Michigan’s Infractions – “Sign Stealing” Scandal

by Travis Normand
August 18, 2025

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the NCAA’s infraction report on the University of Michigan was released on August 15, 2025. You can read the whole report HERE.

Whether you read the official NCAA decision, or any of the numerous articles (see below) that have been posted about it, you will see that the punishments handed down by the NCAA include some heavy monetary penalties and several “show-cause” orders.

However, what is missing from the list of punishments was any kind of post-season ban, vacating of wins, or anything else of that nature. This appears to be a fundamental shift in how the NCAA will regulate and punish football programs going forward as while NCAA has given monetary punishments and “show-cause” orders before, I don’t remember seeing any that were this big.

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Longhorn’s Thanksgiving Tradition (Update)

by Travis Normand
November 12, 2024

The Longhorns have a section in their football media guide that covers their Thanksgiving Day “tradition.” I originally wrote about the Longhorn’s Thanksgiving Day “tradition” on November 29, 2020 (and you can see that post HERE). I then updated that post on December 2, 2020; December 4, 2020; and September 14, 2021. I was going to update it again for the 2024 season, but figured I would draft this shorter post (with more or less the same basic info) instead.

The purpose of this “shorter” post is to give a summary of what the Longhorn’s got (repeatedly) wrong in their media guide regarding Thanksgiving Day and their “tradition.” You can read the longer version that I posted back in 2020 if you want all the details.

I would also like to point out that I have been trying to notify them about this error (via social media), yet they have not updated the information. Instead, they continue to publish media guides every season that include the same inaccurate information.

Considering the reputation of the State of Texas, one might think that those attending and/or working for The University of Texas would have some basic knowledge of the state’s history. This is especially true regarding something that the University of Texas proudly calls a “tradition” and writes about in their football media guide. However, as you can see from my original post (linked above), as well as this “shorter” post, this is clearly not the case.

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College Football’s Grand Slam

by Travis Normand

Originally published on December 23, 2020 (updated June 13, 2024)

Notre Dame has a chance to win another grand slam this 2020-2021 season!

There might be a better name for this, and if I think of one, I will update this post. On the other hand, if you think of one you would like to share, please let me know by posting in the comments below.

Of all the bowl games, there are four that have always been considered as the biggest and best. Those four bowls are the: (1) Rose Bowl; (2) Cotton Bowl; (3) Sugar bowl; and (4) Orange Bowl. Which got me wondering, how many college football programs have won all four of these bowl games?

I did the research and found the answer; and the following is a break-down of those programs that have pulled off what I am calling the “College Football Grand Slam!”

There are nine (9) programs that have won all four of the major bowl games, and have thus won a “College Football Grand Slam.” Those nine programs are: Alabama, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, and Texas.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S GRAND SLAM WINNERS

SchoolNumber of Grand Slams Won
Alabama5
Georgia2
Georgia Tech1
Miami1
Notre Dame1
Ohio State1
Oklahoma1
Penn State1
Texas U.2
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