Notre Dame's Poll Woes

[phork]

Notre Dame not impressing pollsters - NCAA Football - SI.com

 

[NDOM]

We dont deserve to be ranked yet. Who have we beaten? Until we can beat the big boys I dont think we SHOULD be ranked. IF and i mean a BIG IF, we can beat Usc then the pollsters may put us in around 18-20th. In the meantime we are right where we should be. Plus top 25 teams dont give up an average of 450+ yards per game.

 

[irish4ever]

We dont deserve to be ranked yet. Who have we beaten? Until we can beat the big boys I dont think we SHOULD be ranked. IF and i mean a BIG IF, we can beat Usc then the pollsters may put us in around 18-20th. In the meantime we are right where we should be. Plus top 25 teams dont give up an average of 450+ yards per game.

I couldn't agree with you more .... my thoughts exactly!

 

[mick2]

yea but i bet we are the only unranked team that has a top ten offense. at least last time i checked we did.

 

[weisbank4]

I wish Weis would quit commenting on the polls. He does this every year and it always makes him look bad. He said "were 11 seconds from being undefeated" well theyre also about a combined 11 seconds from being 1-4 as well.

I hate when fans or coaches pull out snippets that make them look good. Sarkisian has 4th and goal from the 1 foot line Saturday and got scared and kicked the field goal. That was the biggest break we got all season. I was stunned when he kicked knowing he was giving the ball to Clausen with less than a TD lead. MSU had a overthrow on a wide open TD that puts the game out of reach. Purdue has a 4th down stop to seal a win.

Dont say youre 11 seconds from undefeated when youre also 11 seconds from having 4 losses.

I think were a top 25 team but it means nothing right now anyway. We go out and beat USC in any fashion we will vault into the top 15. None of it matters until 2 weeks. Thats why I dont get Weis fussing over it now.

 

[mick2]

hes not fussing, he was answering a question. i want my coach and my team to think that we're being disrespected, that much more inspiration to go beat sc

 

[NDinL.A.]

Sarkisian has 4th and goal from the 1 foot line Saturday and got scared and kicked the field goal. That was the biggest break we got all season. I was stunned when he kicked knowing he was giving the ball to Clausen with less than a TD lead. MSU had a overthrow on a wide open TD that puts the game out of reach. Purdue has a 4th down stop to seal a win.

I guess you forgot the 10 plays (seemingly) that ND stuffed UW on 3 goal line stops before that? If he goes for it again, with the odds against him the way we kept on stuffing them, then we score a TD and they have to score a TD, not kick a FG to tie. Completely different.

When Weis goes for it you crucify him, when another coach doesn't go for it, you crucufy him. Wow, can anybody win?

Sark did the right thing considering the circumstances. I mean, how many times does a team need to stop you in order for you to understand???

 

[Rocket's Rocket Fan]

We dont deserve to be ranked yet. Who have we beaten? Until we can beat the big boys I dont think we SHOULD be ranked. IF and i mean a BIG IF, we can beat Usc then the pollsters may put us in around 18-20th. In the meantime we are right where we should be. Plus top 25 teams dont give up an average of 450+ yards per game.

I have to agee with you NDOM. We have not beat anyone yet that makes us worthy of being in the top 25. Yes we are 4-1 but without a few amazing drives we could be 1-4. As I look at the top 25 I do see teams that I think we are better than (Cincy and BYU) but until those team show that they don't belong I have to believe that believe that they are better than us.

If ND wants to get up into the top 25 that HAVE to win on the 17th. If we don't we would have to win out and finish 10-2 if we even want to sniff the top 25, and looking at our schedule after U$C I'm not sure if its strong enough to put us in IMO.

BUT looking at the past rankings (witch I think are pointless until about week 6 or 7) and the fact that we are Notre Dame I think that we would be in the top 25 if we finish 10-2. So i guess what I'm saying is I don't think we belong there yet but who knows buy the end of the season.

BEAT SC!!!

 

[mick2]

if you use the math that we only beat bad teams and lost to a good team then, penn state should not be ranked either, as well as byu who actually got blown out by a bad fsu team. but they are ranked. im not saying we deserve it or not BUT i am saying the polls are ridiculous.

a win over sc is our ticket to the top 15 and a win over the rest of the teams is our ticket to the bcs

 

[weisbank4]

I guess you forgot the 10 plays (seemingly) that ND stuffed UW on 3 goal line stops before that? If he goes for it again, with the odds against him the way we kept on stuffing them, then we score a TD and they have to score a TD, not kick a FG to tie. Completely different.

When Weis goes for it you crucify him, when another coach doesn't go for it, you crucufy him. Wow, can anybody win?

Sark did the right thing considering the circumstances. I mean, how many times does a team need to stop you in order for you to understand???

Actually in a previous post a while ago I said I agreed with Weis' calls at the end of the Michigan game - choosing to seal the win versus running in to the line 3 times and punting anyway.

Sark absolutely did not make the right call. All the previous attempts aside, on the road you go for the win. It was 4th and goal and they needed less than a yard. He flinched because of the previous stuffed attempts but he shouldve looked at the situation as make or break.

As a ND fan did you not breathe a sigh of relief when you saw that kicker come on?

 

[NDinL.A.]

Actually in a previous post a while ago I said I agreed with Weis' calls at the end of the Michigan game - choosing to seal the win versus running in to the line 3 times and punting anyway.

Sark absolutely did not make the right call. All the previous attempts aside, on the road you go for the win. It was 4th and goal and they needed less than a yard. He flinched because of the previous stuffed attempts but he shouldve looked at the situation as make or break.

As a ND fan did you not breathe a sigh of relief when you saw that kicker come on?

Absolutely. But I can totally see why he did it. 12 plays on the 8 yard line or closer, and not one score. Tons of plays from the one. I can see your point, but you gotta look at it from where he's coming from. He needed those 3 points to make it a TD game. ND couldn't score a TD to save their lives, so make them get a TD instead of a FG to win. He just didn't realize that Clausen is turning into Tom Brady at the end of games, where he ALWAYS gets it done...

 

[mick2]

Actually in a previous post a while ago I said I agreed with Weis' calls at the end of the Michigan game - choosing to seal the win versus running in to the line 3 times and punting anyway.

Sark absolutely did not make the right call. All the previous attempts aside, on the road you go for the win. It was 4th and goal and they needed less than a yard. He flinched because of the previous stuffed attempts but he shouldve looked at the situation as make or break.

As a ND fan did you not breathe a sigh of relief when you saw that kicker come on?

yea you breathe a sigh of relief because the D held the line 3 Times! once in the third quarter and twice in the fourth! thats a combined 10 chances to score a td only to come up short all three times. if you count the false start that gave them an extra chance.

Remember also that the irish offense wasnt having much luck scoring tds i think sark figure the d could hold up one more time and force a fg.

if you cant get in with 10 tries what makes you think 11 will be any different?

i am surprised you are not a head coach at a major university yet since you know it all!

 

[WeisWeisBaby]

Honestly, I'm convinced Weisbank4 really either doesn't know anything about football, or just has an agenda to neglect all that has happened to prove his point that Weis sucks.

 

[TDHeysus]

....I wish Weis would quit commenting on the polls. He does this every year and it always makes him look bad.....

Every coach does this, this is nothing new. I seem to remember Lou Holtz stating his case something about beating the PAC10 champ, Big8 champ, ACC champ, big east champ and how something like that would never be duplicated again

Coaches jockeying for position in the polls is absolutely nothing new, but when WEis does it, its the worst thing imaginable.

but of course, if he didnt do it, you would bitch that was wasnt doing all he could for the team (its a no-win for weis with some ppl)

 

[weisbank4]

Honestly, I'm convinced Weisbank4 really either doesn't know anything about football, or just has an agenda to neglect all that has happened to prove his point that Weis sucks.

I never said Weis sucks. I like Weis. I want Weis to succeed because it will mean ND has succeeded. I think it would be bad to fire Weis this year for not meeting these artificial win totals people throw out there with no reasoning due to the fact it seems like hes bringing in some powerhouse classes.

To me next year is the judgement year. His top 2 classes will be seniors and juniors.

Im sorry but every year Ive heard him sit there and complain about the polls. To me its beneath the head coach to play that card. You cant just say "were 11 seconds from being undefeated" its cherry picking to make your case. I can come along and say "youre 3 fortunate plays from being 1-4" and what is his retort?

 

[WaveDomer]

I understand the "we're x away from being 1 -4" thoughts, but honestly, so what? The Giants were a crazy ass catch away from not winning the Super Bowl. Chris Webber was a timeout away from winning the Final Four. Kentucky was a sick ass pass and turnaround away from beating Duke and going to the Final Four. That game can be played all day.

 

[weisbank4]

I understand the "we're x away from being 1 -4" thoughts, but honestly, so what? The Giants were a crazy ass catch away from not winning the Super Bowl. Chris Webber was a timeout away from winning the Final Four. Kentucky was a sick ass pass and turnaround away from beating Duke and going to the Final Four. That game can be played all day.

Exactly - thats why its beneath the head coach to say stuff like "were 11 seconds away from being undefeated"

 

[WaveDomer]

Exactly - thats why its beneath the head coach to say stuff like "were 11 seconds away from being undefeated"

You're right. It goes both ways. I'm not critical of Weis doing it, but you're right about it going both ways.

 

[PADOMERNUT]

Exactly - thats why its beneath the head coach to say stuff like "were 11 seconds away from being undefeated"

So you know are telling Weis what is appropriate to say? Good God he can never win!!!

 

[weisbank4]

So you know are telling Weis what is appropriate to say? Good God he can never win!!!

Thats a little overly dramatic isnt it? Why are there message boards then? If you cant agree or disagree with something this site has no reason to exist.

He can say whatever the hell he wants, I dont have to agree with it. If people can say inflammatory things about the President from either side of the political spectrum, I cant disagree with a football coach?

Its a double edged sword Weis is playing with if he wants to go down the "what if" path, if you cant agree with that then oh well.

 

[Honey Nut Irish]

Interestingly Notre Dame is #28 in the Sagarin rankings. USC is #1.

Also according to his system SC is a 7.75 pt favorite over ND.

I personally don't think we should be ranked yet. We haven't proven anything. We have played 5 average football teams. As you know, against those teams we have 4 wins and 1 loss. 3 of those wins being extremely close.

From an unbiased perspective this makes ND also look like a very average team. The USC game will show where this team deserves to be. If we win, we will easily vault into the top 20 or higher. So not being ranked at this point is not really an issue. A win in two weeks will more than make up for it.

 

[weisbank4]

Interestingly Notre Dame is #28 in the Sagarin rankings. USC is #1.

Also according to his system SC is a 7.75 pt favorite over ND.

I personally don't think we should be ranked yet. We haven't proven anything. We have played 5 average football teams. As you know, against those teams we have 4 wins and 1 loss. 3 of those wins being extremely close.

From an unbiased perspective this makes ND also look like a very average team. The USC game will show where this team deserves to be. If we win, we will easily vault into the top 20 or higher. So not being ranked at this point is not really an issue. A win in two weeks will more than make up for it.

I really think Washington was the best team ND played to date. You cant count out a team with a QB like Jake Locker. I was really worried about him and I thought we really did a nice job on him. Saturday was a solid win for ND. I wont criticize the closeness of that game but the others shouldve been decisive wins. We had Michigan beat, that loss is really gonna be the thorn going forward because UM will have 4 losses.

 

[irishfan]

I really think Washington was the best team ND played to date. You cant count out a team with a QB like Jake Locker. I was really worried about him and I thought we really did a nice job on him. Saturday was a solid win for ND. I wont criticize the closeness of that game but the others shouldve been decisive wins. We had Michigan beat, that loss is really gonna be the thorn going forward because UM will have 4 losses.

I think MSU is a better team than Washington

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Somehow ND will be ranked in the top 25 after being idle for a week. Its better for the TV ratings. It will be "welcome to South bend as the 25th ranked fighting irish take the 7th the ranked trojans of Southern California." It sounds much better. So i am not sure if it is possible for ND to jump into the top 25 on a bye week but i wouldnt put it past the media to find a way just to boost ratings.

 

[kmoose]

Somehow ND will be ranked in the top 25 after being idle for a week. Its better for the TV ratings. It will be "welcome to South bend as the 25th ranked fighting irish take the 7th the ranked trojans of Southern California." It sounds much better. So i am not sure if it is possible for ND to jump into the top 25 on a bye week but i wouldnt put it past the media to find a way just to boost ratings.

I know what you are trying to say here, but think of it this way: Do you really think that anyone from ESPN, CBS, ABC, etc, are going to rank ND, just to pump up NBC's ratings?

 

[Bubba]

Concerning the whole "11 seconds from...", last year this team would actually be 1-4. They are learning to win. They have confidence and do not panic. This is a sign of a good football team. Yes, we have played down to our competition a couple times. When we stop doing that, we will be a great football team. It's all coming together. I'm not going to worry about the polls. Just keep winning, by 1 point or 10 it doesn't really matter. There are no bad wins. This team is 4-1, lets enjoy that for a change.

 

[phork]

From an unbiased perspective this makes ND also look like a very average team. The USC game will show where this team deserves to be. If we win, we will easily vault into the top 20 or higher. So not being ranked at this point is not really an issue. A win in two weeks will more than make up for it.

You can't say that, otherwise the Koolaid-Brigade will come and throw insults at you. I'm as happy as anyone that ND is 3-1, but its a long season to go with USC first up on the plate. Jimmy is a stud, Charlie learned that 3 > 0 and the defense can stuff anyone on the goal line.

 

[WabashFalcon]

You can't say that, otherwise the Koolaid-Brigade will come and throw insults at you. I'm as happy as anyone that ND is 3-1, but its a long season to go with USC first up on the plate. Jimmy is a stud, Charlie learned that 3 > 0 and the defense can stuff anyone on the goal line.

My friend... our Irish are 4-1.

 

[phork]

I drank a lot this weekend. In my head its still Saturday approx 1:30PM.

 

[johnnykillz]

I drank a lot this weekend. In my head its still Saturday approx 1:30PM.

And an Irishmen isn't drunk so long as he can hold onto a blade of grass. Have another pint! lol

Man I truly laughed my rear off on that one...