Mitch Light (@MitchLight) header
Mitch Light (@MitchLight) profile picture

Mitch Light

@MitchLight

Senior Editor, College Sports at The Athletic

 Nashville, Tenn.
theathletic.com
Joined November 2009
  • Tweets12.5K
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Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)Photo by Mitch Light (@MitchLight)
Mitch Light retweeted
Grace Raynor (@gmraynor) profile picture
Grace Raynor@gmraynorOct 29
Storming the field is one of college football’s most memorable traditions. There’s nothing like the magic of those moments. But it can also be chaotic and dangerous. On CFB’s conundrum and how decision makers navigate it: nytimes.com/athletic/7732197…
College football field storms bring out the magic, chaos and sometimes ugly side of fandom (Gift...

College football field storms bring out the magic, chaos and sometimes ugly side of fandom (Gift...

"It's hard to get off the field," FSU WR Duce Robinson said. "You've got people yelling in your face, and you can't really do anything."

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Nice coverage here and shoutout from @MitchLight
Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) profile pictureBrendan Marks@BrendanRMarksOct 29
NEW @TheAthleticCBB: The full results of our preseason college basketball staff poll, hitting on: - Final Four and national title picks - Most interesting player in America? - Bold predictions And more: nytimes.com/athletic/7732954…
Men’s college basketball predictions for 2026-27: Final Four, national champion and more (Gift...

Men’s college basketball predictions for 2026-27: Final Four, national champion and more (Gift...

Only five teams received national title votes from our staff, while 10 teams were projected as Final Four-worthy.

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Mitch Light retweeted
Mitch Light (@MitchLight) profile picture
Mitch Light@MitchLightOct 22
Maryland was the first FBS school to make a coaching change in 2026. Mike Locksley made the list of 25 worst coaching tenures of the last 50 years … but not for his work with the Terps. nytimes.com/athletic/7521460…
Ranking the 25 worst college football coaching tenures of the last 50 years (Gift Article)

Ranking the 25 worst college football coaching tenures of the last 50 years (Gift Article)

The top five — or, technically, the bottom five — coaches on the list won a combined 10 games in 13 seasons.

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Maryland was the first FBS school to make a coaching change in 2026. Mike Locksley made the list of 25 worst coaching tenures of the last 50 years … but not for his work with the Terps. nytimes.com/athletic/7521460…
Ranking the 25 worst college football coaching tenures of the last 50 years (Gift Article)

Ranking the 25 worst college football coaching tenures of the last 50 years (Gift Article)

The top five — or, technically, the bottom five — coaches on the list won a combined 10 games in 13 seasons.

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Mitch Light retweeted
CJ Moore (@CJMooreHoops) profile picture
CJ Moore@CJMooreHoopsOct 13
SEC preview and predictions: nytimes.com/athletic/7684401…
SEC men’s basketball preseason rankings: Can anyone challenge a loaded Florida? (Gift Article)

SEC men’s basketball preseason rankings: Can anyone challenge a loaded Florida? (Gift Article)

Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee all loaded up this offseason and could have Final Four-caliber squads.

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Mitch Light retweeted
Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) profile picture
Joe Rexrode@joerexrodeSep 30
One-month overreaction (?): The SEC is much better than the Big Ten in 2026. Free to read. nytimes.com/athletic/7644034…
The SEC is much better than the Big Ten, and that should show up in the Playoff bracket (Gift...

The SEC is much better than the Big Ten, and that should show up in the Playoff bracket (Gift...

The Southeastern Conference is so back that it’s reclaiming ownership of bizarre misconduct stories (check out what happened at Auburn!).

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Coach Rexrode chimes in.
Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) profile pictureJoe Rexrode@joerexrodeSep 23
NC State just suffered one of the worst losses in college football history. It involved a critical player mistake, as most do. But coaching malpractice made it possible. Free column. nytimes.com/athletic/7621024…
NC State’s all-time loss lies at the feet of Dave Doeren, not the QB who fumbled (Gift Article)

NC State’s all-time loss lies at the feet of Dave Doeren, not the QB who fumbled (Gift Article)

When one of the worst losses in the history of college football happens, it’s important to assign blame correctly.

nytimes.com
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Mitch Light retweeted
David Ubben (@davidubben) profile picture
David Ubben
@davidubbenSep 16
How much did your team spend on its roster? Our staff @TheAthletic spent months and talked to countless people inside and outside of every Power 4 program in search of the answer. Here's what we found. Free story: nytimes.com/athletic/interac…
Does your college football roster cost $8M or $50M? Here's our report on 68 teams (Gift Article)

Does your college football roster cost $8M or $50M? Here's our report on 68 teams (Gift Article)

The best teams are, on average, the ones paying players the most, but there's a wide disparity between the schools at the top and the bottom of major conferences.

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They announced the fumble by KU was under review a full 2 minutes after the play ended. And of course the review took forever.
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Joe is very proud of this tweet.
Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) profile pictureJoe Rexrode@joerexrodeSep 7
Nice first drive from Louisville, Jeff Brohm keeping Ole Miss off balance, stalls and the Cards settle for a field goal. They lead 3-0 with ... well, there's no reason to relay the time left. TV/stadium clocks have been ruled theoretical.
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Some better reporting from @skhanjr might have revealed some info on the sides. Loaded baked potato every night?
Mitch Light (@MitchLight) profile pictureMitch Light@MitchLightSep 2
Favorite part of this story:
Image from Mitch Light (@MitchLight)
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Favorite part of this story:
Image from Mitch Light (@MitchLight)
Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr) profile pictureSam Khan Jr.
@skhanjrSep 2
How does a Group of 6 program reload a raided roster in a hurry? North Texas HC Neal Brown and GM Errin Joe took me inside their January frenzy, which resulted in 70 new players and 52 incoming transfers. “You’ve got to replace 50 kids in 10 days.” nytimes.com/athletic/7553179…
Image from Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr)
Image from Sam Khan Jr. (@skhanjr)
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Mitch Light retweeted
Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) profile picture
Chris Vannini
@ChrisVanniniAug 26
Get to know all 138 FBS teams in our Mega College Football Preview. Playoff odds, why they're interesting, Coach/QB and more, for every team: nytimes.com/athletic/7528021…
College football is back! Get to know all 138 FBS teams: Are they better or worse? (Gift Article)

College football is back! Get to know all 138 FBS teams: Are they better or worse? (Gift Article)

What do you need to know about all 138 major college football teams before the season kicks off? Let our experts be your guide.

nytimes.com
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Mitch Light retweeted
Ira Gorawara (@IraGorawara) profile picture
Ira Gorawara
@IraGorawaraAug 23
I grew up 7,000 miles from college football. When I moved to the U.S. for college, I entered a world I'd only seen in movies. It was so foreign, so tempting. I’ve wanted to write this story for a looong time. On how international students see this wild sport. Free 🔗 below:
Image from Ira Gorawara (@IraGorawara)
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Are you eligible to play college sports? Take our quiz. nytimes.com/athletic/7528511…
The rules in college football and basketball are constantly changing. Can you keep up? (Gift...

The rules in college football and basketball are constantly changing. Can you keep up? (Gift...

The state of eligibility in college sports is perplexing. See how you do with these nine cases.

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Mitch Light retweeted
Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) profile picture
Joe Rexrode@joerexrodeAug 20
Curt Cignetti isn’t just the best coach in college football. He’s the most interesting man in the college football world in 2026. Another preseason top-25 list to enjoy, for free. nytimes.com/athletic/7522873…
Curt Cignetti tops the list of college football’s 25 most interesting people of 2026 (Gift Article)

Curt Cignetti tops the list of college football’s 25 most interesting people of 2026  (Gift Article)

More interesting than Lane Kiffin? Yep. The wonder of Cignetti's work in Bloomington remains difficult to overstate.

nytimes.com
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Tim Corbin on Skip Bertman: nytimes.com/athletic/7513197…
Image from Mitch Light (@MitchLight)
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My annual "I was there!" retweet.
Old School 80s (@OldSchool80s) profile pictureOld School 80s
@OldSchool80sJul 24
July 24, 1983: the George Brett "Pine Tar Incident" took place. #80s
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Mitch Light retweeted
Braden Gall (@BradenGall) profile picture
Braden Gall@BradenGallJul 15
College Football Dream Road Trip 2026 with Mitch is loading…
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Roch Cholowsky and Drew Buress lived up to the hype. Others top prospects did not. How the top Class of 2023 baseball recruits fared in college nytimes.com/athletic/7386575…
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