Newsstand: Former Notre Dame WBB coach Muffett McGraw proposes massive change for college athletics
Muffet McGraw coached at Notre Dame from 1987-2020 and led the Irish to 26 NCAA Tournament appearances and won two of them. The Irish women’s basketball program made it to nine Final Fours under McGraw’s leadership, and she was a four-time AP Coach of the Year. It’s safe to say McGraw knows the college athletics landscape with her vast experience.
On Sunday, Aug. 6, McGraw posted a tweet that has been viewed over 164,000 times. It’s in response to the major conference realignment news in the past week, with the Pac-12 being raided by the Big 12 and Big Ten.
“Time to stop whining about where college football is headed and figure out how to save the rest of college sports,” McGraw tweeted. “Let football break with the NCAA and form their own league and let college basketball and the Olympic sports continue the conference model. There has to be another way to preserve all that is good in college athletics and give our student athletes the experience they deserve.”
While much of the discussion nationally about conference re-alignment is regarding the big money-maker that college football is. A cross-country Rutgers vs. USC matchup in football is strange, but it will probably work out. But what about those two programs clashing in non-revenue sports? Is that kind of travel sustainable? It’ll certainly be interesting to follow, and McGraw offers an interesting solution.
Quote of the day
“Steve is way beyond his years. I always forget he’s a sophomore. I treat him like an older guy, so he sometimes gets mad at me. He’s grown a lot. He looks really good.”
— Notre Dame starting quarterback Sam Hartman on backup signal-caller Steve Angeli
Headlines of the day
Notre Dame football will not play Miami in 2024 as originally scheduled (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)
Lucky Charms: Recruiting notes on a pair of Notre Dame commits (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)
How walk-on quarterback Dylan Devezin became Notre Dame’s holder (Jack Soble, Blue & Gold)
19 days until Notre Dame football: How are the freshman receivers doing in fall camp? (Jack Soble, Blue & Gold)
Observations from Notre Dame fall camp practice No. 11: Offense (Jack Soble, Blue & Gold)
Observations from ND football fall camp practice No. 11: Defense and special teams (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)
Why Notre Dame QB Kenny Minchey is focused on personal development over meeting others’ expectations (Kyle Kelly, Blue & Gold)
The Gold Standard: Who could be Notre Dame’s next six new commitments? (Mike Singer, Blue & Gold)
Notre Dame football ranked 13th in preseason coaches poll (Jack Soble, Blue & Gold)
Former Notre Dame safety Houston Griffith gets Power Five staff position (Kyle Kelly, Blue & Gold)
Why quarterback Steve Angeli is ready to start for Notre Dame right now (Tyler Horka, Blue & Gold)
Why Xavier Watts is ‘gonna have a big year’ for ND (Jack Soble, Blue & Gold)
