.Northern Illinois stunned No. 5 Notre Dame last weekend on a last-second field goal to mark college football's initial big distress of 2024. For the Huskies, it's a win they'll be actually commemorating for several years to find. For the Dealing with Irish, it is actually a season-crusher. To shed the home opener to a tiny college coming from a vastly inferior event was a humiliation for Notre Dame.Especially given that they spent NIU $1.4 million to do it.This radiates a lighting on some of the lengthiest and also very most costly heritages in college football: assurance video games. They are actually also phoned "amount of money activities," "paycheck activities," or, as I just like to contact all of them, "buy weeks." An expensive (and also dangerous) traditionFor decades, in the 1st few weeks of the period, major university football organizations have actually paid out smaller sized schools ahead to play them in their house.In Week 1 alone, much more than $35 thousand was actually invested throughout a minimum of 55 guarantee games, depending on to Front end Workplace Athletics. Alabama composed the most significant check to its own challenger, Western side Kentucky, for a tremendous $1.9 thousand. WKU dropped that activity 63-- 0, yet they most likely hit the count on the bus adventure home and also most likely won't hesitate about it.In Week 2, three schools-- Western side Michigan, Middle Tennessee, and also Utah State-- acquired payouts greater than NIU's $1.4 million. They shed through a combined credit rating of 156-- 3, however they take away an overall of $4.85 thousand in the process.It's commonly a good deal for each crews. The small universities acquire a paycheck, the big universities acquire another home video game to milk gameday profits. The little school gets to play on the significant stage and receive nationwide visibility, the huge one receives a cupcake on the timetable to start the year in a sporting activity without preseason. Thus all's effectively and great till the smaller staff makes a decision to show out as well as draw the distress.