Biggest College Football Stories You Likely Missed During March Madness
If March Madness has been completely consuming your sports brain over the last several weeks, we don't blame you.
One of the most exciting NCAA men's basketball tournaments of all time ended Monday night with one of the greatest plays in championship game history for any sport—a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Villanova's Kris Jenkins to take home its first title since 1985. It was the perfect end to a tourney that included other last-second winners, crazy end-game sequences and more than a few Crying Jordans.
But now that March Madness is in the books, it's time for many college sports fans to switch back to football.
From the time the NCAA tournament's first round tipped on March 17 until last night's grand finale, college football has been making some headlines of its own. They might not have gotten much attention nationally as brackets or Buddy Hield, but there wasn't a total shortage of news from the spring practice cycles.
In case you completely checked out on offseason college football news during the NCAA tournament, here's a refresher on the top stories from the past few weeks.
Jim Harbaugh vs. Gene Smith
1 of 8
If you thought settling back into normal spring practices in the state of Michigan would keep Jim Harbaugh away from making off-the-field headlines for a while, think again.
On March 23, Harbaugh got into a day-long feud of sorts with Ohio State. As Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod detailed it, a tweet containing Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith's take on the Buckeyes potentially holding spring practices in Florida—just like the Wolverines did—went viral:
"Ohio State AD Gene Smith on holding spring practice in Florida: "If we were jump starting our program, I'd probably try to do that too."
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) March 22, 2016"
Later that evening, Harbaugh fired off a tweet directed at Smith and referenced the tattoo scandal that ultimately cost Jim Tressel his head coaching job with Ohio State:
"Good to see Director Smith being relevant again after the tattoo fiasco. Welcome back!
— Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) March 23, 2016"
As Axelrod also notes, former Ohio State and now-NFL-bound players Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas and Darron Lee joined in on the Twitter back-and-forth with their own shots at Harbaugh.
A day later, Smith cooled the situation by apologizing on Twitter and saying he didn't intend for his comments to be a shot at Michigan:
"STATEMENT: My comments at a soccer press conference yesterday were not meant to discredit our rival. I apologize to ...
— gene smith (@OSU_AD) March 23, 2016"
MORE>>>
1/2
"...UM student-athletes & my good friend Warde Manuel. We at OSU look forward to continuing the greatest rivalry in collegiate football.
— gene smith (@OSU_AD) March 23, 2016"
2/2
With only three months in the books for 2016, Harbaugh has already used his Twitter account to make headlines with jabs toward three different programs. If it doesn't happen again between now and the start of football season, it'll be one of the year's biggest upsets.
Mike Gundy Calls Longhorn Network 'A Failure'
2 of 8
Like Harbaugh, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy went after one of his school's rivals in the media while the college sports world was focused on March Madness. But Gundy's approach and attack were both completely different.
In an interview with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports, Gundy called Big 12 rival Texas' Longhorn Network a failure and said it needed to get rid of it in order to help the conference survive.
"If we don't eliminate the Longhorn Network and create our own network, they're going to continue to have issues with this league. You don't have a Big 12 Network; you have a network within the league that people consider a failure. ... Right now the Big 12 is not getting the marketing we need because of the Longhorn Network.
"
According to Dodd, the Longhorn Network has lost $48 million since it first launched in 2011. However, both Texas and ESPN seem set to stay put with the 20-year, $295 million deal.
Gundy told Dodd if the network isn't eliminated, Texas will eventually be in either the SEC or the Pac-12—two conferences that have their own networks.
The Oklahoma State head coach, who also flatly told Dodd that the conference doesn't need a title game, is the first Big 12 coach to publicly go after the Longhorn Network.
Kirby Smart Stirs Up Transfer Turmoil
3 of 8
Kirby Smart didn't take long at all in his first head coaching job to draw the ire of many across the country.
During the first weekend of the March Madness, Smart detailed his transfer policy at Georgia in an interview with Seth Emerson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying the Bulldogs would not release players to move to other SEC schools.
A few days earlier, rumblings about Smart's policy started when former running back A.J. Turman was not released to transfer to SEC schools or Miami, where former Georgia head coach Mark Richt is now.
As Today's U noted, Smart's comments received criticism from several media members across the country, most notably Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio and Sporting News' Troy Machir.
"Shame on you, Kirby Smart," Greenberg said. "You’re scared of some 19-year-old kid going someplace, who’s obviously barely playing for you and that's why he wants to transfer in the first place or has whatever other reason to go someplace else."
As Bleacher Report's Barrett Sallee wrote in his column on the situation, Smart is only doing what many of his peers in the SEC and other Power Five conferences already do. Richt notably didn't do it at Georgia, but he was more of an anomaly.
Until there is some sort of uniform rule across college football, transfer restrictions like this will keep happening, and backlash will continue to rage.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
More Satellite Camp Movement
4 of 8
One of college football's biggest offseason trends, satellite recruiting camps, quickly returned to the news cycle over the last few weeks—and it involves the traditional sides of the SEC and a Big Ten powerhouse.
On March 25, Sallee reported the SEC would lift its ban on coaches having satellite camps if a nationwide ban isn't passed in early April at the NCAA's Division I council meetings:
"The conference also confirmed to Bleacher Report that the SEC rule prohibiting those camps will cease to exist on May 29 should the proposed national legislation not be approved next month. That means that any SEC head coach could schedule a camp tour similar to Harbaugh's "Swarm Tour" in Harbaugh's backyard, all over Ohio or any other fertile recruiting ground outside of the SEC footprint.
"
The removal of the SEC's ban would create a recruiting war zone in the talent-packed South, as coaches would be able to hold satellite camps to protect its own turf from the likes of other Power Five programs.
Ohio State will be one of those teams. According to Kipp Adams of 247Sports, Urban Meyer and his Buckeyes staff will be at a satellite camp on June 16 at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Harbaugh won't be the only Big Ten foe in the SEC's territory this summer, which should make the next several months highly interesting for the future of big-time recruiting.
Michigan AD Open to Renewing Notre Dame Rivalry
5 of 8
One of college football's most star-studded rivalries could be making a comeback in the future after coming to an indefinite end in the 2014 season.
On March 24, new Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said he was open to renewing the football series with Notre Dame, per Dan Murphy of ESPN.com. The two schools have played each other 42 times in an on-again, off-again rivalry of Midwestern powers.
Notre Dame opted out of the series in 2012, canceling an agreement that was originally intended to run through the 2031 season. The earliest possibility for a return of the series was set for 2020, as Bleacher Report's David Kenyon noted.
Michigan's nonconference agreements are almost completely booked up with plenty of home-and-homes and other agreements for the good portion of the next decade. However, Manuel told Nick Baumgarnder of MLive.com that future schedules tentatively set under former athletic director Dave Brandon could be tweaked in order to fit a Notre Dame game on the schedule.
"I've been involved in scheduling football for almost two decades now and you can always try to find ways to put things together," Manuel said, per Baumgardner. "I don't know when the timeline would be, but I'm not worried that we're out [of it] significantly with games. ... You're putting those games in place, but they can always be adjusted."
It might be a while before we see the Fighting Irish and the Wolverines square off again on the gridiron—outside of some scheduling gymnastics—but the signs are encouraging for college football fans.
Maryland Forced to Make Surprise DC Replacement
6 of 8
The coaching carousel seemed to come to a complete stop last month when Illinois made a move to hire Lovie Smith, but the Big Ten had one more surprise turn at Maryland.
Former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer, whom head coach D.J. Durkin hired to be the defensive coordinator for the Terrapins, abruptly stepped down last week, citing "personal reasons."
"I want to thank D.J. Durkin for the opportunity to be on his staff, but at this time I feel it's best to step aside to tend to personal matters," Shafer said in a statement, per Josh Moyer of ESPN.com. "I'm sincerely appreciative of his support and friendship."
A few days later, Durkin reportedly had his replacement for Shafer set. In a move Patrick Loney of Scout first reported, Kentucky linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Andy Buh was leaving the Wildcats to become Maryland's new defensive coordinator.
Before the Terrapins officially announced (h/t ESPN's Brett McMurphy) the hire Tuesday, Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops released a statement on Buh's departure, per Scout:
"I want to thank Coach Buh for his work and his commitment to our program during his time here. I have a lot of respect for Andy as he is extremely passionate and very detailed. He has good balance between being disciplined and having energy and our players loved playing for him. There is no doubt he will have success as a defensive coordinator and I wish Andy and his family the best.
"
Buh was previously a defensive coordinator at Nevada and California and a co-defensive coordinator at Stanford, where he worked on a staff with Durkin. He received a raise and a promotion to Kentucky's special teams coordinator in January, according to Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Spring Practice Injury Woes Hit Key Players
7 of 8
As many spring camps hit their full swing across the country and some even moved close to their finales during March Madness, several teams had to deal with injuries to some key players.
At Texas, former starting quarterback Jerrod Heard went down with a shoulder sprain on March 29, during the middle of a battle against Tyrone Swoopes and Shane Buechele. While the injury was reportedly "not serious," there wasn't any timetable for a return, according to the Longhorn Network.
Tennessee linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Dillon Bates became the latest Volunteers to go down with injuries in spring practices. According to the Associated Press, both linebackers were ruled out for the rest of the spring with undisclosed injuries, joining a dozen more of Butch Jones' players who have missed time during camp.
South Carolina quarterbacks Perry Orth (broken collarbone) and Lorenzo Nunez (knee), two passers with experience in a major position battle, were ruled out for the rest of the Gamecocks' spring practices.
USC's rebuilding defensive line took a hit when tackle Kenny Bigelow tore his ACL. Notre Dame cornerback Nick Watkins, who is competing for a starting job, underwent surgery on a broken arm.
Hopefully these early injuries across the country aren't a signal for things to come, as major injuries to top talents heavily impacted last year's college football season.
Recruiting Rewind
8 of 8
The last few weeks have been huge for several powerhouse programs on the recruiting trail, as some of 2017's brightest talents went ahead and made their verbal commitments.
On the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, Notre Dame was racking up major recruiting points thanks to a highly successful junior day. The Fighting Irish went from No. 16 on 247Sports' composite rankings to No. 5 between Friday and Monday of that week, getting commitments from 4-stars Avery Davis, David Adams and Pete Werner, along with a few more 3-stars.
Perhaps the highest-profile pickup of the last several weeks belonged to Nebraska, who received a commitment from 4-star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson Jr. Johnson decided to join the Huskers instead of following in his famous father's footsteps at USC in a Bleacher Report video, and the California native was joined by another Golden State 4-star—quarterback Tristan Gebbia—on Nebraska's commitment list on Monday.
A pair of 4-star wide receivers from Texas became big-time pickups for Oklahoma on Easter Sunday. Jalen Reagor and Charleston Rambo told Bleacher Report's Damon Sayles they orchestrated their close commitments, and they're joining a 2017 class at Oklahoma that now has three top-50 wideouts.
While South Carolina was battling through its quarterback injury woes, it picked up a top-notch passer for the future in 4-star Jake Bentley. A native of Opelika, Alabama, and the son of new South Carolina running backs coach Bobby Bentley, the No. 6 overall quarterback picked the Gamecocks over a who's who list of offers, including Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, LSU and Stanford.
Recruiting rankings are courtesy of 247Sports.
Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
