ND & Michigan done after 2014

[PANDFAN]

ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd went on a 7-plus-minute rant Tuesday on the Thundering Herd, defending the schedule that Notre Dame plays year in and year out, in light of Michigan coach Brady Hoke's comments one day earlier about the Irish "chickening out" of their series with the Wolverines.

Cowherd goes down the line and cites some of Notre Dame's upcoming series, in addition to its new five-game-a-year ACC schedule, crediting the school for getting to the South, Texas and California annually while saying it does not lose a whole lot by dropping the Michigan series.
"So I'll defend Notre Dame on this. I'm defending them; their schedule is perfect. They've got two Western trips, two Texas trips ,now they're in the ACC, the Carolinas has good high school football. It's very easy to take shots at them. I've got news for you, you start looking at their schedule, there are a lot worse schedules in college football than Notre Dame's. Over the next year they go and play Oklahoma again, USC, Stanford, Arizona State. They don't have any Towson States in there."

Cowherd goes off at the end, saying he can name plenty of schools next year that play far easier schedules than the Irish.

Even two-time defending national champion Alabama.
"Give me Alabama's schedule next year, go look at Alabama's schedule right now. 'Oh, the great Alabama.' Let me see that then. And this is the great SEC, right? It's unbelievable. Let's read it right now for you, 2013, here's your tough schedule. Alabama, OK: At Texas A&M, tough as heck. Colorado State, Georgia State, at Kentucky, Tennessee's a mess, Chattanooga Mocs, Auburn's a mess -- that's a real toughie. They get LSU at home, They don't have to play Georgia — they don't have to play Georgia! Don't have to play Florida, don't have to play South Carolina. They've got three of the best teams in their conference and they're not on their schedule, and they face something called the Chattanooga Mocs?

"Six of those teams on that schedule are in the toilet. Their toughest game honestly is their second game of the year, Texas A&M. What do you know? They've got a bye before that, because Saban pretty much runs the conference. By the way they also face LSU, they get a bye before that. So they get a bye before each of their toughest games. Saban runs that conference. He does. He doesn't have to play Florida again, he doesn't have to play Georgia again, he doesn't have to play South Carolina again. Saban is running that conference.

"By the way, their bye? They could have lost three games last year. Any time they need a bye it just magically appears on the schedule."

The Notre Dame schedule discussion starts in the 25th minute of the show. You can listen to it here.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

My Irish Traveler friend who shows up from time to time had a text for me this morning that I thought I would share:

Pat: (Pats take on Brady Hoaks chciken )Comment.Hoak is a joke.Nix is the fix when dealing with Maize n' Blue pricks.Move over Robert Frost,W B Yeats and John Keats etc. 6:51 PM

 

[greyhammer90]

ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd went on a 7-plus-minute rant Tuesday on the Thundering Herd, defending the schedule that Notre Dame plays year in and year out, in light of Michigan coach Brady Hoke's comments one day earlier about the Irish "chickening out" of their series with the Wolverines.

Cowherd goes down the line and cites some of Notre Dame's upcoming series, in addition to its new five-game-a-year ACC schedule, crediting the school for getting to the South, Texas and California annually while saying it does not lose a whole lot by dropping the Michigan series.
"So I'll defend Notre Dame on this. I'm defending them; their schedule is perfect. They've got two Western trips, two Texas trips ,now they're in the ACC, the Carolinas has good high school football. It's very easy to take shots at them. I've got news for you, you start looking at their schedule, there are a lot worse schedules in college football than Notre Dame's. Over the next year they go and play Oklahoma again, USC, Stanford, Arizona State. They don't have any Towson States in there."

Cowherd goes off at the end, saying he can name plenty of schools next year that play far easier schedules than the Irish.

Even two-time defending national champion Alabama.
"Give me Alabama's schedule next year, go look at Alabama's schedule right now. 'Oh, the great Alabama.' Let me see that then. And this is the great SEC, right? It's unbelievable. Let's read it right now for you, 2013, here's your tough schedule. Alabama, OK: At Texas A&M, tough as heck. Colorado State, Georgia State, at Kentucky, Tennessee's a mess, Chattanooga Mocs, Auburn's a mess -- that's a real toughie. They get LSU at home, They don't have to play Georgia — they don't have to play Georgia! Don't have to play Florida, don't have to play South Carolina. They've got three of the best teams in their conference and they're not on their schedule, and they face something called the Chattanooga Mocs?

"Six of those teams on that schedule are in the toilet. Their toughest game honestly is their second game of the year, Texas A&M. What do you know? They've got a bye before that, because Saban pretty much runs the conference. By the way they also face LSU, they get a bye before that. So they get a bye before each of their toughest games. Saban runs that conference. He does. He doesn't have to play Florida again, he doesn't have to play Georgia again, he doesn't have to play South Carolina again. Saban is running that conference.

"By the way, their bye? They could have lost three games last year. Any time they need a bye it just magically appears on the schedule."

The Notre Dame schedule discussion starts in the 25th minute of the show. You can listen to it here.

 

[TomHaverford]

ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd went on a 7-plus-minute rant Tuesday on the Thundering Herd, defending the schedule that Notre Dame plays year in and year out, in light of Michigan coach Brady Hoke's comments one day earlier about the Irish "chickening out" of their series with the Wolverines.

Cowherd goes down the line and cites some of Notre Dame's upcoming series, in addition to its new five-game-a-year ACC schedule, crediting the school for getting to the South, Texas and California annually while saying it does not lose a whole lot by dropping the Michigan series.
"So I'll defend Notre Dame on this. I'm defending them; their schedule is perfect. They've got two Western trips, two Texas trips ,now they're in the ACC, the Carolinas has good high school football. It's very easy to take shots at them. I've got news for you, you start looking at their schedule, there are a lot worse schedules in college football than Notre Dame's. Over the next year they go and play Oklahoma again, USC, Stanford, Arizona State. They don't have any Towson States in there."

Cowherd goes off at the end, saying he can name plenty of schools next year that play far easier schedules than the Irish.

Even two-time defending national champion Alabama.
"Give me Alabama's schedule next year, go look at Alabama's schedule right now. 'Oh, the great Alabama.' Let me see that then. And this is the great SEC, right? It's unbelievable. Let's read it right now for you, 2013, here's your tough schedule. Alabama, OK: At Texas A&M, tough as heck. Colorado State, Georgia State, at Kentucky, Tennessee's a mess, Chattanooga Mocs, Auburn's a mess -- that's a real toughie. They get LSU at home, They don't have to play Georgia — they don't have to play Georgia! Don't have to play Florida, don't have to play South Carolina. They've got three of the best teams in their conference and they're not on their schedule, and they face something called the Chattanooga Mocs?

"Six of those teams on that schedule are in the toilet. Their toughest game honestly is their second game of the year, Texas A&M. What do you know? They've got a bye before that, because Saban pretty much runs the conference. By the way they also face LSU, they get a bye before that. So they get a bye before each of their toughest games. Saban runs that conference. He does. He doesn't have to play Florida again, he doesn't have to play Georgia again, he doesn't have to play South Carolina again. Saban is running that conference.

"By the way, their bye? They could have lost three games last year. Any time they need a bye it just magically appears on the schedule."

The Notre Dame schedule discussion starts in the 25th minute of the show. You can listen to it here.

Cowherd is spot on. Notre Dame's scheduling is first rate. SEC teams are notorious for pathetic out of conference scheduling, and there are plenty of really crappy teams in the SEC for them to beat up on.

I am sad to see the ND-Michigan series end, it's a great series.

 

[returnofthemack]

I am shocked - I never thought these thoughts would appear in my head, but... I don't think I hate Colin Cowherd anymore.

 

[Cali_domer]

I am shocked - I never thought these thoughts would appear in my head, but... I don't think I hate Colin Cowherd anymore.

Give it time... He will **** you off all in due time.

 

[phork]

The simple fact that the teams still scheduling I-AA teams should leave them unqualified for the playoff. When you play 12 I-A teams, come talk to me.

 

[ACamp1900]

The simple fact that the teams still scheduling I-AA teams should leave them unqualified for the playoff. When you play 12 I-A teams, come talk to me.

This...

at bare min. if a team plays more than one in a season they should have to sit and watch... how you get away with avoiding over half of the real teams in your OWN FREAKIN CONFERENCE every year and then play multiple sub division teams is beyond me.

 

[GowerND11]

The simple fact that the teams still scheduling I-AA teams should leave them unqualified for the playoff. When you play 12 I-A teams, come talk to me.

I've said this multiple times on here. The NCAA should switch back to the policy they had gotten rid of in the early 2000s. A 1A (FBS) school is allowed to play one 1AA (FCS) school every four years. If a school plays more than 1 FCS schools in a four year cycle they cannot count those games, after the first, towards bowl eligibility.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

CBS' Dennis Dodd just published a brief article on Hoke's comments:

Most BCS conferences operate with an assumption there will be seven home games and five road games. Notre Dame, Swarbrick explained, would have four of those road games spoken for at least every other year. Either Stanford or USC -- two traditional rivals -- would be on the road. With Notre Dame playing five ACC games each year in the new scheduling agreement, three of those games would be on the road every other year.

“We are making, and will continue to make, tough choices,” Swarbrick said.

It sounds like Notre Dame would have had to make a choice in dropping USC or Stanford to make room for Michigan. That wasn't happening. But that still doesn't answer why Michigan was dropped instead of, say, Purdue or Michigan State from the Big Ten.

 

[BGIF]

The simple fact that the teams still scheduling I-AA teams should leave them unqualified for the playoff. When you play 12 I-A teams, come talk to me.

Amen!

 

[BGIF]

Agreed. Just heard it. Bye's before each of their two toughest games. The rest of it is a joke. Absolute joke.

If you go back and look at Bama's schedule during Bryant's era you'll see byes before big games, no big games back to back, and lots of creme puffs. It was S.O.P.

 

[ACamp1900]

I still say drop MSU and Purdue also...

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I still say drop MSU and Purdue also...

Purdue is indispensable in our current schedules: usually soft, in-state, and we have a long history.

 

[ACamp1900]

Purdue is indispensable in our current schedules: usually soft, in-state, and we have a long history.

first thought is "Fvk the Big 10 all together... history or no."

I still see no reason to keep both on... it leaves us with what, two games worth of wiggle every year???... screw that. It'll be interesting to see what happens just in general.

 

[koonja]

Purdue is indispensable in our current schedules: usually soft, in-state, and we have a long history.

I agree, but IDK why we keep MSU. It's a tough game in a region we don't really benefit from recruiting-wise (the state of Michigan is so close to ND we can recruit them without playing a Michigan team).

If we want to keep a tough but 70% winnable game like MSU, let's take a lighter SEC team like Vandy (who has academic similarities) or Missouri. Wouldn't it be better to penetrate those regions?

 

[ACamp1900]

With the ACC thing I personally like as few locked in games as possible otherwise... that's just me

 

[Whiskeyjack]

That's fair. Most of the arguments for dropping Michigan also apply to MSU, though we have a much longer history with them.

 

[greyhammer90]

I agree, but IDK why we keep MSU. It's a tough game in a region we don't really benefit from recruiting-wise (the state of Michigan is so close to ND we can recruit them without playing a Michigan team).

If we want to keep a tough but 70% winnable game like MSU, let's take a lighter SEC team like Vandy (who has academic similarities) or Missouri. Wouldn't it be better to penetrate those regions?

No to Vandy for sure. First because MSU looks better to the public than Vandy. Also because the last thing we need is to ever lose to Vandy, that would be terrible in many ways, including our continuing efforts to make it seem like we are the premier elite academically-focused football team in the country. No matter how good Franklin makes that program it will be considered the laughingstock of football in the South.

I'm fine with keeping MSU and Purdue. Purdue is a good game for us for reasons that have been explained by Lax. In-state pushovers that are part of a major conference and run the same style offense/defense as better opponents are a gift. Doesn't matter which way you slice it.

MSU is a well respected program that has a reputation of being a consistently top 30 team even in the South. Plus BK seems to own Dantonio. He'd be perfect against MSU if not for a bullshit/lucky overtime miracle that occurred during BK's first (and in my opinion worst) year here.

 

[Rack Em]

If we want to keep a tough but 70% winnable game like MSU, let's take a lighter SEC team like Vandy (who has academic similarities) or Missouri. Wouldn't it be better to penetrate those regions?

Missouri offers very little in terms of recruiting (around Columbia at least). However there are lots of Catholics in the area that are Mizzou and Notre Dame fans. It would be a cool series. But expanding the brand to Missouri doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme.

Vandy, geographically and academically, makes more sense.

Playing Mississippi State would make even more.

 

[Cackalacky]

I would definitely like to start scheduling an SEC team. F the B1G.

B1G.... what the ****s is that?

 

[ACamp1900]

Missouri offers very little in terms of recruiting (around Columbia at least). However there are lots of Catholics in the area that are Mizzou and Notre Dame fans. It would be a cool series. But expanding the brand to Missouri doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme.

Vandy, geographically and academically, makes more sense.

Playing Mississippi State would make even more.

How about we drop EVERY year to year game except SC, Navy and Stanford... then schedule ALL of these teams from time to time... like we currently do with say Air Force or Tenneessee... why do we have to be locked in???

 

[Rack Em]

How about we drop EVERY year to year game except SC, Navy and Stanford... then schedule ALL of these teams from time to time... like we currently do with sy Air Force or Tenneessee... why do we have to be locked in???

Teams want the security of having us on their schedule. ND travels well, it'll be a big game for their fans, and it exponentially increases their likelihood of being on ESPN/ABC's primetime game.

 

[ACamp1900]

Teams want the security of having us on their schedule. ND travels well, it'll be a big game for their fans, and it exponentially increases their likelihood of being on ESPN/ABC's primetime game.

They would rather have once in a while than never at all i am sure...

 

[Old Man Mike]

The "locked in" phenomenon has been because we are independent and this makes scheduling far more secure. As conference realignment began, this seemed even more critical to creating a secure nationwide schedule. Now that we have "popped" the ACC semi-conference decision, this sort of thinking may be less urgent.

My guess is that Swarbrick is shrewd enough to know that the future will hold further unpredictable change, and it is wisdom to retain a strong base of things you can count on, yet give you some flexibility. Swarbrick will probably watch TV ratings closely on the ACC games. If they are generally high, then he might more easily consider dropping even more traditional "loyalty" games.

Notre Dame would probably like to remain "nice" to Navy, MSU, and Purdue, but the unbelievable escalation in the economics of college football will probably over-run everything else.

 

[ulukinatme]

I would rather have MSU than Purdue. We don't really gain anything from Purdue. They get up for that game every year, hard for us to get into it some years it seems. Yeah, we may win it more often than not, but it can be a dogfight some years. MSU isn't much different tbh, but between the two I'd rather have MSU. It's out of state, even if it isn't far. Theres a brotherhood there and more history with the Game of the Century and the fact Michigan tried to keep little brother out of the Big 10 just like they did with us, so we started scheduling each other. I just like MSU more, even if they fight hard and had our number quite a bit the last decade.

 

[STLDomer]

Apparently Hoke will be on Mike and Mike tommorow

 

[IrishLax]

Golic will give him softballs or not hit the right points. I remember being so disappointed when he had Rick Reilly on with him not being nearly articulate enough on what was stupid in Reilly's article.

 

[Redbar]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Hoke says Notre Dame is "chickening out" of its series with Michigan. Notes ND is still playing Michigan State.</p>— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) <a href="https://twitter.com/kmeinke/status/333991113411137537">May 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>(Gets loud applause, of course)</p>— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) <a href="https://twitter.com/kmeinke/status/333991180650029058">May 13, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

They need that game more than we do.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Notre Dame would probably like to remain "nice" to Navy, MSU, and Purdue, but the unbelievable escalation in the economics of college football will probably over-run everything else.

This point is constantly overlooked on CFB message boards.