Aug 31 | Texas A&M

[IRISHDODGER]

Kudos to Elko for making the QB change. I thought BK had his team on its way to a win similar or bigger than ND’s win over aTm. It’s weird to me b/c I watched LSU play Arkansas last weekend and they totally bottled up Green who is also a dual threat & a dangerous runner. Maybe they were so focused on Weigman that they didn’t prepare for Reed but that should fall on the LSU DC to have a contingency plan & make an immediate adjustment. I have faith that Golden would be ready for such a change.

 

[IA4irish]

LSU averaged 1 yard per attempt. I am more impressed by what our offensive line did against their defensive line in hindsight. We were moving them off the ball at the end of the game

 

[ulukinatme]

Kudos to Elko for making the QB change. I thought BK had his team on its way to a win similar or bigger than ND’s win over aTm. It’s weird to me b/c I watched LSU play Arkansas last weekend and they totally bottled up Green who is also a dual threat & a dangerous runner. Maybe they were so focused on Weigman that they didn’t prepare for Reed but that should fall on the LSU DC to have a contingency plan & make an immediate adjustment. I have faith that Golden would be ready for such a change.

They should stick with Reed. He looks like he should be the QB, he moved the ball much better and was pretty tough to defend.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I feel like this win is being talked about nationally far more than the NIU loss. That's a very good thing.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

This win looks better by the week. And now this Texas A&M team looks to be playing so much better.

…but so are we, bitches. Go Irish.

Just good enough to jump us next week in the polls

AP poll got it correct and as long as both teams have only one loss, I don't see how aTm would jump ND. H2H has to count for something. It would be one thing if ND was limping along but they've been getting better by the week as well.

Uh, no. They lost to Notre Dame. So they shouldn't be ahead of Notre Dame with the same record.

This dumbassery is 2018 Michigan all over again.

Correct. In a subjective ranking system, one of the few objectives that should truly matter is H2H results. It makes even more of a difference that ND went down there and won on the road when we weren't anywhere near as good offensively as we have been in October.

 

[fightingirish26]

Uh, no. They lost to Notre Dame. So they shouldn't be ahead of Notre Dame with the same record.

This dumbassery is 2018 Michigan all over again.

I think ND should be ahead of A&M but 2018 ND was also undefeated, completely different situations.

 

[ThePiombino]

Only way A&M can justify leaping us in ranking is if ND loses and/or A&M wins the SEC.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

Uh, no. They lost to Notre Dame. So they shouldn't be ahead of Notre Dame with the same record.

This dumbassery is 2018 Michigan all over again.

Their loss to us is better than our loss to NIU. Its just the way it is. Their schedule is also more difficult than ours is. If they navigate the SEC west and come out with one loss, they should absolutely be seeded ahead of us

 

[greyhammer90]

Their loss to us is better than our loss to NIU. Its just the way it is. Their schedule is also more difficult than ours is. If they navigate the SEC west and come out with one loss, they should absolutely be seeded ahead of us

They lost to us by double digits at home, and we never trailed. With the same record they should never pass us. The only scenario where they should pass us is if they win the SEC championship, because they'll have one more win.

 

[Some Irish Bloke]

They lost to us by double digits at home, and we never trailed. With the same record they should never pass us. The only scenario where they should pass us is if they win the SEC championship, because they'll have one more win.

Right, why even play september football games? Let's just shorten the season to 2 months, get rid of non-conference games, they don't matter.

Why does it matter if aTm wins their conference that ND isn't a part of? We beat them by two scores, on their own field, and as much as you can say aTm has improved over the course of the season, you can damn-well say ND wasn't playing their best football in August/September given the recent results.

 

[BoredIrish]

For all the praise of A&M, I think ND would still beat them if they were to play again.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

They lost to us by double digits at home, and we never trailed. With the same record they should never pass us. The only scenario where they should pass us is if they win the SEC championship, because they'll have one more win.

I just don’t think selection committee with see it this way based on how they view the big conferences. By the end of the year they will have played and beaten multiple ranked teams with their only loss being to us and highly ranked team in the first game of the season. Our SoS is pathetic at this point with an absolutely monstrous loss at home to a mediocre MAC team that may not end up going bowling. If they win the west and play in the CCG win or lose they will be seeded higher than us. And they should be.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

I’ll go so far as to even say they jump us in the next two weeks.

 

[ND7983]

I just don’t think selection committee with see it this way based on how they view the big conferences. By the end of the year they will have played and beaten multiple ranked teams with their only loss being to us and highly ranked team in the first game of the season. Our SoS is pathetic at this point with an absolutely monstrous loss at home to a mediocre MAC team that may not end up going bowling. If they win the west and play in the CCG win or lose they will be seeded higher than us. And they should be.

Our SOS is not pathetic. It’s still around 50th.
But more important, our SOR is 15th, despite the NIU loss.
The CFP committee cares more about who you beat than who you lost to, they have said so every year. That’s why teams like OSU & Clemson got in the 4 team playoffs will horrible losses.
Also, our Efficiency numbers, FEI, FPI, etc…are all top 10.
They take into account the level of competition and how well you play against that competition.

 

[NDohio]

We made this week's SEC Shorts

 

[greyhammer90]

I just don’t think selection committee with see it this way based on how they view the big conferences. By the end of the year they will have played and beaten multiple ranked teams with their only loss being to us and highly ranked team in the first game of the season. Our SoS is pathetic at this point with an absolutely monstrous loss at home to a mediocre MAC team that may not end up going bowling. If they win the west and play in the CCG win or lose they will be seeded higher than us. And they should be.

They've played 3 ranked opponents. Lost to ND, beat Missouri (a team that has since fallen off a cliff), and just beat LSU. Let's not act like we're playing a D2 schedule and they're playing murders row.

Also there's the whole "lost to us" thing.

 

[stlnd01]

This isn’t hard.

If A&M beats Texas and Georgia and wins the SEC they should and will be ranked ahead of us. If they don’t, they will have at least two losses and should and will be ranked behind us.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

They've played 3 ranked opponents. Lost to ND, beat Missouri (a team that has since fallen off a cliff), and just beat LSU. Let's not act like we're playing a D2 schedule and they're playing murders row.

Also there's the whole "lost to us" thing.

The whole lost to us doesn’t carry much water. Teams who lose to other ranked teams get jumped all the time. It happens. They will play multiple ranked teams over the never six weeks assuming they keep winning I guarantee you they will jump us.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

This isn’t hard.

If A&M beats Texas and Georgia and wins the SEC they should and will be ranked ahead of us. If they don’t, they will have at least two losses and should and will be ranked behind us.

I mean for real……there is no way with our loss and remaining stupid schedule that we move any higher than 8th in the polls by end of year. There are at least 8 multi loss big 10 ACC and SEC schools that will end up ahead of us.

 

[Irish du Nord]

They've played 3 ranked opponents. Lost to ND, beat Missouri (a team that has since fallen off a cliff), and just beat LSU. Let's not act like we're playing a D2 schedule and they're playing murders row.

Also there's the whole "lost to us" thing.

Both have a single team that's currently ranked that they've beaten (ND's being ranked higher). Both have a single team left to play that's currently ranked. The only difference in the remaining schedule is that A&M's ranked opponent is supposed to be better than ND's but that could change if Texas drops one before they play A&M.

 

[Irish du Nord]

I mean for real……there is no way with our loss and remaining stupid schedule that we move any higher than 8th in the polls by end of year. There are at least 8 multi loss big 10 ACC and SEC schools that will end up ahead of us.

I don't think there's more than 6, max? Including single loss/undefeateds, sure. No way that 8 multi-loss teams are ahead of us at 11-1.

 

[greyhammer90]

They will play multiple ranked teams over the never six weeks

But they won't though lol.

They have just above .500 SCar, losing record New Mexico, losing record Auburn, and Texas in the final week.

I'm not saying they won't jump us, because the media is in the SEC/B1G pockets, but saying they *should* as an ND fan is some bootlicking mentality.

 

[JadedDomer]

It kind of doesn't matter. If Texas A&M wins out they'll finish #1 or #2, and we'll follow them closely assuming we win out as well. If they lose to, say, Texas, we'll be ~10 spots ahead of them. We have an elasticity to them but we won't be above them if they win the Conference championship, but that's fine.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

I don't think there's more than 6, max? Including single loss/undefeateds, sure. No way that 8 multi-loss teams are ahead of us at 11-1.

I'll bet my mortgage ND doesnt finish higher than 8th in the playoff seeding at 11-1 and that at least 1 three loss team (2 losses in conference) from the SEC, or Big10 is in the playoffs.

Currently this is the Playoff projection:

1. Georgia (SEC)
2. Ohio State (Big Ten)
3. Clemson (ACC)
4. BYU (Big 12)
5. Boise State (Group of Five)
6. Texas (at-large)
7. Tennessee (at-large)
8. Texas A&M (at-large
9. Oregon (at-large)
10. Penn State (at-large)
11. Miami (at-large)
12. Notre Dame (at-large)

That is at least 4 SEC, 3 Big10, 2 ACC and the conference champions from the Big 1 and Power 5. We will be the lowest ranked at large team even at 11-1.

 

[IrishSpartan]

if they try to sneak in Colorado, the world might riot.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

But they won't though lol.

They have just above .500 SCar, losing record New Mexico, losing record Auburn, and Texas in the final week.

I'm not saying they won't jump us, because the media is in the SEC/B1G pockets, but saying they *should* as an ND fan is some bootlicking mentality.

Bootlicking? yikes thats kind of harsh. I'm just prognosticating what the committee is apt to do. Our schedule is a gonna end up being a joke and we might still trip up at USC.

The reality is that even if we go 12-0 any given year, the best we will ever be seeded is 5th in the playoffs. [edited]. A one loss ND team isnt sniffing 5th seed without a grueling SoS. Had USC and FSU been worth a shit this year I'd be singing a different tune but we lost to a MAC team at home and we will likely not have another ranked opponent by end of the year. That is inexscusable and we should not be rewarded for beating up on inferior unranked teams. Clemson got smoked by UGA but since then we have equivalent records and they jumped us very quick. We will get jumped by many 1 loss and even multiple 2-loss at large team. Our margin of error is tiny. We SHOULD be undefeated heading into playoffs this year based on the current performance of our opposition.

 

[NDohio]

Bootlicking? yikes thats kind of harsh. I'm just prognosticating what the committee is apt to do. Our schedule is a gonna end up being a joke and we might still trip up at USC.

The reality is that even if we go 12-0 any given year, the best we will ever be seeded is 5th in the playoffs. 5th and we travel on the first round. A one loss ND team isnt sniffing 5th seed without a grueling SoS. Had USC and FSU been worth a shit this year I'd be singing a different tune but we lost to a MAC team at home. That is inexscusable and we should be rewarded for beating up on inferior teams. We SHOULD be undefeated heading into playoffs this year based on the current performance of our opposition.

? - Seeds 5 through 8 are first round hosts...

 

[greyhammer90]

Bootlicking? yikes. I'm just prognosticating what the committee is apt to do. Our schedule is a gonna end up being a joke and we might still trip up at USC.

No, you're not just prognosticating. You're saying you think they should jump us.

If they win the west and play in the CCG win or lose they will be seeded higher than us. And they should be.

It seems like you have an axe to grind about our schedule and want us to be punished for it more than the facts back up your position. You're mixing total falsities ("A&M is going to play multiple ranked opponents in the next few weeks" wrong) and starting to introduce non-sequitor statements (if we lose to USC literally none of this matters) to justify yourself.

 

[Cackalacky2.0]

No, you're not just prognosticating. You're saying you think they should jump us.



It seems like you have an axe to grind about our schedule and want us to be punished for it more than the facts back up your position. You're mixing total falsities ("A&M is going to play multiple ranked opponents in the next few weeks" wrong) and starting to introduce non-sequitor statements (if we lose to USC literally none of this matters) to justify yourself.

If they continue to win they will and should. Apologies if this is unclear.
If we lose to USC we are out. We have tripped up traveling out there many times. How is that not important? I dont need to justify myself. Its the reality of the playoff selection system. Even with 12 team playoff our margin of error is tiny and we have a terrible loss which will be worse than their loss to us. Sucks but thats the reality.

 

[greyhammer90]

Also since we're playing the comparison game: If we both win out, A&Ms 2nd best win (LSU) will have lost on a nuetral field to our 3rd(?) best win (USC)