win and in?

[mick2]

Ok, i had reservations about writing this thread cuz i am a little superstitious and i was afraid it might jinx our boys, and i hate to look past the weeks opponent, but then i thought screw it! the Irish are gonna do what needs to be done regardless!

so... i ask you my friends, does a win this week put us in the Top 25?

I am gonna go ahead and say probably not, unless some of the teams ranked in the late teens and twenties lose, which might or might not happen, but i'd love to be proven wrong.

what do ya guys think????

 

[WeisWeisBaby]

Yeah, stupid thread.

Just heard Scottie Ferrel on Sirius (Howard 101) talk about how ND should cover the spread and beat MSU this weekend... he says MSU is way overrated and were two plays away from a tied game against Florida Atlantic, didn't hear what he said about ND but he did pick them to win.

This guy knows his sports.

 

[mick2]

Yeah, stupid thread.

Just heard Scottie Ferrel on Sirius (Howard 101) talk about how ND should cover the spread and beat MSU this weekend... he says MSU is way overrated and were two plays away from a tied game against Florida Atlantic, didn't hear what he said about ND but he did pick them to win.

This guy knows his sports.

so you can bet your ass when we beat them the rest of the world will say ahhhh mich state was overrated, ND is still unproven.

thanks for dissin the thread btw, douche

 

[WeisWeisBaby]

haha, don't take it personal but I am almost positive that you and GD93 are the same person, and your hypothetical threads about getting into the top 25 just doesn't do anything for me.

If we do beat MSU, they will say MSU is overrated, guaranteed. We will not come close to the top 25 until after we beat North Carolina, and to be honest, as long as we keep winning every single game I could care less where we rank in that stupid poll.

Don't take it to heart mick.

 

[mick2]

gd93 is ma BOYYYY!!! don't worry i didnt take offense.

yeah i was more wondering what people thought would happen if we won, i don't think we'll be in it, unless its a really convincing win or some ranked teams get upset. or maybe both would need to happen.

i love the "what if" discussions but i try to stay away from them so i don't sound like a giddy schoolgirl, i told you i had reservations but i just couldnt resist. lol.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I think if we beat MSU handily and put up some highlight reel plays, we might creep higher into the "Others receiving votes" category. However, if we go on to beat Purdue the following week, I think a 4-0 Irish squad will be tough to keep out of the top 25. After Stanford, if we are 5-0, I think we crack the top 20 - about #18 I would say. And 6-0 after North Carolina, we will push close to the top 15.

Thats just my guess.

 

[WordsofanIrishman]

I agree with Weis damn their polls as long as we keep getting W's everything will come out in the wash.

 

[Mattmags]

Hypothetically, if we go 11-0 up to the USC game, we would be ranked no higher than 10. Just a thought...

 

[alleycat9]

this is one of the caveats of playing a much weaker schedule than usual. and overall a very weak schedule in just about anyones eyes.

even if this team improves every week and beats the tar out of opponents it will be held against them, which sucks, but if they can beat the very few quality teams on this schedule it will as someone said all come out in the wash anyway.

even then it would take a bowl victory to really regain any kind of respect.

we have definitely gone down as many notches as you can as far as strength of schedule from last year to this year.

 

[NDFan4Life]

I think if we beat MSU handily and put up some highlight reel plays, we might creep higher into the "Others receiving votes" category. However, if we go on to beat Purdue the following week, I think a 4-0 Irish squad will be tough to keep out of the top 25. After Stanford, if we are 5-0, I think we crack the top 20 - about #18 I would say. And 6-0 after North Carolina, we will push close to the top 15.

Thats just my guess.

I thought we were already in the "others receiving votes" category. If I remember correctly, we had 4 votes in the AP poll and 5 in the USA Today poll.

 

[MeanGreen]

I hate the weak schedule comments. Ok SDSU should not be on our schedule, but there are no Div II or FCS or whatever their name is. No Coastal Carolina, Troy, Tifflin, Fl Atl. Because scUM is having a down year and other teams are perceived to be down is not our fault. Most of the schools on our schedule are major college football schools, that have been winners in the past. If we beat them we were supposed to beat them, they are overrated. If we lose we suck, we aren't back you can't win at ND. As Charlie said damn their polls!

 

[NDFan4Life]

I hate the weak schedule comments. Ok SDSU should not be on our schedule, but there are no Div II or FCS or whatever their name is. No Coastal Carolina, Troy, Tifflin, Fl Atl. Because scUM is having a down year and other teams are perceived to be down is not our fault. Most of the schools on our schedule are major college football schools, that have been winners in the past. If we beat them we were supposed to beat them, they are overrated. If we lose we suck, we aren't back you can't win at ND. As Charlie said damn their polls!

I agree. If we lost against Michigan (Sucks), everyone would be saying ND sucks and shouldn't be playing these "top-tier" teams. But they won and everyone's saying that it's a rebuilding year for Mich. We're the Rodney Dangerfield's of college football. We don't get no respect.

 

[IHateMarkMay]

I really think this all depends on how we play. If we beat MSUcks 10-7, then no, we have no chance. If we blow them out and hold ringer down, then i'd say we're close. If we go 11-0 just scraping by, of course we'll look overrated. We need to start blowing out some of these teams to get some more looks by the voters.

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

I thought we were already in the "others receiving votes" category. If I remember correctly, we had 4 votes in the AP poll and 5 in the USA Today poll.

Please note I said HIGHER into the Others Receiving Votes category. We were a little behind quite a few other teams.

 

[irishandy]

Let's not overhype them yet. I remember one year in basketball they started out 9-0 after playing a bunch of no name teams, they were ranked #9, and then fell from there. We need to 4-0 to be in the top 25.

 

[Golden Domer93]

I think we need 2 more wins, beat Michigan State and Purdue 9/27 and we are 4-0 and should be top 20.

 

[NeuteredDoomer]

If Notre Dame goes 13 and O and defeats the rest of the opponents by an average of 50 to 1.7, they will probably be voted national champions by the NCAA electoral college. It is possible that votes may be stolen or disputed according to relative chad depth. I believe the vote will have to go through either Florida or Alaska. First it has to get past MSU in a couple of days. They are still a rags team working for the riches. Do not get your hopes up. Keep it real.

 

[BestBIrish47]

Lets just Beat Michigan State... Polls don't matter unless you are top 2 at the end of the year. If we are bowl eligible at the end of the year, (which I we should be) we will go to a good bowl regardless. That is also the reason we struggle in bowl games. We always draw a big bowl against a team that is further along than we are. I love Notre Dame football, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here...just beat Sparty's Ass!!!

 

[NDinL.A.]

I think if we beat MSU handily and put up some highlight reel plays, we might creep higher into the "Others receiving votes" category. However, if we go on to beat Purdue the following week, I think a 4-0 Irish squad will be tough to keep out of the top 25. After Stanford, if we are 5-0, I think we crack the top 20 - about #18 I would say. And 6-0 after North Carolina, we will push close to the top 15.

Thats just my guess.

One game at a time boys. I feel your enthusiam, but let's slow down. We're 11 days removed from squeaking by SDSU and everyone calling for Charlie's head. BestBIrish47 said it right. Screw the rest of the schedule, let's go hammer the Spartans first!!!

 

[Dizzyphil]

One game at a time boys. I feel your enthusiam, but let's slow down. We're 11 days removed from squeaking by SDSU and everyone calling for Charlie's head. BestBIrish47 said it right. Screw the rest of the schedule, let's go hammer the Spartans first!!!

+1

Regardless of each other's record at the time of the game, this is a head to head smackdown. We really need to buck up and put it to the spartans.

Dizzy

 

[alleycat9]

the fact the normal teams on our schedule are down is just icing on the cake for a weak schedule. the fact we scheduled sdsu, unc (who will be good this year and very good next), washington and syracuse is the issue. these are not and havent been powerhouse teams for quite some time and they were not expected to be. the schedule was purposely trimmed of some of the top tier teams we used to play. and that is understandable but now there is heat. nobody cares that notre dame plays one of the toughest schedules every year for the last 30 years they only worry about how weak it is this year.

 

[IrishAlum1997]

Not necessarily looking ahead, but an undefeated regular season headed into USC should have us in the NC conversation. Beat USC, and regardless of being deserving or not, you have to put us in the BCS title game under the 'Ohio State Clause.'

Let's f up the Fartins.

 

[JeremyND07]

Not necessarily looking ahead, but an undefeated regular season headed into USC should have us in the NC conversation. Beat USC, and regardless of being deserving or not, you have to put us in the BCS title game under the 'Ohio State Clause.'

Let's f up the Fartins.

What ranked team would we have beat in that time frame???? I still think we are a year away and I hope EVERYONE is wrong about being undeafeated going into USC!!!! Because they will kill us this year and we will sneak into a bcs game we do not deserve and get killed there too. I would much rather go 9-3 and win a bowl game this year!!!!!

 

[mick2]

What ranked team would we have beat in that time frame???? I still think we are a year away and I hope EVERYONE is wrong about being undeafeated going into USC!!!! Because they will kill us this year and we will sneak into a bcs game we do not deserve and get killed there too. I would much rather go 9-3 and win a bowl game this year!!!!!

ya gotta believe man, believe! the team does, why shouldn't everyone else? I'll take 11-0 headin into the colliseum.

if we're good enough to go 11-0 than why not?

 

[SteveM]

Unstinking Our Reputation

Unstinking Our Reputation

Rankings wise, ND has to dig herself out of a pretty deep hole excavated over the years by our shellacking in bowl games and few quality wins.

And the "recency" component is a killer. I.e., Losses last year to Navy and Air Force. And Duke even being on the schedule injects an additional understated challenge to ND's credibility.

ND now is where BYU was in the 80's and 90's. "Yeah, who did they play?"

This observation can be easily validated this way. If ND wins at least 9 games and is matched up against a quality team in a bowl game, the line against them will be a lot bigger than expected. Because people are thinking of past 10-1 BYU's, Fresno States, Hawaii's, whoever, that got to a major dance where they got clobbered. And that unfortunately, has been ND's history too.

Right now, ND is being evaluated on its recent past, not its present state. For a fair ranking in '09, ND needs the 9 wins AND that bowl win in '08.

SteveM

P.S. About the rankings, it's not just Mark May. A lot of more open minded sports people feel the same way. It's not just the haters. We have to keep that in mind.

P.P.S. Ya wanna BE the Man, ya gotta BEAT the Man! Wooo!!!!

 

[Brandon]

We have no chance at beating USC at USC this season, and I hate to say that. If Ohio State got slaughtered, we would get decapitated. The only thing I was this year is a bowl game VICTORY, I don't care what bowl it is, lets get our first bowl in I don't know how many years, than focus on the national championship next season.

 

[phork]

I would love nothing more than 11-0 heading into USC. Because the 40 point beat down we'll get will drop us far enough out of any BCS consideration. Do I think we'll be 11-0? I don't. One or two stumbles await us. I'm hoping for a Gator bowl appearance and a top20 ranking come next year.

 

[SteveM]

This Won't Be Easy

This Won't Be Easy

We have no chance at beating USC at USC this season, and I hate to say that. If Ohio State got slaughtered, we would get decapitated. The only thing I was this year is a bowl game VICTORY, I don't care what bowl it is, lets get our first bowl in I don't know how many years, than focus on the national championship next season.

Brandon,

Unfortunately, unless ND is really "For Real", a bowl win ain't gonna happen. Because of the Greed - Greed factor. Greed (and pride) by ND for the biggest payout possible and Greed by the networks who would rather see an over-matched ND get chewed up in a higher profile bowl than showcase a more competitive lesser known.

No, this vicious cycle can only end in one of two ways. Either ND re-establishes it's legitimacy or else the beat down attitude finally removes whatever historic legacy ND had.

Incidentally, I don't know why there are BC haters here. I'm from the Northeast and I like BC. What the heck? It's the only other Catholic school playing IA ball. But whenever anybody points out ND as hopeless, I point to BC. Given ND's history, however good BC is, ND should be better. No excuses.

SteveM

 

[GO IRISH!!!]

One game at a time boys. I feel your enthusiam, but let's slow down. We're 11 days removed from squeaking by SDSU and everyone calling for Charlie's head. BestBIrish47 said it right. Screw the rest of the schedule, let's go hammer the Spartans first!!!

I know, I know. Not getting ahead of myself this time. Merely answering the question of the thread. Used plenty of "ifs" in the context of the question as it was posed. Only Sparty is in my crosshairs this week.

One of my neighbors whom I don't know very well is obviously a MSU fan/alum. He and I have been eyeballing one another all week as we drive past each other's respective homes. He has his MSU flag up and I have my ND flag up. I went for a run yesterday wearing an ND shirt and he really gave me a dirty look. I've talked to him a few times in the past, but this week, we haven't said a word!

 

[Swash]

I think a win against MSUcks, in sunny weather (no turn over excuses), really give us a chance at having a descent season. A loss would take the scUM momentum out of us and it would go downhill from there with the only wins from bad teams. I hope that we 9-1 into USC and loss to give us a good bowl game.