Too Many Rivalries

[IrishAddiction]

I was thinking about this before the Boston College game. Notre Dame has far more rivalries than any other team in the country. Personally, i think it almost hurts the team. I know, people love watching the team that everyone else loves to hate, but that hate takes a toll.

Think about it, this year alone, 6 teams that would quite possibly call us the biggest game on their schedules. UM, Michigan St, Boston College, Navy, USC, and Purdue.

Not to mention Stanford's Harbaugh wants to beat us probably more than any other team on their schedule, being a scUM alum and all. He literally looked so pissed after last years loss i thought he was gonna punch the reporter. Pitt vs. ND games have quickly become instant classics in the Weis era, with the 4 overtime loss we took last year and anticipation building for this years game.

Other teams not on our schedule, including Penn State, Miami, and FSU also have extreme dislike for the Fighting Irish.

Im in no way saying I dislike rivalry games. I love them. But to go in week in and week out, playing against teams that have you marked with a bullseye from week one, can definately take its toll physically on a team. Our guys could tend to overlook a rivalry that the opponent considers game of the year.

I know some say it makes Notre Dame Notre Dame, but I think ND is ND because we stand for something higher, excellence on and off the field, not the fact that everyone hates us.

I would just like to see us continue to diversify our schedule even more, taking out some big10 rivals(never UM, preferably Purdue or MSU) and maybe adding more big12 and sec teams. Or even some Boise St or BYU teams. Also, not letting some of our games turn into rivalries, such as stanford or Pitt. I know im going to take some heat for this, but I think its a legit topic.

Its 1 in the morning, so I am going to call it. Let me know what you guys think, I will get back on tomorrow night.

 

[jason_h537]

You got to remeber that Notre Dame is independent and those rivalries are basically our conference games. That is 7 games that are almost gauruntees.

Especially late in the year its hard toschedule teams when they are in the middle of conference play

 

[irishtrain]

mid season bowl game

mid season bowl game

Say what you will about SEC/little11/Big12 strength of schedule we are a mid season bowl game for 6 teams. Wouldnt have it any other way, as a subway alum thats what draws me to Notre Dame football. Let 'em hate are time is coming. I too would like to get away from the little 11 'completely'. We could find other people to play and its getting difficult to play them and their refs. But a young man must understand this when he comes to Notre Dame-embrace it and it will make you a better man. Just ask Clausen. Except for the academic issues compared to other schools ( ease of getting thru ) I cant for the life of me see why a great player wouldnt want to play under these circumstances. To test himself in the most difficult arena playing for a national icon.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

...I cant for the life of me see why a great player wouldnt want to play under these circumstances. To test himself in the most difficult arena playing for a national icon.

Nice.

 

[CuerVo0220]

I know the country or the media says that eveyone either loves or hates Notre Dame. Well with all the rivalries we have I think it's more about respect. Those team having respect knowing that they're going up a team with such great history, tradition and with the biggest and most dedicated fan base. Who wouldn't want to play Notre Dame and be on the same field as the Fighting Irish. That is what I think it is, RESPECT. You know they dream to play and possibly beat the Great Notre Dame. They play for that chance!



GO IRISH!!!!!

 

[BGIF]

...Think about it, this year alone, 6 teams that would quite possibly call us the biggest game on their schedules. UM, Michigan St, Boston College, Navy, USC, and Purdue. ....

"Quite possibly", only if you're an ND fan with blue and gold tinted glasses.

ND has great rivalries with several of these teams but let's put it in perspective.

• Carr got sacked because of OSU.
• MSU and ND have a great history, The Game of the Century. But MSU's natural rival is in Ann Arbor.
• Navy stopped the nation's longest rivalry losing streak but if they could only win game in a season it would be Army
• UCLA is down but their still the arch rival of crosstown Southern Cal
• Haven't you heard, BC's in the ACC, ND is merely another Out of Conference game. I posted an article from the BC Rivals site in BC Gameday thread last week.
• Purdue - ND probably is their biggest rival considering the intrastate battle. But as I recall you want to drop PU.

MSU follows Navy as a debt of honor. Back in the Fritz Crisler days at UM, Coach Crisler lead a ban on Notre Dame not only from joining the Western Conference (Big 10) but from PLAYING ND. Crisler hatred Catholics and ND finally won a game after 8 straight losses to UM. UM didn't play ND for 40 years. Michigan State refused to good along and continued to play ND. The ND Administration remembers.

The Navy kept ND solvent during the financial crisis during WWII making it a major Navy training center.


The teams you want to drop MSU, PU, PIT are among the leaders in wins over ND. They also are in ND's recruiting backyard. Shall we make Michigan the only Midwest opponent?

PSU and ND haven't played 20 times. A couple of games since PSU joined the Big 10. The "rivalry" with FSU consists of what 4 or 5 games. We've got more roots with Texas and Alabama, neither of which really want to play ND on the schedule. Florida want no part of ND unless we go there for 1 game.

Miami ??? Common we had 4 of 5 exciting games during the Holtz years. Before Schnellenberger became Head Coach Miami wasn't decent competition for MAC teams. During the Parshegian and Devine eras ND ran off 11 straight wins only one game was close.

With Conference TV networks, Bowl tie-ins, revenue sharing, BCS scheduling, don't expect the SEC, BiG 12, etc to beat ND's door down for games. Alabama had a home and home udner contract with ND for '06 and '07 give or take a year. Then Bama got NCAA Probation and lost scholarships. Bama AD Mal Moore, an ND assistant coach under Holtz, contacted Kevin White immediately begging to be let out of the contract. They wanted to substitute ND for a cupcake as they felt they wouldn't be able to compete with ND with the scholarship reductions. ND let them out.

You want to play Boise State - why? The recruiting gold mine in Idaho? BSU's schedule is pathetic. You don't need all the fingers on one hand to count their scheduled wins over major programs. I'm not sure you need both hands for all their games wins and losses against major programs.

ND has Stanford on the schedule for recruiting and for the ND fans in CA to see a game instate. Did you notice when ND plays Stanford in Palo Alto, Southern Cal come to South Bend. The following year Stanford comes to South Bend and ND goes to L.A. That arrangement keeps an ND presence in CA every year. It's a key element in the ND Recruiting Plan.

Last week the Purdue AD note that is very difficult for ND to schedule today as an Independent. He's is correct. The college football scheduling has changed ND would be prudent to keep traditional foes that also recognize the benefits of the longterm relationship.

 

[mick2]

We get everybody's best shot. every team wants to say they beat Notre Dame.

I knew a bunch of georgia fans that couldnt remember what bowl game the bulldogs went to the year before but they sure remembered the sugar bowl win against the irish a long time ago.

12 out of 12 weeks we get every teams best shot whether we're 5-0 or 0-5 people want to say we beat ND.

we have 3 true rivals mich, navy and sc, we look at those teams as rivals to us and they look at us as rivals to them.

The rest of the "so called" rivals are just one sided we dont look at them as rivals but they look at us as their rivals. (bc,msu,pitt,stanford,etc) therefore they come in with a chip on their shoulder wanting to beat us.

 

[weisbank4]

My best friend is a UM grad, trust me, we are not the biggest game on their schedule. We are 1/100th of Ohio State and possibly even behind MSU.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

Well then. It must be universally true.

 

[CuerVo0220]

My best friend is a UM grad, trust me, we are not the biggest game on their schedule. We are 1/100th of Ohio State and possibly even behind MSU.

Well if that's the case, we really don't have a TRUE rival at all. Because UM waits 'til the end of the year every year to play their biggest rival. Navy has Army and USC has UCLA. We have strong rivals, USC being the biggest. Just wait until we start dominating once again, then everyone will be begging to call us rivals!

 

[nlroma1o]

My best friend is a UM grad, trust me, we are not the biggest game on their schedule. We are 1/100th of Ohio State and possibly even behind MSU.

I have a lot of friends that go to scUM as well. They hate OSU more than anything, but every year when they play ND they definitely still consider it to be a HUGE rivalry game. This year I was at the game, and it was 10 times more intense and than 2 years ago when I was there in 2007.

scUM is the superior program all time compared to OSU, IMO, and their fans know that. But when scUM fans have to start defending their programs history against ND, they start to feel pressure because even they start to realize who the greatest college football team is of all time. The ND scUM rivalry is only going to keep getting stronger and stronger.

 

[irishtrain]

BGIF thanks for the info on MSU. I did not know that as all we ever heard was the debt owed to Navy. Since I know this screw the rest of the little 11 and keep Sparty.

 

[irishfan]

BGIF thanks for the info on MSU. I did not know that as all we ever heard was the debt owed to Navy. Since I know this screw the rest of the little 11 and keep Sparty.

MSU also owes us cause we kept playing them every year before they joined the Big 10 when most big school would not, and that boosted their football team big time. We both owe eachother in a way, so I agree. Keep MSU.