Week Five Prediction Poll (Stanford @ ND)

[ND88]

If the Irish were gonna win, it wasn’t gonna be close.

And that’s exactly how it played out.

The game ball goes to Coach Kelly for sending this demon back to hell.

He even left points on the field by taking a knee for angelic posterity.

Our Lady is watching...

 

[Irish YJ]

Yeah, USC has definitely not gotten considerably better. The Pac-12 is just really REALLY terrible, especially the South. Honestly, looking ahead at their schedule:

vs. Colorado: They're 4-0, but Colorado is a paper tiger. They're biggest win so far is a 5-point win against 0-4 Nebraska at home. Troy beat them worse in Lincoln.

@ Utah: They have a good defense, but their offense is ATROCIOUS.

vs. Arizona State: Herm is a powder keg ready to erupt at any time.

@ Oregon State: This may as well be Sacramento Community College, because if Sacramento Community College formed a team today from random students and suited up, they would probably take Oregon State to overtime.

vs. Cal: They had no business being ranked after narrowly escaping wins against North Carolina (aka. Oregon State east...ok nevermind, that's Pittsburgh) and BYU (had their fun 30 seconds of fame against Wisconsin, back to sucking). And the sad thing is, they are far and away the best team USC plays until they play us.

@ UCLA. Now UCLA may seem like a complete and utter dumpster fire paralleled by perhaps only Nebraska....because they are. They are that. I mean, I'm looking at this schedule and I don't see a single win. Not one. Sadly, they don't luck out and play Oregon State. Chip may be heading for the wood chipper Fargo style with an 0-12 season.

In synopsis, haters and critics are bitching about ND's schedule, but this is just pathetic. Overall, the Pac-12 (particularly the South) has been a 2...MAYBE 3 team league, a few other mediocre teams and the rest are bottom feeders.

USC could very well be a mediocre at best team (which I think they are) and be 8-3 going into the ND game, just because of how utterly abysmal the Pac-12 is as a conference.

Agree the PAC 12 is down. Washington is the only team I'd be truly concerned with playing. That said, I think you're a little to down on them.

Colorado - agree, they are a paper tiger, but much improved over last year. Their QB is pretty decent.

Utah - agree their O is bad. They are however the same D that beat WV in the bowl game last year. I think this is USC's toughest game before us.

ASU - Herm be crazy, but they did beat MichSt. Not shabby. They are improving even while having to learn a new system. They even kept it close with Washington.

OSU - yes, pure trash

Cal - bad O, decent D. Improved over last year.

UCLA - bad QB situation, but they have recruited top 25 the last 5 years. They will remain at the bottom because of the QB situation, but I would not be shocked if they started making some noise late season. Be careful with your CK critique... Acamp scolded me for doing so the other night lol..


In short,,,, the PAC is down, but look at the ACC. They have really only have two teams of stature right now in Clemson and Miami. Big12, same with OK and WV. Both of those conferences have their share of shit teams.

Back to USC... again, not saying ND shouldn't beat them. Not saying that they will be world beaters. I do believe USC will be improved by the time we play them. Going on the road to USC is never a given. And lastly, and most importantly, ND has been inconsistent under BK, and has proven very capable of laying a big egg. I do however think the year is different. Haven't felt this good about ND, and how well rounded they look, in decades.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Zona is not that awful. They are hella better than Ball State and Vandy. They've lost to Houston (who is #2 in points per game), and played BYU (who beat Wiscy) very close.

Washington State is bad.... ? They've thrashed all the crap teams on their schedule, and just beat a solid Utah team.

Like I said, JT should still be in HS... He's still learning. I'm not saying they will be world beaters, but they will improve, and I'd wager they are ranked, and right there competing for the PAC CC at the end of the year.

ND absolutely should beat them. But it is @USC, and ND has shit the bed before.

Zona is pretty awful. They are probably better than Ball State. I don't think they're better than Vandy. But really, who cares? The offense that played Ball State/Vandy is no more. This team probably beats Ball and Vandy by 30-40 points minimum.

Zona got absolutely embarrassed by Houston, who is decent, but not a really good team at all. Texas Tech absolutely torched them the next week.

There is not a single player in CFB more horrendously underutilized than Khalil Tate. Kevin Sumlin has done a downright sh*t job since getting there.

As for Wazzu, they've thrashed the crap out of all the teams they've played. They started the year with Wyoming, San Jose State and Eastern Washington. An FCS team, a team so bad that they might as well be an FCS team and a bottom tier MWC squad. Also, Utah is not good. Sure they have a good defense, but they make up for it by having an absolutely incompetent offense. Wazzu's defense is also quite trash, but because they play so many trash offenses, they're able to mask that weakness.

 

[Crazy Balki]

Agree the PAC 12 is down. Washington is the only team I'd be truly concerned with playing. That said, I think you're a little to down on them.

Colorado - agree, they are a paper tiger, but much improved over last year. Their QB is pretty decent. I think that's more their schedule so far

Utah - agree their O is bad. They are however the same D that beat WV in the bowl game last year. I think this is USC's toughest game before us. Unfortunately, WVU kind of sucked last year, whereas now they've finally gotten their act together it seems. And I think "bad" is a major understatement for Utah's offense.

ASU - Herm be crazy, but they did beat MichSt. Not shabby. They are improving even while having to learn a new system. They even kept it close with Washington. Then followed it up by losing to San Diego State. I don't think Sparty is a good team. They barely got by Utah State, lost to ASU and Central Michigan was able to hang with them, who sucks.

OSU - yes, pure trash

Cal - bad O, decent D. Improved over last year.

UCLA - bad QB situation, but they have recruited top 25 the last 5 years. They will remain at the bottom because of the QB situation, but I would not be shocked if they started making some noise late season. Be careful with your CK critique... Acamp scolded me for doing so the other night lol..


In short,,,, the PAC is down, but look at the ACC. They have really only have two teams of stature right now in Clemson and Miami. Big12, same with OK and WV. Both of those conferences have their share of shit teams.

Back to USC... again, not saying ND shouldn't beat them. Not saying that they will be world beaters. I do believe USC will be improved by the time we play them. Going on the road to USC is never a given. And lastly, and most importantly, ND has been inconsistent under BK, and has proven very capable of laying a big egg. I do however think the year is different. Haven't felt this good about ND, and how well rounded they look, in decades.

NT