28 Dec | Pinstripe Bowl vs. Rutgers

[Irish Houstonian]

If it's Houston at least they'll get to replay all that Joe Montana, Chicken-Soup Bowl footage.

 

[rtrn2glory]

rutgers favored by about four going into tomorrow

 

[T Town Tommy]

Hey, it's the BIG CITY!

I grew up about 15 miles away from THE STADIUM and never heard of someone getting mugged at an event there.

Now I live Hoover where people get murdered after Iron Bowl parties in "nice" neighborhoods.

Yeah... right around the stadium appeared safe. A few blocks away I got to looking over my shoulder a little. Why aren't you in T Town supporting the Bucs tonight? They are in a good one for the state title.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Excited to have the Irish in town again.

As for the area around the stadium, it's really not rough at all, actually.

Safest big city in the country by far, and there are only a couple neighborhoods in the Bronx that have any serious crime problem at this point. The area around the stadium is not where anybody would want to hang out pre- or post-game only b/c there aren't many really good bars - but it's not dangerous at all.

Good to know. I love NYC and visit as often as I can.

 

[Sherm Sticky]

Dude I'm so going to the game. Ironman we better be tailgating at 9 am bro!

 

[TheChosen1]

Dude I'm so going to the game. Ironman we better be tailgating at 9 am bro!

Top 50 Dude Bro Frat Names - YouTube

or

Dudebros Episode 2 - Douche' - YouTube

 

[stlnd01]

Would really rather not play Houston. It's a no-win situation for us, as they're a team that just might have the offense to win, and that would just be miserable. Rutgers would be a romp.

 

[BGIF]

Yeah... right around the stadium appeared safe. A few blocks away I got to looking over my shoulder a little. Why aren't you in T Town supporting the Bucs tonight? They are in a good one for the state title.

I live a mile from Spain Park and have no interest in HS football except for ND recruiting.

 

[BGIF]

Would really rather not play Houston. It's a no-win situation for us, as they're a team that just might have the offense to win, and that would just be miserable. Rutgers would be a romp.

To bad The Little Sisters of The Poor are already booked.


Damn we've got some weak knee fans.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

We want Bama amirite?

 

[Rudy89]

Is houston that much better than us? Ive only seen them play SMU and SMU is awful. I know they have speed but I mean is Houston any better than ASU or USC? Of course I know with how we have been this year we can make any game a thriller

 

[CanadalovesND]

Offensively, they are a poor mans ASU.

Have the athleticism but not so much on the talent. They run an uptempo spread, but I'm not sure how effective they are with it.

 

[BGIF]

I don't see The Pinstripe taking RU over HOU even if RU becomes bowl eligible and they are a 4 pt favorite over USF.


Yes, I know where Piscataway is and that's the main point. They don't sell out all their 52K seat home games. It's only been the past few years that RU's had any kind of a following and that's primarily the young crowd not the successful alumni with successful careers.

Bowl opponents are not just about filling the stadium seats. Having been to ND games in most of the NY venues, ND can sell this game out by themselves BUT ND fans will buy hotel rooms, are NOT going to eat in NJ before going to the game, and will catch a Broadway Show while in town. Aside from a ticket, stadium grub, and a bridge tolls and a parking RU fans are keeping their money in NJ.

RU has 41K students and 450K alumni. 85% of the student body is from NJ. They don't need hotel rooms and aren't spending dollars in the NYC economy.

UH has 40K students and 225K alumni. I don't know how well they travel but their gonna need rooms and meals.

ND only has 10 K students and 125K aluimni and will probably spend more than RU and UH combined would.


TV revenue is another part of bowl selection. The set in the NY Metro area will already be turned on for ND, RU adds little.

ND adds the Chicago/Midwest market as well as sets around the world.

UH brings a Top 4 market into the fold.

 

[stlnd01]

To bad The Little Sisters of The Poor are already booked.


Damn we've got some weak knee fans.

No. Not weak-kneed at all. If we could, I'd rather we play, say, UCLA or LSU or Wisconsin, some talented and comparable high-profile program in the legitimate second-tier bowl game our performance this year deserves. Win or lose. And on a good day I think we could beat all but maybe three or four teams in the country. Certainly most of the teams playing for conference championships tomorrow. And even if we lose I'd rather play up than down every time.

But since we're stuck in a crap bowl playing the fifth place team from a mediocre conference, I'd really rather we just win the damn game than spend all offseason hearing gripes about how we somehow lost to a third-rate commuter school with a potentially dangerous passing attack that might catch us uninspired. We get no more points in this world for beating Houston than Rutgers. So I'd prefer the easier win. That's all.

 

[stlnd01]

I don't see The Pinstripe taking RU over HOU even if RU becomes bowl eligible and they are a 4 pt favorite over USF.


Yes, I know where Piscataway is and that's the main point. They don't sell out all their 52K seat home games. It's only been the past few years that RU's had any kind of a following and that's primarily the young crowd not the successful alumni with successful careers.

Bowl opponents are not just about filling the stadium seats. Having been to ND games in most of the NY venues, ND can sell this game out by themselves BUT ND fans will buy hotel rooms, are NOT going to eat in NJ before going to the game, and will catch a Broadway Show while in town. Aside from a ticket, stadium grub, and a bridge tolls and a parking RU fans are keeping their money in NJ.

RU has 41K students and 450 alumni. 85% of the student body is from NJ. They don't need hotel rooms and aren't spending dollars in the NYC economy.

This pre-supposes that Houston has fans, not to mention ones who'll travel to New York to watch them play in late December.

 

[Fbolt]

I'm not concerned with who the Irish play, just that they play-and win. I need to get the sour taste of the UM and PU losses out of my mouth.

 

[stlnd01]

Is houston that much better than us? Ive only seen them play SMU and SMU is awful. I know they have speed but I mean is Houston any better than ASU or USC? Of course I know with how we have been this year we can make any game a thriller

No, they're not better than us, or than ASU or USC or BYU or Michigan State. But they do play a type of offense that can hurt us if our heads aren't in the game, which seems like a distinct possibility given the circumstances.

 

[Rudy89]

You can say what you want about me being a good or bad fan but on my facebook page there are people sayiong we shouldve declined this because of our struggles and how any bowl with these conditions isnt worth going to. Hey I know i get crazy when things look bleak but anyone who thinks that when we go 8-4 and have a fair shot at sending our senors out with a win and more stock for our trophy case must make me look like the fan of the year! AMIRIGHTGUISE!?!?!

 

[BGIF]

I think this list would help to answer your own question. We are very thin all the way around. I would hope that we get the suspensions back.

Houston can score...now they did struggle against UCF, Louisville, and Cincinnati (all were losses). I don't know if we are as deep as some of those teams on defense. If we cannot contain their WR, then they could easily score 40+ as they have all season (minus those three teams). That is my major concern. I don't know that we can score to keep pace (although we did against Navy).

Well, ND played almost the entire schedule without most of those people beating ASU, MSU, and USC and losing to Stanford by 7 while a 14 point underdog.

ND's preseason #1 DLine saw less than 2 dozen plays together all season. Wasn't Nix out for the month of November?


Common Foes
ND beat Temple 28-6
UH beat Temple 22-13

ND beat BYU 23-13
UH LOST to BYU 47-46 at HOME when BYU put up 681 yds of Offense.


Were you impressed with the 59 points UH hung on Texas ... SAN ANTONIO?

How about the 28 they scored on UH?


Were you impressed with the 62 points UH ran up on Southern University?

Sagarin ranks FCS Southern University as #229 out of 252 FBS and FCS schools.


Overall ND was 8-4 playing against Sagarin's 19th Toughest Schedule.

UH was 8-4 playing against Sagarin's 81st Toughest Schedule

 

[Irish YJ]

I honestly don't care who unless it impacts recruiting. UH is tier 2 or 3 team that rarely pulls better than a 3 star. I'd say they average 2.25-2.5 stars. UH, outside of DG, rarely competes on ND's level. Rutgers on the other probably averages 3+ stars, and has pulled several 4 star guys, and a few 5 star guys. Some of which ND was chasing. If you agree with the above, I think it would be best to pummel RU in a big big way. If the choice is between UH and RU does either really matter from a quality opponent perspective. No. But there is a recruiting impact.

I doubt UH will travel well. They are likely the 4th or 5th most popular school, in TX.... I just don't see a huge economic boom if UH is chosen over RU. The locals in NJ may not rent a bunch of hotel rooms, but they will likely party it up and spend more money overall than UH IMO.

 

[palinurus]

The Houston defense doesn't seem all that big; I'm guessing our OLine can push them around.

CougarsDen.com - Grading The Team: Defensive Line

 

[Rudy89]

As long as we play the way we are capable we can win this game. I just hope after the lay off we are ready and our boys try to play a perfect game. Ive said before we win we had us a pretty damn good 9 win season we lose then other than a few rivalry wins we had a disappointment of a year.

 

[palinurus]

There is no excuse for us to lose to any of the teams we could conceivably play. Kelly should work these guys to a fine edge and a foul mood to thrash somebody. Just a huge difference between 9-4 and 8-5 psychologically, imo.

 

[NDPhilly]

I didn't know that Rutgers was that bad until I looked them up. Just figured they were better than Houston. That's was most other people will do too. Doesn't matter Rutgers is ass this year, they are the bigger name. A 38-13 Win over Rutgers looks better than a 31-24 win over Houston.

 

[IrishLax]

I don't see The Pinstripe taking RU over HOU even if RU becomes bowl eligible and they are a 4 pt favorite over USF.


Yes, I know where Piscataway is and that's the main point. They don't sell out all their 52K seat home games. It's only been the past few years that RU's had any kind of a following and that's primarily the young crowd not the successful alumni with successful careers.

Bowl opponents are not just about filling the stadium seats. Having been to ND games in most of the NY venues, ND can sell this game out by themselves BUT ND fans will buy hotel rooms, are NOT going to eat in NJ before going to the game, and will catch a Broadway Show while in town. Aside from a ticket, stadium grub, and a bridge tolls and a parking RU fans are keeping their money in NJ.

RU has 41K students and 450K alumni. 85% of the student body is from NJ. They don't need hotel rooms and aren't spending dollars in the NYC economy.

UH has 40K students and 225K alumni. I don't know how well they travel but their gonna need rooms and meals.

ND only has 10 K students and 125K aluimni and will probably spend more than RU and UH combined would.


TV revenue is another part of bowl selection. The set in the NY Metro area will already be turned on for ND, RU adds little.

ND adds the Chicago/Midwest market as well as sets around the world.

UH brings a Top 4 market into the fold.

Really not sure if you're looking at this correctly, BGIF.

First of all, the Pinstripe Bowl people give zero craps about local economic impact. Might be different if this was a bowl in a place like Shreveport and there was required synergy with the locality, but this is New York City. The Pinstripe Bowl is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Second, bowls really do care about putting butts in the seats. Can ND truly sell out on their own? I'd guess yes, but I'm not sure. If not, Rutgers certainly creates more demand due to proximity.

Third, Houston is an also-ran in a defunct conference, Rutgers is a Big Ten team starting next year. They have a bigger profile. Far easier to pump a game with a Rutgers coach trying to save his job and get momentum towards the Big Ten especially when it's on their "home turf" than for a Houston team with far less clout/viewership.

Fourth, it's not about tapping into specific TV markets if the Houston Cougars don't actually carry the market. This is going to be a nationally broadcast game and it's about the gross number of eyeballs you can get on the TV screen. Rutgers has had substantially better ratings than Houston all year and there is no reason to expect that the overlap of eyeballs in mid-Atlantic markets would be such that it would mitigate that fact. Rutgers fans have their own TV sets and wouldn't be tuning in to watch ND vs. Houston for the same reason Houston fans wouldn't tune in to watch ND vs. Rutgers.

In short... I'd be absolutely shocked if they don't pick Rutgers over Houston if both are options. But who knows, maybe I'm way off.

 

[Irish8248]

Really not sure if you're looking at this correctly, BGIF.

Second, bowls really do care about putting butts in the seats. Can ND truly sell out on their own? I'd guess yes, but I'm not sure. If not, Rutgers certainly creates more demand due to proximity.

The field was a snug fit in the $1.6 billion stadium, but not so tight that the teams couldn't use two end zones, unlike in the Northwestern-Illinois game at Wrigley Field.

With some extra bleachers in left and right fields, the sellout attendance of 54,251 set a record for the largest crowd for a sporting event at the two-year-old ballpark


Army Black Knights vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Recap - November 20, 2010 - ESPN

 

[Buster Bluth]

I honestly don't care who unless it impacts recruiting. UH is tier 2 or 3 team that rarely pulls better than a 3 star. I'd say they average 2.25-2.5 stars. UH, outside of DG, rarely competes on ND's level. Rutgers on the other probably averages 3+ stars, and has pulled several 4 star guys, and a few 5 star guys. Some of which ND was chasing. If you agree with the above, I think it would be best to pummel RU in a big big way. If the choice is between UH and RU does either really matter from a quality opponent perspective. No. But there is a recruiting impact.

I doubt UH will travel well. They are likely the 4th or 5th most popular school, in TX.... I just don't see a huge economic boom if UH is chosen over RU. The locals in NJ may not rent a bunch of hotel rooms, but they will likely party it up and spend more money overall than UH IMO.

I really doubt there is any recruiting impact outside of bringing a Notre Dame home game into Holley's neck of the woods.

 

[Corry]

Angelo Di Carlo ‏@angdicarlowndu 7h
Pinstripe Bowl may not be as done of a deal as being reported by others. i'm told Irish aren't making final decision until the morning.
Retweeted by Keith Arnold

Angelo Di Carlo ‏@angdicarlowndu 7h
One Notre Dame source told me that the Pinstripe Bowl is not the only bowl the Irish are still talking to at this time.

Angelo Di Carlo ‏@angdicarlowndu 7h
Doesn't mean ND isn't going to end up in the Pinstripe Bowl. It's the likely destination just that its not done done just yet it appears.

 

[dublinirish]

i still think a hawaii bowl vs boise state is a better game

 

[RuntheBall]

I was hearing Poinsettia or Hawaii versus Boise. I think the MAC deal kind of kills the Poinsettia Bowl deal though. Would be interesting to play Boise with Peterson gone, though it will alway be a cop out for them. If we win its: "Yeah but they didn't have their coach" and if we lose "Man they beat you without their coach... you suck!".

I'd like the Hawaii Bowl vs. Boise but it doesn't matter too much.