As of Monday morning we have a mere 89 days until the Irish kickoff the 2011 season against South Florida.
The players are back on campus for the summer sessions and while we wait for some news about workouts and how rookies are adjusting to life in South Bend, here's some other stories to chew on.
Local Star Ready to Commit
South Bend (Washington H.S.) wide receiver and defender David Perkins is announcing his decision tomorrow, not long after receiving an offer from the Irish.
He's apparently down to Syracuse, Tennessee, Iowa, Mississippi State, and Notre Dame with many believing he's ready to pull the trigger for Brian Kelly and the Domers.
Stay tuned for that news tomorrow.
Morgantown in Turmoil
New West Virginia OC Dana Holgorsen made some headlines recently for being rowdy and such in a casino, resulting in him being removed from said gambling establishment.
Now, there has been all of these hot rumors that there's major discord within the Mountaineer coaching staff due to Holgorsen's behavior and other activities. If you remember, he was brought in to be the head coach-in-waiting for Bill Stewart.
Yeah, that always works.
Apparently, Stewart's wife told some reporter nasty things about Holgorsen or something? Yeah...it's West Virginia.
Expect nothing less.
Maize and Green?
A while back we posted that picture of Michigan's throwback uniform, or what was believed to be it. Turns out, that's probably not the final design.
Now, there's some chatter Michigan might wear maize (or really yellow) jerseys for the night game against Notre Dame.
That might allow the Irish to wear green and go color-on-color under the lights. That would be something else.
Michigan has said they will unveil their uniform sometime this month with Notre Dame possibly doing the same, so we'll see what each team finally comes up with.
Montana DUI
Former Notre Dame quarterback Nate Montana, who transfered to the University of Montana, was pulled over on suspicion of DUI a few days ago.
Insert classy Irish fan response here.
For Te'o and Toma
There have been some rumblings that Notre Dame is working on a home and home series with Hawaii.
I'd like to see Hawaii come to South Bend in November, that would be fun.
With the great weather on the island and the added 13th game, I think this would be a good deal.
Big Ten Championship Game
So many people wanted to see the Big Ten title game outdoors on some frozen tundra in Green Bay or Chicago, but you knew it wasn't going to happen.
Instead, the conference will hold the championship game inside Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium through the 2015 season.
The game will be televised on Fox and will not be as big of a deal as the game being played in the Georgia Dome in the SEC.
Preseason National Contender!
Athlon has Notre Dame at a rather astonishing #6 in their preseason poll, with rumors that Phil Steele will have the Irish in the same spot as well.
Steele's magazine comes out this week and he's been unveiling one team a day in his countdown. He's on No. 10 today and this is the list so far:
30. Air Force
29. BYU
28. Michigan State
27. Pittsburgh
26. North Carolina
25. USF
24. Penn State
23. Wisconsin
22. Arizona State
21. Houston
20. Southern Miss
19. Oklahoma State
18. Texas
17. USC
16. Stanford
15. Ohio State
14. South Carolina
13. Arkansas
12. Nebraska
11. TCU
Generally, Steele is the main man for these kind of preseason polls and predictions, but I can see this list being criticized very heavily.
Just be aware that half of Notre Dame's opponents are already on that list, although you'd have to do a serious sales job to prove to me that Pitt or USF belong in the top 30.
Steele has also released his preseason All-American team as well.
Manti Te'o is a 2nd team AA, as is Michael Floyd.
David Ruffer and Harrison Smith received 4th team nods.
Irish opponents with Steele AA status include:
Stanford QB Andrew (2nd team)
Boston College RB Montel Harris (2nd team)
Michigan C David Molk (2nd team)
Stanford OG David DeCastro (2nd team)
Stanford OT Jonathan Martin (2nd team)
Michigan State RB Edwin Baker (3rd team)
Southern Cal WR Robert Woods (3rd team)
Pitt OG Chris Jacobson (3rd team)
Michigan State OG Joel Foreman (3rd team)
Boston College LB Luke Kuechly (1st team)
Michigan DT Mike Martin (2nd team)
Stanford S Delano Howell (2nd team)
Michigan State DT Jerel Worth (3rd team)
Southern Cal S T.J. McDonald (3rd team)
Pitt DE Brandon Lindsey (4th team)
Stanford LB Shane Skov (4th team)
Maryland PR Tony Logan (2nd team)
There are some quality players out there. Three months to go...