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thinking, despite all three having poached schools from other conferences over the years. Just this week the Big 12, formerly the Big 8, reportedly was planning on adding Houston, Cincinnati, Central Florida and BYU, filling the void from the losses of Texas and Oklahoma and relegating the American Athletic Conference to future irrelevance.
This college football version of Piggy Move Up won’t take place in 2021, so we still have time for more realignment.
Notre Dame, however, will remain an independent after its one year, COVID-19-related stint as an ACC team. Its biggest change will be moving its home opener telecast from NBC to the Peacock streaming service app, where it will join reruns of “The Office” in addition to many shows you never watched when they were on free TV.
The bottom line is that for the first time in years a Notre Dame home game won’t be available for most of its fans unless they subscribe to the new streaming network.
The NIL rules are also now in place, allowing athletes to profit off their names, images and likenesses for the first time. That’s why we’ll see Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei popping up in ads promoting Dr Pepper, just as we’ve seen Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield appearing in every other commercial during the NFL season.
How much he’ll be paid by Dr Pepper is unknown, and whether Uiagalelei’s endorsement will help in the Heisman race is anyone’s guess. But his brand is set, and soon Uiagalelei will be a household name. He might need some work on his endorsing skills after telling Sports Illustrated, “I drink Dr Pepper here and there. I mean, I don’t think you need Dr Pepper every single day, but I love Dr Pepper.”
Kids learn quickly, especially when they have financial advisers to help show them the money.
Ohio State freshman quarterback Quinn Ewers signed a $1.4 million deal with GT Sports Marketing, according to ESPN, just to sign autographs. Ewers skipped his senior year of high school because of a Texas law that prohibits high school athletes from profiting off NIL, and he’ll no doubt be the most popular student on his dorm floor when the gang goes out for a night on High Street in Columbus,
Ohio.
No doubt we’ll be hearing of many more NIL deals throughout the football season, and soon it will be ingrained in college sports. Hopefully the Wieners Circle can sign some deserving local athletes to an NIL deal to endorse their famous char dogs with a side order of insults, Chicago-style.
As for the games, the 2021 season figures to be much like last year, except with fans now allowed in stadiums after many stood empty in 2020 because of the pandemic. Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma and Notre Dame once again will be competing for the College Football Playoff, along with a few other contenders from the Power Five.
The ninth-ranked Fighting Irish take on Florida State on Sunday night in their season opener and should be 3-0 heading into their showdown with Wisconsin on Sept. 25 at Soldier Field. Instead of “Win one for the Gipper,” the new rally cry might be “Win one for the Griper” after coach Brian Kelly complained about the media “narrative” after the Irish were crushed by eventual champion Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
“I guess everybody needs to continue to carry this narrative that Notre Dame is not good enough,” Kelly said afterward. “Look at the scores of the games Alabama has played all year. We need to change the narrative a little bit.”
The Big Ten, which ignored my idea of renaming itself the Big One, once again will be all about the Buckeyes … and Jim Harbaugh-bashing, a tradition like no other.
Northwestern, which briefly referred to itself on Twitter last year as the “Fighting Rece Davises” after ESPN analyst Joey Galloway jokingly compared their athleticism to his ESPN colleague, probably doesn’t have to worry about getting much national attention this year.
The Wildcats lost 38-21 to Michigan State on Friday night in Evanston as Spartans running back Kenneth Walker III ran for 264 yards and four touchdowns.
By the time ESPN switched to the game 13 second in, Northwestern already was down by a touchdown. Blame it on those black uniforms, a particularly bad fashion choice for a school steeped in the color purple.
No matter which school or student-athlete/endorsers you are rooting for, at least the season finally is here.
Your couch needs you. Some things never change.