Bill Walton played against ND in the epic 1974 game where ND ended UCLA’s 88 game wining streak.

Walton was spotted walking into the Joyce Center humming the ND fight song later stating “it was a catchy toon”.

Walton won a two titles at UCLA and two NBA Championships in his career and was a fantastic broadcaster.

Walton also hated The Michigan Fab Five, ok in my book.

1 seed NOTRE DAME (14-1) vs. 5 seed DENVER (13-3)
Location: Philadelphia | Lincoln Financial Field
Schedule: May 25 — Noon ET
TV: ESPN2
Live Stats: LINK

A look at some big names here:

I read an article in today's issue of The Athletic about the recruiting and commitment of Dallas Golden. (WIth a name like that, could he really have gone anywhere else but ND?) The article notes that if ND gets a commitment from 4* CB Mark Zackery (he will announce his commitment on May 25), ND's 3 top recruits (according to 247Sports) will all be in the defensive secondary: S Ivan Taylor, CB Dallas Golden, and CB Mark Zackery. When you think about that, it says Mike Mickens has been doing an absolutely superlative job with both coaching and recruiting. Just a few years ago our secondary was probably our weakest position group. But now it is possibly our strongest, although ND will always do well with OL.

Well done, Coach Mickens.

There were a couple of interesting lines in The Athletic article about Golden's experience with the recruiting process at ND:

"What stood out to Golden on those trips separated Notre Dame from other programs because of how different it appeared to be. Notre Dame barely talked about NIL, something other schools sometimes led with on visits. The Irish barely talked about football until Golden’s third visit, which made an impression on his parents."

When I read stuff like that, it just tells me that Marcus Freeman understands what ND is all about. Yes, the academics are tough, but he isn't running from that, he is telling recruits that is what makes ND different. It is right in line with Coach Freeman's mantra with his players to "choose hard."

I continue to believe that Marcus Freeman may be building something special. It probably hasn't happened as fast as some would like, but I like the direction things are headed.

Notre Dame QB commit Deuce Knight is on the short list of quarterbacks with a chance to become a five-star quarterback following the Rivals Five-Star event.

Story from @Adam Gorney:


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Got a huge bump. He's a stud

Reports that Franklin has been accused by doctor of interfering and trying to alter medical decisions and treatment. Yikes

SIAP - Howard Cross III is getting some pre-season recognition. Athlon & Lindy's both have him as 1st Team Defense Line.
Hope he can build on last years season. In my opinion, he's one of the more important players for us to have returning.
Very happy for him!

Gathering more information as we speak, but I'm told Australian punter James Rendell has committed to Notre Dame.

He'll be a scholarship player and part of Notre Dame's incoming 2024 freshman class.

I'll be updating this story:

I saw an Instagram story on this earlier today, but I wanted to confirm it was current before bringing it here.

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Notre Dame men's basketball will be hosting a high school team camp on campus Thursday with 12 high schools participating in 17 games throughout the day.

The following teams, some of which include coveted Notre Dame recruits, are scheduled to attend.

INDIANA
South Bend Washington
Indianapolis Attucks
Santa Claus Heritage Hills
Fishers High
Lawrence North
Greenfield Central
South Bend St. Joe
Plainfield High

ILLINOIS
Benet Academy
Loyola Academy

KENTUCKY
Louisville St. Xavier

OHIO
Winton Woods

Teams with Notre Dame targets ...

Heritage Hills | 2025 PF Trent Sisley

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Lawrence North | 2025 PG Azavier Robinson

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Greenfield Central | 2025 SG Braylon Mullins

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SB Washington | 2026 SG Steven Reynolds III

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Teams with notable prospects ...

Attucks | 2025 PF Dezmon Briscoe
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Plainfield | 2026 SF Noah Smith
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St. Xavier | 2026 SG Jeremiah Jackson
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Winton Woods | 2028 SG Kameron Mercer
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I know a crazy question but I was wondering if Golden has ever ran any 3-4? Or is he ever would? I’m asking because with guys like Sevillano and Dixon coming up and all the depth at LBer it seems like the opportunity is there to run some 3-4.

ESPN has released their FPI projections and the resulting season projections.
https://www.espn.com/college-footba...i-release-top-teams-new-playoff-format-trends

Top Teams By 2024 FPI National Championship Odds:

1. UGA – 20.7%, 78.7% to make CFP
2. UO – 12.9%, 75.6%
3. UT – 11.7%, 67.7%
4. OSU – 10.2%, 66.8%
5. AL – 8.4%, 56.7%
6. PSU – 6.7%, 58.9%
7. ND – 5.1%, 59.5%
8. OU – below 3.1%, below 40% from here down
9. TN
10. FSU
11. MO
12. UM

2024 Title Chances By Conference:

SEC – 52.5%
B10 – 32.3%
ACC – 6.0%
Ind. – 5.1%
B12 – 3.6%

Other lists:
* Odds Of Securing First-Round Bye In 2024 College Football Playoff
* Group Of 5 Odds To Send At Least 1 Team To Playoff (AAC > MWC > SB)
* Projected Top 20 College Programs In FPI For 2024
* Biggest Games On ’24 Schedule Based On Schools’ Combined Ratings (17 of 20 are B10 or SEC conf. games)
* 2024 Games With The Highest Leverage On CFP Odds (14 of 21 are B10 or SEC conf. games, 1 is B10 vs SEC)