notre dame

[Patrick Barron]

Now that's some good newspapering. Notre Dame, always losing to Notre Dame by 275.

Typical Notre Dame.

He's probably thinking about his roster. Excellent candid shot from a Harbaugh coaching clinic appearance:

I also enjoy Bielema looking like a popular meme cat from a decade ago.

Stoned-Cat

There are memes old enough to be Baby Gronk, if you want to feel old. Please do not google Baby Gronk if you have never heard of him, you will die and not be allowed into heaven.

[AFTER THE JUMP: Otaku Kris Jenkins?] 

Michigan's 2023 class gets a late boost:

Hillman signed with Notre Dame but decided to re-open his recruitment a week ago; he visited Michigan and Ohio State before deciding on the program that did not have its safeties combust into flames during The Game this year. USC also offered after Hillman came on the market again. Hillman is the #214 kid on the composite and is #130 to 247, which is the scouting service we generally believe to have the best takes. Adding him slides Michigan up past Auburn in the 247 class rankings, FWIW.

A hello post is in the offing. There is no content after the jump.

still FOX, still Charles Woodson [Patrick Barron]

As was rumored for weeks, the Big Ten has signed a landmark new rights deal with FOX, CBS, and NBC. Let's break out the bullets.

Money. The full deal takes a little bit to kick in, and the numbers are somewhat fuzzy because some people appear to be talking about just the money coming from the three networks mentioned above and some people are including CFP, NCAA tournament, and other rights. This is the discrepancy between 75 million (deal-related money) and 100 million (expected per-school conference distribution in a few years).

This is a lot of money. Please do not accept any requests for understanding when and if the school serves up another nonconference schedule like this one.

Oh God, the commercials. There was a time way back in the long ago when this site was enthused about exploding rights fees. It's hard to remember why, but it was probably some combination of tribalism and hilariously naïve beliefs that some of this money would result in positive changes for anyone other than the people drawing salaries from the athletic department.

After years of bludgeoning in the courts of public opinion and, you know, actual courts, the NCAA has budged on some things—cost of living stipends, free food—but these athlete-supporting changes are peripheral. The money is still going to the coaching/administrator class. I see no reason that would change, so the main takeaway here for people who watch the sports is to prepare for an even heavier inundation of ads. I would expect the powers that be to push for more NFL style rules to reduce the number of plays, literally replacing football with ads.

[After THE JUMP: mandatory streaming service, Notre Dame status.]