So Notre Dame played and beat (a fact obviously overlooked by sportswriters) a game Stanford team this weekend. There wasn't much shake-up elsewhere on the college football landscape so you'd assume the rankings would stay the same for the most part, right? Wrong. Somehow, Notre Dame dropped in all three(3) human polls - #6 to #7 in the AP and Coaches, #5 to #7 in the Harris. In all three polls Ohio State jumped Notre Dame even though Ohio State did not play this weekend! No other teams in the top 10 had any movement.
This, put simply, is a joke. It is a spineless and cowardly response by sportswriters and coaches to all the whining by Ohio State and Oregon fans over the past few weeks. How can you punish a team for winning a game on the road in which they had over 300 more yards of total offense than their opponent (663 to 335) and in which they held their opponent to -11 rushing yards? Did Notre Dame look ugly? Yes, they did. But Stanford's record belies their talent and ability - much like some of Notre Dame's other opponents this season (MSU, Michigan, Purdue, Tennessee). They have decent talent, a good coach, it was their final game and a shot to salvage a sub-par season, and they had an emotional boost as this was to be the final game ever played in Stanford stadium. But here's the thing - Notre Dame still won the game. And if their kicker hadn't been wearing a Forrest Gump-esque brace on an obviously still-injured kicking leg this game would have never been in question. Notre Dame's poor kicking game directly resulted in 7 lost points for Notre Dame and 7 points for Stanford from a kick return touchdown. That's a 14 point swing. That's a 45-24 Notre Dame victory and three years back on my expected lifespan.
I get it - everyone who's opinion matters (at least with regards to the collegiate rankings) hates Notre Dame. But Notre Dame is going to a BCS bowl whether you like it or not, so dropping them 1-2 places in the polls isn't going to make a difference... hopefully. Notre Dame should earn a BCS bid because they won 9 games and will most likely finish in the top 12 of the BCS rankings (unless the sportswriters keep this crap up). With the exception of the national title game (and even that one to an extent), the BCS bowls exist solely to make money and, love or hate them, Notre Dame makes lots of money. If you want to cry foul about BCS bids talk to the conferences, where there still exists the possibility that a 4-loss Florida St. team can "earn" a BCS bid by knocking off Va. Tech in the ACC title game, a 4-loss Colorado team can "earn" a BCS bid by upsetting Texas in the Big 12 title game, and West Virginia "earned" a BCS bid by winning a Big East conference so weak that it took UConn knocking off South Florida to secure WVA's title. You can say what you will about Notre Dame, but you can't say they aren't deserving.
The Royal HeffernansQuite possibly the best family ever |
 |
2 comments:
Pray to Touchdown Jesus that you Golden Domers don't meet Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. 2) Everybody hates N.D. ?? Recall Brent Muscleheadberger announcing the OSU vs Michigan game. Not only was he wearing maize and blue, he actually said,when Santonio Holmes caught a pass and slipped down, "It's a good thing he slipped,or he'd have been gone for a touchdown". 3) The Buckeye Nation does respect your new coach. Too bad he'll be going to Michigan State soon.
1) OSU is a worthy opponent. They probably have the only defense in the country that can challenge Notre Dame's offense. I'd like to see that matchup.
2) Brent "Muscleheadberger" is a notorious Michigan lapdog. He always openly roots for Michigan, regardless of whom they are playing. What does that have to do with Notre Dame?
3) How can you say you respect Weis but think he's heading to MSU in the same sentence? Doesn't that imply that he's an idiot for which you have no respect? Who the hell would leave Notre Dame to go to MSU? That's like dumping Angelina Jolie in favor of Roseanne Barr, i.e. no one, including OSU fans and alumni, is that stupid.
Post a Comment