Huge Notre Dame target de-commits from Alabama

Major Notre Dame target opens things back up…

The Nick Saban fallout at Alabama continues as Sunday evening saw one of the Crimson Tide’s top-ranked recruits in the 2025 cycle withdraw his commitment.

Jamie Ffrench, Jr., a five-star rated receiver from Florida withdrew his commitment.  Ffrench named Notre Dame as one of his finalists when he announced his commitment to Alabama back in July.  Florida State, Ohio State, and Penn State were the other three finalists.

Ffrench is one of the nation’s highest rated recruits in the cycle as 247Sports gives him a five-star grade and ranks him as the 13th overall player in the cycle.

Time will tell where he ends up but it’d be safe to assume Marcus Freeman and Mike Evans will be in hot pursuit of his talents.

[lawrence-related id=81573,81563]

Tommy Rees update in regards to Alabama opening

Roll Tommy?

Thursday we saw news that former Notre Dame quarterback and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had interviewed for the head coach opening at Alabama.

In the early hours of Friday morning he remains a possibility to be the next head coach but certainly doesn’t appear to be a favorite.

The following is from a 247Sports report by Brandon Marcello:

The names to watch heading into Friday at Alabama are Washington’s Kalen DeBoer, Florida State’s Mike Norvell and Tide offensive coordinator Tommy Rees,sources told 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello earlier Thursday.

Rees is viewed as a long-shot.

Rees is only 31 and I’d still be shocked if he ends up getting the job.  My money remains on Lane Kiffin until we hear otherwise, but if Alabama wanted to do the Duke basketball type thing and have Saban still oversee things in a big way but have a younger coach, then Rees becomes what Jon Scheyer does for the Blue Devils.

Just thinking out loud.  Stay tuned as there could be major movement in regards to the next Alabama head coach today.

[lawrence-related id=81506,81478,81466]

College football: Updated ESPN FPI Ratings Through Week 9

You have to pick it right now: Which four teams are making the playoff?

As Week 9 of the college football season has come and gone, we turn the calendar to November and start to look for the teams that are going to make runs to the College Football Playoff and New Year’s Six bowl games.

This year there are plenty of teams alive for both with some interesting candidates starting to somewhat separate themselves from the rest of the field.

How many teams can realistically win a national championship this season?  And who are the ones most likely to?

Who has the hardest tests the rest of the season and who has the easier tracks?

Is Notre Dame closer to being seen as a contender than we may tend to think?

ESPN releases their Football Power Index each week to handicap how teams match up.  They did so following Week 9 of the college football season and here is how the top 25 teams nationally turned out.

College football: Notre Dame moves into top 10 of AP Poll

Notre Dame into the top 10!

Week 1 of college football came and went with a lot of blowouts but some surprise upsets as well.

Colorado was the story of the weekend, stunning TCU on the road as a nearly three-touchdown underdog while Duke closed the weekend with a rather dominating showing against previously No. 9 Clemson.

The US LBM Coaches Poll was revealed Tuesday and saw both teams enter while 2-0 Notre Dame checked in at No. 11.  Now the AP Poll is out and has Notre Dame even higher.

Below is the AP Top 25 poll.  Notre Dame plays four teams that made the updated rankings and three more that showed up in the receiving votes category.  See it all below.

College football team recruiting rankings – As of July 21, 2023

Recruiting might not be everything, but its a lot of thing.

College football has continued to see a good amount of commitments for the 2024 cycle as the summer winds down and players get ready for their senior years.  On Friday, Notre Dame officially flipped wide receiver Logan Saldate, who had previously been committed to Oregon State.

The commitment helps Notre Dame stay in the top-10 of the 247Sports composite rankings which they’re hanging onto by a thread.

Who have been the biggest movers in recent weeks – both up and down?  Who will rise the most and who will fall once signing day comes?

Here are the top-40 of the 247Sports composite team recruiting rankings as of July 21, 2023.

Super Bowl points scored by each college all time

Congrats to Alabama and Missouri who after SB 57, have finally scored on Super Bowl Sunday!

Over the Super Bowl’s first 56 editions there have been a total of 2,593 points scored.

Some of those points were scored by superstars; some were scored by incredibly unlikely heroes.

For every Tom Brady or Emmitt Smith there seems to be a Max McGee or Dwight Smith who had a huge moment or score to redirect the final outcome of a Super Bowl.

Have you ever wondered where all the Super Bowl heroes played their college football?

Super Bowl LVII had two new college programs finally get on the scoreboard. Jalen Hurts scoring three touchdowns and a two-point conversion were the first 20 points ever scored in Super Bowl play by a former Alabama player. The same goes for Missouri, which finally got on the Super Bowl scoreboard after Nick Bolton’s touchdown.

Two players also officially scored in the big game but didn’t play college ball.

So where did they all go?

Remember, touchdown passes don’t count in the record books as a touchdown scored for a quarterback – please don’t kill the messenger!

Tommy Rees Notre Dame-Alabama update – reports says offer has been made

Huge development on a developing story…

There has been a giant development in the [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag] saga that seemingly came out of right field today.  As you probably already know by now the Notre Dame offensive coordinator boarded Alabama’s private jet for a meeting with Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa this afternoon.

According to a report from Football Scoop, Rees has in fact been offered the offensive coordinator position at Alabama.

From the Football Scoop report:

Later Thursday afternoon, sources told FootballScoop that Alabama has already issued a preliminary job offer to Rees to become the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.

Additional sources have told FootballScoop that the situation is not believed to be one about money; in fact, per sources, the initial Alabama offer to Rees was in the range of $2 million per year, on average.

It would certainly appear the ball is now in Tommy’s court.  Will he stay or will he roll out of South Bend?

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbz1mmy7gev0xbr player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

[lawrence-related id=68659,68634]

[vertical-gallery id=68693]

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce teaming up with Tide to tackle lucky jersey superstitions

Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with #Chiefs TE Travis Kelce to talk about his new collaboration with Tide to tackle lucky jersey superstitions. | from @EdEastonJr

Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce continues to climb the all-time rankings in the NFL, helping to lead his team to consecutive AFC West championships. On Sunday night, the seven-time Pro Bowler was vital to the Chiefs’ road victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Kelce and Tide are teaming up to bust the myth that “lucky” jerseys don’t need to be washed and to use Tide Hygienic Clean to keep the luck and get rid of the yuck with the cleanest clean. Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with Kelce to talk about his work with Tide

“I’m teaming up with tide to tackle superstition,” said Kelce “And we all know everybody has those jerseys or those lucky clothing items they just don’t want to wash because they don’t want to wash the luck off. And we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to worry about that anymore and met with Tide Hygienic Clean and Tide Pods. You can wash all day long and still keep that lucky feel to that jersey. And all the luck on it.

“We’re also teaming up to give away huge prizes. Grand Prize? Who knows what it could be? It could be Super Bowl tickets. It could be fun at Top Golf; it could be anything. But make sure you go on my social media on either TikTok or Instagram and comment on the Tide post what you would do to wash your jersey with Tide Hygienic Clean. And yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see what everybody can come up with.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjLVf6-uxDR/

 

Containing ten concentrated cleaning actives, Tide Hygienic Clean gets between fibers to deep clean visible and invisible dirt. Kelce’s partnership matches his versatility as he continues to make plays for the Chiefs weekly in pursuit of another title.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbwa53mtds520q2 player_id=none image=https://chiefswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=137884]

New No. 1 in 2023 college football recruiting team rankings

Will the new leader ultimately finish with the nation’s top class?

Even when Notre Dame got off to an incredibly hot start in recruiting in Marcus Freeman’s first off-season as head coach you knew that the always powerful programs like Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson among others would come charging before too long.

Well, it’s safe to say that time has officially come.

After four-star tight end Ty Lockwood of Thompson’s Station, Tennessee flipped his commitment from Ohio State to Alabama on Tuesday, the Crimson Tide sit atop the 247Sports composite team rankings for the first time with the 2023 recruiting class.

Alabama now has 18 commitments; four of which are five-star talents and 11 more who are graded at four-stars.

How does the rest of the top 30 now shake out?

Here is a look at the updating 247Sports composite team rankings for 2023 as of the evening of August 2, 2002.

Notre Dame-Alabama NCAA betting information

Do the Irish beat Alabama today?

Notre Dame, fresh off a thrilling double-overtime victory over Rutgers in the First Four, is out west to take on sixth-seeded Alabama in the NCAA Tournament first round.  If you’re looking to do some last-minute betting research, you’re in luck! We’ll give you the latest point spread, money line odds and over/under number, as well as the information you’ll need to make the smartest bet at Tipico Sportsbook.

Tipico Sportsbook

The lines, courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook

  • Point spread: TK
  • Money line: TK / TK
  • Over-under: TK

Click here to place your bets at Tipico Sportsbook.

Notre Dame was among the very last teams in the tournament after a second place finish in the ACC during the regular season while Alabama was safely in as an at-large team in what was a very challenging SEC.