Morning Playbook - Notre Dame gave Michigan a breaking-up note before kickoff

Chalk up another one for realignment. Notre Dame pulled the trigger on pulling out of their extended series with Michigan yesterday, which should come as little surprise with future scheduling agreements with the ACC and a desire to retain rivalries with Navy, USC and Stanford. It was merely a matter of time before this decision was made as Notre Dame looks to find ways to fill their future schedules as best they can.

Notre Dame notified Michigan Saturday with Notre Dame AD Jack Swarbrick handing Michigan AD Dave Brandon an envelope just before kickoff in South Bend. According to the Detroit Free Press, Brandon was not all too surprised to learn of Notre Dame's desire to back out of the series.

"I wasn't completely surprised," Brandon said about the decision from Notre Dame. " The '16 and '17 years they could opt out, and that was certainly a possibility. The fact that the 2015 game was included was a bit of a surprise because I didn't anticipate we'd receive notice on the sidelines before a game. But, hey, it's within the letter of the contract and it's clearly stated in the contract with three games' notice was required. That's the way Notre Dame liked to handle it, and that's the way we'll proceed."

The timing of the announcement does look kind of odd, although it is surely a coincidence. Notre Dame making the decision official days after beating Michigan is akin to beating your brother in NCAA Football and refusing to play him anymore while you are on top. Of course, there will be two more games before that all goes down.

Notre Dame is not against continuing a relationship with Michigan though, with Swarbrick saying he will work hard to keep the series as lively and frequent as possible. We'll see.

There are some good games to look forward to this weekend. So far this week we have taken a look at Stanford-Washington and Tennessee-Georgia. Look for some more previews of some games later today.

Temple has taken the effort to improve their football building and the results are pretty darn nice. Not Florida nice, but far better than what they had before.

First it was Gene Chizik, now Urban Meyer gets the Dark Knight Rises treatment and this one may be the best yet. Fantastic.

Monday night's NFL controversy was a national story yesterday, even beyond the normal sports world. Our NFL counterparts over at This Given Sunday have been breaking it down. Mike Pereira, FOX Sports's officiating expert, told Mercury News three of the replacement refs being used by the NFL right now were let go by the Pac 12 due to incompetence.

Of course there may be a twist of irony in the Seahawks's victory for quarterback Russell Wilson, a favorite of Crystal Ball Run last season. Wilson finally ended on the right side of a final play, but he is not calling it karma.

A seventh playoff bowl match-up? Just where does this master plan end? [CBS Sports]

After losing at home to Kansas State, is it time for some serious changes for the Sooners? [Blatant Homerism]

Also, Landry Jones is no Tim Tebow. [Blatant Homerism, again]

Also, Barry Switzer is not impressed with the Sooners. [Tulsa World]

USC defensive back Brian Bauchman is in a hospital for an unspecified breathing issue. [Los Angeles Times]

Texas A&M has plans to spend $425 million on renovating and expanding Kyle Field, which could expand the stadium capacity to over 100,000. [The Eagle]

Only six of the 18 coaches hired in 2008 are currently at their same school today. [Football Scoop]

Will Montee Ball play this weekend as Wisconsin travels to Nebraska? [Madtown Badgers]

BYU and Illinois each have stripe-outs scheduled for this weekend. [No 2-Minute Warning]

Speaking of Illinois, they host Penn State this weekend but don't expect the Nittany Lions to talk about the Illini recruiting efforts that took place on their campus over the summer. [ESPN.com]

Cowboys Ride for Free says Oklahoma State's uniforms this week will look close to this. Pistols Firing disagrees. The line has been drawn, folks.

TCU and LSU have each played in the Cowboys Classic before. Next year they will face each other there to open the 2013 season in the 2013 Cowboys Classic. [Big 12]

The latest look at The Detmer Award has Nevada running back Stefphon Jefferson making a push for the top spot. [Saturday Blitz]

Great googily moogily. Division 2 Minnesota at Crookston painted the logo on the wrong yard line. [Larry Brown Sports]

MyTeamIsBetterThanYourTeam.com. All arguments are now settled..

Video of the Day

The iPad has been becoming a staple in some football programs. Stanford uses them to share playbooks throughout the team. Here is how it looks.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VaqJESRwCzs?rel=0

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Morning Playbook – Notre Dame gave Michigan a breaking-up note before kickoff

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