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mattfortuna.bsky.social
Founder of The Inside Zone, college football’s newest online community. Co-host of The Independent. Contributor to CHSN. Past: The Athletic, ESPN, FWAA Prez
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The ACC has made its 18-game men's basketball conference schedule official. Each team will play one "primary" partner twice and one "variable" partner twice, the latter determined each season. Schools will then play one game vs. 14 of the remaining 15 teams.

This is now official. Brett Yormark:

Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua on Clemson: “We strive to consistently create a football schedule that positions us for success in the College Football Playoff, and that goal requires us to form historic partnerships like this one with Clemson.“

Brett Yormark had been connected recently to the Minnesota Timberwolves’ opening to be the franchise’s new president. He will stay put in Dallas through the rest of the decade.

Source: The Big 12 and commissioner Brett Yormark have agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2030.

Clemson football has made the addition of second-team All-ACC forward Ian Schieffelin at TE official. Schieffelin was 8th grade football teammates with Phil Mafah. Dabo Swinney: "I'm excited about Ian's addition. He is a great competitor with high level success at the college level."

Back when his son was in the Spurs' organization, and back when people still semi-feared the NCAA, Bill Self was believed to be the inevitable successor to Gregg Popovich. Things have changed just a bit, though, wouldn't you say?

TurnkeyZRG will handle the MSU AD search

Michigan State is parting ways with AD Alan Haller. Deputy AD Jennifer Smith and MBB coach Tom Izzo will serve as co-interim ADs.

Shedeur Sanders will be coached by Tommy Rees.

At this point, who gets drafted first: Shedeur or Shilo?

Northwestern seventh-year senior OL Cooper Lovelace is in the transfer portal. Lovelace began his career at Butler CC, redshirting in 2019 before 2020 was canceled. He then spent two seasons at USC. The Wildcats loaded up on the OL this offseason, adding three from the portal.

There were two players who earned consensus All-America honors in both 2023 and 2024. Travis Hunter. Xavier Watts. The Falcons got a good one.

I don't think I'm being a prisoner of the moment here, or beholden to the star power of the Sanders name. There's not a soul in America who projected Shough, Milroe or Gabriel to go before Shedeur. Not one.

Are we witnessing the biggest slide in draft history?

Source: UC Riverside is set to hire Gus Argenal as its next head coach. Argenal went 50-20 in two years leading Cal State San Bernardino, making the Division II Final Four in 2024. The nearly month-long search leaves just one D1 program left to make a HC hire: Alcorn State.

Jaden Rashada, who is suing Florida coaches over broken NIL promises, commits to play for Brennan Marion, whose QB at UNLV quit the team last season, citing broken NIL promises from Marion.

How do we see Notre Dame’s captains shaking out? @petesampson.bsky.social and I discuss that and more on the latest episode of The Independent. SUBSCRIBE ⬇️ 🍎 Apple: apple.co/3qCY5Yu 🎧 Spotify: spoti.fi/45BMhEU 📺 YouTube: bit.ly/3Rruw7e

Former Northwestern (and Iowa) QB Brendan Sullivan is off to Tulane. Tulane's first opponent? Northwestern.

🚨 NEW POD 🚨 @petesampson.bsky.social and I recap Notre Dame’s spring, portal fallout and much more, on the latest episode of The Independent. SUBSCRIBE ⬇️ 🍎 Apple: apple.co/3qCY5Yu 🎧 Spotify: spoti.fi/45BMhEU 📺 YouTube: bit.ly/3Rruw7e

Former Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli is off to Syracuse

Let's go LIVE! @petesampson.bsky.social and I are recording a live edition of The Independent at the top of the hour. Tune in and bring your questions here ⬇️⬇️ Noon ET/11 a.m. CT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIle...

Marcus Freeman says Notre Dame has had discussions about moving Tyler Buchner back to QB for depth purposes, but nothing decided yet.

Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman on CJ Carr and Kenny Minchey: "Both we believe have the ability to be the starting QB, both have done a tremendous job of improving through spring practice. ... It's just tough when you have limited reps to truly say somebody's separated themselves."

The College Football Playoff has announced dates/times for this season's New Year's Six bowls (all on ESPN): Wed, Dec. 31 7:30: Cotton Bowl Thu, Jan. 1 Noon: Orange Bowl 4: Rose Bowl 8: Sugar Bowl Thu, Jan. 8 7:30: Fiesta Bowl Fri, Jan 9 7:30: Peach Bowl Mon, Jan. 19 7:30: National Championship

Cincinnati freshman offensive lineman Jeremiah Kelly passed away unexpectedly at his residence Tuesday morning. Scott Satterfield: "The Bearcats football family is heartbroken by the sudden loss of this outstanding young man."

NEWS: North Carolina and TCU will open the 2026 season on Aug. 29 in Dublin. Aer Lingus Classic co-founder John Anthony: “This compelling matchup promises to deliver another unforgettable start to the college football season in front of a passionate crowd at Aviva Stadium.”

Northwestern and DePaul have extended their men's basketball series three more years: 🏀 Nov. 14, 2025 at Wintrust Arena 🏀 Nov. 13, 2026 at Welsh-Ryan Arena 🏀 Nov. 12, 2027 at Wintrust Arena

Happy retirement to the 🐐, Lee Corso. Nobody so accomplished made fall Saturdays so much fun. It was a thrill to sit down with him in Bristol back in 2018 for a story on his legacy. Cheers, Coach. GameDay won’t be the same without you. www.nytimes.com/athletic/496570/

ACC commish Jim Phillips: “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with everyone at Florida State University, the Tallahassee community, and all those affected by today’s tragic event. The entire ACC family stands in support of Florida State, and our hearts will remain with all of those impacted.”

I would not be surprised to see Tennessee and Purdue, among others, get involved with former Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli.

Notre Dame QB Steve Angeli is officially in the transfer portal as a grad transfer. The fourth-year New Jersey native was engaged in a three-way QB battle with the Irish. Angeli started the 2023 Sun Bowl win and led a key scoring drive in last season’s Orange Bowl comeback win.

Notre Dame second-year safety Kennedy Urlacher intends to enter the transfer portal, per source. Hayes Fawcett first. The son of Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, Kennedy played in 14 games of a promising freshman season for the Irish in 2024.

No one is defending Nico. What's changed? A lot, it seems. www.insidezonemf.com/p/no-one-is-...

Bout time!

Source: NYU coach Dave Klatsky is expected to join the staff of defending national champion Florida. Klatsky went 68-16 in three years at NYU, leading the Violets to the Division III national title game last month. Kris Pursiainen on this first.

The Navy football team will visit the White House on Tuesday in honor of the Midshipmen winning the Commander-In-Chief’s Trophy. A ceremony with President Trump is set for 3 ET.

Cal RB Jadyn Ott is in the transfer portal. Ott has posted for 3,309 yards from scrimmage and 30 TDs the past three seasons with the Golden Bears.

Updated men's college basketball coaching tracker for the 2025 offseason: www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-bask...

Former Ohio State OL coach Greg Studrawa has been named head coach at IMG Academy.

Eastern Michigan is also re-naming the weakside DE position from “LEO” to “MAXX” and will give its top pass-rusher jersey No. 92.

NEWS: Eastern Michigan has hired NFL standout Maxx Crosby as its assistant GM.

The latest on Nico Iamaleava, who’s portal-bound on the day of Tennessee’s spring game www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-foot...

Syracuse has hired Hall of Fame alum Dwight Freeney to its player development staff. “The time is now. I think that Syracuse has a lot of good things going. A great foundation and I think they need a push to be able to maintain and exceed that – that is what I hope I’m able to do.“

Confirming @PeteNakos_ and others, I'm told: 🍊 Nico Iamaleava was not at practice today amid NIL re-negotiations 🍊 Frustration is building on Tennessee's side 🍊 Multiple bluebloods are heavily pursuing the 5-star passer The Vols' spring game is tomorrow. Buckle up.

Kenni Burns at Kent State: 1-23 overall record 0-21 record vs. FBS competition 0-16 MAC record And he got fired for off-field reasons.

Kent State has fired coach Kenni Burns. OC Mark Carney will serve as interim, with a national search coming after the 2025 season.

Updated men's college basketball coaching tracker for the 2025 offseason: www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-bask...

As others have reported, High Point coach Alan Huss is heading to Creighton to become an assistant/head coach-in-waiting upon Greg McDermott’s retirement, which is expected to happen in the next few years.