Coaches Poll Top 25 (ND #7)

[ThePiombino]

Sure, I am just like the rest.. but I'll not stand by and say this years UCLA is better! I also won't say we're better than any SEC team in the top 10.
Perfection is an illusion, don't mind you... take it as you will

In addition, do ya think BK may? just may have been using these games to do things as if he was working things out?

No.

Kelly quoted that earlier in the week and knew Syracuse would be trying to strip all night for an advantage. Gotta give the Cuse credit but we knew our weakness

Sean, is that you?

 

[Irish Insanity]

In addition, do ya think BK may? just may have been using these games to do things as if he was working things out?

Isn't that the excuse we use every year. We are always saving it for Michigan. Then for USC. Then for.......

 

[NDohio]

I realize much will change in the next two weeks...but this UCLA thing tells you all you need to know about the chances a 1 loss ND team gets in...

In my opinion it is undefeated or nothing for ND.

If there is a one loss ND team the playoffs will be constructed with two SEC teams, and both might have a loss, a pack 12 who may have a loss, and Oklahoma.

Remember, the people that will be setting the final four teams are not the same people that are voting on the polls. A team can finish outside of the top four in the polls and the selection committee finds them worthy of being part of the playoff.

It's way too early to be fretting about who is going to be in the playoffs. Way too much football left to be played. I highly doubt UCLA is going to run through undefeated. All of those SECW teams will cannibalize each other, Oregon still has to play a Stanford team they struggle against, etc.

Way too early. There is a lot of football to be played and there will be many, many unexpected losses that happen.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I got a feeling that Miss State takes out the Aggies this weekend. And Ole Miss will give Bama a run for their money as well. LSU vs. Auburn is always a tough one... even given the current situation at LSU with their QBs. Too much football left to be worried about rankings, playoffs, etc.

Throw in the Irish against Supplemental U. and it is shaping up to be a dynamite weekend of CFB.

 

[ThePiombino]

Isn't that the excuse we use every year. We are always saving it for Michigan. Then for USC. Then for.......

Yup- the apologists are always planning for "the next big game".

 

[IrishLion]

I'm late to the "debate" but I don't mind UCLA jumping ND so much at the moment.

They put together a dominating performance against an ASU team that is far better than Syracuse, IMO, even with a backup starting at QB.

If ND irons out the sloppiness that popped up for Purdue and Syracuse, they'll handle Stanford and jump back up.

 

[ThePiombino]

I'm late to the "debate" but I don't mind UCLA jumping ND so much at the moment.

They put together a dominating performance against an ASU team that is far better than Syracuse, IMO, even with a backup starting at QB.

If ND irons out the sloppiness that popped up for Purdue and Syracuse, they'll handle Stanford and jump back up.

Honestly, if ND irons things out and "handles" Standord, people will just say Stanford isn't as good as everyone thought.

 

[IrishLion]

Honestly, if ND irons things out and "handles" Standord, people will just say Stanford isn't as good as everyone thought.

Actually, I'm worried that this may be the case either way haha.

They've played two decent teams. Lost to one in an ugly, ugly game, and scraped by the other.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Actually, I'm worried that this may be the case either way haha.

They've played two decent teams. Lost to one in an ugly, ugly game, and scraped by the other.

I don't think Stanford is all that good. But I do think they will be the best team the Irish have faced thus far. And, all things equal, they do match up pretty well with the Irish. All the Irish need to do is win the game. In no way would a close win hurt the Irish here in the eyes of the playoff committee.

 

[greyhammer90]

Honestly, if ND irons things out and "handles" Standord, people will just say Stanford isn't as good as everyone thought.

Dude we're #8 and haven't yet faced an opponent that currently has a winning record. It's time to put away the victim mentality. We're getting the benefit of the doubt from a lot of voters as it is.

 

[ickythump1225]

Dude we're #8 and haven't yet faced an opponent that currently has a winning record. It's time to put away the victim mentality. We're getting the benefit of the doubt from a lot of voters as it is.

That's how I see it. I honestly didn't think we'd be this high in the rankings until after Stanford. If you honestly look at who we played, I'm fine being #8 or #9.

Another thing to keep in mind for those who fret about UCLA jumping us. In the eyes of some of the voters we haven't really proved we belong yet. We never won a BCS bowl and we all remember what happened when we went to the MNC. We had built up some cache with the voters in 2012 but lost some of it after the debacle in Miami and then a down year last year.

 

[ickythump1225]

Yup- the apologists are always planning for "the next big game".

While I don't think we're "saving" anything do you honestly think we used the whole playbook yet? Rice was a blowout, Michigan was a blowout, the Purdue game was never really in doubt, and Syracuse was a borderline blowout as well. Also I'm not sure about you but I saw added wrinkles against Syracuse that I hadn't seen yet this year. There was stuff that was practiced in the spring that we haven't seen live yet.

I don't think BK is holding anything back but I'm sure he was different looks and wrinkles for a team like Stanford than he does for Syracuse or Purdue. Stanford and Syracuse are different teams so it would only make sense to use different game plans for each of them.

Also what is there to "apologize" for? Our offense has been working fine. We've scored 30+ in our first 4 games for the first time in 71 years. Our average margin of victory is over 3 touchdowns.

 

[IrishLax]

Dude we're #8 and haven't yet faced an opponent that currently has a winning record. It's time to put away the victim mentality. We're getting the benefit of the doubt from a lot of voters as it is.

I personally think... if I was doing a power ranking... I'd have us somewhere around 12-15. #8 seems very high to me. Then again, I'd certainly have us ahead of UCLA, who has put a shit product on the field all year.

 

[RDU Irish]

I loved the graphic during/before the game showing our opponents were 4-9 to illustrate they generally suck. Well, 3 of those five losses were to NOTRE DAME. Part of winning is putting losses on your opponents. Granted none of our opponents are that impressive in hindsight, but we are not playing complete patsies like lots of folks.

So our opponents after this weekend are
Rice 1-3 (note our margin of victory was greater than TAMU)
Michigan 2-3
Purdue 2-3
Syracuse 2-2

7-11 overall but 7-7 if you back losses to ND. As the season plays out we will see plenty of our opponents become bowl eligible.

 

[RDU Irish]

We have handled all of our opponents easily, even though we have had plenty of sloppy play. 5 turnovers and still win 31-15 while being in control pretty much the whole game is not something most teams can pull off.

 

[gkIrish]

I don't think we are an elite team but there is no team out there that hasn't struggled (or flat out lost) at least one game other than maybe Ole Miss. There is a lot of parity this year.

 

[NCND]

I loved the graphic during/before the game showing our opponents were 4-9 to illustrate they generally suck. Well, 3 of those five losses were to NOTRE DAME. Part of winning is putting losses on your opponents. Granted none of our opponents are that impressive in hindsight, but we are not playing complete patsies like lots of folks.

So our opponents after this weekend are
Rice 1-3 (note our margin of victory was greater than TAMU)
Michigan 2-3
Purdue 2-3
Syracuse 2-2

7-11 overall but 7-7 if you back losses to ND. As the season plays out we will see plenty of our opponents become bowl eligible.

+1. I'm sure that record for most teams are the same or worse at this point this season.

 

[phork]

Dude we're #8 and haven't yet faced an opponent that currently has a winning record. It's time to put away the victim mentality. We're getting the benefit of the doubt from a lot of voters as it is.

Yah but ND is doing what they are supposed to be doing. Beating them by a lot.

 

[BobbyMac]

I don't think Stanford is all that good. But I do think they will be the best team the Irish have faced thus far. And, all things equal, they do match up pretty well with the Irish. All the Irish need to do is win the game. In no way would a close win hurt the Irish here in the eyes of the playoff committee.

Compare them to a SEC-W team and where do you think they finish in your division?

.

 

[greyhammer90]

Yah but ND is doing what they are supposed to be doing. Beating them by a lot.

Hell yeah we are. It feels nice to be disappointed in this team during a blow out.

 

[koonja]

Outside of Bama, Oregon, and maye FSU, who's looked better than us cosidering competition and result? I think were very deserving of top 8 right now.

 

[RDU Irish]

I think our ranking is fair. Georgia, TAMU, Ole Miss are ridiculously too high. SoCar was way too high and now Mizzou gets ranked for beating their over ranked butts (still hanging just outside the top 25??!).

And Bama has no business being in front of OK. That has already been covered here but I cannot conceive a thought that can validate it. Until the SEC west sorts out a clear top team, Oklahoma, Oregon and FSU all deserve to be ranked ahead of them. If someone stands out in the SEC west, they deserve to jump undefeated teams ahead of them.

 

[TheTurningPoint]

In my opinion ND is a little overrated or right where they should be. They have done what they are supposed to do and won games but at the sametime havent beat anyone. Yes, ND slaughtered michigan but so did minnesota.

The key factor here is ND is more than high enough to move up if they take care of business. There are 8 games left to play. Rankings dont mean jack right now.

 

[greyhammer90]

Outside of Bama, Oregon, and maye FSU, who's looked better than us cosidering competition and result? I think were very deserving of top 8 right now.

Not arguing your point, but Oklahoma for sure.

 

[koonja]

I think our ranking is fair. Georgia, TAMU, Ole Miss are ridiculously too high. SoCar was way too high and now Mizzou gets ranked for beating their over ranked butts (still hanging just outside the top 25??!).

And Bama has no business being in front of OK. That has already been covered here but I cannot conceive a thought that can validate it. Until the SEC west sorts out a clear top team, Oklahoma, Oregon and FSU all deserve to be ranked ahead of them. If someone stands out in the SEC west, they deserve to jump undefeated teams ahead of them.

I actually would have AM and Oklahoma over us to this point now as well. Maybe even auburn but not sure. Outside of those 6 I mentioned, no ones been more impressive than ND IMo.

 

[greyhammer90]

In my opinion ND is a little overrated or right where they should be. They have done what they are supposed to do and won games but at the sametime havent beat anyone. Yes, ND slaughtered michigan but so did minnesota.

The key factor here is ND is more than high enough to move up if they take care of business. There are 8 games left to play. Rankings dont mean jack right now.

Right on the money. I was just saying the concept that the voters won't respect us for beating Stanford is silly considering they've been giving us our due the whole way so far.

 

[Blaise]

Oklahoma and AM have actually looked way better than FSU IMO... ND should be 7-9 range so I have no beef... Keep winning and they will keep moving up

 

[T Town Tommy]

Compare them to a SEC-W team and where do you think they finish in your division?

.

I think Stanford would struggle to finish third this season in the SEC West. I just don't see them as having that power run game or the outside threats to be as competitive as they would have been in years past. To compare them to an SEC West team, in past years they remind me of LSU, but without as many playmaking athletes.

 

[greyhammer90]

I think Stanford would struggle to finish third this season in the SEC West. I just don't see them as having that power run game or the outside threats to be as competitive as they would have been in years past. To compare them to an SEC West team, in past years they remind me of LSU, but without as many playmaking athletes.

I'd love to see Stanford play A&M. Stanford has a pretty good feel for defensively demolishing a spread offense.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I'd love to see Stanford play A&M. Stanford has a pretty good feel for defensively demolishing a spread offense.

Would be interesting. And I am not sold on the A&M QB just yet. He looked pretty rattled several times last weekend.