What If????

[BeatSC]

In order to keep some delusional hope alive I offer the upcoming scenario and what it would/could mean for a Notre Dame team that wins out:

The following things occur:

Mich defeats Wisc
Bama beats Auburn
WV beat Ok
OK also loses Big 12 championship
Wisc loses to Minn
Mich beats OSU
GT beats Geo and then loses to Bama in SEC Championship
Most of ND's opponents continue to win. NC St, Stanford, USC, BC, WF, Navy Mich St,
Miami still needs to beat Pitt, UVA and then Clemson. We need Miami to win out or lose out.
Clemson gets beat by SC and Miami.

Who is left to fill the 4 spots?

Bama
ND
Miami and who else? This is a lot but you never know.....There are other ways we could back in.

 

[Irish YJ]

In order to keep some delusional hope alive I offer the upcoming scenario and what it would/could mean for a Notre Dame team that wins out:

The following things occur:

Mich defeats Wisc
Bama beats Auburn
WV beat Ok
OK also loses Big 12 championship
Wisc loses to Minn
Mich beats OSU
GT beats Geo and then loses to Bama in SEC Championship
Most of ND's opponents continue to win. NC St, Stanford, USC, BC, WF, Navy Mich St,
Miami still needs to beat Pitt, UVA and then Clemson. We need Miami to win out or lose out.
Clemson gets beat by SC and Miami.

Who is left to fill the 4 spots?

Bama
ND
Miami and who else? This is a lot but you never know.....There are other ways we could back in.

Bama, Wisconsin, and Miami winning out is our best shot. Add in UGA losing to GT, OK losing to WVU or TCU, and we're probably number 4.

 

[IrishLax]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

 

[notredomer23]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

Absolutely this. 11-2 and winning a major bowl game after going 4-8 exceeds even the biggest homers' on this board expectations.

 

[irishfan]

Bama, Wisconsin, and Miami winning out is our best shot. Add in UGA losing to GT, OK losing to WVU or TCU, and we're probably number 4.

This. There's a very real chance that a 2-loss team makes it this year and the committee will be hesitant to put in someone who just lost the conf champ game on a neutral field.

Assuming there is an undeated Bama, Miami, Wisconsin...

UGA will be hard to argue at #4 if they just lost to #1 Bama and have limited impressive wins. Their win over ND was an eternity ago and our profile is much better.

11-2 OU will be tough to argue over 11-2 TCU when TCU just beat them on a neutral field...and TCU doesn't really have any argument over ND.

11-2 Clemson would be tough to beat out but if Miami handles them by 10+ it is very possible. We will have more wins over ranked opponents in the end...I really wish Clemson were #3 not #2 as it would seemingly be easier for committee to drop them out of top-4 at the end of the season.

The PAC-12 champ is either 11-2 Washington State who has no shot or a team that we beat head-to-head.

 

[ACamp1900]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

It would be so epic troll job if ND made it in by some crazy situation and won the whole thing tho.... the mind melting it would cause would make it all the more sweet.

 

[Rack Em]

It would be so epic troll job if ND made it in by some crazy situation and won the whole thing tho.... the mind melting it would cause would make it all the more sweet.

It's more likely that we'd get butt fucked in the playoff. But I'm glad you're thinking outside your usual pessimistic box!

 

[wizards8507]

 

[ACamp1900]

It's more likely that we'd get butt fucked in the playoff. But I'm glad you're thinking outside your usual pessimistic box!

The only way to remove myself from my eternal pain is to project said pain onto others,...

 

[koonja]

Would you rather ND make the playoffs and beat #1 Oklahoma in the first round and wait the winner of Wisconsin vs. Bama...

Or,

OSU lose to Michigan, fire Urban, and him take the ND job?

 

[ulukinatme]

 

[ulukinatme]

Would you rather ND make the playoffs and beat #1 Oklahoma in the first round and wait the winner of Wisconsin vs. Bama...

Or,

OSU lose to Michigan, fire Urban, and him take the ND job?

Urban is already coming to ND, but as an OC for Stoops while Gruden runs the defense.

 

[BobbyMac]

If ND misses the playoffs at 10-2 and gets stomped by Bama, Clemson, OSU on January 1, I'm gonna hammer the weak AF ND fans that preferred to sit and pee in a stall instead of standing at the urinal like men.

 

[ND88]

I think whether or not ND could hang in the playoffs depends on if you think the team was exposed as fraudulent this past Saturday. Watching the Miami game makes it hard not to think otherwise. The team was lifeless out there. I personally don’t think Miami’s team is that good. They will be exposed. It’s just a matter of time. With that said, we have no business being in the playoffs. People have been focusing on Wimbush, but the O Line and receivers were pretty awful as well. I heard Tranquil say something about needing more preparation for the sound volume (boosting the music) to get the body ready for intense away games. Really? Is that what it was?

 

[Irishize]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

Agreed. Assuming ND coasts by Navy and beats Stanford is far from a lock. As ND fans, we should all know that by now. Go look at how similar the first game in November the past three years have been to the WF game this Nov.

2014: trailing Navy after three quarters before pulling out a win. The wheels came off after that game as the Irish lost their next four.

2015: ND allows Pitt to score some late TDs on sloppy play from both the O & the D making the score closer than it should’ve been had ND finished them properly. They went on to lackluster wins over two 3-9 teams that gave the CFP concern in their rankings before the BVG D allowed Stanford to win the season finale making the CFP a moot point.

2016: ugly season but ND could still finish in respectable fashion with a winning record. After dominating Miami 20-7 in first half, they get outscored 20-10 in second half to barely hold on to victory. That was followed by the Navy loss, the VT come from behind loss & the SC beatdown in LA.

So...that being said, this team has earned the benefit of the doubt as, other than last week’s bed soiling, ND has taken care of business by comfortably beating all their opponents & competing in their other loss. Hopefully, BK & Co see this as an opportunity to finish November on a high note vs the above performances.

Start by being in control of Navy by halftime. Limit them to a few 3 & outs, a turnover or two while holding them to FG vs TD occassionally and let the Offense overpower their D with the run game.

Then prepare for a hard fought contest in Palo Alto to avenge the losses from the past two seasons.

 

[Irishnuke]

Here I am.

Does anybody really want a repeat of NC against Bama? We are much better off not making the playoffs. We don’t deserve to be there, even if teams ahead of us shit the bed.

 

[ickythump1225]

 

[ickythump1225]

If ND misses the playoffs at 10-2 and gets stomped by Bama, Clemson, OSU on January 1, I'm gonna hammer the weak AF ND fans that preferred to sit and pee in a stall instead of standing at the urinal like men.

We'd get blasted in the playoffs too. No italics. #blackpilled

 

[BeatSC]

I say go big or go home. do I hit a 7 iron and lay up from 280 or do I pull out a driver and go for the glory?! I can phuk up a lay up 7 iron just as easily as the driver off the fairway so why not go for glory1? The difference between the NY6 opponents and playoff an be who is having a good day vs a bad day. When we are hot we can beat anybody (by hot I mean good coaching too). when we are not we could have lost to many of our opponents this year. We hit the perfect storm and could have easily played to a 23-15 game with a C game while Miami played their A++ game. Live, learn and move on. I think the players will learn from this I just hope Kelly and Long do. Some small timely adjustments and some decent playing by Wimbush and we are in a very different situation. Now let's roll the dice and give us something to pay attention to for a couple more weeks!!!

 

[Henges24]

At first I was like:
<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/ToMjGpKniGqRNLGBrhu" width="380" height="156" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/jim-carrey-dumb-and-dumber-so-youre-telling-me-theres-a-chance-ToMjGpKniGqRNLGBrhu"></a></p>

Then I came to my senses and was like:
<iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/nspvD8XYqUxP2" width="280" height="280" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe><p><a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/mrw-side-stripper-nspvD8XYqUxP2"></a></p>

 

[Blazers46]

Give me UCF

 

[Blazers46]

In order to keep some delusional hope alive I offer the upcoming scenario and what it would/could mean for a Notre Dame team that wins out:

The following things occur:

Mich defeats Wisc
Bama beats Auburn
WV beat Ok
OK also loses Big 12 championship
Wisc loses to Minn
Mich beats OSU
GT beats Geo and then loses to Bama in SEC Championship
Most of ND's opponents continue to win. NC St, Stanford, USC, BC, WF, Navy Mich St,
Miami still needs to beat Pitt, UVA and then Clemson. We need Miami to win out or lose out.
Clemson gets beat by SC and Miami.

Who is left to fill the 4 spots?

Bama
ND
Miami and who else? This is a lot but you never know.....There are other ways we could back in.

You could then make a case for Michigan to be in the final 4.

 

[Irishnuke]

Give me UCF

I don’t think there is any benefit to playing UCF. You win and nobody cares because it’s UCF. You lose and everybody runs that shit in your face because it’s UCF. Not that you wouldn’t hear it losing to Wisconsin or Penn State, but at least those names carry weight.

 

[IrishSteelhead]

Give me UCF

Be careful what you ask for. Non power conference members are 7-4 in BCS Bowls.

Winners:
Boise x2
TCU x2
Utah x2
UCF x1

Losers:
TCU x1 (lost to non-power Boise)
Hawaii x1
Western Michigan x1
Northern Illinois x1

 

[BeatSC]

You could then make a case for Michigan to be in the final 4.

UM is 22 and no one is moving up that far. Why don't we just transport ourselves back to Xmas eve 2008 and play Hawaii in the hula bowl......

 

[Rudy89]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

This x1,000,000 since I have attended school I have never seen ND win anything more than the minor bowls we have won in the last 10 years (I had a small understanding of football as a 4 year old for the 1993-1994 season but not enough understanding to really appreciate being a fan I just liked what my family liked). I just want us to finally get a good matchup in a big bowl and finally be able to see us win one and appreciate it. Going to the championship or playoffs and being humiliated doesn’t help our image. Winning a bowl that everyone will be watching before they go party or the day off work recovering from their night does help our image. Hopefully we can make it through these last few weeks first.

 

[irish4ever]

God please no I don't want to be in the playoff. I just don't. We didn't earn our way there, and I don't think we'd have a prayer of winning the thing.

Just beat Navy, Stanford, and win a NY6 bowl.

Ditto

 

[ACamp1900]

I don’t think there is any benefit to playing UCF. You win and nobody cares because it’s UCF. You lose and everybody runs that shit in your face because it’s UCF. Not that you wouldn’t hear it losing to Wisconsin or Penn State, but at least those names carry weight.

Any major bowl win carries weight and adds momentum, the haters are going to hate no matter what happens, everyone else will just notice the newest addition to the trophy room.

 

[Irish YJ]

Any major bowl win carries weight and adds momentum, the haters are going to hate no matter what happens, everyone else will just notice the newest addition to the trophy room.

I think any win on NYs or a major bowl during prime time has benefit. If that opponent is a major name, great, but playing UCF prime time NY6 would be a good visible win. I'd prefer us win a bowl vs a perennial historical program, but I'll take a big prime time bowl any day regardless of opponent if it's winnable.

 

[ACamp1900]

Any bowl win >>>>>>> any bowl loss.

We've had our lion's share of top-teir bowl match ups and have had dreadful outcomes in the vast majority for 20 plus years now. I don't care who the hell we play, win a big bowl game. If we have a greater chance of beating UCF than of beating tOSU then okay sign me up for UCF I really don't care. I made a list somewhere of a dozen or so major bowl mismatches over the last ten years and seriously no one cares that OU beat UCONN in a Fiesta bowl once, they just see a big shiny Fiesta bowl trophy in the trophy case at Norman.