You know it's officially the offseason when fans and writers go gaga over schedule releases. Yesterday we got the schedules from the ACC and the Pac-12. Well, at least we got the full schedule from the Pac-12. The ACC just gave us the home and away schedules for each team without dates, making it a […]

CBR’s ‘Way Too Early Top 10’ No. 9 Notre Dame Ask anyone around the Notre Dame football program, and they’d tell you no one is surprised the Irish found success under third year coach Brian Kelly…they were surprised how fast it happened however.  Most fans, media members and Notre Dame administration themselves had pegged the […]

(Although the 2012 season came to an end just days ago, it's never too early to look ahead to 2013 and that's exactly what Crystal Ball Run will do over the coming weeks with our 'Way Too Early' 2013 Top 10. Understand, these rankings are subject to change over the course of the off-season, and […]

When college football’s postseason shifts to a four-team playoff model in the 2014 season, the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl will host the first semifinal games on January 1, 2015. Conference commissioners met Tuesday, as they generally do the day after the BCS Championship Game each season, to begin putting together some of the plans […]

It’s not often that we report on early declarations for the NFL Draft here at Crystal Ball Run (we leave that up to the NFL guys) but in terms of Texas A&M left tackle Luke Joeckel, we’ll make an exception. The 6’6 310 lb. Outland Trophy winner announced he would enter the NFL Draft Tuesday […]

I know, I know…. What in the bull hell is going on here, right? Well, it's officially the offseason – yes, I know the National Championship game was played last night, but it's the morning after and that means it brings us a chance to entertain you the reader even more because the show that […]

There’s not really any way to describe Alabama’s 42-7 BCS National Championship beat down of Notre Dame on Monday night, other than to say this: The final score wasn’t indicative of how one-sided this game was. From start to finish, and in every way shape and form, the Crimson Tide were the better football team […]

Here are the Crystal Ball Run staff’s picks for Monday night’s BCS National Championship Game! Allen Kenney’s Take: I've tried to look for one notable edge in this game in either side, and I'm not finding any. The closest thing is Amari Cooper versus Notre Dame's secondary. From a more intangible standpoint, the quarterbacks are […]

We could go in a lot of different directions in the lead-up to Monday night’s BCS National Championship Game here at Crystal Ball Run. We could talk about the battle in the trenches between Alabama’s offensive line and Notre Dame’s defensive line or how Nick Saban plans on to defend Irish quarterback Everett Golson. The […]

In the words of Natalie Merchant, "These are days you'll remember." Not 10,000 but rather twice that number of maniacs appeared on Saturday for a Notre Dame pep rally in Miami, a pep rally in which no members of the Fighting Irish football team were present. But what did the fans care? Notre Dame football […]

A year ago, Oregon coach Chip Kelly was supposedly signed, sealed and delivered to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A last-second change of heart kept him in Eugene. This year he flirted with not one, but two NFL franchises, the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, while basking in the glow of his team's Fiesta Bowl win […]