Will ND Play USF???

[Folsteam_Ahead]

the problem with the recruiting argument is that they can just come to nd for free for an official visit and watch then

 

[tommy]

claussen is a prime example ND had no chance for him untill wise came to town i dont think he will be the last 5 star player to all of a sudden think ND looks like a nice place to be

 

[knute]

There are several issues here:

Strength of Schedule: How many top ten teams do you want to play in one year? Should every game be against a team that can win the national championship? I think that the answer is no. Should half of that games be that way? Seems like ND's sweet spot is to have 1/3 hard games, 1/3 medium games and 1/3 breathers spread out geographically and across the various conferences.

Big East Commitment: Notre Dame is in the Big East and has an agreement to play some Big East teams in football. USF is ranked #5 in the Big East and beat Louisville, Cincinatti and Syracuse last year. I haven't heard anyone complaining about playing Syracuse ... yet. Do you really just want to play West Virginia and Pittsburgh every year?

Money: I believe that one of these games will probably be played in Jacksonville Stadium. The money that Notre Dame will get will be equivalent or better than a bowl game. That money will go to coaches salaries, facilities improvements, etc. If this game were played against Miami, then ND's share would be much less.

National Exposure: Every notice how recent recruits are always deciding between ND and local State U? That's because ND gets press everywhere becaue they play everywhere. Bluegraysky has a great picture that captures this idea (Regular Season Opponents, 1996-2006):

http://bluegraysky.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_bluegraysky_archive.html#115190696673767099

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Strength of Schedule: How many top ten teams do you want to play in one year? Should every game be against a team that can win the national championship? I think that the answer is no. Should half of that games be that way? Seems like ND's sweet spot is to have 1/3 hard games, 1/3 medium games and 1/3 breathers spread out geographically and across the various conferences.

those are really good points. and bluegray is always ahead of the game on this stuff. but money shouldnt be a major factor, ideally. but it is so i can't argue against that.

strength of schedule though....we only played two top tens last season and one was bc of going to a bowl game, not scheduling. i just think we should take a shot at programs that have excelled since we dropped off to show we're back. plus it wont make strength of schedule too unbearable. purdue is done for a long time. usc will stay in the rankings for a while. michigan will be on and off. the second half of the season schedules are navys, armies, dukes, etc. for the next two years. mich st is not going to compete with us for a while. i think having mich, usc, and a game like miami down the road wouldnt kill us. i dont know why people want to water the schedule down. these three wouldnt even fill our 1/3 so i can't agree here.

edit: also i addressed the big east commitment earlier.

 

[punishment]

strength of schedule though....we only played two top tens last season and one was bc of going to a bowl game, not scheduling. i just think we should take a shot at programs that have excelled since we dropped off to show we're back. plus it wont make strength of schedule too unbearable. purdue is done for a long time. usc will stay in the rankings for a while. michigan will be on and off. the second half of the season schedules are navys, armies, dukes, etc. for the next two years. mich st is not going to compete with us for a while. i think having mich, usc, and a game like miami down the road wouldnt kill us. i dont know why people want to water the schedule down. these three wouldnt even fill our 1/3 so i can't agree here.

edit: also i addressed the big east commitment earlier.

Even though we only played 2 teams that ended up in the top 10 last year, we have to keep in mind that the schedules are made years in advance. I'm sure that when the 2005 schedule was made up 10 years ago, it was safe to assume that USC, Michigan and Tennessee would all be in the top 10, as they usually are.

 

[Vince Young]

Miami, Texas, etc... would never agree to this. If we want to play in them in their states, they would want to play in their houses.

It's not like we don't have powerhouses already on upcoming schedules. And it's not like the likes of FSU and Texas could not come up again as a true home and home, but as far as the regular neutral sites go, you're not going to get those teams.

Not to quibble, but FSU did PRECISELY that in the mid-90s. FSU came up to South Bend for a game in '93, and the following year we were supposed to play in Tallahassee. But for some reason the committee that owns the Citrus Bowl stadium in Orlando threw a bunch of money at ND and FSU and asked them to move the game from Tallahassee to Orlando. ND of course agreed, and for some inexplicable reason so did FSU. This was a regular season game, mind you, not a bowl.

It would probably come down to money. Pay enough of it to any school, and they'll trade from a home game to a neutral site in exchange for cash.

 

[KMac151993]

I am still sticking by what I said.

 

[scooper]

The argument that it would not sell out has been proven wrong time and again. There is precedent with playing Navy in Orlando a couple times. I'm pretty sure those sold out. ND will sell out everywhere.

 

[Óglaigh_na_hÉireann]

the problem with the recruiting argument is that they can just come to nd for free for an official visit and watch then

Your point has its validity, but I think that with many recruits the hassle of traveling all the way to South Bend outweighs the financial burden---especially when you havn't a clue what to expect from the program.

Playing a game in south Florida will give prospects some real exposure to the program so that they're more likely to make the trip up north.

For the record, I don't know what my position on all of this is. It will have an effect on recruiting, but no one can really determine how much. And USF is, well, USF. It's not exactly a program you look forward to playing.. not because they're that good, but because they might be that bad. I mean, I'm a die-hard ND fan, but after the first quarter against Navy, I found myself having a difficult time keeping interest in the game.

I'd rather see ND schedule a game against Clemson...... or dare I say, SOUTH CAROLINA. Neither of those programs present cake-walks, which is bad in the sense that every team has to have its easy games to give itself a chance to play for the title. But the name recognition gives it the advantage against programs like USF. It's a game you can look forward to and even though ND would be the heavy favorite, there would still be a challenge.