The Replay: Tom Crean, Wabash College, and Notre Dame

Every Friday, we post up The Replay, our weekly look at sports. We take shots—mostly airballs.

Toll Free

DePauw came into its annual Monon Bell clash with Wabash riding high. The once-beaten Tigers were looking to send the Little Giants to their first loss of the season, out-muscle their rivals for a spot in the NCAA Division III football playoffs, and end a six-game losing streak in the 122-year series.

Then, this.

Wabash, a 45-17 winner, hosts Albion on Saturday in the playoff opener. 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔

Drama Crean?

If you thought Indiana basketball coach “Tom Crean sucks,” imagine how much it sucks to be one of his kids. This is one of the takeaways from Gary Parrish’s story for CBSSports.com, which leads with a couple of horrific anecdotes of living under the microscope of Hoosier Nation. In the clincher, Crean’s daughter is the subject of an April Fools joke delivered by a professor who announces—to cheers from classmates—her father has been fired.

The article is titled “It’s Not Easy Being Tom Crean.” But, in all fairness, it comes with the territory: Neither is being an IU fan of late.

Seeing Red (Sox)

Fourth-ranked Notre Dame will try to hold down the final College Football Playoff spot for yet another week when it hosts a home game at Fenway Park against Boston College on Saturday.

This, of course, has rankled a few Mass-holes. Writes Jerry Thornton: “The Irish want to compete for the national title every year. They insist on doing it with academics, but they’re driven to win championships, period. And they won’t hesitate to schedule a home game in your hometown, put their logo on your grass, go into your house, steal your girlfriend and your Netflix password, drink your beer and chill on your couch.”

A Welcome Return

Paul George is back to being Paul George. After sitting out all but six games last season, George has moved on from a horrific broken leg, and in the last eight games has led the Pacers (7-5) out of a season-opening hole. With a growing stat line, some say that George has returned to join the league’s elite, and at least one writer is dubbing PG-13 the second-best player in the Eastern Conference, behind LeBron James.

Now Read This

Eli Saslow on death and high school football in “Why Him, Why Me?” for ESPN the Magazine.