Coaches Poll Top 25 (ND #7)

[koonja]

So if we beat #1 FSU were better than our remaining except for maybe #20 ranked ASU? ... for reals?

I think FSU is a little overrated, and I think ASU is really good with Taylor Kelly. I guess I'm saying IDK how good ASU actually is since he's been out the past ~ 3 weeks, but I think their ceiling is very high. That team is real quick. Real fucking quick.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

To me that's not even that relevant when you play above average to better opponents week after week without any cup cakes or bye weeks surrounding them all... when you do that teams tend to stumble, even if they are 'better than every opponent on the schedule'... this has bitten ND numerous time over the years... you need a true eb and flow with some real gimmies in there (see the SEC in November)... these games are not played without impacting the next.

It bites every team here and there. That's why it's so hard to go undefeated. It's why Arizona has beaten Oregon two years in a row...it's why Boise State won a few big bowl games back in the day.

Our schedule is still a gauntlet. There are no terrible teams. All solid to excellent. That's tough.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I'm kind of with Koon, I mean, while young this is one of the more talented ND teams in a long while... and they look good...

but a run of UNC, FSU, Navy, ASU, NW, Louisville, and USC is still very difficult, especially when you consider them all back to back without let up, that makes every game more and more difficult...

I'm just glad they are 5-0 and realistically hope the floor is 9 wins at this point... aside from that it's game to game for me until we get further down the road.

Words I'm sure you never thought you'd say.

 

[ickythump1225]

I think the lack of movement for the Irish in the polls comes down to a couple of things. First, the ghost of 2012 is still lurking. Fair or unfair. Secondly, as much as Irish fans want to prop up Stanford as a signature win, I think most see Stanford as a mid-teen type team this year. They have not been impressive at all. Being ranked at the # 5 spot should be looked at as both a blessing and a cursing. A blessing in the fact that ND is still undefeated as others are losing. Keep winning and it takes care of itself. And a win at FSU will go a long way in voters minds as to whether this Irish team is legit or not. A cursing in the fact that if ND does lose a game, they will probably fall all the way down to the 8-10 spot. And one loss will hurt the Irish more than some other teams. Simply put, to get to the final four I think the Irish have to be undefeated.

Yeah beating the #1 overall defense in the nation in a monsoon is nothing compared to Alabama's signature win over West Virginia. Or Baylor's signature win over... Or Auburn's signature win over KSU. Or aTm's signature win over USCe.

Change Stanford's conference affiliation from "Pac-12" to "SEC" and all of a sudden that win would be worth a lot more.

As for the ghost of 2012...F**K that. What about the ghost of Miss St.'s entire history? Or the ghost of the last 50 years for Ole Miss? We went undefeated and made it to a MNC in 2012 while Miss St. and Ole Miss fans held up SEC signs as Florida/LSU/Alabama/Auburn won national titles.

 

[ickythump1225]

Even if we beat FSU, I don't think there's a better than 50/50 shot we go undefeated.

@ASU is going to be no pushover with Taylor Kelly back anytime now. @USC is also a never know. Louisville is playing really good ball, and they're getting a WR back this week who had 70 catches for 1,200 yards last year, Northwestern is playing tough, and Navy always sucks... Just ask OSU who should have lost.

I still think we're a 1-loss team at best, and I think our schedule is plenty strong to put us in the playoffs with.

If we beat FSU, we're better than our remaining opponents, outside of ASU, who you really can't say for sure.. They're undefeated with Kelly and playing damn good without him even. Still, very hard to go undefeated with almost every game being a formidable opponent.

We're better than ASU. I'm not saying a win there is a mortal lock but we're way more talented from top to bottom than ASU. That defense is garbage. Tommy Rees almost put up 300 yards passing and 3 TDs against them last year.

 

[ACamp1900]

Words I'm sure you never thought you'd say.

Not on the level of, "Thanks Cacky, now can you hand me that towel...'... but it's close.

 

[irishfan]

Auburn scares me. Bama does as well just by name and cause of Saban. Baylor would be a pain to play. Besides those three teams, there really is no one out there this year that I think we'd be a legit big underdog against.

Miss State is so overhyped right now due to beating what has proved to be a crappy LSU team, and beating an A&M that was so overrated due to a win against 3-3 South Carolina. I have no idea what to make of Ole Miss. I really respect beating Bama, but they looked pretty awful the first 4 games. The fact that Georgia (sweet loss to South Carolina) and Mizzou (Indiana?) are the top 2 in the SEC East is great.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Yeah beating the #1 overall defense in the nation in a monsoon is nothing compared to Alabama's signature win over West Virginia. Or Baylor's signature win over... Or Auburn's signature win over KSU. Or aTm's signature win over USCe.

You've mentioned that a couple of times...but wouldn't the best defensive team in the country want to play in good weather? It theoretically benefits the team with a worse defense (if they're #1, we're presumably worse than them) to have difficult scoring conditions, right?

 

[koonja]

IMO, we should be hoping for a blowout of Auburn and MSU (doesn't matter who), and for AM to beat Ole Miss... Although a loss to AM wouldn't hurt down the road, as they could end up ahead of us if we lose one. Kind of a win-win for those two games, but blowouts are ideal IMO.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Yeah beating the #1 overall defense in the nation in a monsoon is nothing compared to Alabama's signature win over West Virginia. Or Baylor's signature win over... Or Auburn's signature win over KSU. Or aTm's signature win over USCe.

Change Stanford's conference affiliation from "Pac-12" to "SEC" and all of a sudden that win would be worth a lot more.

As for the ghost of 2012...F**K that. What about the ghost of Miss St.'s entire history? Or the ghost of the last 50 years for Ole Miss? We went undefeated and made it to a MNC in 2012 while Miss St. and Ole Miss fans held up SEC signs as Florida/LSU/Alabama/Auburn won national titles.

Just restating what has been stated already. I don't think most anyone was putting much stock in Stanford thus far this season. I do think ND is getting a pretty fair shake in the polls thus far. I don't see much of an issue with either Ole Miss or Miss State being ranked higher at this point. And, like it or not, the ghost of 2012 is out there in the eyes of pollsters. Is it fair? Maybe... maybe not. But denying it doesn't probably enter their minds is risky at best. Beating FSU will eliminate a lot of the doubt surrounding the Irish thus far this season. And, like I said, I think ND has a good shot to do just that.

 

[Booslum31]

You've mentioned that a couple of times...but wouldn't the best defensive team in the country want to play in good weather? It theoretically benefits the team with a worse defense (if they're #1, we're presumably worse than them) to have difficult scoring conditions, right?

His point is more valid without the reference to the weather. Our signature win (thus far) was against the stingiest defense in the land.

 

[Cackalacky]

Not on the level of, "Thanks Cacky, now can you hand me that towel...'... but it's close.

Wow..... Just wow.... I've told you before. You get the moist towelettes. Hand towels are for my bitches.

 

[koonja]

The polls seem to be taking it week by week, and starting from scratch each time. I do like that perspective better than the old 'well they were ranked ahead of you... so you can't jump them' model. It just isn't necessarily working out for us YET... But I do think it's the right perspective.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

His point is more valid without the reference to the weather. Our signature win (thus far) was against the stingiest defense in the land.

I agree with that. But their offense only put 10 on USC (who allowed 37 to BC).

 

[Irish Insanity]

At this point there are way to many scenarios to be hoping for. Leave that until there is a week or three left in season and IF we are still undefeated or a one loss team. As much as nobody wants to hear about the ghost of 2012 haunting us, we need it to. We may need a finish like that one where a few teams above us stumble at the finish to get in. With that being said, I don't care where we are at in relation to the playoffs until at least the conclusion of the FSU game. We all agree that't our toughest game. Lets worry about winning that one first.

 

[ACamp1900]

I liked it better in the 1990's when the clear bias was on our side... 6-3-1 and still up in yo Fiesta bowl 'Merica.... deal.

 

[Fbolt]

Wow..... Just wow.... I've told you before. You get the moist towelettes. Hand towels are for my bitches.

I believe you have a taker.

 

[NDALA]

I liked it better in the 1990's when the clear bias was on our side... 6-3-1 and still up in yo Fiesta bowl 'Merica.... deal.

Haha that was crazy! To bad it started the bad bowl losing streak. And it was actually 6-4-1 going in i believe.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Auburn scares me. Bama does as well just by name and cause of Saban. Baylor would be a pain to play. Besides those three teams, there really is no one out there this year that I think we'd be a legit big underdog against.

Miss State is so overhyped right now due to beating what has proved to be a crappy LSU team, and beating an A&M that was so overrated due to a win against 3-3 South Carolina. I have no idea what to make of Ole Miss. I really respect beating Bama, but they looked pretty awful the first 4 games. The fact that Georgia (sweet loss to South Carolina) and Mizzou (Indiana?) are the top 2 in the SEC East is great.

To me, Ole Miss has a pretty nasty defense. But their schedule is crazy. Auburn is still an unknown to me. They look good during some stretches of games and other times look bad. Miss State has a great DL but their secondary is questionable. Prescott is playing well and if he continues to, then State will have a shot in most every game they play. A&M has a horrible defense, and their QB can be rattled easily. End of the day, there is a reason the Aggies finish where they do every year in the division - all the hype or not. Ga and Mizzou are average teams right now. Of the two, Ga has the most upside but their Qb has to get better quickly. Bama... I think we got a shot to run the table but it really depends on Sims play. And at this point, he either learns and gets better or he don't. If he doesn't learn, I can see us dropping a couple more.

 

[Old Man Mike]

Gentlemen, this may be simpler than you think. If we win vs FSU the national discussion of whether we're any good will not only be over, but we may then easily go undefeated. Even if one of the PAC-12 beats us then, we'll look better than the ACC and the B1G, meaning that one would have to cram 2 SECs, one BIG-12, and one PAC-12 in ahead of us... we being 11-1 with FSU, Stanford, and one of USC or ASU in our pockets.

If we lose competitively to FSU, but sweep the PAC-12, then we look better than the PAC and the B1G, and they will have to cram FSU, two SECs, and a BIG12 in ahead.

In either scenario, the BIG12 champ may not turn out to be that gaudy, and the "second" SEC might have two losses.

Nothing matters but going at least 11-1, with a well-played and competed loss if any. I'm far from sure that we'll do that, but if we do, we're a real option due to who that means we've beaten strategically.

 

[gkIrish]

A loss to FSU leaves us with a "best win" over a 3+ loss team in all likelihood. I really don't know if we deserve to be in under that scenario. I know we created a tough schedule but it clearly hasn't panned out that way. I don't think it will be enough to overcome FSU, the SEC champ, the SEC #2, and either Oregon, OSU/MSU, or Big12

 

[koonja]

I'll bet every vbuck a 1-loss ND team (with the loss being to FSU by 14 or less), will be in the playoffs.

Who wants it?

 

[johnnycando]

Fuck one loss.

 

[SoDakDomer]

I agree with that. But their offense only put 10 on USC (who allowed 37 to BC).

They racked up yards and would have more points if not for the redzone issues. Against us they couldn't do anything.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

They racked up yards and would have more points if not for the redzone issues. Against us they couldn't do anything.

We're going by yards? Well, in that case, Stanford has the 20th ranked defense.

 

[nd_fan]

I'll bet every vbuck a 1-loss ND team (with the loss being to FSU by 14 or less), will be in the playoffs.

Who wants it?

1 Loss ND team will have a hard time getting in. It will most likely be 1 loss SEC Champ, ACC Champ (FSU), 1loss Big10 Champ or 1 loss PAC 12 Champ ( AZ or Oregon). ND will be left outside looking in.

 

[koonja]

1 Loss ND team will have a hard time getting in. It will most likely be 1 loss SEC Champ, ACC Champ (FSU), 1loss Big10 Champ or 1 loss PAC 12 Champ ( AZ or Oregon). ND will be left outside looking in.

I'm wide open for some betting on that .

A main reason is, I really think the pac 12 winner will have at least 2 losses (not to mention, there's a chance one of those losses would be to us), as will the SEC winner. Not worried about our resume stacking up against the B1G or the Big 12.

 

[gkIrish]

A loss to FSU leaves us with a "best win" over a 3+ loss team in all likelihood. I really don't know if we deserve to be in under that scenario. I know we created a tough schedule but it clearly hasn't panned out that way. I don't think it will be enough to overcome FSU, the SEC champ, the SEC #2, and either Oregon, OSU/MSU, or Big12

To expand on this, there's actually a very real possibility that every team besides FSU on our schedule will finish the season with 4+ losses. Ignoring games the teams should win:

ASU (1 loss) vs. ND, @Arizona, @Washington, vs. Utah, vs. Stanford

USC (2 losses) vs. ND, @Utah, @UCLA

Stanford (2 losses): @ASU, @Oregon, vs. Utah, @UCLA

Louisville (1 loss): @ND, @Clemson, vs. FSU

 

[irishog77]

I'll wager a lot of money that the sec doesn't get 2 teams into the playoff.

 

[ulukinatme]

I'm wide open for some betting on that .

A main reason is, I really think the pac 12 winner will have at least 2 losses (not to mention, there's a chance one of those losses would be to us), as will the SEC winner. Not worried about our resume stacking up against the B1G or the Big 12.

Maybe the B1G, but I wouldn't be so sure about a 1 loss Big 12 team. They pretty much all play each other, and there's 5 Big 12 teams ranked in the Top 25 right now. That kind of schedule would be somewhat comparable to our own. If 1-2 SEC teams make it into the playoff, that leaves 2-3 spots for the ACC champ (Most likely FSU), a 1-2 loss PAC 12 champ (Probably Oregon, but who knows), the Big 12 champ, and us. I think we'd get in before a B1G team as long as the loss is to FSU and it's close, but we'd still have to go head to head with those other champions. 12-0 is the only way to guarantee a spot.