The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame have a new leader on the sidelines and the usual grand expectations entering the 2022 college football season.
Thirty-six-year-old Marcus Freeman replaces Brian Kelly as head coach. Kelly surprisingly left South Bend to take over as the leader at Southeastern Conference power Louisiana State.
Freeman, a former linebacker at Ohio State, has won over players with his fiery presence and participation in offseason workouts. He's already making splashes on the recruiting trail. Can he match Kelly's success on the field? Kelly is the winningest coach in Notre Dame history, surpassing legendary Knute Rockne.
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DraftKings has the Fighting Irish at -145 to win more than 8.5 regular-season games. The under comes in at +125.
2022 overview
There will be a new quarterback, likely dual-threat sophomore Tyler Buchner. Running back Chris Tyree and tight end Michael Mayer are impact players. The defense is loaded with sackmaster Isaiah Foskey and versatile linebacker Marist Liufau, back from injury.
Opening on the road in Columbus against perennial national championship contender Ohio State seems like a tall task for Freeman and ND. I'd expect consensus top-5 team Clemson to prevail in Notre Dame Stadium in November. The rest of the slate looks winnable, with some potential landmines.
FrontPageBets looks at the Irish's schedule with predictions and some key games that will determine if they can exceed 8.5 victories.
Key games to determining O/U: BYU, USC.
Vs. BYU (Las Vegas), Oct. 8
Facing the Cougars, a talented top-20 team, in neutral-site Vegas will test Notre Dame's focus.
That will be especially true for Buchner and his ability to counter BYU standout QB Jaren Hall.
The Cougars could be poised to pull the upset should the Irish let down even a smidge.
At USC, Nov. 26
The Trojans have reloaded under former Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley.
Quarterback Caleb Williams transfers in from OU and uber-skilled wideout Jordan Addison joins the party from Pitt.
USC will be a force to be reckoned with. The question is how long will it take to get there with a new system and revamped personnel.
Notre Dame’s 2022 regular-season schedule breakdown
Sept. 3 at Ohio State: L
Sept. 10 vs. Marshall: W
Sept. 17 vs. California: W
Sept. 24 at North Carolina: W
Oct. 8 vs. Brigham Young (at Las Vegas): W
Oct. 15 vs. Stanford: W
Oct. 22 vs. UNLV: W
Oct. 29 at Syracuse: W
Nov. 5 vs. Clemson: L
Nov. 12 vs. Navy (at Baltimore): W
Nov. 19 vs. Boston College: W
Nov. 26 at USC: W
Prediction: 10-2
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Conference realignment, NIL and scheduling format among storylines to watch during 2022 Big Ten Media Days
USC and UCLA join the mix
A year after Texas and Oklahoma stunned college athletics and shook up conference alignment once again after they announced they will soon leave the Big 12 and join the Southeastern Conference, USC and UCLA followed a similar path by announcing they’ll depart from the Pac-12 for the Big Ten in 2024 to create a superconference that spans coast to coast.
The decision sent shockwaves throughout the sports world and will likely cause yet another domino effect for years to come. It also made people question the current NCAA model of athletics.
The Big Ten might not be done, however. Warren will likely address the possibility of more schools joining the conference and the reason for adding two West Coast programs despite the majority of the Big Ten schools residing in the Midwest and Northeast.
College Football Players Association
Led by Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, Big Ten players reportedly have had discussions with Warren about the changing landscape of college sports and how it impacts student-athletes. No Maryland players were part of those discussions, according to a team spokesperson.
Clifford released a statement Friday, saying, “In the last 90 days, the [College Football Players Association] presented interesting ideas to me and my teammates with the goal of joining their college football players association. However, at this time, I along with many players are committed to working at the campus and conference level to address complexities of collegiate athletics for student-athletes.”
The CFPA was founded in 2021 to make sure college football players are organized to have a collective voice in the decision-making within their sport. However, executive director Jason Stahl said the CFPA doesn’t classify itself as a union.
According to ESPN, Stahl spoke with Warren about having a representative on each campus who advocates for players during medical situations or other disputes, post-football health protections and players receiving a percentage of the media rights revenue.
Name, image and likeness — again
NIL was a major talking point during SEC media day last week. Alabama coach Nick Saban said he is for players creating value for themselves but thinks there should be guidelines to protect the competitive balance.
“The advent of collectives has created a way for third parties to make contributions to marketing organizations, who can create opportunities for players, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “When it’s used in recruiting and players start making choices based on promises made in name, image and likeness, I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think there needs to be transparency on how all that’s done. I think there needs to be some protection for players when it comes to people who represent them.”
Expect Big Ten coaches to answer questions regarding their school’s approach to NIL and how it has impacted college sports more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with college athletes in a decision that struck at the NCAA’s definition of amateurism.
Schedule format changes
According to the Athletic, Big Ten administrators have discussed dropping from nine conference games to eight beginning in 2023. They have also discussed the possibility of ending divisional play and instead schools would play three opponents annually and cycle through the other teams every other year or two.
In June, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced a new football schedule model starting in 2023. Under the new model, each team will play three primary opponents annually and face the other league teams twice during the four-year cycle, once at home and once on the road. It will also eliminate the Atlantic and Coastal divisions and all 14 schools will compete in one division.
Gerry Ahern is senior content editor for FrontPageBets. A 35-year veteran sports editor and digital media executive, he has led coverage of the biggest events in sports, from Super Bowls, to Final Fours, to Olympics, to the Masters.
