DISRUPT: SEC, Florida State & Clemson at CENTER of NAACP Boycott—Cal Season Preview!

The NAACP's new Out of Bounds Initiative is calling for a boycott of 13 high-revenue public universities—mostly in the SEC, but including Florida State and Clemson—in protest of voting rights suppression in the South. Lawrence Ross, author and Cal alumnus, explains that the boycott isn’t about denying athletes opportunities, but about awakening their political agency: it’s not about disenfranchisement, but about disempowerment—when Black votes don’t translate into representation. He argues that focusing the pressure on one school, like Tennessee, could be more effective than a broad campaign, using historical precedent like the Montgomery bus boycott to show how targeted action can trigger systemic change. Meanwhile, Cal football is entering a new era under head coach Tosh LaPoix, who’s leveraging the program’s deep alumni wealth—$230 billion in Silicon Valley connections—and strategic recruiting in Northern California to build a sustainable, NIL-powered powerhouse. Fans are buzzing with irrational optimism, predicting eight or even nine wins, fueled by a culture shift where Cal’s identity is no longer about being ignored, but about being on the main line.