CFN has an article going on the 64 biggest controversys in recent college football. I only paste this because it is so right on with views I had at the time it was going down: "12. Notre Dame in the BCS You want to know why people don’t like Notre Dame? It’s the preferential treatment. It’s not enough that the school has its own TV contract, gets movies praising thy name, and for better or for worse, is the one college football program with a worldwide name and following. And then there’s the special BCS exemption put in place to get the most popular program in the big money games as much as possible. Notre Dame gets an automatic bid if it finished in the top eight of the standings. The only trouble is that the program got to BCS games in 2000, 2005 and 2006 with mediocre teams that fattened up on easy schedules and a few miracles. But the just desserts came as LSU, Ohio State, and Oregon State flattened the Irish by a combined score of 116 to 43, proving all the naysayers of those respective seasons right." Thing is....most ND fans would now agree with most of this but at the time most ND fans here wanted to string me up for suggesting such a thing. Not to worry....Brian Kelly will make Irish fans forget all of those harsh memories. http://cfn.scout.com/2/954069.html
First of all in order to have credibility at the time the BCS was instituted, ND had to be included. Second, there have been plenty of teams with much worse records and talent that have played in BCS games. They get in by winning their conference no matter how weak it is and no matter how bad thier records are. ND is the only member that has to be ranked at a certain level to get in. The LSU and OSU teams that ND played were both a year from the NC game and LSU won it.
To a neutral fan..... ND's almost arbitrary inclusion to the BCS in those years was a factor of the rules just as much as was those mediocre conference champs you refer to.....and I assume you are talking about maybe the ACC and possibly a team like Illinois.
It's all about the money. It always will be. Do you think NBC signed the Irish for all these years out of the kindness of their hearts? ND is the only team in the nation with a true coast to coast following. They are a ratings and advertising bonanza that is second to none. Once the naysayers come to grips with these obvious facts they will move on to more important subjects. This year an Irish team that has been pretty much no better than a .500 team for the last 15 years will play an Army team that is even worse in the Bronx where it will be cold and damp. Anyone doubt that it will be a fast sellout and a highly rated broadcast?
ND <r><QUOTE><s> </e></QUOTE> Do any of these idiots who write these articles ever consider what they call "preferential treatment" could be deserved. <br/> <br/> Years and years of great football and individuals have made ND what it is. It's not ND's fault most schools don't come close to approaching the rich tradition ND has. How is that ND's fault? How is that arrogance? What's ND suppose to do...not take TV contracts, not take BCS games. If it were Florida or Texas or anyone else...are they going to turn down these offers? I don't think so. <br/> <br/> This is also why ND is the ONLY major program that can still stay independent. Like George mentioned no one can draw like ND....no one. That's not arrogance...that's fact. <br/> <br/> Hate ND all you want. They will be back and take their rightful place in college football, and they'll take it back not because of "preferential treatment" but because they deserve it. <br/> <br/> Lets not let jealousy be confused with FACTS.<br/> <br/> Give me a break</r>
It always gets my Irish up when I read that somebody thinks we get "preferential treatment". It all gets down to it sticks in Irish haters craws that we are independent. Our schedule year in and year out is as good as most conference members and in some years much better. Yet any conference Champion could play a weak schedule and lose 3 or 4 game and get a guaranteed bid, while the Irish would have to be ranked #8 in the country to get that guaranteed bid. Of course nobody claims preferential treatment for the non BCS conference teams who also have "special" rules written for them in the BCS agreement. Rubbish it's just Rubbish.
Arbitrary? Your own conference and the other BCS conferences voted to include Notre Dame in the BCS. What is arbitrary about that? No one held a gun to their heads. They understood the benefits to the BCS of including Notre Dame. That's why they intentionally voted the way they did. Your use of the word "arbitrary" shows 1) your denial of the facts, and 2) your bias. Although you claim to be neutral, you are no different from all the other millions of Notre Dame haters out there.
aritrary: "capricious; unreasonable; unsupported" This is just one of several definitions I found for the word. I can tell you that in spite of the rules that allowed for it those rules created an arbitrary inclusion of ND into BCS Bowls for me because in at least two of those BCS beatdown years I saw too many holes in the irish to think they would be able to compete in those bowls.....and I was on the money with those thoughts.
Dave, The criteria for ND getting into the BCS is no different that the criteria for a BCS conference champ to get there... if not MORE difficult. Maybe we should add the #8 ranking or higher to the conference champions. Let's just say that the SEC West was down and an 8-3 Ole Miss made it to the SEC CG. Let's say that they beat a Gator team that had 30% of the team puking on the field due to the flu. That 9-3 Ole Miss team just made it into a BCS game. No situation is perfect Dave. The inclusion of ND with the set of rules for that inclusion is more justifiable than your opinion against it.
Let me sum it up for you concisely. Week in and week out, more people will tune in to watch a mediocre Irish team than will tune in to watch a top notch Gator team.
My opinion against it was born out of watching ND play in those seasons. Once again.....I see what I see......and I don't get intimidated to just shut up and go with the flow. That said.....I expect Brian Kelly to whip the irish into a team that is worthy of BCS consideration and one that will more than compete in their bowl games. And....I'm not saying that just because it's St. Patty's Day......
In '92 Sugar Bowl did you believe that the Gators were not worthy for that Bowl? After all the Irish took you guys to the woodshed. Maybe some conference champions getting a pass when they aren't worthy is ok with you though? In '96 were the Gators unworthy of being in the BCS game because the Huskers took them to the woodshed even worse than the Irish did in '92? Maybe being a conference champion is not an indication that you are worthy for a big game?
Didn't watch the Irish in those pre-Prodigy days Terry. They surprised me as much as they surprised the Gators.
My point is that the outcome of games has nothing to do with whether or not the team should have been in that game. Lots of bowl games somebody gets beat handily. Doesn't mean that they shouldn't have been there.
You're probably right Terry in some cases and especially because the bowls can have surprising results many times over. The perception in those BCS years in question was created and persists today with articles like this one because in the bowl games played the Irish were true to their season form and did maybe worse than expected..
Hey we are an easy target. Oklahoma had lost something like 6 straigth BCS bowl games some were not even good games. But nobody was saying OU didn't deserve to be in those games. Ohio State starting with the undressing by the Gators in their NC game lost 4 straight BCS games, again some of them not pretty, yet they weren't accused of not being worthy of being there.
Terry, I would disagree with your statemt indicating Ohio State did not receive much criticism regarding our Bow losses. I though we were raked over the coals preity well by the national media. Don
Yes, Ohio State football was criticised as not being any good anymore, sort of reaching a crescendo this fall after the loss to USC at home with a freshman at the helm. Big 10 football in general has taken a lot of guff in the last 4 or 5 years when your teams lost in big bowls. But nobody was getting down on Ohio State for being issued a BCS bowl bid. That's what Dave was getting at, the "special" rules allow ND to get BCS bowl bids that it doesn't deserve.
Keep your eyes on the ball. How were the ratings for the two BCS bowl games that the Irish were in? Did the host cities make out well revenue wise? Were the sponsors satisfied with their exposure? The Irish are a sure thing. I remember once hearing some sports talk host say that the reason bowls try to shy away from BYU is because their fans get there the morning of the game, they drink milk and eat pie and then they are back on the interstate heading home before the teams are off the field. Ohio State can pull its own weight but has anyone outside of Shreveport ever changed their Saturday plans to sat home and watch LSU?
Let's put it this way, if ND goes 11-0 for the season and one other team goes undefeated also. Suppose ND is #2 in the polls. If the other undefeated team goes to the NC game against another team than ND is that a satisfactory way to crown a national champion? Maybe for you Dave but I'm willing to bet that the average college football fan thinks that that is ********.