3 teams in the Championship Club...

[SouthFloridaIrish88]

Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State that is all right now.

Clemson and LSU have shown they can make a dent and win the CFP with an historically great QB.

OU, ND and Mich have showed up a combined 8 times and are 0-8

You got some 1 and Dones, FSU 14, MSU 15, TCU 22, Oregon 14, UC 21, UW 16.

Tennessee and USC have offensive "guru" coaches. But lost big games down the stretch because their defenses were bad. Commonly an issue with "guru" offensive coaches.

But the 3 at the very top are what you should constantly be measuring your roster against. If you plan on winning a National Title.

 

[Golson5]

Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State that is all right now.

Clemson and LSU have shown they can make a dent and win the CFP with an historically great QB.

OU, ND and Mich have showed up a combined 8 times and are 0-8

You got some 1 and Dones, FSU 14, MSU 15, TCU 22, Oregon 14, UC 21, UW 16.

Tennessee and USC have offensive "guru" coaches. But lost big games down the stretch because their defenses were bad. Commonly an issue with "guru" offensive coaches.

But the 3 at the very top are what you should constantly be measuring your roster against. If you plan on winning a National Title.

No shit

 

[stu4don]

Very well said. And, given the climate, the rich will only get richer. Not sure what the answer is. The top level is clearly not college football anymore, it is a semi pro league. Hard to see ND ever getting to that level given the demands we make on our student athletes: 1) Arrive with grades 2) Attend real classes 3) Live in cold S. Bend (sorry, I loved my time there but it isn't Athens, or a another bigger large college-city like Columbus 4) Value a degree over immediate money. Marcus may make a difference (he is already doing better than Kelly on the recruiting trail but hard to beat Georgia and their 25 5* recruits over the last five years (classes ranked 1-2-1-4-3.)

 

[Notre Dame du Lac]

Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State that is all right now.

Clemson and LSU have shown they can make a dent and win the CFP with an historically great QB.

OU, ND and Mich have showed up a combined 8 times and are 0-8

You got some 1 and Dones, FSU 14, MSU 15, TCU 22, Oregon 14, UC 21, UW 16.

Tennessee and USC have offensive "guru" coaches. But lost big games down the stretch because their defenses were bad. Commonly an issue with "guru" offensive coaches.

But the 3 at the very top are what you should constantly be measuring your roster against. If you plan on winning a National Title.

Ohio State was pummeled by Michigan two years in a row. Spare me.

 

[BleedingBlueNGold]

It’s more of a 2 team club with Georgia and Alabama. Ohio State will always shit the bed at some point during the season with Ryan Day.

 

[chaseball]

I agree with the general point you are making but I disagree with how you got there.

I also disagree with the other posters who think ND doesn't have the sauce to compete.

Georgia just very recently started to dominate the sport. Before them it was Clemson, before them OSU, before them FSU, before them Oregon, before them USC, before them OU, Miami, Texas, and Nebraska (going all the way back to the mid 90s). All of these programs have had a window where they were one of the best by far for several years.

Winning is cyclical (unless you're Saban). The top 10-20 historically great programs usually go through cycles where they are the top of the mountain, but Notre Dame has been mismanaged so greatly that they've missed out on their window over and over again to the point where they are where they are now.

This is incompetence/poor leadership; not some sign of the times in the sport that ND (and all other non Alabama/Georgia/OSU teams) are resigned to sucking in

 

[savvyandsassier]

I remember when certain douchebags were sneering and sniffling that UGA didn't belong in that top tier, and it was the exclusive domain of Clemson, Bama and tOSU. Back in like, 2017/18. When they were clearly knocking on the door, and could easily go toe to toe with Bama any time they wanted. I guess because they hadn't actually won one yet. Well they certainly have now. And it was easy to see it coming....

And they did it with Stetson Bennett too. Which makes their final ascension to the pinnacle of CFB all the more sweet.

 

[savvyandsassier]

And CFB is not cyclical. It is the opposite of cyclical. Using the word 'cyclical', is just, I guess sort of pseudo-intellectual gibberish. There's no 'cycle' CFB programs have no choice but to go through, in spite of whatever level of effort and striving they put into their success. And there are no intrinsic or naturally occurring 'cycles' that inexorably serve to dictate the fate of CFB teams. And the powerhouse programs stay powerhouse programs every damn year. The fact that the W/L records and individual fortunes of all the various perennial power programs fluctuate and are not identical year after year is not 'cyclical'. More like you win some you lose some.....

All these tiptop-tier programs like Bama and tOSU have done is take the normal perennial power dominance they already enjoyed, and have now maximized it to a hyper-efficient level where that tiny fraternity of super-elite programs have been able to monopolize all of the four playoff berths for several years now. And ND under BK was right on the cusp of that elite group......

 

[graceh90]

Beware SC. I despise them, but they are righting the ship, have abundant resources and will not be shy about using them

 

[burmafrd1943]

Coaching and talent. The major factors; as always.

To win it all you need both. Not just top HC but a very good staff as well.

Note the offensive coaches who do not put the necessary emphasis on defense (Oklahoma being the most notable example of that)

Alabama rules the roost, but its edge is diminishing. They used to have a clear edge; no more.

Now as long as Saban is there and putting in the effort they will be right near the top year to year; they get more talent and also frankly have the environment as regards the school so that to be brutally straightforward it is for all intents and purposes a professional environment where academics is clearly secondary.

As long as THAT and Saban is there they will be the one constant.

 

[d1042]

Beware SC. I despise them, but they are righting the ship, have abundant resources and will not be shy about using them

headed toward ping pong and soccer dominance! not football!