Michigan’s Infractions – “Sign Stealing” Scandal

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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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Happy Birthday to OnePointSafety.com (13 Years Old Today)

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by Travis Normand
March 3, 2025

I don’t normally make posts like this but I realized that it was 13 years ago today (on March 3, 2012) that I posted for the first time on OnePointSafety.com (“OPS”). While I would like to post more regularly, I am still rather shocked that I have kept this going for 13 years.

I could say that OPS is older than 13 years, as I had wanted to start a college football blog or site long before March 3, 2012. In fact, I had a couple of college football oriented blogs long before I started OPS.*

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Longhorn’s Thanksgiving Tradition (Update v2)

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by Travis Normand
November 12, 2024

The Longhorns have a section in their football media guide about their Thanksgiving Day “tradition.” This section is full of inaccuracies and I originally wrote about it on November 29, 2020 (and you can see that post HERE). I was going to update that post for the 2024 season, but figured I would draft this abbreviated post instead. If you want all of the details regarding the inaccuracies, you can read my longer post from November 2020 (linked above).

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Longhorn’s Thanksgiving Tradition (Update)

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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

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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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Oklahoma State’s National Title

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by Travis Normand
October 26, 2022

Updated October 3, 2023 – There have been no changes to the body of the blog post; but comments below include additional information.

This past weekend, I was watching an Oklahoma State football game when I noticed they had a sign in their end zone that laid claim to the 1945 National Championship. Somewhere in my mind I remembered that Oklahoma State had claimed a retro-active title, but I guess I wasn’t aware that it was the 1945 title (which rightfully belongs to Army). My first and immediate thought was that any school that would claim a share of Army’s national title (retroactively) was either extremely arrogant, ignorant of history, or both.

Having said that, I set out to do a little research and figure out why Oklahoma State would even attempt to claim the 1945 title, and the following is what I found.

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College Football Grand Slam (updated post 2021 season) – Alabama wins Number 5!

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by Travis Normand
January 27, 2022

Alabama picked up its 5th Grand Slam during the 2021-2022 season with its win over Cincinnati in the Cotton Bowl. Oddly enough, Alabama picked up two grand slam wins within a calendar year (starting with the 1/1/2021 Rose Bowl and ending with the 12/31/2021 Cotton Bowl). Finally, while I don’t think it changes anything, it is worth noting that the 1/1/2021 Rose Bowl game was played in Arlington, Texas.

Alabama

Gand SlamRose BowlCotton BowlOrange BowlSugar Bowl
11/1/19261/1/19421/1/19431/1/1962
21/1/19311/1/19811/1/19531/1/1964
31/1/19351/2/20061/1/19631/2/1967
41/1/194612/31/20151/1/196612/31/1975
51/1/202112/31/202112/29/20181/2/1978

Other teams picking up a victory that counts towards a Grand Slam (but not winning a Grand Slam itself) were Ohio State (Rose Bowl win over Utah). Ohio State has one Grand Slam already, but is now only an Orange Bowl victory away from winning their second.

In its victory over Michigan in the Orange Bowl, Georgia took another step closer to earning their 3rd Grand Slam. Georgia only needs a Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl victory to complete Grand Slam number three. While Alabama has the most Grand Slams with five, Georgia and the University of Texas are tied for second place with two each.

Despite not winning the Sugar Bowl, Ole Miss still only needs a Rose Bowl and Orange Bowl victory in order to complete its 1st Grand Slam. Baylor now has two Sugar Bowl victories but still needs wins in all of the other three major bowls before they can claim their first Grand Slam.

Following the 2021 College Football Playoff Rankings (Week-by-Week)

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by Travis Normand

As always, I will try to post weekly thoughts and observations on the weekly college football playoff rankings.

Week 1 – Released 11/2/2021

Note 1.1: Alabama (7-1) at number 2 is the first 1-loss team to be ranked in the top-2 of the initial playoff rankings.

Note 1.2: Cincinnati (8-0) at number 6 is the highest ranking for a “Group of 5” team.

Note 1.3: There are six undefeated teams remaining and UTSA (8-0) is the only one not ranked in the top-25.

Note 1.4: In every one of the initial playoff rankings from 2014 to 2020, there has been an ACC team in the top-5; and each of those ACC teams had a record of 7-0, 8-0, 7-1, or 9-0. Therefore, the initial rankings of 2021 is the first time that the initial rankings did not have an ACC team in the top-5 (despite the fact that Wake Forest is 8-0 and was ranked 9th).

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Texas A&M’s First Orange Bowl

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by Travis Normand

As you are likely aware, Texas A&M just won the 2021 Orange Bowl by defeating the University of North Carolina on January 2, 2021. However, while this was A&M’s first Orange Bowl victory, it was A&M’s second Orange Bowl invitation.

The Aggies first played in the Orange Bowl following the 1943 season (on January 1, 1944); but A&M lost to LSU in that game. At the time, the Aggies probably didn’t know it would take them until 2021 to earn a second Orange Bowl invite.

In any event, the 1943 Aggies were affectionately referred to as the “Kiddie Corps.” In 2009, Rusty Burson wrote about the Kiddie Korps, their season, and their Orange Bowl appearance. His article is as follows:

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