While it appeared this season was going to be a string of bad breaks (excuse the pun) after the injuries mounted, I think the luck of the Irish has been very active, but subtle. ABC making Temple ND the prime time game on a weekend where nobody played anybody, and the game being close, was an enormous stroke of good luck. If that game is played on NBC or ESPN2 on a day when there were a host of good games and we slammed them by 40, we would now have no wins over a top 25 team. Temple's performance allowed a lot of eyes to see them and pass the eye test. Now of course we need Temple to win out and stay in the top 25, and if they crumble against Memphis or Houston the common opponent factor may work against us, but for now - very fortunate.
To those who say we just need to win out, I disagree. We also need our opponents to perform well. USC needs to get in the top 25 and beat UCLA at the end of the year. It would be huge if Navy can beat Memphis this weekend and Temple will face a tough stretch after this weekend. If we have 1 win over a top 25 team - Stanford - we will not be in. If we have 3-4 then I think we are likely in. We and our opponents have had some good bounces through 8 games - need the whole cadre to keep winning.
To those who say we just need to win out, I disagree. We also need our opponents to perform well. USC needs to get in the top 25 and beat UCLA at the end of the year. It would be huge if Navy can beat Memphis this weekend and Temple will face a tough stretch after this weekend. If we have 1 win over a top 25 team - Stanford - we will not be in. If we have 3-4 then I think we are likely in. We and our opponents have had some good bounces through 8 games - need the whole cadre to keep winning.
