ND is gonna have a perception problem as long as the ESPN Gameday crew is running things. Those guys are all BFF’s, and they enjoy poking at ND.
Even Kirk, who previously was the most fair (bordering on favorable), has seemed kind of dismissive lately. I think he’s just bitter in general ever since his family got run out of Ohio.
So until ESPN decides to break up the crew and ruin the show (never gonna happen), or until McAfee and Saban start voicing pro-ND content louder every week as counter voices, ND isn’t going to generate any respect, regardless of results or metrics, until they beat an SEC team.
And even then… if they beat Georgia on 1/1, I can guarantee Reece starts the next show’s intro with “The Irish got past an already battered-and-bruised UGA, the Dawgs missing a starting QB…”