Might Troy be in Tide future?

Two iconic teams that Notre Dame closed the 2012 season with could open the 2016 season against each other.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that USC and Alabama could play each other at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

"Nothing's set in stone," USC Coach Steve Sarkisian told the Times.

Notre Dame ended its 2012 regular season with a 22-13 victory over USC, a win that secured a spot in the BCS National Championship Game and the date with Alabama. The Crimson Tide were 42-14 winners, which gave them their second consecutive national title.

"We're always looking," Alabama coach Nick Saban told reporters about the proposed game. "But not anything I can share with you right now. I don't think we want to create speculation."

Notre Dame played its annual Shamrock Series game last year at AT&T, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, against Arizona State.

House hunter

After taking over the Stanford program when Jim Harbaugh left the school for the NFL, Cardinal coach David Shaw has continued the run of success that his predecessor began.

He appears to be reaping the rewards.

The Times reported that Shaw and his wife recently purchased a $4.5 million "multi-unit compound" in Rio del Mar, Calif.

The Times reported that the property, which faces the ocean, is divided into four separate residences. Two of the residences are 550-square-foot units, another is 2,250 square feet and a fourth is a 3,500-square-foot penthouse with three bedrooms and four baths.

The four residences combined have nine bedrooms, eight baths and close to 7,000 square feet of living space.

West is best

Despite being one of the Eastern-most schools in the American Athletic Conference, in which it begins play in 2015, Navy will be a member of the conference's West Division.

That was by design.

“We preferred to be in the West and actually were very insistent that be the case,” Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk told CapitalGazette.com. “We are very grateful to the commissioner and member schools for accommodating our wishes.”

The reasons, according to the site, are for recruiting purposes and exposure.

The West division, in addition to Navy, will include Houston, Memphis, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa. The East will comprise Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, East Carolina, South Florida and Temple.

“We had no interest in being geographically parochial. We are a national program and playing in the West Division fits that identity,” Gladchuk said. “This is just another example of why the American Athletic Conference is the right fit for Navy football.”

BWieneke@SBTinfo.com | 574-235-6428 | Twitter: @BobWienekeNDI