By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Football Editor

As the University of Notre Dame celebrates one of its best seasons, Upper Deck is taking a moment to remember the storied football program.

The company released information on 2012 Upper Deck Notre Dame Football highlighting Fighting Irish icons from the past century. It seems like perfect timing since Notre Dame is headed to the BCS National Championship on Jan. 7 after going 12-0 in the regular season.

Every hobby box will include 80 cards – base sets, inserts and one autograph.

The autograph checklist is one of the best college football ones compiled. Names include Notre Dame icons such as Paul Hornung, Joe Theisman, Tim Brown, Ricky Watters, Lou Holtz, Brian Kelly, Jerome Bettis, Brady Quinn, and Rudy Ruettiger.

Collectors will be able to find retail blasters of Notre Dame football. Blasters will contain exclusive mini replica national championship banners.

Upper Deck has not given a release date yet.

Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Football. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.

By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor

By way of its Facebook page, Upper Deck recently delivered details concerning its 2011 College Football Legends line.

The California-based card company posted a 15-image gallery (with room to grow) and described the brand through configuration and college football figureheads. In what looks to be one of the best NCAA products of the season, College Football Legends highlights the history of the game  in late November.

Each 20-pack box (five cards per pack) offers a total of three hard-signed autographs — aptly autographed by legends like Troy Aikman, Dan Marino, Paul Hornung, John Elway, Barry Sanders and more. The set also features 26 cards showcasing Earl Campbell, Andre Ware, Cam Newton among other former Heisman Trophy winners.

Arriving in the midst of another NCAA season, the nostalgic brand is headlined by a number of autographed inserts, including …

• Bowl Game Heroes Autographs (numbered to 75)
• NCAA All-Americans Autographs (numbered to 70)
• Decade’s Best Autographs (numbered to 80)
• College Inscriptions (numbered to 99)

Stay tuned to Beckett.com for a roster of names and other checklist details as the information becomes available.

In yesterday’s somewhat dramatic episode of Box Busters, we tore into a box of 2011 Upper Deck Football — and ultimately landed the product’s most mystifying hit. Safely tucked away at the bottom of the box and underneath 20 packs of veteran-heavy, collegiate-focused cards, the contentious collectible — EVOLUTION — awaited our review.

While the video card naturally became the main attraction of our break, the brand’s bread and butter — the cards themselves — merit a closer look. As the following gallery should reveal, 2011 Upper Deck Football offers a good depth of photography and seasoned veterans in their college uniforms. Beyond the nuance and potential for pulling the latest hobby innovation, the set offers collectors a solid start to another year of football card collecting.

Check out the sans-EVOLUTION gallery after the jump and stay tuned for more on our video card hit.