The increasingly weird economics of college football

What Notre Dame’s “buy week” upset loss to Northern Illinois tells us about the crazy current state of college football.

Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend on a last-second field goal to notch college football’s first big upset of 2024. For the Huskies, it’s a win they’ll be celebrating for years to come. For the Fighting Irish, it’s a season-crusher. To lose the home opener to a small school from a vastly inferior conference was an embarrassment for Notre Dame.