A serious question: Why all the ND hatred on the board? A number of other threads talk gleefully of ND getting killed in the championship game by 'bama or some other SEC team, or losing to USC this week. Frankly, I just don't get it.
Yes, they are a rival (at least, for now, while we still play them yearly), but I think the rivalry with ND is different than the OSU and MSU ones. The OSU one is hate + respect; the MSU one is hate + no respect; the ND rivalary, in my opinion, has less hate involved, just two of the most tradition-laden programs in the country playing against one another, often in classic games. Why there is so much enmity in some of the other threads on the board is a puzzle to me.
Beyond that, do people really prefer to see some damn team from the SEC win the title again? I'd *much* rather have a team from the midwest win. Even though ND isn't in the Big Ten, they are much more like a Big Ten team, and finally getting everyone to shut up about how great the SEC is would be fantastic.
Finally, one thing I've seen repeatedly is commentary about how lucky ND has been. Does anyone think there has been a college football champion without luck? If you look back at any undefeated season, there are inevitably a number of plays, which, if they go the wrong way, get you a loss. ND has had a few such plays (Pitt kicker misses in OT, Stanford reaches for goal line but is deemed down), but got the break. Alabama, in contrast, got some breaks against LSU (a game in which they were outplayed), but didn't against A&M, leading to a loss. So sure, they've been lucky, but all undefeated teams get lucky now and then.
Summary for those who think TL and then DR: ND hatred is puzzling; they are a rival of the best kind; I'll be rooting for them against any damn SEC team; sure they are lucky but which unbeaten isn't?
</oldmanrant>
[EDIT: my michigan bio, since it seems to be relevant, as follows. Grew up in Ann Arbor, went to school in Fab Five era, was at many famous UM/ND games including sitting in the rain only to watch Rocket return two kickoffs for TDs. Have published a few diaries here in the past over the years, including a heartbreaking diary of staggering genius, one in which I hate everything, and a piece entitled memories of the game about OSU/UM.]
For me, the hate started when ND thought they were too good to join the B1G. They make all their money from their undeserving, fat NBC contract and stuck their noses up at us. I feel the same way Bo feels about them. "To hell with Notre Dame."