Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

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NCAA Gives Jim Harbaugh Four-Year Show-Cause

Former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has been issued a punishment by the NCAA: a four-year show-cause order and a one-season suspension.

Based on his being the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, the one-season suspension is a formality for behavior the NCAA described as “unethical conduct.”

The NCAA brought down the hammer, relatively speaking, on Harbaugh because of his intentional disregard for NCAA legislation and unethical conduct, and for his failure to cooperate with the membership’s infraction process. That all brought his conduct up to Level I violation, the most severe level.

5-Star WR Kaliq Lockett Commits to Texas

5-Star WR Kaliq Lockett committed to Texas yesterday over Alabama, Florida State, LSU, and Texas A&M, among others.

For Lockett, the decision ultimately came down to staying home and believing in the vision Coach Sarkisian and Coach Chris Jackson have for Lockett in the Texas offense.

Lockett is rated a 5-star by 247Sports, which ranks him as the #12 recruit and #2 WR in the 2025 class. The On3 industry composite ranks him 17th nationally and 3rd at the WR position.

This is Texas’ 17th commitment for the 2025 class and first 5-star. It jumps the Longhorns up a few spots into 11th nationally and 7th in the SEC.

Pete Thamel: Michigan Investigation Unlikely to Conclude Before 2024 Starts

ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that the investigation into Michigan likely will not be finished before the 2024 season starts.

Thamel also noted that drafts of notice of allegations can change, and a lot of times, school will negotiate a resolution. But due to the nature of Michigan being a repeat violator, a negotiated resolution seems less likely to Thamel.

Thamel thinks the actions could give rise to Level II violations and a brief suspension for Moore, however, this would likely not come to pass until 2025.

Texas RB CJ Baxter Injury: Torn LCL/PCL, Out for Season

Yesterday, this newsletter opened with the story reported on by Orangebloods.com’s Anwar Richardson regarding CJ Baxter likely being done for the season with a leg injury.

Richardson is now reporting that Baxter tore his LCL/PCL during practice and is now all but confirmed to miss the rest of the season, as the recovery time for the surgery is between six and nine months.

As mentioned yesterday, behind Baxter on the depth chart is Jaydon Blue, who had a little over 500 rushing and receiving yards combined last season, and Tre Wisner on the depth chart.

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith First Ever Freshman “Iron Buckeye”

Ohio State true freshman and recent 5-star WR Jeremiah Smith became the first true freshman to earn the honor of being named an Iron Buckeye.

The honor of Iron Buckeye represents ‘unquestionable training, dedication, determination, discipline, toughness, and leadership.‘

Smith was the #1 player in the 2024 class according to On3, 247Sports, Rivals, and the On3 industry composite.

On3’s Top 25 Heisman Trophy Watchlist

On3’s Jesse Simonton has taken the Top 25 Heisman candidates according to FanDuel’s odds for the award and broken them into six different groups.

At the top 5 are The Favorites (Dillon Gabriel, Carson Beck, Quinn Ewers, Jalen Milroe, and Jaxson Dart).

Then come The Transfers (Will Howard, Cam Ward, Riley Leonard, and DJ Uiagalelei). Then comes The Year 2 QBs (Nico Iamaleava, Jackson Arnold, and Avery Johnson).

After them comes the Long-Shot Sleepers (Brady Cook, Noah Fifita, Drew Allar, Garrett Nussmeier, Jalon Daniels, Cam Rising, Connor Weigman, and Miller Moss).

Finally, the last two groups are The Playmakers (Luther Burden, Ollie Gordon, Donovan Edwards) and The Buffs’ Duo (Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter).

Ranking the Teams with the Best Odds to Make the Playoff

FanDuel has released its odds for every team in the country to make the College Football Playoff.

34 teams in total have +1000 or better odds, starting with Ohio State at -650 (86.67%), followed by Georgia at -600 (85.71%), Oregon at -300 (75%), Texas at -200 (66.67%), and Notre Dame at -165 (62.26%).

The most likely team from the ACC is Florida State, 11th most likely, at +160 (38.46%). And the Utah Utes are the most likely team from the Big 12, at +240 (29.41%).

The most likely G5 is Boise State, at +400 (20%).

2024 Biletnikoff Watch List

The Biletnikoff Watch List has been announced for the 2024 season, which is the Award for the top pass catcher (can and does include TE or any other position which catches passes like split ends, slot backs, running backs, etc.).

There are a few dozen pass catchers listed – though less than most other preseason watch lists for awards who list almost everyone at a given position.

The main names to be expected are on the list, including Missouri’s Luther Burden, NC State’s KC Concepcion, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, Oregon’s Tez Johnson, Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan, Miami’s Xavier Restrepo, and many others.

Quinshon Judkins Not Worried About Carries

Ohio State’s running back room is stacked between Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.

Despite being the guy at Ole Miss, Judkins is not worried about having to split carries with Henderson. “My job is to come in and run football and just be the best teammate that I can be…”

Rather than focusing on his carry total, Judkins would rather focus on doing his job and supporting his team however he can.

Alabama RB Jam Miller: We’re Gonna Dominate and Win It All

Despite Nick Saban’s retirement last offseason, Alabama RB Jam Miller is still optimistic on Alabama’s prospects ahead of the 2024 season.

How optimistic? “Last year and this year, we were great overall. We’re gonna dominate this year and win it all.”

It is expected that Miller will be splitting carries with RB Justice Haynes, both expecting to get more work after Jase McClellan was drafted in the 6th round of the most recent draft and Roydell Williams transferred to Florida State.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (86) Zac Stascausky commits to Washington

3-Star (86) Kaveon Lee decommits from Northern Illinois

Unrated LB Shermon Smith commits to South Alabama

Unrated TE Draco Frazzitta commits to Navy