Anyone want to hold out BCS hopes with me?

[IrishLion]

Ahhhh, 2001 was a bit before I came into my appreciation of football. My bad fellas.

Also Wooly, I labeled them 2005/2006 because of the schedule year, though the bowls were played in '06/'07. That's just my odd way of thinking. And I agree about the Fiesta Bowl, certainly not a blowout. That was the day I decided I would die before rooting for Ohio State.

EDIT: Also, I was going to rep you for the correct spelling of TJ Houshyomomma, but I gotta spread it around first.

 

[ACamp1900]

Also Wooly, I labeled them 2005/2006 because of the schedule year, though the bowls were played in '06/'07. That's just my odd way of thinking. .

I do the exact same thing, it was the bowl for the 05 season so i call it the 05 Fiesta...

 

[Irish YJ]

 

[RyCo1983]

Between the ‘the sky is falling crowd’ and the ‘things have never been better’ crowd I sometimes feel like a man without a country on this site.

Count me in. I'm in the same spot.

 

[GBdomer]

Ohio State out maned up. Score was much closer then how the game really went IMO Wooly.

 

[military_irish]

Ohio State out maned up. Score was much closer then how the game really went IMO Wooly.

It was a 7 point game with under 2 minutes left in the game. Points win games, yards don't.

I know you said it was in your opinion that OSU outmanned ND but anything could have happend

 

[phork]

Ohio State out maned up. Score was much closer then how the game really went IMO Wooly.

Was just going to say... They had 617 yards of offence.

 

[Rudy89]

I say we win the whatever lower bowl we go to and pray (and when I say pray I dont mean it as we dont have a shot I mean it as its pretty much the only thing as a fan we can do to help the team) we get one of these last two 9-4 with the **** we have dealt with aint bad. Hell Ill take 8-5 with all this garbage as long as we put another trophy in our trophy case. Itd be awesome if we won out a ten win season with all this adversity would be pretty rad.

 

[Grahambo]

 

[kmoose]

2006 Fiesta Bowl against OSU (lsu was the '07 season). The Buckeyes beat us by two TD's. Not a blow out though, imo.

I was at that game, and while we were in it on the scoreboard until tOSU busted that long TD run in the 4th; that was the only place that the game was even close. I hate to admit it, but ND looked outmanned in almost every single facet of the game, that day.

 

[IrishLion]

I was at that game, and while we were in it on the scoreboard until tOSU busted that long TD run in the 4th; that was the only place that the game was even close. I hate to admit it, but ND looked outmanned in almost every single facet of the game, that day.

Every facet except the Maurice Stovall and Darius Walker facets. Those guys played like men that day, without much help.

And I also loved Tommy Z catching up to Ginn on his long TD and planting him from behind as he crossed the goal line.

 

[Catholics_Rule]

I'd like to see Notre Dame in a BCS bowl but I find it very unlikely at this point. This team half the time looks to be a top caliber team (MSU, ASU, USC) then simply looks diminished the other half (UM, Oklahoma, Pitt).

Looking at BYU they've looked similar this season. BYU had big wins against Texas, GT, Houston, & Boise State and lost a close one to a very good Wisconsin team. BYU is a much improved team from last season and could give our Fighting Irish much difficulty this Saturday.

Stanford is a great team. Tough losses versus Utah (who won a close one vs BYU) and a transformed USC team since firing Kiffin at the Coliseum.

I originally predicted 8-4 this season, but I'm always hoping for best. 9-3 is still possible but probably unlikely. I guess my biggest concern is the defense which has been battling so many injuries as of late. BYU & Standford are going to be very physical games back to back.

 

[kmoose]

Every facet except the Maurice Stovall and Darius Walker facets. Those guys played like men that day, without much help.

And I also loved Tommy Z catching up to Ginn on his long TD and planting him from behind as he crossed the goal line.

Darius Walker: 16 carries for 90 yards. Antonio Pittman: 21 carries for 136 yards.

Maurice Stovall: 9 catches for 126 yards. Ted Ginn, Jr.: 8 catches for 167 yards.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Not maintaining any hope for this. But if we do beat Stanford, that means we likely will have beaten 4 teams in the top 25. Pretty impressive.

 

[mgriff]

They are non-existent at this point.

 

[irishfan]

Well, this longshot is about 99% over. We've got to jump 11 spots in just 2 weeks now, and it does not seem likely.

Once again, this is all assuming a WIN over Stanford.

We're currently #25...

#24 Duke-will lose to UNC or to FSU in ACC Champ
#23 USC/#22 UCLA-one will lose this week and we will jump winner by beating #8 Stan
#21 A&M-should lose at #5 Mizzou
#18 OU-should lose to OkSt next week
#8 Stan or #12 AZST-will jump loser in P12Champ next week

IMO those are 6 teams that we should 100% jump with a win over Stanford and their expected losses.

It will not be easy getting jumping another 5 teams, but there are some possibilities:

#20 Louisville
--we COULD jump them just by beating stanford, but they also end the year playing at Cincy who is 9-2.
#16 Fresno State
--Conf Champ against SDSU who took them to OT this year
#14 NIU
--Conf Champ against Buffalo/Bowl Green both of whom are pretty solid
#10 South Carolina
--getting blown out by Clemson could drop them down to ~18 and below us
#11 Mich State
--getting blown out by OSU could drop them to ~16 or so and below us in theory

Real longshots
--Oregon/Baylor being in free fall and losing again
--AZ State losing to Arizona
--LSU losing to Arkansas
--Wisky losing to Penn State
--UCF losing to USF or SMU

So, ya, not looking likely in the slightest but I think we're going to finish closer than people expect. A win over Stanford and no upsets would still get us finishing #17-19 so much closer than people probably expect.

 

[WakeUpEchoes]

Bowl Projections: Get ready for a lot of postseason MACtion - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Updated from Mandel. Has us in the Pinstripe v. Rutgers.

 

[mick2]

I think 9-3 with the hand kelly was dealt this year, is a great year. I don't think bcs is out of question, but very unlikely.

The stench of those 3 losses are too much to overcome even if we do end up with wins over eventual pac12 and big ten champs, plus pac12 runner up and usc.

....but theres always a chance!

 

[Emcee77]

Bowl Projections: Get ready for a lot of postseason MACtion - College Football - Stewart Mandel - SI.com

Updated from Mandel. Has us in the Pinstripe v. Rutgers.

Rutgers-Notre Dame? It could happen in the Pinstripe Bowl | NJ.com

Look, for a program that failed in its last chance to claim that trip to a major bowl in a lousy conference, this is a clear consolation prize. Rutgers is back in another minor bowl, and the holiday trip to the Bronx isn’t going to excite a lot of people.

Still, the opponent matters just as much as the bowl destination. Outside of Virginia Tech last year, the programs the Scarlet Knights have played — Iowa State, UCF, N.C. State, Ball State, Kansas State and Arizona State — have hardly moved the needle.

Notre Dame still does, even in a down year. Aside from maybe Penn State, is there a program that has historically irked the Rutgers fans more, both for its arrogance and recruiting success in New Jersey?

Wtf? Rutgers hates us?

I guess that makes sense.

 

[ACamp1900]

"ND arrogance" seems to be a term that is just thrown out there because it's been thrown out there so much it's now just accepted... What is so different here? The school holding to it's academics makes it arrogant?? The Fans?? Any given fan base is going to be proud of a fine history and believe their team is always one step away... am I missing something beyond that?? OR do you east coast fans literally go around pissing off everyone that crosses your path?

 

[GBdomer]

Beating Stanford would be much bigger for me then getting into a bowl game. I really wanna fucking beat Stanford

 

[anarin]

I'd LOVE to see ND against UCLA.

 

[Bluto]

I'd LOVE to see ND against UCLA.

At full health ND would kick their ass. ASU had like 50 sacks in the second half.

 

[ThePiombino]

Rutgers-Notre Dame? It could happen in the Pinstripe Bowl | NJ.com



Wtf? Rutgers hates us?

I guess that makes sense.

But they beat us out for Huggins... which has worked out really well for them thus far.