The rest of our schedule and the rest of Notre Dame's schedule.

Schedule isn't too bad. There are a lot of middling BCS teams on there (USF, Pitt, Maryland, BC), a couple weak teams (Purdue, Navy, Wake Forest), a decent non-BCS service academy (Air Force), a few fringe top 25 teams (Michigan, Michigan State, USC), and one bonafide top 10 team (Stanford). Not a terrible schedule, similar to what you may expect in an ok BCS conference like the ACC.

I don't see why people give Notre Dame so much crap for their schedule and how easy they have it.  Granted their remaining schedule is not great, but that is not entirely their fault.  When you schedule an opponent you have no idea how good they will be the following year.  I am not sure about Air Force, but every other school on their schedule is from a BCS conference where schools, like Michigan, are only going to play nine BCS schools (barring the Conference Title Game).  Going into the year, Notre Dame has no idea which games are the 'easy' games for them because BCS-level schools can go between good years and poor ones quite frequently.  I am not sure if there are any years where other BCS schools doubt their ability to beat MAC and 1-AA type competition. 

Notre Dame's remaining tough games are USC, Navy, Maryland, and Stanford.  Toss ups are Pitt and Air Force.  I see them going 6-6 or 7-5.

Nothing is a for sure win bro. That's sparty talk.

I will start with ND...

Potential losses: USC, Stanford, Maryland, and if Pitt can play like they did the first 2.5 quarters

As for us, I was talking to my buddy today about this after the game.  I think and it will obviously be a HUGE stretch to say this...but I can see this team starting 10-0 going into Nebraska.   This is just based on the views I have from today.  Iowa had to make a UTL like comeback to beat Pitt and should have run Iowa State out of town.  MSU looked very very vulnerable and as someone said, they lost one of their veteran linemen on an already banged up unit.  NW is not the team most people thought they were.  SDSU will indeed be tough!

I throw my Michigan prediction out there obviously as I stated, a big stretch.  I think its possible as our team has made the adjustments needed to finish games (one thing that doomed RR).

Just my 2 cents.

I don't know if that's in the cards for this ND team. They give the ball away left and right. 8-4 is most probable for them. If Navy can continue to run the ball like they can ND could be 7-5. My bets are with USC & Stanford with the upset bring Navy again. 7-5.

Both Michigan's and ND's seasons are hard to forecast. I completely agree with the posters who have pointed out that all of our remaining games (with the exception of Nebraska) are winnable games against inconsistent teams. However, as others have pointed out, most of those teams are good enough to have a solid performance on a given day. If we can get a little more out of the d-line, we really could be the surprise team from the Big Ten this year.

ND is Jeckyll and Hyde. Hyde keeps putting the ball on the ground, but Jeckyll racks up the yardage and can bail him out. If Kelly can address the turnovers, ND really could run the table and sneak back into BCS conversations. (If Lou Holtz has anything to say about it)

I don't know, but I'm starting to get more hopeful about the dominoes falling. After all, Nebraska gave up 38 to a pretty average Washington team. Time to buckle up and get ready for the ride . . . 

I think a big key to the remaining games on Michigan's schedule has to be their ability to start games much better than they have for the first three.  Against teams like WMU and EMU, Michigan can overcome a poor start but against the better teams that is just not the case.  This team is just not good enough to show up in the second quarter and think it can win a game.  And yes, I know we did come back against ND, but they also did their fair share to shoot themselves in the foot whenever possible.

EDIT - Sorry for the double post.

I think a big key to the remaining games on Michigan's schedule has to be their ability to start games much better than they have for the first three.  Against teams like WMU and EMU, Michigan can overcome a poor start but against the better teams that is just not the case.  This team is just not good enough to show up in the second quarter and think it can win a game.  And yes, I know we did come back against ND, but they also did their fair share to shoot themselves in the foot whenever possible.

If our linebacker play doesn't improve, those teams with strong rushing attacks are going gash us.  Frankly, I'm a little concerned in spite of how MSU, Nebraska, and OSU looked.

UM can beat anyone in the Big Ten. If he does not they can lose to anyone.
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<br>I am concerned about this SDSU game. Any team with the ability to move the ball through the air and on the ground with equal effectiveness is a threat.

if they stop turning over the freakin ball. they handled MSU fairly easily today and still gave MSU the ball 3 times IIRC. a fumble, a pick, and a muffed punt. that's 13 in 3 games! if they stop that, they can beat any of those teams

I think SDSU will be a win and a statement win... Losing 6 receivers before the season starts is hard on any team. They also play in the MWC which is only slightly better than the MAC (MWC > MAC > C-USA > SWC > etc.). I think what we'll see is a 24-10 victory.

Minnesota still doesn't have the talent to run a base defense effectively, but I see them coming up with 14 quick points before we take the reins since Kill is an extremely intelligent coach and will probably script around 30 plays to take advantage of our sluggish starts. 31-14

Northwestern has beaten 2 extremely terrible teams and lost to a mediocre one and their passing attack remains anemic. Their defense is also terrible because unlike us, they aren't changing scheme. 42-28

Michigan State has looked good against a bodybag and shaky against Youngstown St. Their O-line was a joke against ND and was consistently being beaten by 3 man rushes. But, MSU wins 35-21.

Purdue is purdue. Bellomy to Roundtree touchdown. We rush the field. Etc. 28-6.

Iowa is a very medicore team that managed to have a nice spark in the vertical passing game due to the shittiness of Gibson coaching the Pitt secondary. It will be a close game that Michigan will pull out 28-27.

Illinois looked very good against Az. State and I will peg them to be challengers against Wisconsin in the Leaders division. We lose basically a blowout 35-13.

Nebraska's defense is not looking good. Giving up many points to cupcakes. Still, their offense is too high powered to stop. 31-24.

OSU looked like boys among men against Miami, with the lone bright spot being Jordan Hall. Jury's still out.

I'm calling the season 8-4 or 9-3 with the swing game being OSU. Definite losses to Illinois, MSU, and Neb. Toss ups are OSU and Iowa and I say we win one of the 2. We come 2nd in the Legends division behind Nebraska and go to the Capital One Bowl. Illinois is 2nd in the Leaders division and goes to the Fiesta Bowl.

turning the ball over, 3 more today for 12 on the season.  They have a Soph at QB and a number of other young players here and there that will make mistakes.  The secondary is still shakey.  ND is its own worst enemy and having witnessed Michigan be its own worst enemy for most of the last 3 years, ND could rack up a number of surprising losses.

 

Who knows how good or bad sparty really is, they lost another starting tackle today and Cousins was running for his life most of the afternoon and MSU couldn't run the ball vs ND.  Who may or may not be a good defense but certainly better than Youngstown State and FAU, which tells us pretty much nothing.

I don't own an iPhone.

Based on how Stanford has looked this season and their schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if they go undefeated and I highly doubt ND beats them.