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Editor’s note: I originally published this on December 29th, 2011. Looks like I saw the future a few months ahead:
As Notre Dame prepares to kick off versus Florida State today in the Champs Sports Bowl, the answer to where ND fits in the long term conference expansion is becoming painfully obvious. The Irish will face their fourth ACC opponent, and look to go 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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About a week has passed since I released part one of this mock draft composite.
A few of those 13 expert predictions for whom the Bears will pick have changed since I compiled the list on February 23rd.
Take a look at who has changed their mind since last week, and get an inside look at the rest of the draft prospects who have been most commonly linked to the Bears.
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It could easily be the most watched college football game of all time: the BCS National title game, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide. The media hype has been ridiculous; ESPN and the rest of the press have been talking about this game forever. Imagine what the publicity for the Super Bowl will be like this year.
So here’s a guide, with links to everything to prepare for the big game.
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Welcome to The Sports Bank’s third annual college basketball season preview series. Two years we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. Last year, we were slightly more aggressive and expanded to 111 teams in 111 days and will do so again as we look ahead to the 2012-2013 season.
We will rank the 75 power conference teams and top 36 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
Mike Brey continues to produce results as Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach. With pretty much everybody back from last year, ND will once again be a major player in what figures to be their final year as members of the Big East Conference.
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In college basketball, they met last year in the title game of the Old Spice Classic. That was how the tournament played out, and not a pre-determined match-up between the Wisconsin Badgers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. When will see it again in football?
One of the strongest links between the two schools is current University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, who was enshrined into the college football hall of fame earlier this month. Alvarez made the hall on the strength of his coaching career in Madison. However, he got the job because of the prowess he showed as a Defensive Coordinator in the 1980s at Notre Dame.
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Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees will held to court on May 17th, in which he’ll face four misdemeanor counts, including resisting arrest, battery and underage consumption. But he’s not the only Rees sibling who’s run afoul of the law via alcohol. His sister Meghan Rees was kicked out of the Purdue game last fall and arrested for an alcohol offense as well.
Is this is a new “record” in college football. Lots of starting quarterbacks have gotten arrested for booze-related activities, but how many have had a sister do the same? And just a few months apart at that? This is breaking new ground right? Let’s hope former South Carolina signal caller Stephen Garcia doesn’t have a sister.
Let’s review the situation:
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Off-the-field incidents continue to plague the Brian Kelly regime at Notre Dame. Last night brings another- this one involving the sort of starting QB Tommy Rees and a starting linebacker in Carlo Carlabrese.
Rees was jailed on a preliminary felony charge of battery on a police officer and misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest, minor consumption and public intoxication. Local law enforcement officials claim he ran from a police officer and then kneed him to the chest when confronted. Rees also allegedly registered 0.11 percent on a blood-alcohol test.
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With Michael Floyd and Harrison Smith going in the first round on Thursday night, Notre Dame was well represented at the beginning of the NFL Draft. They were well represented at the back end too.
Former Notre Dame cornerback Robert Blanton was selected with the 139th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. Blanton was taken with the fourth selection of the fifth round. Blanton was the second defensive back from Notre Dame drafted by the Vikings in this year’s draft. Harrison Smith was picked by Minnesota in the first round.
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The Minnesota Vikings traded down, but then later traded back up in order to select Harrison Smith from Notre Dame. So in a busy NFL Draft night filled with trades, the Vikings were as busy as anybody
It’s rare for safeties to go very high overall, but Smith was the second safety taken in this draft. Mark Barron, from the Alabama Crimson Tide is the only one who might go ahead of him.
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Count the Mad Hatter among the ND haters.
LSU Tigers coach Les Miles doesn’t think much of Gunner Kiel, who backed out of his commitment to the Indiana Hoosiers, in order to commit/later back out of committing to Miles’ Tigers in order to finally sign with Notre Dame.
It’s clear Miles is still bitter about it, and he took some shots at Kiel, and in the process, the Fighting Irish football program.
h/t Dr. Saturday
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I hate National Signing Day, and this year’s version is so lame that is even showed up to annoy me three weeks later. Here’s what went down Monday according to Lost Lettermen:
The No. 8 recruit in the country according to ESPNU called a press conference at Kyrene de la Esperenza Elementary School (his old stomping grounds) in Scottsdale, AZ, in which 600 kids were brought into the cafeteria to watch the announcement mirroring LeBron James’ “Decision” from 2010. There was a 35-minute program that included Neal’s highlight reel (and you thought “The Decision” was drawn out) and a cryptic FedEx package that reportedly contained his national Letter of Intent.
The only thing missing? Davonte Neal.
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When best player Tim Abromaitis went down for the season, Notre Dame was totally written off for the entire college basketball season. Instead, they’ve had a true Ewing Theory going on, just like they did in 2010 when star forward Luke Harangody got injured and missed a lot of games down the stretch.
The Fighting Irish were written off by everyone after some bad losses in November and December. Yet here they are today, among the best teams in the Big East, and a team that beat four ranked opponents in January alone.
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