There are a lot of reasons to pick any school: academics, networking, fit, coaches, coaching style/scheme, depth chart, NFL prospects (although you can go to the League from almost any school now) location, weather, faith/spirituality, campus, dining hall, etc etc etc

And the importance of each of these is different for each recruit, and some consider all of these, and some consider very few of them. But there's one area that tends to be a bit over-looked, and I am guessing that it's largely because it hasn't been quantified with regularity in the past.

I have no idea if the staff pushes this today, and I don't know how important it is to any of our recruits, but I know it's important to many people in the world. The one thing?

Money.

Cold, hard, cash.

MONEY MONEY MONEY MO-NEY. MAH-NEY!

Businessweek, in conjunction with PayScale, did their best to estimate the value of an undergraduate degree from a school, and then I looked at the #'s among Football Players and African American Football players by building in graduation rates (from NCAA calculations provided by WhiskeyJack). And you know what? ND is the BEST CHOICE among competitive programs for African American players, and a close #2 to Stanford overall.

Let's take a look at it in detail.

OVERALL RANKINGS (all students)

1. Cal Tech
2. Harvey Mudd
3. MIT
4. Princeton
5. Stanford
6. Dartmouth
7. Duke
8. Harvard
9. Penn
10. Notre Dame

Notre Dame is #10 overall with a Net Return of $1.4 million. The rest of the Top 10 includes only 1 other competitive FBS program in Stanford (no, Duke isn't competitive). The next 'big name' program on the list? Cal, at #18, with a return of <$1.2 million. So sure, a player can choose a school other than Stanford or ND, and it's going to cost that player, at minimum, $200,000 (on average). That is real money folks! And looking for the #4 competitive program shows an even bigger difference. That school is UVA (and are they even really competitive?), and they are ranked 44th with a return of <$1MM which will cost a player ~$400K vs going to ND or Stanford.

And how about some of the top FBS programs out there today? What does a degree from one of the 'heavyweights' earn you over a career? Let's take a look at a few of those top programs, and how much attending one of those schools over ND is going to cost a student (opportunity cost), on average:

USC - Rank 50. ROI: <$900K. Cost ($ lost by student) vs ND: $500K
Michigan - Rank 63. ROI: <$900K. Cost vs ND: $500K
Texas - Rank 104. ROI: $700K. Cost vs ND: $700K
Wisconsin - Rank 117. ROI: $700K. Cost vs ND: $700K
Florida - Rank 125. ROI: $700K. Cost vs ND: $700K
...
Alabama - Rank 329. ROI: $400K. Cost vs ND: $1 million.

GOING TO ALABAMA WILL COST A STUDENT, ON AVERAGE, $1 million dollars over a career. And this difference is even greater among players, driven by lower and lower graduation rates among 'football factories' vs ND.

Note: All numbers rounded to nearest $100K

FOOTBALL PLAYERS.

Because of ND's amazing graduation rate among players, ND ranks #1 on ROI among African American Football Players, and #2 among All Players.

Ranking Among Players:

1. Stanford
2. Notre Dame
3. Duke
4. BC
5. Vanderbilt

And among African American Players:

1. Notre Dame
2. Duke
3. Stanford
4. BC
5. Vanderbilt

ND is an African American player's best chance to earn the most money. Period. ND and Stanford are 1 and 2 overall. Period..

And unlike almost every other school in the nation, African American Football players are actually projected to make MORE than the average player. So a player comes to ND, is much much more likely to earn a degree, and with that degree is much, much more likely to earn a bunch of money over a career when compared to what they would earn in a career with a degree from another school (if they were lucky enough to be one of those players that actually graduates from said school, which is not at all guaranteed).

So, every recruit should know this. I hope the staff is making this known. Money is important to many people in the world, and for a lot of kids coming from single income/struggling households, it's even more important. And while it's likely not (and should not) be the only factor, I think these stats are important to share with the community. Because let's say you're on the fence. You're a blue chip kid and you're looking at ND and you're looking at, say, 'Bama. Well, wouldn't you want to know that going to ND comes with an extra million bucks over the course of a career (down the road of course)?

No, ND won't pay you under the table right now to come to South Bend (unlike some other schools). But man, the degree is certainly worth a TON more than the average school, and the difference gets greater and greater when graduation rates are included in the discussion.

And this is something EVERY recruit should know.

$

We're very thankful to all of you for helping us build a community and discussion that gets better every day!

Also, go see The Muppets. Seriously.

I’m still not sure what type of head injury DMQ suffered when he decided to invite me to contribute to HLS but whatever his rationale, I am humbled and honored to have been the 12th choice. This makes me the Charlie Weis of the Great HLS Writer Search of ’11™. I believe this requires me to make some bombastic statements in my initial couple of posts which you are all required to save and use against me years from now.

For those that don’t know, I’m a 2008 ND graduate. I lived in Carroll Hall all 4 years while I was at ND (as @ndtex said, “that explains everything!”) and I got a B.S. in Mathematics. I currently work as a consulting actuary in New Jersey.

Due to my math nerd background, I hope to have some posts focused on statistics and numbers. We’ll see how many I actually produce because well that takes a lot of time and effort. On a side note, if you have ever uttered the phrase “stats are for losers”, we will never be friends and I already hate you.

Generally, most of my posts will be lighthearted and hopefully humorous. I realize that to some of you The Internet = Serious Business but personally I try and enjoy the time I waste while on Twitter or ISD (IrishSportsDaily.com – the best recruiting website on the interwebs!…you’re welcome Mike).Additionally, I am an eternal optimist so any predictions I make regarding ND football must be taken with a grain of salt..

Thanks for indulging me with my introduction. Please feel free to follow me on twitter (@pootND) as that is where you’ll find me most frequently.

P.S. I  solemnly swear to never use dancing leprechauns in one of my posts.

Noon ET.

ESPN2 and ESPN3.com

The Irish Women's Soccer team takes on the hated, vile Cardinal of Stanford for the national title.

You should watch.

Thanks for "Jen" for reminding me that not everyone already knows about this.

Go IRISH!

We awoke to horrible news this morning when we discovered our favorite South Bend area restaurant that doesn't serve massive burgers burned down last night.

Politios Italian Restaurant and Factory Direct Spas caught fire around 2 Friday morning, both buildings were destroyed.

Investigators say the Outback Steakhouse next door suffered heavy smoke damage.

Firefighters responded to the scene after heavy smoke was spotted at the scene.

As crews arrived, Bleachers Bar, which is a few hundred feet away, was evacuated as a precaution.

The owners of Politos and Factory Direct Spas were at the scene as crews battled the blaze.

Politos has been in the JMS Plaza for 12 years and both businesses have been in the area for decades.

Both north and southbound lanes of Grape Road between Indian Lakes and Edison were closed for a few hours, but are now open.

Today, I plan not to mourn the loss, but celebrate the 12 years that Politos graced this planet. I can recall such dishes as "Penne with Vodka Sauce," and the delicious "Pepperoni Calzone with both ricotta and mozzarella." And of course, who can forget classics like "Pepperoni Calzone with extra ricotta, mozzarella, and pepperoni with a side of Penne with Vodka Sauce?" I think I'll do my best to recreate that dish for breakfast.

I'll never forget what you did for me, Politos, and neither will my cardiologist.

The event will feature golf, live and silent auction of valuable gift items, dinner and remarks from some of the biggest names in modern Irish football history; these include (new this year):

• Terry Hanratty '69, the starting quarterback for the 1966 National Champs, famously featured on the cover of the October 28, 1966 edition of Time Magazine;
• Mike McCoy '70, a unanimous first-team All-American defensive tackle;
• Dave Casper '73, tight end and captain of the 1973 National Champs, and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame;
• Mark Green '89, halfback and captain of the 1988 National Champs; and
• Ned Bolcar, '90 a two-time captain as linebacker.
• Reggie Brooks, '93 hero of the 1992 Snow Bowl win over Penn State

To participate in this festive and memorable occasion, please contact Terry Mulcahy at (800) 711-6132 / tmulcahy@rwbaird.com; further information is available at ndmilwaukee.com.

If you harbor fond memories of an 11 year-long Era in which the Fighting Irish won multiple national titles, and a period in which …more than one-third of the time… the Irish closed the season ranked among the Nation's top three teams, you should REGISTER LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY.

But, Mike, seriously, you can't call out Tim Brown for his 'poor' stock picks one freaking week after he picked them!  That's just not how the analysis of financial instruments works.  Ever read "Random Walk"?  No?  Shocking. 

I know you like to cover any and everything ND, and Tim Brown's foray into picking stocks is kind of a fun story.  But please, please please leave the commentary on the quality of those stock picks to people who actually know a tiny little bit about stock valuation, PE ratios, DCF, etc.  Because 1) It's unfair to Tim and 2) It makes you look a bit foolish.

So just a public service announcement so folks don't necessarily write Mr. Brown off this early.  Maybe he's great, maybe he's terrible.  But one week means nothing.

PS - Your assertion that it's harder to make money on stocks in a poor economy shows just how much you have to learn.  You may want to hit up Mr. Brown and get some lessons on Shorts, Straddles and general Value strategy.

PPS - Yes, I'm a finance nerd. 

It's freaking April 9th, people.