie finances, Godfrey's Letterboxd top four, and plenty more.

This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

How does an episode go from Ryan Nanni and Steven Godfrey discussing the Toyota Corolla to Ryan bringing on Rodger Sherman to consider why there is no simple term for "an athlete who competes in skeleton?" When it's time to discuss the differences between how the U.S. funds its Olympic athletes and how most other countries do it, of course. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber. Read Rodger's work at his newsletter, Sports!

Early in the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered at the Lorraine Motel. The NBA and NHL were in the middle of the playoffs, Major League Baseball was nearly to Opening Day, and many other sports had space lined up on the calendar. Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni review how each league responded to the assassination of the civil rights leader, where the relationship athletes had to King influenced reactions, and what, if anything, we might learn from the past about how teams and leagues handle events like the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

Somehow, Louisiana Tech's lawsuit against Conference USA leads to a discussion about scheduling irregularities involving the MAC, the Mountain West, and various FCS programs. (Ryan is still not confident he understands what's going on.)

This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

On this edition of Phantom Island's regular mailbag, Steven Godfrey answers listener questions about the anxiety of rooting for TCU, the weariness of pulling for Wisconsin, how oddball coaches function with boosters and players, what Godzilla teaches us about parenting, and Minor League ballpark advice.

This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

Expansion in the Big Ten and SEC gets analyzed through a football-first lens, but what have Oregon, Washington, UCLA, USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and Missouri done to raise the fortunes of their conferences in other sports? Ryan Nanni walks Steven Godfrey through the last couple years of gymnastics, soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball to see which conference wins this part of the battle. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

A Phantom Island subscriber asks Ryan Nanni and Steven Godfrey whether labor discussions in sports will change the way we think about the topic in the broader world, and that prompts a much longer conversation between the two about media work as advocacy, sports as an escape from the burdens of politics, and, yes, the Josh Pate interview of Trump.

This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

NIL may feel like a completely unregulated economy, but, formally, it's under the supervision of a relatively new group: the College Sports Commission. And reviewing NIL deals for "fairness" isn't the only piece of their jurisdiction. Steven Godfrey and Ryan Nanni discuss the scope and makeup of the CSC before Ryan interviews David Covucci of FOIAball about the pitch decks he got a hold of which reveal the thinking and architecture behind the CSC's clearinghouse. (You'll be shocked to learn we have some questions and concerns.) Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.

Steven Godfrey takes questions from paid subscribers to Phantom Island on topics including Dabo Swinney's next act, the future at USC if Lincoln Riley flops, who might embrace artificial intelligence in playcalling, a brief rant about Wicked, and an Indiana Football Philosophy of Dating.

This is a preview of the full episode, which is available to paid subscribers – go to phantomisland.show to sign up today. Phantom Island is presented by Homefield and produced by Michael Surber.