ESPN

NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

Spring start: March 20

Spring game: April 20

What to watch:

1. The Irish's hunger: Cheesy or oversimplifying things? Maybe. But Notre Dame did as good as a team possibly could in 2012 without lifting up the crystal football at the end of the season. The Irish got an up-close tutorial on what it takes to be the best, and the lessons learned from the Bama beatdown should keep the chip on their shoulders heading into 2013.

2. Backfield answers: Gone are Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood. In their place, at least for now, are George Atkinson III, Cam McDaniel, Amir Carlisle and William Mahone. Four-star recruits Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston will arrive this summer and try to get on the field as well. For now, Atkinson figures to be the No. 1 guy, but plenty of depth -- albeit unproven depth -- makes this an exciting a position battle to watch.

3. QB drama? Speaking of position battles ... Everett Golson lost just one game as the starter and figures to seamlessly move into the No. 1 role this spring. Right? It's never that simple with quarterbacks and Brian Kelly -- who played as many as five in a season at Cincinnati -- and things are complicated even more by the depth that returns at that position. It will be Golson's job to lose, but he figures to be pushed hard again, especially now with the redshirt coming off prized 2012 recruit Gunner Kiel.

With the impending announcement that Notre Dame would conclude its 12-0 regular season by facing defending national champion Alabama in the Discover BCS National Championship, Irish players were met in their lockers by blue and gold T-shirts with the phrase "Unfinished Business."

They wore them during the Dec. 2 viewing party when they found out they were officially bound for Sun Life Stadium. Now, after the Crimson Tide beat them every which way Jan. 7 as they won their third national title in the past four years, they can begin spring practice and the ensuing 2013 season with a similar theme as they look to close the gap following a renaissance campaign.

That was obvious to athletic director Jack Swarbrick in the immediate aftermath of his team's first and only loss of 2012 -- "There are 121 FBS schools, and we're in pretty good shape relative to all but one of them" -- and it was obvious to coach Brian Kelly three weeks later, when he spoke publicly for the first time since the night of the title game.

"On that day, Alabama was the winner by 28 points, and it's our job to begin work as to how we close that gap," Kelly said Jan. 28. "That gap on that day was certainly one that we got a chance to experience. Here's the great thing for me: In the three short years when I stood before [my team] my first year, we did not have a player on our roster that had beaten a Top 25 team. Three years later, we're playing in the national championship game with 15-plus starters coming back. So, really excited about the progress that our program has made in a very short period of time."

A loud January that saw the Tide rout, Kelly's flirtation with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax gave way to a February that saw Notre Dame bring in the country's No. 4 recruiting class on national signing day. The Irish beefed up an offensive line that was strong on its first tier but sorely lacked capable, healthy bodies day-to-day.

Five of those incoming recruits enrolled in January, and now they begin preparing with the rest of the team for spring practice -- a session that will begin much the same way the Irish's postseason did.

Illinois head coach Tim Beckman has had to replace more than half of his staff in recent weeks, but the process (fingers crossed) is complete.

The team on Tuesday announced the hiring of Al Seamonson as outside linebackers coach. Seamonson technically replaces cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale, who recently left for a position with the University of Cincinnati. Beckman has shuffled the responsibilities of his defensive staff. Coordinator Tim Banks now will coach the secondary, while Seamonson and Mike Ward will share the linebacker group. Ward coached the linebackers by himself in 2012 but now will handle inside linebackers, while Seamonson will coach the "LEO" and "Star" positions on the edges.

Another new assistant, Greg Colby, will handle the defensive line.

Seamonson most recently coached linebackers at Central Florida in 2011. He spent a decade (2001-10) as a Maryland assistant, coaching linebackers and special teams. A former wide receiver at Wisconsin, Seamonson coached with Beckman, Banks and Ward at Bowling Green in 2000 and also has had stints at The Citadel and Army.

Beckman has replaced five assistants on his staff from 2012, four of whom left voluntarily for other positions. The new staff definitely has a veteran flair after Beckman hired several extremely young assistants the first time around.

Seamonson's ties to Maryland should help in recruiting, as the Maryland/Washington D.C. area becomes more important to all Big Ten teams because of the upcoming expansion.

Big Ten spring football in February? You had better believe it. Northwestern will be the first Big Ten squad to hit the practice field this spring, holding the first of 15 workouts Wednesday in Evanston. It's the first time in recent memory that a Big Ten team has started spring ball in February. Northwestern is still riding high following a 10-3 season that culminated with a Gator Bowl win -- its first postseason victory since the 1949 Rose Bowl -- and a No. 17 ranking in the final AP Poll.

The next obvious step is a run for a Big Ten title, and Northwestern returns most of its core pieces from the 2012 team. Several likely starters are out for the spring, but there's plenty of work to do before the spring game on April 13.

ESPN.com caught up with Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald to discuss spring ball.

Why are you starting spring practice so early this season?

Pat Fitzgerald: Number one, our academic calendar allows us to split spring practice up into two segments. A year ago, we did six practices prior to finals and spring break and nine practices after. We really felt after doing some quality-control work on it, that moving nine practices prior to finals and spring break had the potential to be more beneficial to all of our young men. From a lifting standpoint, a preparation standpoint for next fall, it gives them an extended summer phase of workouts. Number two, if a young man were to get injured in spring ball, with the bulk of [the practices] being in winter quarter, there's a higher likelihood they'll be cleared and ready to go for summer workouts. The last aspect of it is I wanted to get us back to playing football earlier. I really felt we've got positive momentum going. And obviously there's a benefit to our coaching staff, who can get out on the road recruiting a little bit earlier.

There are a lot of good vibes still there from the bowl win and the season. Is that something you can carry over, or do you tell the guys it's a new season, forget about it?

PF: You always learn from the past but look forward. We're very proud of what we accomplished, but this is a new team and a new dynamic. The new chemistry is being formed through our 'Winning Edge' workouts, and we're going to roll right into spring practice and hopefully be able to carry over that momentum. We ran our typical gauntlet of conditioning after our first workout, and our guys just absolutely crushed it. I walked into the staff room afterward and said, 'This is as focused and as disciplined a group as we've had.' Now it's our job to put them in the right position as a coaching staff to continue to develop that chemistry and mental toughness.

Like everybody in the country, you're back to being 0-0, and we're in this young stage of our team. I want to get an exposure to find out who we are and what can we do well with a lot of the younger guys we worked with a lot in bowl practice.

What is the next step when you have so many core guys back from a 10-win team?

PF: The next step is you start back over. The way we look at it is this is a completely new team. The pieces that are no longer part of our program are always going to be significant losses. We've got to find young men who are going to fill those roles and do it the way they're capable of. What does that mean? What are their strengths? What we've done in the past is spend a lot of time studying things and looking at cutups and going over all kinds of things as coaches, and then going through spring practice and saying, 'Well, Joe or Demetrius, that's not his strength. We're not going to want to do that in the fall.'

We're now doing a lot of our research on what we want to do schematically and technically and fundamentally, what we want to do from a Football 101 standpoint, and get that taught here in the first couple weeks. Then we want to take the last two weeks of spring ball and say, 'Alright, this is what we do well. Let's go work on that.' We're tying to get more information from our guys, especially what we do well with this group. And we're not going to have it all answered because a lot of our guys coming back aren't participating in spring ball.

You played two quarterbacks [Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian] last year. Does that work well for you, or is there another phase for those guys to evolve?

PF: The ability for those guys to evolve with big-picture things will probably be more in the fall than right now in spring. We'll do some things conceptually that will build upon what we did a year ago, but it will also be a little bit limited based on our depth and who is practicing on offense. We're only going to be able to go as far as we can get the Football 101 accomplished. That's the bigger-picture goal this spring, to develop our young players, similar to what we did a year ago, which helped us have great success. We take the car apart and start to build it all over again with the new pieces.

How comfortable are you with Kain and Trevor and the way they played last year? A lot of coaches would rather play one guy.

PF: I believe we have two quarterbacks who can lead us to a Big Ten championship based on what I've seen them do. I think both young men are as good as anybody in the country. There's very good quarterback play in this conference, and those guys are very competitive. They both have a terrific skill set, a terrific attitude. They're outstanding leaders. They're both unselfish. Both have the capability to make plays in the moment to their strengths to lead us to a championship.

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Whaddaya know? Our preseason No. 1 is our postseason No. 1.

No. 1: Manti Te'o, LB

Making the case: Before his name became as popular in the gossip pages as it did in the sports pages, Te'o turned in a historic season for Notre Dame. He led the Irish out of the depths of mediocrity to a perfect 12-0 regular season and to the Discover BCS National Championship, where they were routed by Alabama. Te'o amassed seven national awards, making him the most decorated player in college football history. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, coming as close as any pure defensive player has to winning the sport's most prestigious individual honor. He finished with a team-best 113 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, seven picks, four pass break-ups, 11 passes defended, four quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries. He was a probable first-round NFL Draft pick had he chosen to come out of school following his junior year in 2011, and he was a sure-fire first-rounder this April before the girlfriend hoax raised plenty of questions. While Te'o's legacy remains cloudy in some circles, there's no denying the impact that the captain had on bringing Notre Dame football back to the sport's highest stage.

Preseason ranking: 1

The countdown

No. 2 Louis Nix, NG

No. 3 Stephon Tuitt, DE

No. 4 Tyler Eifert, TE

No. 5 Zack Martin, LT

No. 6 Theo Riddick, RB

No. 7 Braxston Cave, C

No. 8 Kapron Lewis-Moore, DE

No. 9 Zeke Motta, S

No. 10 Prince Shembo, LB

No. 11 Danny Spond, LB

No. 12 T.J. Jones, WR

No. 13 Everett Golson, QB

No. 14 Cierre Wood, RB

No. 15 Bennett Jackson, CB

No. 16 Tommy Rees, QB

No. 17 DaVaris Daniels, WR

No. 18 Chris Watt, LG

No. 19 George Atkinson III, RB

No. 20 Dan Fox, LB

No. 21 Matthias Farley, S

No. 22 KeiVarae Russell, CB

No. 23 Robby Toma, WR

No. 24 Kyle Brindza, K

No. 25 Chris Brown, WR

INDIANAPOLIS -- Manti Te'o went through workouts at the NFL scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium with the linebacker group Monday afternoon, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds. His time was 20th of the 26 linebackers who ran at the combine Monday.

NFL front office personnel were looking for the Notre Dame linebacker, who measured at 6-feet-1 1/4 and 241 pounds, to run at least a sub 4.75 40-yard dash.

Missouri's Zaviar Gooden had the fastest time among linebackers in the 40 with a time of 4.47.

To read more, click here.

 

Northwestern will be without at least three projected starters when it opens spring football in the Big Ten with the first of 15 practice sessions Wednesday in Evanston.

The Wildcats announced Monday that three projected starters will miss the spring session with injuries: cornerback Nick VanHoose, middle linebacker Damien Proby and offensive tackle Jack Konopka. Several other players who filled reserve roles in 2012 but could claim starting jobs in 2013 also are out, including offensive tackle Paul Jorgensen, wide receiver Kyle Prater, defensive tackle Will Hampton, defensive end Deonte Gibson and guard Matt Frazier.

All 13 players out for the spring are expected back for fall camp and the season. Most are recovering from postseason surgeries.

VanHoose missed three games late last season with a shoulder injury, so his absence for spring isn't a major surprise. Prater also didn't look 100 percent healthy in 2012. Konopka started at right tackle in 2012 and could be moved to the left side to replace the graduating Patrick Ward.

Both Proby and Konopoka started all 13 games last season.

Both Jorgensen and Frazier played behind offensive linemen who graduated following the 2012 season, so their absence this spring should ramp up the competition at those positions.

Both Gibson and Hampton, who started three games last season, figure to be in the mix for starting defensive-line positions, although they'll have to make up for lost time this summer.

Northwestern practices nine times before finals and spring break in mid-March. The Wildcats return for four more sessions before wrapping up with their spring game on April 13.

When Indianapolis and Chicago made bids to host the first set of Big Ten football championship games, Indy won in a landslide, as the Big Ten awarded it the title game through 2015.

A first-rate indoor facility (Lucas Oil Stadium) surrounded by restaurants and hotels certainly helped Indianapolis, but the Indiana Sports Corp -- the city's sports promotional and organizing arm -- put it over the top. Not only is Indiana Sports Corp the nation's first sports commission (founded in 1979), it's also one of the best, bringing events like the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the Olympic Trials to Naptown.

Marketing matters and so does logistics, and Chicago fell well short of Indy in those areas. But things are changing.

Chicago launched its own sports commission in 2011. It's part of Choose Chicago, the city's official tourism organization. Don Welsh, the president and CEO of Choose Chicago, previously had led the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association, which works directly with Indiana Sports Corp., and had held a similar post in Seattle, working with the Seattle Sports Association to bring major events to the Emerald City.

"He called and said, 'Where's your sports commission person?'" said Sam Stark, the executive director of the Chicago Sports Commission. "And people were like, 'We don't have a sports commission person.' So he said, 'Well, we will soon.' It's a big niche, and he wanted to make sure Chicago is at the table."

That person turned out to be Stark, who had previously served as president and CEO of the Central Florida sports commission in Orlando. Advisory board members for the Chicago Sports Commission include Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, Chicago Bulls executive vice president Steve Schanwald and several marketing chiefs of pro teams in the city.

The Chicago Sports Commission is partnering with the Big Ten for the league's upcoming men's basketball tournament at the United Center. Along with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the commission on Monday announced a series of events to be held in conjunction with the tournament, including a fan fest downtown at Daley Plaza, a tip-off luncheon and a VIP/alumni party. Chicago didn't have these events in the past, which hurt when the Big Ten moved the basketball tournament to Indianapolis in 2006. Indy and Chicago are co-hosting the event through 2015.

Indianapolis will host the football championship for at least another three seasons, but Stark would love to bring the event to Chicago in 2016.

"Just the synergy between the Big Ten and Chicago warrants a discussion about the event," Stark told ESPN.com. "The amount of alumni here in this market, it's an event that we need to look at. We'll first talk to the folks at [Soldier Field Management] and the Bears, and get their interest level. But on the surface, it certainly seems like an event that has a place in Chicago."

The bid process for the next set of football title games is at least a year away, and Stark hopes the upcoming basketball tournament will help his group formulate what works and what doesn't. The Chicago commission is working closely with the Big Ten and local Big Ten alumni groups leading up to next month's event.

"This is our first effort as a sports commission to welcome in the Big Ten in a way that hasn't happened before," he said. "This will allow us to sit down with them afterward and get feedback. This will really be the starter on those kinds of discussions."

One big difference between Chicago and Indy is the lack of an indoor facility, where many league title games are played. Weather can be a factor on the first Saturday of December, when the league title game will be held. But as many Big Ten fans have pointed out, it's part of the league's football fabric.

"Every school plays outdoors," Stark said, "so one week later, they can't play one more game outdoors? It's doable."

Attendance has been a challenge in Indianapolis for the first two Big Ten football championships -- last year's event drew only 41,260 -- and also for some recent basketball tournaments. Chicago could have an easier time there because there are so many more Big Ten fans in the area. A bigger obstacle for the city could be logistics, as Soldier Field isn't nearly as centralized as Lucas Oil Stadium.

But Stark is confident his group can "shrink Chicago."

"It's a different footprint, and that's fine," Stark said. "But with good planning and with good logistics, transportation and other elements, it's a very manageable city. That's been the bogeyman of Chicago, 'Aw, it's too big, the parking ...' It's really not.

"Once you have a group that's focused and dedicated on those things, you'll see we'll have a city that helps the fans, the athletes, the media, everybody."

Chicago has that group, and it should give Indy some real competition when the bidding process comes around again.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A few quick thoughts from Michigan's 71-58 victory over Illinois.

Overview: Call him a Renaissance Man. In Sunday's win over Illinois, Michigan sophomore Trey Burke hit the 1,000-point scoring mark by varying it up for the Wolverines. A steal and layup, here. A finger roll, there. A deep 3 for good measure. Some fast breaks. And why not a pair of free throws?

Burke was the obvious highlight -- in what was mostly a sloppy game -- becoming just the seventh true sophomore at UM to hit the 1,000-point mark, joining the likes of Jalen Rose, Phil Hubbard and Chris Webber.

But here are some other thoughts on the Wolverines’ late surging win over Illinois.

Turning point: With a slim three-point lead and just less than 16 minutes left in the second half, Jordan Morgan made a no-look pass to Glenn Robinson, who threw down a dirty dunk, energizing a near dead Crisler Center. During the following timeout, for the first time during the game, Michigan looked relaxed, exchanging high fives. But Robinson then followed that up with yet another dunk, extending the Wolverines’ lead to seven. From there, it remained close, but UM controlled the game better, and finished out with a win.

Key player: Burke, as always, proved vital for the Wolverines’ success. Following his 1,000th point (which came on a free throw), he didn’t even react. It was business as usual as the sophomore finished with a game-high 26 points, eight assists and just one turnover.

Key stat: 16:30 -- The amount of time that passed before Michigan even took a lead over Illinois. The following three and a half minutes were nothing spectacular, and UI would take the lead going into halftime. But it was an especially sloppy stretch for Michigan. The usually strong 3-point shooting team made just two attempts from behind the arc in the first half (29 percent) and only made it to the free throw line three times, putting together a frustrating half everywhere on the floor. Combine that with their six turnovers, and it was a 16:30 that John Beilein will be glad to forget.

Miscellaneous: Michigan improved to 16-0 at home this season with its fifth-straight win over the Illini. … Freshman center Mitch McGary picked up his second career start. He finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds and a block. … Brandon Paul, who averages 16 points per game, was held to 10 and forced into four turnovers while dishing out just one assist.

Next game: The Wolverines close out the conference schedule with two less-threatening road games at Purdue and Penn State, but their two weekends at home with Michigan State and Indiana will provide plenty of excitement. Illinois heads home for a matchup with Nebraska, its last home game of the season.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert is exactly the type of player the Chicago Bears are missing on offense.

Checking in at 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, Eifert’s greatest strength is his ability to use his size and speed from the tight end position to create mismatches downfield in the passing game. With 140 catches for 1,840 yards and 11 touchdowns in three seasons for the Fighting Irish, Eifert might be the closest thing to Jimmy Graham or Aaron Hernandez in the 2013 NFL draft.

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Northwestern returns most of its core from 2012 but must replace key linemen like Brian Mulroe, Quentin Williams and Brian Arnfelt.

Illinois' new wide receivers coach knows a lot about catching passes for the Orange and Blue.

Mike Bellamy earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as an Illini receiver in 1989 (he also earned second-team All-America honors as a kick returner that season), when he recorded 59 receptions for 927 yards and eight touchdowns. Bellamy went on to be a second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1990.

His new task calls for him to upgrade Illinois' receiving corps, which, like the rest of the offense, struggled mightily in 2012. Head coach Tim Beckman promoted Bellamy from assistant director of player personnel and relations, a recruiting-based position, to receivers coach. Bellamy replaces Billy Gonzales, who left Illinois for a post with Mississippi State after only one season.

While Bellamy fills one vacancy, Illinois reportedly has lost another assistant as cornerbacks coach Steve Clinkscale is headed to Cincinnati. Clinkscale, one of Illinois' top recruiters, is the fifth assistant to depart Beckman's staff -- four left voluntarily, one was fired. All the staff turnover is no surprise after such a tough 2012 season and with Beckman's uncertain future in Champaign.

Bellamy will be Illinois' fourth new full-time assistant for 2013, joining offensive coordinator Bill Cubit, offensive line coach Jim Bridge and defensive line coach Greg Colby. The Big Ten Network's Howard Griffith, a former teammate of Bellamy's at Illinois, first reported Bellamy's promotion.

"I always say there are three places that I call home -- my family’s house, my mother’s house, and Memorial Stadium," Bellamy said in a statement. "As an alum, I think it's important to teach our players what it means to wear the orange and blue. This program has a proud and storied history, and I can't wait to pass the pride that I have have for Illinois Football on to our current student-athletes."

Bellamy played six seasons of pro ball, in the NFL and the World League, before starting a business with his wife in the Atlanta area. He began coaching high school football in 2008 and served as receivers and specialists coach at Clark-Atlanta University in 2011 before joining Illinois' staff. His previous role involved coordinating events for former players, campus outreach and assisting with recruiting and coaching clinics.

While he has limited coaching experience, his success as a former Illini star and his familiarity with the players should help him in his new role.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Those who have watched Manti Te'o prepare for the scouting combine say the former Notre Dame linebacker has shown no signs of being distracted by national media attention that came from his online relationship with a girlfriend that turned out to be a hoax.

"He missed precisely one day," said former NFL quarterback Chris Weinke, the director of football operations at IMG Academy where Te'o has been preparing for the combine.

Read the entire story.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- When Illinois hired John Groce as head coach, there was skepticism.

When the Illini won 12 in a row to start the season, beating Butler to win the Maui Invitational and taking a road game at Gonzaga, there was disbelief.

Read the entire column.

Loyola is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Ramblers’ 1963 NCAA tournament championship, which has remained the lone title by a team from Illinois.

Loyola will honor players from the 1962-63 team during Saturday’s game against Illinois-Chicago. Former players John Egan, Jerry Harkness, Les Hunter, Ron Miller, Don Connaughton and Rich Rochelle are expected to be in attendance.

The Ramblers won their first 20 games in the 1962-63 season and went 24-2 in the regular season. They defeated Tennessee Tech by 69 points in the NCAA tournament’s opening round, Mississippi State in the second round, Illinois in the quarterfinals, Duke in the semifinals and came back from 15 points to defeat Cincinnati in overtime of the title game. Vic Rouse scored the game-winning basket when he tipped in a rebound at the buzzer.

“We’re 50 years away and the visions of that year jump through your mind,” the 72-year-old Harkness said by phone on Friday. “To see him tap that back, you don’t know at first. You’re thinking, ‘We still got a few seconds to go. Then all of a sudden, you see people running together. I ran toward the pile, too. That stays with you. It really does.”

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