Rakes Report: A Notre Dame Podcast

USA TODAY college football and basketball reporter Nicole Auerbach stops by to discuss some Michigan State/Notre Dame storylines, the playoff, the greatness of Mike Brey and Art Briles' coaching future.

Irish Sports Daily's Jamie Uyeyama swings by to discuss the season thus far and look ahead to Michigan State. Then it's another Southern Cal Minute (50:38), where Nick puts Clay Helton on termination watch.

Jason Chilton (@KnowTheGame60), Longhorn sage and writer at SBNation's Texas site Barking Carnival, stops by to preview the season opener. Discussed: The mental state of Texas fans, their options at quarterback, how the new offensive system will try to attack the Irish, issues in the trenches and a secondary that has some promise and some potential problems.  Jason's breakdown of the Longhorn quarterbacks available here: http://www.barkingcarnival.com/2016/8/29/12657430/the-swoo-chele-offense---what-it-do

CSN Chicago Notre Dame Insider J.J. Stankevitz (@jjstankevitz) swings by for the latest ofnLaw & Order: South Bend, a handicapping of the quarterback race and and a listing of potential breakout players at wide receiver and on defense. Then it's the inaugural Southern Cal Minute (41:30), when friend of the show and USC partisan Nick Tres gives an update on how the Trojans are looking so far in camp.

Bleacher Report lead college football writer Adam Kramer (@keggsneggs) stops by to discuss Notre Dame's chances at the playoff, juggling quarterbacks, Notre Dame's partnership with Bleacher Report, robots, and Greg Bryant.

In the second half of our freshman primer, Jamie Uyeyama (@jamieuyeyama) from Irish Sports Daily breaks down the newcomers on defense. How many defensive backs can one class have? Should we be excited about the new pass rushers? This, and much more.

Jamie Uyeyama (@jamieuyeyama) of Irish Sports Daily stops by to walk Chris and Matt through all the newcomers on the offensive side of the ball. How good are the offensive linemen? Will one receiver break out? Can any tailbacks crack the depth chart? All this, and more. Stay tuned for the defensive frosh in part two.

Basketball edition. Chris and Mike discuss where Demetrius Jackson and Zach Auguste might go in the 2016 NBA Draft, how the 2016-2017 Irish might replace them, the unfortunate case of Jerian Grant being stuck on the Knicks and Ben Simmons versus Brandon Ingram.

If you created a team out of the best individual seasons from Brian Kelly's six years at Notre Dame, who would make the starting 22? What kind of defense are you running? How do you even evaluate cornerbacks? How freaking sweet is the offense? Chris and Matt discuss. (This goes long, but we did cover about every contributor from the last six years of Irish football, so.)

SBNation's Bill Connelly takes some time to discuss his deep-dive on the 2016 Irish, with bonus 2009 Biletnikoff talk.    The preview: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/5/16/11663944/notre-dame-football-2016-preview-schedule-roster

Chris and Matt break down where Notre Dame football stands after the spring practices. Who's the starter at quarterback? Who steps in at wide receiver? How many freshmen are going to crack the two-deep? All that and so very much more. (Originally recorded on April 18.)