Raking the Muck: Conference Expansion, Southern Cal Sanctions, Irish Lax and more

Apologies for the record-long radio silence here.   There's no excuse for not getting some content up, but in the extended Rakes family there were a series of moves, final exams, weddings, etc., etc.  Now that we've reached the tip of summer and football is but a scant three months away, we will be back and at it at full throttle.  Now going over a lot of issues - some very complicated - in a way too quick sort of manner.

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The conference expansion reporting has brought out the best and the worst in writers everywhere.  There have been a ton of SBNation e-mails and quality Notre Dame messageboard posting to go along with the cascade of (mostly incorrect) mainstream media reports.  I find the entire thing fascinating, as we're honestly seeing history being made over these next few weeks.  At best, we're seeing college football totally rearrange itself.  At worst?  Possibly just implode, or become something none of us recognize or can bring ourselves to care about any more.  Notre Dame has actually been relatively quiet considering how important they are in the grand scheme of things, but despite this silence, I'd say the Irish's position of football independence has actually strengthened in the last few months.  Remember the initial media reports back in March that had everyone scrambling in regards to a shifting landscape?  It gave way to Brian Kelly affirming the independence of the Irish and the Big Ten (Twelve?) going to a series of back-up plans that may or may not pan out, fighting with the PAC-10(11) over the crumbling Big XII (X) and potentially weak ACC or Big East teams.

Everyone worried about Notre Dame being left out in the cold of the hypothetical three or four mega-conference fallout is an idiot, simply because there is too much money tied into the Irish name for no one to want to take them.  If everyone is dividing up into four sixteen team conferences, is someone really going to say "Well, we'd love to have you and your millions of fans, but we've got to give Iowa State, Rutgers and South Florida safe harbor"?  There is zero chance of that happening.  Maybe Notre Dame could cut itself a slightly better deal by defecting early, but it wouldn't be that much better and it would be political suicide for all of those involved.  If this whole whirlwind was happening a few years down the road after a subpar start to Coach Kelly's Notre Dame career, then yes, we would need to be worried.  But as it turns out, the NBC contract was just renewed and the Irish's two biggest rivals are floundering.  I think we're in okay shape.

All of that being said, and I think I've made this point before, but if Notre Dame absolutely, 100% had to join a conference, I would be totally cool with hopping onboard with the ACC.  You maintain a national footprint by playing games from Miami to Boston, with stops in Atlanta, Charlotte (sort of)and DC.  You get great basketball - although not up to the quality of the Big East - and a bunch of really fun road trips for students.  Even if Notre Dame swapped the non-football sports to the ACC from a crumbling Big East and agreed to a three or four game a year part-ACC schedule, I think that's fantastic.  While they've been mediocre as a conference for a while, individual ACC matchups are almost all somewhat enticing, if only for the road trip opportunities.

I'm setting myself up to be slack-jawed and confused if the Irish do join a conference, but I honestly feel like the big key in this is that Kelly was allowed to make the comments about the greatness of independence.  He's a smart guy who I'm sure is in close contact with Swarbrick, so he's not going to go out of his way to say something that blatantly untrue just to fire up an alumni group or two.  As usual, all predictions come with the giant disclaimer that I'm wrong so very often.

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You have to give Notre Dame athleticss credit for continually drawing me into a sport I didn't particularly care about (in this instance, college lacrosse), only to find a new and creative way to break my heart.  A big-time congratulations to the men's lacrosse team for their deep run into the NCAA tournament, but to fight off the Dukies and tie it up, only to lose a few seconds into overtime?  I wouldn't have it any other way.

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The USC sanctions coming down yesterday made for a delightful little Thursday.  I don't understand Notre Dame fans who say that celebrating the Southern Cal sanctions is a stupid or pointless act.  The punishments to their rival don't absolve the Irish of being a very mediocre football team for the last decade, but it is extremely enjoyable after years of Trojan gloating and confidence that they were untouchable by the NCAA.  Every major-to-somewhat major college program is dirty to some degree, and anyone who thinks that sports with this much big money tied into them don't have shadowy figures pulling strings is a naïve idiot.  That being said, there's nefarious acts done in the dark and there's nefarious acts done with a middle finger pointed to any and all authority figures.  Southern Cal's constant flaunting and air of "You can't touch this" make everything - the bowl ban, the scholarship losses, the probations, Carroll's departure and Kiffykin's late night flight from Knoxville - that much sweeter.  Please enjoy Dan Wetzel's column just shredding apart some of the laughable excuses being thrown out by Southern Cal.

I remember reading this post after Carroll left and thinking it pretty funny, but you know, I think the events of the last few days prove that Pete's motives were honest and true.  Just a guy chasing his dream.

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The schadenfreude train continues, rolling into Ann Arbor, where top recruit Demar Dorsey proved academically deficient in regards to gaining entry to the esteemed university there.  It is important to remember that none of this is Rich Rodriguez's fault - not the losing, not the NCAA violations, not the sketchy recruits, not the transfers - and you should all just keep smiling up north.

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Exciting news on the scheduling front in both hoops (playing Kentucky in Louisville) and football (the hopefully close to finished Miami series).  I can't even imagine how tough that Soldier Field ticket is going to be to get, but I'm sure all of my wonderful friends in the Windy City will gladly hook a brother up.  2012 is turning into an epic travel year, with Navy in Dublin, Oklahoma in Norman and Miami in Chicago, not to mention the Thanksgiving trip to Los Angeles.   For supposedly being irredeemably horrible at their jobs, the athletic department is putting together a pretty decent schedule when you consider the limitations of the 7-4-1 that were in place plus the general malaise across college football towards playing big-time non-conference games.

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When I heard Tom Izzo was considering going to the Cavaliers, my initial thought was "Oh Tom, you've got a great thing going.  Don't do it."  But the more I read and the more I think about it, why not go?  If college basketball loses Izzo, it's got nobody to blame but itself.  Izzo doesn't want to get in the mud with the AAU coaches and the shoe agents, which makes his job considerably harder.  Then you factor in the ridiculous contract, and he's not just taking care of his immediate family, but his grandkids are covered for life.  Go for it, Tom.  Best case you're a successful coach and go down as one of basketball's great.  Worst case is LeBron bolts and you get fired in a couple years, taking thirty million dollars with you.

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Again, sorry for the unforgivable lack of posting, but it's time to focus and get ready for Purdue.  To do so, I will leave you with some words of inspiration from Coach Eric Taylor:

"You listen to me, you listen to me closer than you've ever listened to me before.  You remember that Rutledge game, fourth quarter?  You came into that game, you took over that game.  Play by play, you owned that game.  I watched you that day and I said to myself ‘That kid is going to go all the way.'  Right now, right here, God has placed you to do what you do best.  Go all the way."