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How are you ranked ahead of Northwestern?

We beat you last year.
We beat Stanford this year and completely dominated them
Your best wins are Navy, USC, and Temple.
We play in the best conference in the country.
You lose to Stanford.
We have the same record.

Isn't the team that beat Stanford better than the team that lost to Stanford?
Are you really foolish to think that one game makes a season? I'm sure all the playoff committee members, Press, Coaches, and everyone at USA are just idiots. Have you looked at your schedule? You really think you would have the same W/L record if you played ND's schedule? Do you even follow college football?
 
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Can't do that either. However, if Stanford wins the PAC 12 Championship, they're in the New Years 6 so that doesn't matter as much. It's Notre Dame, Baylor, Florida State that I think we should be above.
Well there's one vote lol!!
 
Is that your boyfriend? Don't worry you secret is safe.
Are you implicating that I'm female and don't know sports? If so, that's sexist. Are you implicating that I'm gay? If so, that's homophobic. Either way, I'd expect more from such an elite university.
 
Not true. The BIG West is by far the worst division of any power five conference. Again, the committee made that clear in their rankings. Argue with them. ND has three wins over top 25 teams. How many does Northwestern have?
We have 1, but your 3 wins are against the bottom of the top 25 and we beat #7 Stanford in dominant defensive fashion. You should put in the tape and watch what an elite defense can do. Additionally, you're going to have 1 win in the top 25 after Saturday when Stanford beats USC and Houston beats Temple. When your best win is Navy, you don't belong above a team with the same record who's best win is Stanford (which you lost to).
 
Wow. More attacks on me. No, I'm not mentally retarded. I have a degree from Northwestern. I did also complete 8th grade.

Yes, the playoff committee says that Notre Dame is ranked higher which makes no sense because based on the Stanford game that you lost and we won, we're the better team. Sadly, my opinion doesn't matter because I'm not on the committee. I'm also not in Congress, so my opinion on Congressional legislation doesn't matter. Do I not get an opinion? I do and if you don't like that then you can get out of America.

I don't need you to say that Northwestern is the better team for my validation of the team. I've seen them all year. I want you to say it to validate your own fan base as smart intelligent fans instead of people that follow their team blindly like sheep. Michigan State is a better team than Northwestern this year. If they lose to Iowa and are 11-2, they'll still be better because Michigan State beat Michigan and Northwestern lost to Michigan. I have no problem saying that.
you're not even remotely close to being the better team. on a neutral field nd would be a double digit favorite against northwestern as would stanford if you played them again. yes, you did UPSET stanford. congrats. be glad you played in the junior division of the big 10. you're a .500 team in the other division.
 
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We have 1, but your 3 wins are against the bottom of the top 25 and we beat #7 Stanford in dominant defensive fashion. You should put in the tape and watch what an elite defense can do. Additionally, you're going to have 1 win in the top 25 after Saturday when Stanford beats USC and Houston beats Temple. When your best win is Navy, you don't belong above a team with the same record who's best win is Stanford (which you lost to).

So what is the excuse for 2 back to back 30+ point blowouts, one of them being at home? Was that another example of the NW 'dominate defensive fashion'?

Again week 1 wins aren't weighted very high. Because your coach had 9 months to prepare for them to play rusty 3,000 miles from home. And it wasn't 'dominate'. NW won by 10. With a final score of 16-6. It was two Stanford turnovers that won the game for Northwestern. You can watch the game here if you want.

 
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We have 1, but your 3 wins are against the bottom of the top 25 and we beat #7 Stanford in dominant defensive fashion. You should put in the tape and watch what an elite defense can do. Additionally, you're going to have 1 win in the top 25 after Saturday when Stanford beats USC and Houston beats Temple. When your best win is Navy, you don't belong above a team with the same record who's best win is Stanford (which you lost to).
elite defense ? giving up 38 and 40 in losing efforts against average teams doesn't sound elite.
 
Is the Northwestern kid here whining again? I'm delighted that ND's higher ranking over Northwestern seemingly keeps him awake at night. And there's not a damn thing he can do about it. What a cry baby.
 
"Wow. More attacks on me. No, I'm not mentally retarded. I have a degree from Northwestern. I did also complete 8th grade."

Shakes, news flash being mentally retarded and a grad of northwestern are not mutually exclusive events.
Go back to your board. You have lost this battle, and earned the ignore button.
 
I am rooting for NW like no one else's business. I hope they go undefeated in the next 24 games or so. Then we can come hire that coach of yours.
 
I am rooting for NW like no one else's business. I hope they go undefeated in the next 24 games or so. Then we can come hire that coach of yours.

Fitzgerald, like most Northwestern fans, is an ND hater. Not coming to ND.
 
I like how the overbite folks are all willing to hunch down to fit the little fella in the picture. I also like how he confidently claims to be #93. Let me guess, he took the field right after posing for pix with his fans.
Better be careful. He'll invite you to come to Chicago and say hi. He's a tough guy you know.
 
elite defense ? giving up 38 and 40 in losing efforts against average teams doesn't sound elite.
We're the #8 scoring defense in the country averaging 16.4 points allowed a game. Iowa is the #4 team in the country, not average. Michigan is #15 so not average either. Average would be like the 60 team in the country. Both of those games were also marked by bad special teams play, turnovers, and lots and lots of 3 and outs. Our defense is great. Notice we held the #20 scoring offense Stanford to 6 points. You let them score 38.

Fitzgerald, like most Northwestern fans, is an ND hater. Not coming to ND.
That and there's no way he leaves the greatest city in the world, Chicago, a suburb with the one of the top schools for his 3 kids, and being near both his and his wife's families for corn field Indiana. Put another way, he turned down a 1.5 million dollar raise to go to Ann Arbor (the job went to Hoke). He's not going to South Bend. With the Big Ten Network and new ESPN contract with the Big Ten, we can afford to keep him too.
 
We're the #8 scoring defense in the country averaging 16.4 points allowed a game. Iowa is the #4 team in the country, not average. Michigan is #15 so not average either. Average would be like the 60 team in the country. Both of those games were also marked by bad special teams play, turnovers, and lots and lots of 3 and outs. Our defense is great. Notice we held the #20 scoring offense Stanford to 6 points. You let them score 38.


That and there's no way he leaves the greatest city in the world, Chicago, a suburb with the one of the top schools for his 3 kids, and being near both his and his wife's families for corn field Indiana. Put another way, he turned down a 1.5 million dollar raise to go to Ann Arbor (the job went to Hoke). He's not going to South Bend. With the Big Ten Network and new ESPN contract with the Big Ten, we can afford to keep him too.
stats are for losers. so the two games you play decent opponents you stink it up and pad your stats against stiffs. before you start i know "we beat stanford " upsets happen. have a parade.
 
stats are for losers. so the two games you play decent opponents you stink it up and pad your stats against stiffs. before you start i know "we beat stanford " upsets happen. have a parade.
You cherry picking our worst two games is what losers do. Decent opponents we played: Iowa, Stanford, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Duke. Points allowed per game 20.33. That would put us at 18th the country if we allow all the other teams in the country to include all there games. Decent teams you played Clemson, Navy, USC, Temple, Pitt, Stanford. Points allowed per game 27.83. That would make you 75th nationally.

Oh, and I actually watched all the Northwestern games and several Notre Dame games so I could probably tell you whether our defense is elite.
 
You cherry picking our worst two games is what losers do. Decent opponents we played: Iowa, Stanford, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Duke. Points allowed per game 20.33. That would put us at 18th the country if we allow all the other teams in the country to include all there games. Decent teams you played Clemson, Navy, USC, Temple, Pitt, Stanford. Points allowed per game 27.83. That would make you 75th nationally.

Oh, and I actually watched all the Northwestern games and several Notre Dame games so I could probably tell you whether our defense is elite.
i can too. neither. enjoy being in notre dames rearview mirror.
 
You cherry picking our worst two games is what losers do. Decent opponents we played: Iowa, Stanford, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Duke. Points allowed per game 20.33. That would put us at 18th the country if we allow all the other teams in the country to include all there games. Decent teams you played Clemson, Navy, USC, Temple, Pitt, Stanford. Points allowed per game 27.83. That would make you 75th nationally.

Oh, and I actually watched all the Northwestern games and several Notre Dame games so I could probably tell you whether our defense is elite.
cherry pick ? i picked the two games sans stanford where you actually played against a decent opponent. run all the numbers you'd like. doesn't change the fact you play in the junior division of the big 10. usc would beat everyone you played .
 
You lost 100-0 to Michigan-----you're ranked where you're supposed to be ranked------and you get zero bonus points for bragging about beating PSU and Duke who are average teams along with the worst Wisconsin team I've seen in 5 years.
 
Since the big ten was something like 10-2 against the MAC this year, I think the Big Ten is better. The Big Ten also has 5 teams in the top 15. That's 1/3 of the top 15 btw.
Twelve games against the MAC might explain a high ranking
 
No. There are no rules on this board.
Like most Northwestern fans, it just irks the crap out of you that ND can be successful in sports and still be a top twenty academic institution. I hope it keeps you awake at night, chump. Now get lost.
Always so colorful NDSMC78. Morons ... Idiots ... D-bags ... Jagoffs ... Chumps! I am sure that is just the tip of the ice berg for what you can pull out of your bag of linguistics.

Stay humble.

GOUNUII
 
Fitzgerald, like most Northwestern fans, is an ND hater. Not coming to ND.
Hey classic irish. Two questions. How do you decide who is and is not a "ND Hater?" I love ND the school but am not blind to the warts that exist with the football program. Does that make me a ND hater?

And what does it mean to have ND envy ... another term you are fond of? I am sure you use it in relation to ND football. Can you give me your top 5 objective reasons why anybody would have envy for what ND football has endured over the last 20 years? My wife and two sons are all ND grads, and they take no solace in the distant past. So can you come up with just 5 reasons for ND football envy that are unique to ND and are grounded in the last 20 years? Would welcome a non-flaming fact based response from you or any other poster who cares to respond.

BTW ... I have met Shakes and he is not a bad guy. I understand why ND is ranked ahead of NU in football. They have the better resume. But you have to hand it to Fitzgerald and his staff for finding 10 wins and a ticket to a good bowl game. That's an unbelieveable accomplishment for a team that couldn't complete a forward pass and ran the ball with mixed results.

GOUNUII
 
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Most Domers that I know root for Northwestern. Just like they root for Duke, Vandy, Stanford and the like. We all want the "do it right" crowd to be successful.
 
We're the #8 scoring defense in the country averaging 16.4 points allowed a game. Iowa is the #4 team in the country, not average. Michigan is #15 so not average either. Average would be like the 60 team in the country. Both of those games were also marked by bad special teams play, turnovers, and lots and lots of 3 and outs. Our defense is great. Notice we held the #20 scoring offense Stanford to 6 points. You let them score 38.


That and there's no way he leaves the greatest city in the world, Chicago, a suburb with the one of the top schools for his 3 kids, and being near both his and his wife's families for corn field Indiana. Put another way, he turned down a 1.5 million dollar raise to go to Ann Arbor (the job went to Hoke). He's not going to South Bend. With the Big Ten Network and new ESPN contract with the Big Ten, we can afford to keep him too.

Why is Chicago the greatest city in the world?
 
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It's so cute seeing Northwestern fans talking trash. What have you ever won? There basketball team has never even been to the big dance.
 
You lost 100-0 to Michigan-----you're ranked where you're supposed to be ranked------and you get zero bonus points for bragging about beating PSU and Duke who are average teams along with the worst Wisconsin team I've seen in 5 years.
It was actually 38-0. How would Notre Dame do against Michigan? Since Northwestern beat Stanford by 10 and Notre Dame lost to Stanford by 2, Notre Dame would probably lose to Michigan by 50.

Additionally, you get 0 points for bragging about beating a soon to be 5 loss USC team. If I can't bring up PSU or Duke, you don't get to bring up any AAC team.
 
It was actually 38-0. How would Notre Dame do against Michigan? Since Northwestern beat Stanford by 10 and Notre Dame lost to Stanford by 2, Notre Dame would probably lose to Michigan by 50.

Additionally, you get 0 points for bragging about beating a soon to be 5 loss USC team. If I can't bring up PSU or Duke, you don't get to bring up any AAC team.
a 5 loss usc that would be easily favored against northwestern ? that usc ?
 
It was actually 38-0. How would Notre Dame do against Michigan? Since Northwestern beat Stanford by 10 and Notre Dame lost to Stanford by 2, Notre Dame would probably lose to Michigan by 50.

Additionally, you get 0 points for bragging about beating a soon to be 5 loss USC team. If I can't bring up PSU or Duke, you don't get to bring up any AAC team.
My guess is we are a TD favorite over Michigan on a neutral field if we played right now.
 
Shakes simply Notre Dame has been more impressive to the pollsters. The analysis of the Stanford-Northwestern game is that it was a fluke by pollsters. Play the game again and Stanford would be the favorite at Northwestern. What hurts Northwestern is the two blowouts against average offensive teams in the big ten. Those blowouts make the Stanford game seem like an absolute fluke. Notre Dame has had the harder schedule and their two losses were to 2 top 10 teams by 2 plays. It might not be in the committee's rules but they have gone on record saying that they go by the eyeball test. Simple as that. I don't think outside of Ohio State and possibly Michigan State that the committee has much respect for the Big ten at the top of the ratings. I think you'll see that when Iowa loses. They are dying to drop Iowa because of the eyeball test.
 
Let's see here:
It was actually 38-0. How would Notre Dame do against Michigan? Since Northwestern beat Stanford by 10 and Notre Dame lost to Stanford by 2, Notre Dame would probably lose to Michigan by 50.

Additionally, you get 0 points for bragging about beating a soon to be 5 loss USC team. If I can't bring up PSU or Duke, you don't get to bring up any AAC team.


Let's see here.

Notre Dame beat Pitt by 12
Pitt beat Virginia Tech by 4
Virginia Tech beat Purdue by 27
Purdue beat Nebraska by 10
Nebraska beat Michigan St. by 1
Michigan St. beat Michigan by 4
Michigan beat Northwestern by 38

Notre Dame would therefore beat Northwestern by 96.
 
Let's see here:



Let's see here.

Notre Dame beat Pitt by 12
Pitt beat Virginia Tech by 4
Virginia Tech beat Purdue by 27
Purdue beat Nebraska by 10
Nebraska beat Michigan St. by 1
Michigan St. beat Michigan by 4
Michigan beat Northwestern by 38

Notre Dame would therefore beat Northwestern by 96.
I'll go with that one. The Pitt/Iowa/ND/Northwestern set up works nicely too.
 
a 5 loss usc that would be easily favored against northwestern ? that usc ?
Hopefully, we'll see USC in the Holiday Bowl then. I'll take the points and bet the farm. Easy money.
Let's see here:



Let's see here.

Notre Dame beat Pitt by 12
Pitt beat Virginia Tech by 4
Virginia Tech beat Purdue by 27
Purdue beat Nebraska by 10
Nebraska beat Michigan St. by 1
Michigan St. beat Michigan by 4
Michigan beat Northwestern by 38

Notre Dame would therefore beat Northwestern by 96.
Didn't know the committee's mandate include common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent. But that's a total interesting theory.... not.

Shakes simply Notre Dame has been more impressive to the pollsters. The analysis of the Stanford-Northwestern game is that it was a fluke by pollsters. Play the game again and Stanford would be the favorite at Northwestern. What hurts Northwestern is the two blowouts against average offensive teams in the big ten. Those blowouts make the Stanford game seem like an absolute fluke. Notre Dame has had the harder schedule and their two losses were to 2 top 10 teams by 2 plays. It might not be in the committee's rules but they have gone on record saying that they go by the eyeball test. Simple as that. I don't think outside of Ohio State and possibly Michigan State that the committee has much respect for the Big ten at the top of the ratings. I think you'll see that when Iowa loses. They are dying to drop Iowa because of the eyeball test.
I simply ask you and the committee to put in the tape of Northwestern Stanford. The PAC12 is not a strong defensive conference. Utah is statistically the best defense. Stanford didn't play them. Notre Dame is the top defense they played at 36 overall other than Northwestern that Stanford played. The top defense in the PAC 12 they played was USC at 51. Northwestern has the #8 defense in the country. That's night and day compared to the other defenses that Stanford faced this year. We rotated 10 lineman against Stanford. Midseason, we had an 11th, Greg Kuhar, come back after tearing his ACL against Notre Dame last year. Our line was fresh all game and was getting into the backfield constantly. Stanford couldn't run and their pass game which is based off of play action didn't work. McCaffery ran for 1640 yards and 7 TDs this season. Against Northwestern, 66 yards no TDs.

Would Stanford be favored in the game? Sure they would be, because a lot of people (committee included) are going off of the ideas that Northwestern is the Northwestern really just some other year's Northwestern team that's having a fluky year. They also have the anti-Big Ten bias because the Big Ten had a terrible run for a good decade. Since then, the Dantoni has built a program at MSU. Harbaugh came into Michigan. Fitz has built a team capable of 10 wins seasons. Urban Meyer has turned OSU into a juggernaut. Then there's Kirk Ferentz who is a damn good coach especially when he has a quality QB. ESPN rips the Big Ten and shows Northwestern no respect because they're driven by the dollars that occurred when they became financially tied to the SEC. They are also driven by TV eyeballs. Northwestern doesn't have the large fanbase. Who cares? The fans don't win the games or deserve the New Years 6 game. It's the players.

These players earned a higher ranking. I believe in the 10-12 range. Put in the tapes of the Stanford game and watch the defense dominate. They're incredible.
 
Hopefully, we'll see USC in the Holiday Bowl then. I'll take the points and bet the farm. Easy money.

Didn't know the committee's mandate include common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent. But that's a total interesting theory.... not.


I simply ask you and the committee to put in the tape of Northwestern Stanford. The PAC12 is not a strong defensive conference. Utah is statistically the best defense. Stanford didn't play them. Notre Dame is the top defense they played at 36 overall other than Northwestern that Stanford played. The top defense in the PAC 12 they played was USC at 51. Northwestern has the #8 defense in the country. That's night and day compared to the other defenses that Stanford faced this year. We rotated 10 lineman against Stanford. Midseason, we had an 11th, Greg Kuhar, come back after tearing his ACL against Notre Dame last year. Our line was fresh all game and was getting into the backfield constantly. Stanford couldn't run and their pass game which is based off of play action didn't work. McCaffery ran for 1640 yards and 7 TDs this season. Against Northwestern, 66 yards no TDs.

Would Stanford be favored in the game? Sure they would be, because a lot of people (committee included) are going off of the ideas that Northwestern is the Northwestern really just some other year's Northwestern team that's having a fluky year. They also have the anti-Big Ten bias because the Big Ten had a terrible run for a good decade. Since then, the Dantoni has built a program at MSU. Harbaugh came into Michigan. Fitz has built a team capable of 10 wins seasons. Urban Meyer has turned OSU into a juggernaut. Then there's Kirk Ferentz who is a damn good coach especially when he has a quality QB. ESPN rips the Big Ten and shows Northwestern no respect because they're driven by the dollars that occurred when they became financially tied to the SEC. They are also driven by TV eyeballs. Northwestern doesn't have the large fanbase. Who cares? The fans don't win the games or deserve the New Years 6 game. It's the players.

These players earned a higher ranking. I believe in the 10-12 range. Put in the tapes of the Stanford game and watch the defense dominate. They're incredible.
and here i thought northwestern had a fine academic reputation. you are a walking, talking,typing contradiction to that idea. your defense is incredible, incredibly average.
 
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Hopefully, we'll see USC in the Holiday Bowl then. I'll take the points and bet the farm. Easy money.

Didn't know the committee's mandate include common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent of common opponent. But that's a total interesting theory.... not.


I simply ask you and the committee to put in the tape of Northwestern Stanford. The PAC12 is not a strong defensive conference. Utah is statistically the best defense. Stanford didn't play them. Notre Dame is the top defense they played at 36 overall other than Northwestern that Stanford played. The top defense in the PAC 12 they played was USC at 51. Northwestern has the #8 defense in the country. That's night and day compared to the other defenses that Stanford faced this year. We rotated 10 lineman against Stanford. Midseason, we had an 11th, Greg Kuhar, come back after tearing his ACL against Notre Dame last year. Our line was fresh all game and was getting into the backfield constantly. Stanford couldn't run and their pass game which is based off of play action didn't work. McCaffery ran for 1640 yards and 7 TDs this season. Against Northwestern, 66 yards no TDs.

Would Stanford be favored in the game? Sure they would be, because a lot of people (committee included) are going off of the ideas that Northwestern is the Northwestern really just some other year's Northwestern team that's having a fluky year. They also have the anti-Big Ten bias because the Big Ten had a terrible run for a good decade. Since then, the Dantoni has built a program at MSU. Harbaugh came into Michigan. Fitz has built a team capable of 10 wins seasons. Urban Meyer has turned OSU into a juggernaut. Then there's Kirk Ferentz who is a damn good coach especially when he has a quality QB. ESPN rips the Big Ten and shows Northwestern no respect because they're driven by the dollars that occurred when they became financially tied to the SEC. They are also driven by TV eyeballs. Northwestern doesn't have the large fanbase. Who cares? The fans don't win the games or deserve the New Years 6 game. It's the players.

These players earned a higher ranking. I believe in the 10-12 range. Put in the tapes of the Stanford game and watch the defense dominate. They're incredible.
The committee is not blind to the fact that things change over the course of the season, teams evolve, some get better, some get worse, players emerge, other players get hurt. If Stanford were favored over Northwestern tomorrow it would be because they think Stanford is the better team NOW. The tape of a game from Labor Day weekend is not likely to affect that opinion. Ole Miss and Bama would be the same thing. Today Bama would probably be a 7 to 10 point favorite over a team that beat them in October. Different Bama team today, power run oriented, less flash, use the O-line to dominate.
 
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The committee is not blind to the fact that things change over the course of the season, teams evolve, some get better, some get worse, players emerge, other players get hurt. If Stanford were favored over Northwestern tomorrow it would be because they think Stanford is the better team NOW. The tape of a game from Labor Day weekend is not likely to affect that opinion. Ole Miss and Bama would be the same thing. Today Bama would probably be a 7 to 10 point favorite over a team that beat them in October. Different Bama team today, power run oriented, less flash, use the O-line to dominate.
now, now no fair bringing logic to the discussion. don't go confusing our little northwestern pipe dreamer.
 
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NW (just because it bugs you shakestheclown) should be ranked below Chico State simply because they graduated a fool in mike tampon, er, wilbon. Tony Kornheiser embarrasses tampon's CFB acumen every day and he doesn't even care for CFB! You seem anal about NW/Stanford game last summer. That's a sad team that needs to dig that deep to find a victory to brag about. Watch the tape! Watch the tape! lol.
 
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