State of the nation: Irish to ACC, plus Colts and Robbie Hummel.

Here's a quick look at what is being discussed around SB Nation.

Notre Dame to the ACC: this is a big story nationally, but obviously has a local angle as well. Notre Dame, after 17 years as an all-sports-but-football-and-hockey member of the Big East, will move into a similar relationship with the Atlantic Coast Conference. This doesn't have any long lasting implications for IU (unless you thought ND-to-Big-Ten was a possibility, which it wasn't), although it could create the oddity of an IU-ND or Purdue-ND basketball game in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. ND will have access to the ACC's sub-BCS bowl tie ins, but ND is required to play five games per season against the ACC in football. So, this may have implications for ND's football relationships with Michigan, and especially with Michigan State and Purdue. It also takes any IU-ND football matchup off the table for the foreseeable future, but again, that probably wasn't anywhere near the table anyway. SB Nation's new Notre Dame site, One Foot Down, is effusive:

University of Notre Dame Joins the ACC, Football to Play 5 League Games Per Season - One Foot Down

My reaction? Homerun move by Notre Dame.

Be sure to read why.

Robbie Hummel, injured again: In other news, Robbie Hummel is attempting to overtake Maurice Creek in the "most snakebitten Big Ten basketball player of the 2010s" category. Hummel will miss some time with a meniscus injury to his previously-repaired knee. I guess the silver lining is that this means Hummel actually has cartilage remaining in his knee. Hammer and Rails isn't concerned about this relatively minor injury but worries for Hummel's career:

Robbie Hummel Tears Meniscus - Hammer and Rails
The bad news: NBA general managers are really cautious about keeping injury prone guys. And it's looking like Robbie may be heading down that path.

Luck still the right call: The Colts and Andrew Luck had a rough debut in Chicago last weekend, and it's going to be a long season if the quarter-by-quarter comparisons to Peyton Manning and Robert Griffin III continue into November. Josh Wilson of Stampede Blue keeps things in perspective, however:

Colts Made Right Move Going with Andrew Luck, No Matter What - Stampede Blue

Sure, Manning could have gotten the Colts to the playoffs - he is that good. But to think, that with the team the Colts had, Manning could win a super bowl or two with the Colts is just unrealistic. It would have been a fairy-tale ending to a great career, but so often in life, and in football, there is no happy ever after. Not even with Peyton Manning. He's gone, now trying to win a super bowl with a very good Broncos team in the final years of his hall of fame career. He has about four years left in him - and even if he keeps up the caliber of play which he had Sunday night, that is only four years of championship football.