OT: Notre Dame 2013, pretty much BCS or bust

Submitted by Eskimoan on

Bored at work and came across this on Twitter. Article pretty much talks about with all of the bowl games having conference tie ins, ND could have an 8-9 win season and still miss a bowl game all together.  Personally, I would love for Michigan to assist in  them not making it to a bowl game this year .

Here is the link, not a bad discussion topic I guess.

 

 

 http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9281562/for-notre-dame-fighting-irish-bcs-bust-bowl-spot 

 

 

 

San Diego Mick

May 17th, 2013 at 3:14 AM ^

just astounds me. They finally had a relevant season, even though they got really lucky in many games, and still got their arses handed to them and we have to listen to this crap about them going or not going to a bowl, it's always something with them.

Hey ND, do me a favor, STFU!!!!

hart20

May 17th, 2013 at 3:26 AM ^

random team that they have no business losing to. They got very, very lucky last year and subsequently used up their two year luck allotment.

Let's look at last year:

1. The refs handed them a win against Stanford.

2. They needed 6(!) turnovers to beat us by 7

3. Half of USC was injured

4. Purdue and Pitt should have both been losses.

5. They only beat BYU by 3.

 

If you'd like to believe that all the luck can flow their way for another year, you're probably a closet ND fan. 

WolverineHistorian

May 17th, 2013 at 8:41 AM ^

I despise Notre Dame like hell but I always worry about their luck. It's not always restricted to one season. When I was little, and Lou Holtz was their coach, I remember them benefitting from flukey and mind boggling lucky plays in critical moments year after year after year. And seeing how the refs just handed them the Stanford and Pitt games last year... I don't want to start seeing more of that.

I really want to give those guys a Mario Manningham type beating under the lights this Fall.

Tater

May 17th, 2013 at 3:57 AM ^

It would definitely be perfect if ND, who has been the best program ever at "gaming the system," got gamed themselves this year. 

The Mick

May 17th, 2013 at 5:23 AM ^

From the article:

Beginning in 2014, Notre Dame will be eligible to be selected for any ACC bowl as long as its overall record is within one of the bowl-eligible ACC schools.

For example, an 8-4 Notre Dame could not be selected over a 10-2 ACC team, but could be selected over a 9-3 or worse ACC team.

So the ACC pretty much screwed themselves. First they pile up losses when playing ND and because of that ND gets picked by a bowl over an ACC team.

TrppWlbrnID

May 17th, 2013 at 8:43 AM ^

are pretty small, the most is about $4 million, most are around $2 million. divide that by 14 and each school is losing out on about $150,000. so they might have a team miss out on a mid-range bowl, but its not really a huge financial problem and the conference likely gets much more positive out of it than they might lose.

Toledo_Wolverine

May 17th, 2013 at 7:01 AM ^

Not ALL of the bowls have conference ties. The best non BCS bowl without ties will pick them up merely on ratings, having nothing to do with the product they put out there.

EGD

May 17th, 2013 at 9:10 AM ^

Well, according to the article, all of the bowls do have tie-ins.  Are you aware of any specific bowls that don't have tie-ins?  

It still seems unlikely that a bowl-eligible ND team would be left out, because it's pretty unlikely that every single conference would fill every single one of its tie-ins.  But as the article explains, it is at least possible that could happen.

gwkrlghl

May 17th, 2013 at 7:05 AM ^

but there's a 0% chance Notre Dame doesn't get invited to a bowl if they have at least 6 wins. They may turn it down (like I think they did a few years ago), but no way the Velveeta Bowl doesn't try to take Notre Dame over like UNLV vs Southern Miss

LSAClassOf2000

May 17th, 2013 at 8:13 AM ^

There is this entry from ESPN on ACC bowl tie-ins moving forward (LINK).

Right now, the ACC has eight tie-ins even with the expansion to 14 teams, and due in part to the agreement with Notre Dame, they've apparently been looking to expand the number of tie-ins to as many as ten. Over the past several seasons, they have averaged eight eligible teams and would have hit this number last year if not for the issues at UNC and Miami. 

So, if John Swofford has a say, Notre Dame and the ACC will be accommodated somehow. 

MGomaha

May 17th, 2013 at 9:06 AM ^

It pisses me off that they said they can get a deal done to replace another team who earned a bowl bid...here's something Notre Dame - crazy idea - Join a damn conference! 

EGD

May 17th, 2013 at 9:20 AM ^

Most programs lose money on bowl trips.  I wouldn't be surprised if you had some 6-6 team someplace whose athletic department was really struggling financially, and they decide to let ND take their spot in the Summer's Eve Bowl for a big payoff.  It would be sad to see something like that happen, as it wouldn't be fair to the players or fans of the displaced team, but big programs usually get their way in these sorts of matters.

TheTruth41

May 17th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^

Why schools take a loss but yet they divide the bowl earnings evenly over every school.  So really the only schools that come out in the plus financially are those that miss a bowl since their expenditures are zero.

Would it not make more sense for each team to take out their expenditures (within reason) and the leftover money is divded evenly?

I'm sure actually being good enough and going to a bowl offsets the fact that some lose money on the trips but still.

canzior

May 17th, 2013 at 9:26 AM ^

I don't like the idea that luck plays a part.  Every team needs some luck, a bad call, or a lucky break to go undefeated.  Michigan went 11-2 with at least 3 wins that could easily have gone the other way, (Ohio, VT, ND)  and an exceptionally high and not reproducable turnover rate.  That being said...although i think Kelly is a very good coach, I am not sold on ND being able to maintain, after losing some of the guys they lost.  And don't forget the DE that was very highly rated as a frosh last year who left the program as well.  They don't have the skill position players, and last year Denard was unable to take advantage of a secondary worthy of Michigan 2009.  I expect them to have a good year, but with only 8 or 9 wins..and a huge victory vs Sparty!

Monocle Smile

May 17th, 2013 at 9:50 AM ^

Our two losses required some awful, awful luck/officiating.

I see the point you're trying to make, but luck, whether it's the bounce of the ball or the bloody-mindedness of a replay official, DOES play a decent part and can create paper tigers.

M-Dog

May 17th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

We are a case in point.  We were not able to replicate the luck we had in 2011 in 2012.  It can be argued that 2012 was a better team, but it had a worse record than the 2011 team.

The same thing is likely to happen to ND.  I'm not saying they'll go 5-7, but they won't go undefeated or even have only one loss.

 

EGD

May 17th, 2013 at 9:37 AM ^

Wow, I just looked at ND's 2013 schedule, and it's about as difficult a schedule as I've ever seen:

 

Aug. 31 Temple
Sep. 07 @ Michigan
Sep. 14 @ Purdue 
Sep. 21 Michigan State
Sep. 28 Oklahoma
Oct. 09 Arizona State - Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX
Oct. 19 Southern Cal
Oct. 26 @ Air Force
Nov. 02 Navy
Nov. 09 @ Pittsburgh
Nov. 23 Brigham Young
Nov. 30 @ Stanford 
 

EGD

May 17th, 2013 at 2:32 PM ^

Yeah, I guess when you look more closely, it isn't as hard as I first thought.  There are a lot of big names but some of those teams are not going to be up to their usual quality.--Arizona St., BYU, Purdue, probably Staee and Pitt--and then, as you said, all their really difficult opponents are in South Bend.  But hopefully they go 5-7 anyway.

lilpenny1316

May 17th, 2013 at 10:13 AM ^

None of those teams are considered national title contenders. It's either middling BCS teams, BCS teams with question marks or the service academies.  And playing ASU in Arlington amounts to a home game for ND.  

That road schedule isn't difficult once you get past Michigan.  Those other road environments are pretty tame.

pdgoblue25

May 17th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^

I bitched and moaned for 10 years about how lucky Ohio was in 2002 and how they cheated with Clarett, but the banner is still hanging.  It's not like ND won the championship, they got curb stomped.

phork

May 17th, 2013 at 4:50 PM ^

Don't cry for us.  We'll be all right.

We can't all start off with a tour of the MAC and the corpse of the BigEast.  I am sure you will have no trouble going 10-2 after we stain your own field turf with your deceased LBs when the Irish Chocolate package is inserted and when Urbz gets done rolling you for the 11th time in 13 years.