.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame final weekend on a last-second field goal to scratch college football's initial huge trouble of 2024. For the Huskies, it is actually a succeed they'll be celebrating for a long times to find. For the Combating Irish, it is actually a season-crusher. To shed the home opener to a tiny school from a significantly inferior conference was actually a shame for Notre Dame.Especially since they paid for NIU $1.4 thousand to accomplish it.This radiates an illumination on some of the longest as well as very most costly practices in university volleyball: guarantee video games. They're also called "amount of money games," "salary activities," or, as I such as to call them, "buy weeks." A pricey (as well as high-risk) traditionFor many years, in the very first couple of full weeks of the season, major university football organizations have actually paid smaller universities ahead to play them in their house.In Full week 1 alone, much more than $35 thousand was devoted all over at the very least 55 guarantee games, according to Face Office Athletics. Alabama created the greatest examination to its rival, Western side Kentucky, for a monstrous $1.9 thousand. WKU lost that game 63-- 0, but they probably hit the rely on the bus flight home and most likely won't think twice about it.In Week 2, 3 institutions-- Western Michigan, Middle Tennessee, as well as Utah Condition-- acquired payments bigger than NIU's $1.4 million. They lost by a mixed credit rating of 156-- 3, yet they take away a total amount of $4.85 thousand in the process.It's generally a deal for each teams. The small institutions obtain a payday, the huge universities obtain an additional home video game to dairy gameday revenue. The little university gets to play on the major phase and also receive national visibility, the large one acquires a dish on the schedule to start the year in a sport with no preseason. So all's effectively and good until the lower crew chooses to present out as well as pull the distress.