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mrwigglesby21 said:

That was a luck pass not intended for the guy who ran the touchdown. Regardless, we should NOT have lost that game.

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ND should not have lost. Unacceptable. NIU still was the better team.

It’s fascinating though. I’ve seen the play a bunch and I just learned new stuff after rewatching some more. I’m now willing to say there was a lot more luck involved for NIU on that play. However, the QB still deserves credit and it’s still a discredit to ND’s defensive scheme IMO. Thanks for calling that out.

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chaseball said:

There was parity in the results earlier in the season but there's now a clear top 5/tier 1. If ND faces any of those top 5 they will be big underdogs. This also lines up with how far behind they are in the team talent composite rankings relative to these tier 1 teams as well.

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No. There is absolutely not a clear top 5.

It also doesn't line up because we are ahead of Ole miss in team talent rankings. So incorrect

FightingIrish44 said:

Notre Dame has been mentioned about 20 times the last three weeks in the NIU games.

@savvyandsassier I thought NIU played very well in that game. They were the better team. Like the 95 yard TD pass. That was a great job by the QB delivering a perfect pass with Mills barreling down on him. Got everybody blocked up in the run game. The QB made other good throws. High level football IMO. They played good defense too.

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That was a luck pass not intended for the guy who ran the touchdown. Regardless, we should NOT have lost that game.

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sjb75 said:

Signing a big deal means little to absolutely nothing if someone offers him 50-60m to be a head coach.

I believe he will stay; however, I am not so naive to know that head coach money could change someone’s mind.

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You have no idea what his career aspirations are..... He is being very well compensated as the DC at ND.

BleedingBlueNGold said:

I really like this take. We have collectively as a fan base accepted mediocrity.

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Another brilliant post ..😜

tbonesays said:

I hope so.

The projections have all locked IU and PSU into the 5th and 6th slots with some saying ND will have to travel in the first playoff round. That might change or it might just stay dumb if those two buggers finish 11-1 each having a quality loss and no quality wins. I believe thus far the Hoosiers have not played any of the 7 top teams in their conference.

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No one is saying ND may travel. Amd yes we'll have the chance to jump psu

chaseball said:

its fans like you that perpetuate the mediocrity at Notre Dame.

ND is the big bad wolf of college football ... when did it become acceptable to be the perpetual underdog/Cinderella program of college football ?

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Notre Dame is #1 in GSR (academics) and #1 in defense, top 15 in offense, 2nd in margin of victory, all while Freeman has the best record against the spread since he became coach. Seems they are much better than a "perpetual underdog/Cinderalla". That sounds like the premier school / GOLD STANDARD for a blend of academics and athletics.

Hosting a playoff game is big money, and, better than playing on the road, and, increases likelihood of moving onto the 2nd round. You can't win a championship if you don't make it to the 2nd round first.

Looking how the playoff picture is shaping up that #5 slot is certainly appealing. In most years it would be the G5 team in round 1 followed by the weakest conference champ in round 2 - thus - into the Final 4 with relative ease.

I've been a big believer that part of ND's poor NYD bowl performances (and CFP appearances) are a result of having such a large lay-off b/w last game and bowl / playoff game. Conference Championships are held, what, 2 weeks after last game ND plays? That's a distinct advantage. That 1st round playoff game will negate that.

Notre Dame is doing just fine!

Please provide proof/link of someone saying they are satisfied with a 1st round home playoff game.

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chaseball said:

How many more years (decades even) of hindsight do we need to witness before I earn a smidgen of the benefit of the doubt?

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You will never get the benefit of the doubt. You are wrong, clearly wrong.

NDSMC78 said:

Interesting. You know less than any other poster on this site. Yes, just think about the thousands of people who have posted here over the years. You are the least informed of all of them. There are not words in the English language to describe how profoundly dense you are. And yet, you, in your warped mind, seem to think that you know more than anyone else.
Let's see. In this week's Coaches poll, ND is #6. In this week's ND poll, ND is # 6. In this week's playoff rankings, ND is # 6. But you have decided that you know more than the coaches who get paid millions of dollars to coach the game. You have decided that you know more than the sportswriters who get paid to write about the game. You have unilaterally declared that ND is not worthy.
This gets me back to the statement I have made to you at least 100 times. GO FIND ANOTHER SCHOOL TO PULL FOR. ND OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT LIVE UP YO YOUR LOFTY STANDARDS.

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How many more years (decades even) of hindsight do we need to witness before I earn a smidgen of the benefit of the doubt?

chaseball said:

A&M and Louisville are the only two teams on the schedule that aren't complete dog feces. Every other team on teh schedule is ranked anywhere from 40-100th (mostly closer to the latter than the former)

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You would probably prefer that we play quality teams like Miami and Clemson.

Get Nasty said:

We'll only get the 6 seed if penn state loses.

IMO, 5 seed will be big ten championship loser, 6 seed penn state, 7 notre dame

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Golson5 said:

We have a decent chance to jump penn state at the end. Definite no. But possible

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I hope so.

sjb75 said:

If Penn State finishes 11-1, IMO an 11-1 Notre Dame should be 1 spot behind Penn State, based on the home loss to Northern Illinois, and both teams playing comparable soft schedules. That's how egregiously bad that NIU loss was for a CFB playoff team, IMO.

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The projections have all locked IU and PSU into the 5th and 6th slots with some saying ND will have to travel in the first playoff round. That might change or it might just stay dumb if those two buggers finish 11-1 each having a quality loss and no quality wins. I believe thus far the Hoosiers have not played any of the 7 top teams in their conference.

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Get Nasty said:

On the flip side, a 2 loss (in the sec) lsu team only had a chance to make the CFP by winning conf championship due to losing to USC.

If you lose a non conference game, your ability to make it to the CFP drops drastically. Just like A&M, they need to get to or win SEC championship to make it in the CFP, while at least 2-3 teams that don't make sec championship still get in.

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To my knowledge all of the SEC log jam teams have one good OOC game. UGA is an overwhelming favorite to playoff because they have a great win against one of the good ACC teams.

I would even guess the odds might be better if an SEC team scheduled 4 wins OOC, but the difference would be too slight to affect a program's scheduling philosophy. The big question now is whether the SEC goes to 9 conference games, which of course will not help its playoff outlook.