Notre Dame Surging On Recruiting Trail & Urban Meyer Believes Big Ten Has Surpassed SEC
The Fighting Irish's recent surge has skyrocketed Marcus Freeman’s Class of 2026 to No. 2 nationally.
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Trending Upwards 📈
Texas’ Front Seven
It’s likely that Texas could start the fall campaign as the AP’s preseason No. 1-ranked squad, with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski’s front seven serving as the catalyst for lofty expectations.
Per CBS Sports’ Carter Bahns, linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and defensive end Colin Simmons reside as the best pass rushing tandem in college football.
Both disruptors boasted All-American seasons a year ago, as Hill led the SEC with 17 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles. Simmons racked up nine sacks as a true freshman in 2024.
“They are just as formidable in run defense as they are at rushing the quarterback,” Bahns wrote. “… [The fact] that they are back in the lineup this year is a key development for a Texas unit that lost a pair of stalwarts from last season’s defensive front to the NFL.”
Shorter Offseason
With likely College Football Playoff expansion on the horizon, some of the sport’s leaders, including SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, are considering a universal kick-off date earlier in the calendar.
According to CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello, key voices are discussing moving the season to begin on what is now considered to be “week zero,” or before Labor Day Weekend, across the FBS.
“My view is we should have a consistent start date,” Sankey said during a recent interview with Yahoo Sports. “The adage is, teams make their most substantial improvement between games one and two. I think we should have a consistent start date.”
Currently, programs that wish to play during the week zero window must be granted an NCAA waiver, according to bylaw 17.11.
“Bringing back an earlier kickoff date as a permanent fixture is gaining steam as the entire college football calendar is examined,” Marcello added.
Carter Auman
Director Of Recruiting, Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish are rolling on the recruiting trail, and 25-year-old director of recruiting Carter Auman deserves credit for dominating the Mid-Atlantic region on the trail.
Since June 18, Notre Dame has received verbal commitments from Joey O’Brien (Wyndmoor, PA), Khary Adams (Towson, MD), and Grayson McKeogh (Wyndmoor, PA).
O’Brien and Adams both rank as top 5 players at their positions and are expected to suit up for the Fighting Irish at safety and cornerback, respectively.
“Carter Auman is the best recruiter out there, man,” O’Brien’s father told On3’s Kyle Kelly last week. “He’s a great kid. We think the world of him. It’s just great people there at Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame’s recent surge has skyrocketed Marcus Freeman’s Class of 2026 to No. 2 nationally, highlighted by an astounding 86% blue-chip ratio with 18 four-star commitments.
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Trending Downwards 📉
College Football Playoff Resolution
The sport’s Power Four conference commissioners met near the Blue Ridge Mountains this week to discuss amendments to the College Football Playoff.
Despite engaging in lengthy discussions, Sports Illustrated’s Bryan Fischer reports that the group has “gotten approximately nowhere in this whole process.”
“Such a sentiment should be alarming by now, as we’re all further away from a CFP solution with the impending arrival of the season and not closer like everybody claimed we would be,” Fischer added.
Although the group seemed to have found momentum around a new 16-structure with a set number of auto-bids, discussions at the SEC spring meetings surrounding five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large spots were quickly halted by the ACC and Big 12.
“I wouldn’t say there’s a leading contender right now for them, but they’re taking a good look and a fresh look at it,” College Football Playoff executive director Rich Clark said last week. “The format could be a lot different in ’26, or it may be the same.”
Rutgers’ Preseason Outlook
Greg Schiano’s Scarlet Knights have won seven games per season over the last two campaigns — good for Rutgers’ best two-year run since 2013 and 2014.
Still, many preseason preview publications are low on Schiano’s much-improved bunch entering 2025.
Lindy’s Sports picked Rutgers to finish 16th in the Big Ten, ahead of only Northwestern and Purdue.
“There is more talent in the program than at any point during Schiano’s return, and the Scarlet Knights are coming off winning four Big Ten games for the first time since joining the league,” the magazine said. “But, breaking the seven-win mark in 2025 would be monumental given the schedule.”
Rutgers is tasked with playing Oregon, Illinois, Ohio State, and Penn State throughout the last six weeks of its schedule.
With each opponent expected to start the season squarely within the top 15 of the AP Poll, it could be uphill sledding in October and November.
Between The Numbers 📊
100
Last Wednesday, ESPN’s Chris Low published an article highlighting “College Football’s 10 Most Unbreakable Records,” and to no surprise, the piece naturally accentuated former Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s legacy.
According to Low, one of the sport’s most cemented records happens to be Saban’s 100-straight victories over unranked teams.
Saban took over for the Crimson Tide in 2007, and during that season, his squad lost three games to teams outside the top 25.
However, Saban didn’t fall to another ranked team until 2021 — 14 years later, when Alabama fell 41-38 on the road to Texas A&M.
Until his retirement, Saban never lost to an unranked team again following the blunder at Kyle Field.
From 2008 to 2023, Alabama never finished the year ranked outside of the top 10 – another amazing, likely unbeatable, feat by Saban.
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Urban Meyer | FOX College Football Analyst, College Football Hall-of-Famer
“Now, fast forward, and I think the Big Ten has passed the SEC. Obviously, they have in [recent] national championships.”
Last week, the “Triple Option” Podcast, hosted by Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, and Mark Ingram, invited Penn State head coach James Franklin onto the show to discuss the Nittany Lions’ 2025 outlook.
During the episode, the three panelists agreed that this year’s Penn State bunch aligns with the blueprint Michigan and Ohio State both used to hoist national titles over the past two seasons.
The Nittany Lions are littered with veteran leadership on both sides of the ball, marked by key returnees in quarterback Drew Allar, running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and defensive linemen Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant.
With proven commodities stacked along both sides of the ball, Meyer thinks that Penn State’s ascension has played a key role in the Big Ten surpassing the SEC as the country’s best conference.
“In 2012, I went to the Big Ten,” Meyer said. “I think [Franklin] came two or three years later. I was shocked when I first got there, coming from the SEC, at just the quality of football… You know, there were great players, but not great players. Now, fast forward, and I think the Big Ten has passed the SEC.”
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Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
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