2024 The Beginning of An Era - The 2nd Return of the Four Horsemen: Realignment and the 12-Team Playoff Paperback – March 12, 2025

When I originally published the description of the book, I had asked Copilot to write a summary of the book, and it was so good that I ran with it. Since completing an update to the book, however, I, the author, decided to do it myself. So here it is:This is a book that college-football fans will LOVE!It includes many snapshots of significant historic teams and events in the history of college football.2024 was the 100-year anniversary of Knute Rockne's Notre Dame Fighting Irish undefeated, National-Championship season.The Four Horsemen were Rockne's storied backfield. The following description came from Copilot: "The iconic photo of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame -- Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden -- was taken by George Strickler, a student publicity aide at the time. He arranged the now-famous images of the quartet on horseback, inspired by Grantland Rice's poetic description comparing them to the biblical Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The photo became a legendary piece of sports imagery, and helped cement their place in college football lore."The faces superimposed on the original horsemen are those of this year's four Heisman Finalists.The book covers the Heisman race from the preseason favorites through every week of the season.Impact of NIL and the Transfer Portal [from Copilot]: The book explores the significant impact of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies and the transfer portal on team compositions and performances.It also covers the Top-10 and Top-25 rankings throughout the season, as the playoff picture develops.Also included are exciting bowl matchups between storied programs outside of the playoffs themselves.The highlight of the book consists of three expanded playoff format proposals - each one inching closer to the format of the 68-team field of college basketball's March Madness - long considered to be one of the greatest spectacles in all of sport!While there is not yet a national poll to determine the popularity of the proposed formats, it is hoped that one will soon be available. When it is, it will be included as a postscript or appendix to the book. While it may be opposed by the power brokers of college football (as they may perceive that it somehow threatens that power - even while generating hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenues), it is the author's belief that college-football diehards nationwide will love my proposed formats, and will revel in the additional weeks of college-football madness that they will provide! Read more